Jazz exam!

Argh! Jazz exam is this friday and our exam outfits are ghastly! Here is a sample, I just took it. Was having lessons in the night and reviewing the steps again in my room (my memory is notoriously poor). The guys wear tights and singlets while girls wear leotards and tights, plus jazz shoes (the shoes can be so slippery that they are hard to come up from arches and to take-off for split jumps). We all felt so naked, trying to hide in big shirts that we were forced to strip out of. Of course, the girls were terrified of bulging tummies and thunder thighs that the leotards ACCENTUATE (they flatten out the top and push out the middle, serious!)... now that I look at the photo, I think my arms are kind of large too but shall just pretend that they are muscles!

Oops, I do seem more concerned about my body parts compared to the dance steps but that is not so. I am always so nervous my counting gets progressively faster until it is totally off from the music beat. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... smile and everything will be fine. Wish everybody luck! This crash course (about 6 weeks) has been a fun journey. Dance always is, no matter how stressful it is to memorize the steps for me, because it is an expressive exercise and for the moment, I forget the sadness and the uncertainties.

Haha, that photo is to encourage myself to cut down on food. Although I do not think it will help, just ate lots of ice cream left by Sinlong, Irene, Yijun and Xianhong, yummy!

P.S. As I ate, I was watching videos of Japanese kids dancing hip-hop. These are amazing! The movements are all so sharp and energetic. Ivan was raving about the talented Japanese dancers he met in a camp and recommended searching youtube for the kids dancing.