An entry in a bid to help my juniors

This entry is entered based on what happened on 8 July'05. Thanx to some frenz reading my blog & tagging, i decided to post some things(non-related to my life) of my own opinion to help my frenz reading/visting this blog..
This is the 1st entry in this blog i didnt blog 4 my own sake of retaining memories...

Becos Sam managed to influence a certain batch, & in 2005, some of them rose to a state which is capable of helping NHDS prosper, i decided to blog such an entry... In benefit of those juniors who believe in my knowledge & ability, i thank u 4 ur willingness to learn... esp to Juncheng, Wei Hong & whoever has read my blog but i still dunno who u r...

Disclaimer/Clause: Whatever is written here is considered IP of Zhongyi, pls do not carbon copy/distribute in any form to any personnel. The IP consists of Zhongyi's personal comments/opinion which makes him not liable for any misrepresentation/ negligent misstatement. Once info is released, Zhongyi shall not be made liable for any interpretation(regardless correct/ incorrect) of the info.

To keep things simple, i shall disclude specific details, giving u only main ideas. Pls approach me for more info.. Face to face talk is always better..

Diao Dance
At least 3 divisions to diao: Dance steps/ formation/ flow or structure of dance
Criteria 1: (applies to NHDS only) Muz come back frequently, cos u need to know all these: what is happening, how is their progress, what kind of standard they haf so far displayed, r they getting better/ getting bored? What is the fatigue level due to frequency of practices? Many more questions u haf to ans.. Unless u know all these, either by coming back/ finding out thru ur own means, or else in my opinion, u r not qualified..

Criteria 2: If u do not satisfy criteria 1, dun worry, still can qualify in other ways: Eg. U muz haf perfect or close to perfect knowledge abt the dance.. Esp dances of Mr Low r usually used in many other schools. So u would seen many diff versions, learnt alot.. Or u haf danced tt piece of dance b4, regardless in the past or in DI.

If u satisfy criteria 1/2, u r qualified to diao the dance. Depending on which division. I use myself as an example: Y can i diao SYF 2005? Cos i haf been with NH since Nov'04, when Mr Low taught the dance steps, i went to learn as well, hence could confirm they learnt wrongly here & there. I saw the entire process of how the dance was choreographed, making me qualified to diao every single division..

How to Diao?
Step 1: Acquire info/knowledge abt the dance, dun care thru wat channel.. However, caution: When u handling the dance steps division, pls dun gather info thru juniors, cos they will juz teach u diff version... When come to dance steps, Only thru Mr Low.. Unless of course, u danced b4 tt same piece of dance, u already haf perfect knowledge lah... However, when come to new works, u haf to confirm with Mr Low. So if u wanna handle dance steps, u haf to be present in the initial stage of choreographing liao.. Cos towards the middle/end, Mr Low is more concerned with costumes/ stage presentation etc. he dun haf time to teach u/confirm dance steps with u..

Step 2: Acquire info/knowledge abt their progress so far. Realize which stage of they r in.. refer to 4 stages below & the respective action to take:
Stage 1) Learning - Students eager to learn e steps & master them
Action: Teach as specific as possible, correct them as much as possible.. *time spent muz be taken into consideration.. Balance on the duration spent

Stage 2) Practising - steps r learnt, practised towards perfection. They prac on their own liao
Action: Changes can be made easily in this stage, when they prac on their own, diff version will appear, eliminate all of them, comfirm 1 single version. Adaption by students is most easy at this stage. Cos stage 1 cannot take too long time..

Stage 3) Mature - steps r "perfected" by students
Action: Its hard to make changes at this stage liao, if diff versions still not eliminated b4 this stage , they r likely to stay cos their body is used to it. Correcting mistakes is still possible, but tedious. However, like i said, those with professional spirit will still accept corrections at this stage.

Stage 4) Bordem - Bordem sets in as e dance gets practised/ even performed over & over again
Action: It is almost impossible to change dance steps/correct mistakes. Hence, if stage 4 is reached, u haf to reverse their mentality (thru brainwash/scoldings or whatever lah) back to Stage 3 if u wish to make changes, ie. they r still interested in the dance, hence willing to correct themselves..

Step 3: Start to gather them, do e steps over & over again in full-up mode but go thru part by part.. Dun full-up the whole dance.. Full-up whole dance is if u wish to handle the division of flow or structure of dance, NOT the dance steps division. Eliminate any diff versions u c on the way..
(This part i skip details cos u muz learn e logic of dance steps b4 u can perform this job to the fullest)

Step 4: Once dance steps r done, u move on to diao formation. If u zai, u can try doing both concurrently..=) Alot of ppl misunderstand tt Formation is only e position where they stand.. Diao formation u haf to focus on how e formation is formed. Juz remember this: Its the forming of e formation tt counts, not e eventual formation, cos wah lau eventual formation need take how long to correct? juz stand in correct position mah... The bout of time is spent on the forming part... How they run/wlk to e position will determine many things eg. Safety/ Obstruction to others/ Delay of others dancing/ Lose count of beat or music.. Once formation not properly diao, they spoil the image of the dance & distract the audiences' attention. Cos like 1 person stand out of line, audience see liao den will suddenly lose track of what r e dancers performing... Wah lau, what if tt was a part u wish to impress the audience?

Step 5: Once both done, u can call ppl full-up the whole dance, handle e last division. In this division, u drop out as an instructor, instead u watch as an audience, then ask urself 1st time watching, whats ur opinion? This part is the hardest cos focus on 1st time... Any flow/structure not smooth, u haf to make changes.. Of course changes usually done by Mr Low himself lah, juz let u all know... (this one is choreographing stuff, next time den teach) Still there is stuff u can do... Simply run thru the dance a few times, yes u cant make changes but u need to make them used to e flow of the entire dance, so tt there is no blur ppl ard... It's oso not tt easy cos when in full-dress, this division is most impt, they haf to get used to props & costumes... So basically juz run thru e dance, solve any safety hazard problems etc.

So remember to ask urself everytime, which division r u handling now? Which method should u use? dun juz call ppl full-up everytime, no use, in e end, u dun yield any results.. Dun 4get, any stupid grad oso can go call juniors full-up & KBKB here & there, the question is who can diao until results yield? Muz c got results or not lah... Diao & KB one whole day, no results come out, whats e point? Set this as a challenge 4 urself, remember: muz yield results...

Okie, this entry till here first, dun write too much... Dun 4get, i wrote at least 3 divisions, so basically there r still more divisions to learn...
Juz 1 last thing to remind u ppl: Info/knowledge abt the dance is of utmost importance, if u dunno anything abt tt dance, dun act smart... U can go gather info if u interested to help but yet dun haf the info... Have u ever seen me go diao e so-called mei nu zu's dance so far? Cos i dun haf close to perfect knowledge abt tt dance, i juz saw it in Nan Chiau Sec abt thrice.. How to teach? I can, but not these 3 divisions mentioned above, is another 2 divisions i can help out.. Namely Props Usage & Theme of Dance..
Okie, should write till here, any questions can email me, next time i c u den discuss with u...

=) Jia you ppl..

End of Entry