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Confessions of a Serial Dancer Forums

Dance Classes - Australia & New Zealand (25)

Confessions of a Serial Dancer - by Trina

I pull the hood of my jacket over, half covering my sweaty face; I am exhausted. These are the confessions of a serial dancer.

Confessions Tips, Advice, How-To Hiphop - Confessions of a Serial Dancer

Sexy Stylin' dance courses by Trina

November 12th 2008 10:45

So after all the feedback from some girls that we meet at bboy events, and from some of the bboys themselves wanting their girls to take some dance classes, here's something you guys might be interested in. I am starting Sexy Stylin' courses, a concept I came up with that includes a fusion of styles with a common sexy feel to it. The beginners course started just yesterday but there are still some spots left in the course and next Tuesday is the deadline as it is a 5 week course that may perform at our end of year Christmas Party. Hope to see some more faces there!

110

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Posted By: Trina - Category: Confessions, Tips, Advice, How-To, Events - Australia, Fun, Funk, Hiphop

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My thoughts on Looze Control 2008

September 2nd 2008 10:39

There's always controversy regarding the results of a Hip Hop dance competition in Australia - the most recent being Looze Control, Grand Finals which were held last Saturday 30th August in Sydney. Being one of eight judges, a quarter of the Artistic judges, our critera comprised 60% of the total score, while the other four Technical judges were worth 40%.

The results were:

1st Place - Seapuuog (South East Asian Poppers United Under One Group)
2nd Place - Doppelgangers (A German word meaning "a ghostly counterpart of a living person")
3rd Place - Random Select

Now I've heard and seen so many ignorant comments related to this competition, and I felt like I had to get this off my chest to get over it and move on, and so I don't have to keep repeating and justifying my judging to other people.

Many people believed Doppelgangers should have won and Limited Edition should have scored a place. That's the main controversy, so let me break it down for those still reeling from the results.

The main things that separated DG and SPG were: technique and narrative.

Technique: This falls under both Artistic and Technical criteria. In the Artistic realm, it comes down to the "Old School/New School" section which favours a variety of styles as long as they are ALL done true to form and proper technique is shown. Many groups forget that in order to score for their variety of styles, they have to be able to do them properly at the very least, otherwise it doesn't count.

SEAPUUOG

One of the videos of SPG on Youtube had a comment stating that the person didn't realise Looze Control was a Popping competition and I've heard many similar things. Well they obviously don't realise Popping is a style on its own under the umbrella term of Hip Hop dance. They used other styles like the scarecrow, robot, animation, strobing, boogaloo, waving and snaking. Not only did they use a variety of styles, they did them really well, their technique was strong and consistent throughout all styles and within their group.

SPG also told a narrative that made their show extremely engaging. This narrative incorporated their routines seamlessly and transitions were smooth. It wasn't just, do a few moves then run into next formation, then some more moves then run to another formation. They were all in character throughout the whole time they were on stage, and the showcase evoked different emotions throughout, so it had a great use of dynamics.

They really played on the Wizard of Oz theme; the Scarecrow doing the Scarecrow style, Tin Man doing Robot and Animation, etc I thought that was very clever, although most people didn't get it.

DOPPELGANGERS

The opening of the show was a great way to start, and the ending was CRAZY! It would've been better if there were some sort of storyline to take the audience through and keep consistency of the theme. The narrative is like a thread that strings all the routines together - that would've made it a bit more engaging.

There were some routines that were marked down I suppose for the lack of technique. It comes down to being able to do styles properly.

Limited Edition

These guys had a great show too, but there were a couple of mistakes and times they were out of sync, which is hard to do with so many people. I think the biggest drawback was the lack of consistency in the show with the theme and routines - the costumes and the opening scene set a mood for that 1920-40s cabaret style atmosphere but some of the songs and styles didn't really fit that mood, like "dance too much booty in your pants" kinda threw me off. There were a lot of random bits, which made us feel like the show was kinda all over the place.

So that's all I'm gonna say about that, I was just one judge out of 8 and I hope that brought some insight to those who wanted it. People can say whatever they want to make themselves feel better but those are the types who will always lose out because they don't ask why, and learn from what happened, they just shut out reality and continue to make the same mistakes again.

Goodnight.

1st - SEAPUUOG

2nd - Doppelgangers

3rd - Random Select

Limited Edition

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Posted By: Trina - Category: Confessions, Tips, Advice, How-To, Events - Australia, Fun, Funk, Hiphop

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D2MG Presents Back to the 90s Workshop Part II

March 26th 2008 00:00

So now that the word is out about my new dance studio, I'm gonna be posting our events and stuff here more regularly just to try and help us out. This Friday we're holding a part 2 of the Back to the 90s workshop we held a few weeks ago, special (i.e. FREE) for UNSW ARC D2MG members (because they're probably broke as balls as most university students are), and normal class prices for everyone else.

It's during the day on Friday since it's university holidays, and I'll be teaching a partner routine to No Diggity. The theme is the 90s, which means all the classes will be taught to music from the 90s, since it was the best decade for R&B/Hip Hop IMHO, and watch out for our next special workshops, starring the Prince of Pop, the legendary Michael Jackson, in late April. I'll be teaching Hip Hop/Funk to "Smooth Criminal" ooo yeah can't wait.

D2MG Hip Hop Dance classes back to the 90s workshops part 2

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Posted By: Trina - Category: Confessions, Tips, Advice, How-To, Events - Australia, Fun, Random, Funk, Hiphop

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My new dance studio - D2MG Hip Hop Academy

March 25th 2008 01:29

Well I've kept it on the low but I thought I should write about it now - my dream of running my own dance studio has come true

Since the beginning of this year, I've opened up my very own D2MG Hip Hop Academy, as an extension of a university club I used to run, now with our own base in a handy location right in the middle of Sydney CBD.

Starting out with dance classes and then expanding into DJ courses, MC sessions, graffiti and beatboxing workshops, it's a humble and very ghetto place hidden away like treasure with a gold mine of Hip Hop dancing resources. We're one of the few places that teach real street style dancing, more like America's Best Dance Crew than Australia's SYTYCD (boring!)

We like to focus on the development of students with our intensive performance courses, with a range of casual classes for those who aren't so serious about dancing. Check us out at www.d2mg.com. If you want... you don't have to you know, it doesn't bother us, I mean there are things outside of dance anyway...

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Posted By: Trina - Category: Confessions, Tips, Advice, How-To, Fun, Random, Funk, Hiphop

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Doppelgangers win Looze Control 2008 Sydney Heats 1

March 24th 2008 11:48

Doppelgangers

The first heats of the Looze Control "Urban" (hate that word) Crew competition held last night at Wenty Leagues Club dragged on but it was worth it to see my bestfriend Lenny's crew take it out in a well deserved win. It was even more special as it was their debut performance as a crew - Doppelgangers (look it up). I was supposed to judge but because of some dramas I stood down and will judge the other heats and finals but for those who care, here are some of my comments on their performance.

[EDIT: Video has been removed until after they compete in Australian Hip Hop Champs]

1. They were really tight, more synchronized than all the other crews who would try to balance this with impressive tricks and funny skits.

2. They were entertaining and had a lot of stage presence, while doing large amounts of choreography, instead of too many skits, formation changes and tricks here and there.

3. I liked:
- Chux's high kick
- Chux sliding onto the floor grabbed by Lenny into perfect formation
- Chux and Lenny's kissing skit; their disgusted faces were hilarious
- Raymond and Roni's partner spin
- The punching line where Raymond gets knocked out by either Ella or Roni (can't tell)
- the Ne-Yo partner routine; all I could see was Chux's "Prince" face and the way he was looking at Jessica, it was sex. It sent shivers down my spine and elsewhere. They are the partners second from the right.
- The cheesy SMILE. So Lenny, so love it.
- Locking to Gym Class Heroes' "Clothes Off". Love it, and Jet flashing his abs.

[EDIT: Video has been removed until after they compete in Australian Hip Hop Champs]

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Posted By: Trina - Category: Confessions, Tips, Advice, How-To, Events - Australia, Fun, Random, Funk, Hiphop

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Review - 360 Freestyle Crew Battle Competition, UNSW, March, 2008

March 12th 2008 02:32

360 freestyle crew dance battle critical hype roundcircle trina d2mg

I have to say that the 360 Freestyle Battle Competition last Saturday night was the best dance event I've ever been to. Brought by Critical Hype in conjunction with Round Circle Entertainment, these guys did an amazing job with the event, especially for their first time, with room for improvement, but hey that's how it usually goes.

I was asked to judge at this event, a bit skeptical at first because they wanted to factor in crowd-judging in the criteria, and dancers know that would be a big mistake. We were a panel of 5 judges and we made a few unpopular decisions but were supported by the majority of dancers so there wasn't too much controversy.

I guess this post is intended for those who went, or heard about the event; for those who don't know anything about the event, just watch the videos. It shows how amazingly talented the underground street dancers are - don't waste your time on SYTYCD

Shout out to Jerome and El, MC Tuppz and DJs D-Kutz and Xile for their awesome effort.

Couple of comments/feedback:

1. Just to let everyone know there was a miscommunication with my Judge's showcase - it was a style demonstration, where all the teachers from D2MG Hip Hop Academy showed their specialty, after my student showcase from my Intermediate Intensive Performance Course.

2. The reason why Juse Crew lost against Treble, Bass & Soul was that our criteria consisted mainly of musicality and versatility. We felt that Juse Crew did not have much of these, it was entertaining but not what we were looking for in a battle.

3. I do not agree with one of the other judge's comments about Krump Etiquette being applied to the freestyle battles. These battles have time limits, they are BATTLES which means you don't wait for someone to get ready to get in the middle to do their thing, they miss out. It's called COMMANDO and demonstrates presence and battle skills. Besides, battle criteria should have been stated at the beginning of the event, so that's another thing to learn.

4. To the guy from a certain crew who claimed that I was biased because one crew I voted for had teachers at my studio, get your facts straight because I had teachers from my studio in most of the crews, same with the other judges and we all have ties with most of the dancers because it's such a small community so stop bitching and start practicing more.

5. No one likes sore losers. You're all winners until you start talking sh*t about everyone and everything else to avoid thinking about why you lost in the first place.

6. I just gotta comment that there were many times during the night where dancers had the most appropriate part of a song, and really used it to their advantage. We like that. It makes us wet our pants.

7. The final decision was UNANIMOUS, it was such a close battle but the winning team, Toilet Funk 9 showed more versatility within individual dancers as well as within their crew, they had slightly better use of musicality and had a bigger presence as a crew.

Just some advice for crew battles in the future (take it or leave it, agree or disagree):

- DO NOT count in your routines, it's a freestyle battle. Many crews did this after I had told everyone not to. Lose points for not listening.

- Integrating routines in a freestyle battle is ok as long as it is balanced with freestyles (and one person at a time per crew please) and I find that this works well after someone's solo, or if its a large number of people then anytime is fine but just make sure you're synchronised.

- This takes time, but the more you spend time with your crew, the more you know what they're capable of, their moves and their sets so you can read them during battle and play along. The winners, Toilet Funk 9 did this really well, as well as Watermelon Bandits at some stages, but everyone in the crew should be paying attention to the battle, to support their teammate or to diss the other team. Be alert!

Videos and pictures will be posted in the part 2 of this review (when I have time please bare with me!)

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Posted By: Trina - Category: Confessions, Tips, Advice, How-To, Events - Australia, Fun, Random, Funk, Hiphop

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Bottom Menu Section

November 2nd 2005 09:48

Hiphopn.com

My blog on all things Hip Hop in Australia and the rest of the world.

D2MG Hip Hop Society based in the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Darriostreet Dance based in Sydney, Australia. Darrio is my dance mentor.

Dancekool, the only REAL Hip Hop and Funk dance school in Sydney. They are also my dance mentors.

Ozbboy.com - the forums for bboys and bgirls in Australia.

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Posted By: Trina - Category: Confessions, Tips, Advice, How-To, Events - Australia, Events - International, Fun, Random, Ballroom, Funk, Hiphop, Latin

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November 2nd 2005 02:11

For Hip Hop dance classes in Sydney, check out my dance studio Ace Dance Studios

About the Author. Looking for dancers to perform at your event? Contact: Trina.

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