Woo dancing!!! My first dance article was written two years ago, amidst the start of the…well you know pandemic. I believe it was around May 2020 when I declared that I will “dance everyday!!!! Improve!!! Become a real dancer” yadda yadda you know the speech.
Well spoiler- I did not do that.
Two years passed and now I’m starting over.
It kind of sucks thinking “oh man if I just danced everyday like I said I’d be so good right now”.
Boohoo, I didn’t have the drive and my mental state was horrendous. So I don’t feel too much regret. The past is in the past. BUT, I do want to start dancing again.
And I’m so so excited!
This time around I have a much better mindset on dance. When I learned itzy’s Wannabe, it was probably the worst time I’ve had in my life. I’d repeat steps over and over, getting super mad when I couldn’t get it. Watching clips back felt horrible. Everything felt like a mental war and hurdle I had to jump over.
Sure there’s discipline, but then there’s unproductive negativity. And I definitely basked in the latter.
“Why didn’t I get that step?? Why does it look so bad?? God it’s such simple timing and I can’t even get it right!! God you suck so bad. This is embarrassing just give up”
No idea why I expected Kpop Idol level dancing when I just started dancing for a good 2 days. A bit insulting to actual professional dancers who have spent years of practice to look effortless, yet I expected the same outcome without any effort at all.
With all that said, I finished the short snippet of Wannabe, then forgot about dance all together.
It felt like a challenge was completed and I could go back to doing nothing.
TWO YEARS LATER…
My interest in dance is back with a passion! And guess what? I’m nicer to myself about it!
I just started this past week, and I’ve learned two very very short very very basic routines.
I’m very very stiff, low energy, I have no control, and I move either like an uncooked pasta noodle or a gas station balloon going crazy- there’s no in between. But…I’m having so much fun!
When I finally nail a move down, or understand the timing it feels so good!
When I don’t get either of those things but decide to dance anyway- I feel amazing!
At this point there’s no hope of me becoming a professional dancer, but all I want is to have fun. I want to be able to learn choreos, learn dance moves, and have a blast covering Kpop songs.
With all that being said, I’m going to practice some basic hip hop foundations on my own this upcoming week, then take a beginner hip hop class later on this month.
I have a really bad feeling I’m going to be overwhelmed in the dance class, but I’m still really excited. Usually beginner hip hop classes are frustrating. You still need the basic foundation for hip hop even if they say “beginner”.
You also need to be able to memorize and string together at least 30 seconds of basic dance moves.
As a new dancer, all of that is so so so so hard! I can’t even do one move confidently, but you want me to do a whole segment??? Hell nah.
Whatever, I think being with other people will be so exciting and fun. We’re all there to learn and have a blast anyway.
So come with me on this dance journey. Will this be another fiery start then sudden stop? Or will this be one of my longtime hobbies? I really hope I can make dance a part of my life. I love love love watching others dance so much. If anything, I hope this post inspires other people to start dancing too! I feel like I’ve “missed” some type of magic age window, but whatever that’s not true.
Hey, my family didn’t have the money to put me in dance when I was younger. And sure YouTube was a thing, but I didn’t have the confidence or self-esteem to even try on my own.
But guess what? NOW I HAVE BOTH!!!!!! How wonderful and great is it that I can provide an opportunity to myself that I didn’t have available to me as a kid? That’s such a wonderful gift and I should take advantage of it.
Life’s short.
Might as well have some fun in between right?
Best of luck to any fun endeavors y’all are up to. I hope you find time to sprinkle in some light and love throughout this week!
-hikae
Oh P.S. here are two dance tutorials that I used for this week. I did NCT’s “Zoo” & Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More”
Zoo is such a fun song, but I repeat IT IS HARD. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT to get that natural groove and sharp movements but that’s okay!!!! I look like I’m scooping playdough not dancing and I still have a blast.
Doja Cat’s is much more accessible. Still hard, but less hard than Zoo.
Again, I don’t look great doing these, and I had to slow everything down from .5 speed to .75 speed and still not normal speed. Plus I repeated these clips like a madman. So one week of practice and I’m still on .75 speed.
AND IM HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!
Okay bye!!!
= h i k a e = 