On the subject of teaching (TCKs mostly)

I've been teaching dance full time since the last time I posted. I've been subbing for an injured dance teacher at SAS so I've been busy juggling teaching during the day at SAS and my various teaching gigs around town. I have never taught this many dance classes in a given week in my entire life. My physical body is drained by the end of the day and all I want to do is pass out at the end of the day. Everyday I wake up while its still dark outside and get things ready for the big day ahead of me. As soon as the bell rings, I pack up my things and go to my second job. As tiring as it is, the kids I teach are wonderful. I've been having a tough time as of late and those closest to me know what I'm going through - some day maybe when the time is right, I will post a little insight post on that. Back to the TCKs I teach, they really know how to put a smile on my face with their funny antics. Especially when I'm having one of those days where nothing feels right and I'm feeling down, these kids somehow remind me how fun life can be.

My Tap students performing "The Lion King" Photo Credit: Tracy Webb

An unconventional start of my teaching career. Teaching as a profession has never been a goal of mine, it chose me instead of the other way around, needless to say - I do enjoy teaching and love to share my passion for dance to others. I started my teaching career at SAS when I was a mere high school student. I was a summer program assistant teacher, a teacher apprentice (twice) at SAS. Right after high school graduation, I taught at my dance studio before I left to go to college in SoCal. I would give private lessons to my non-dancer friends in college as well as volunteered as my community service component for a Developmental Psychology class to be an assistant figure skating coach to the group childrens classes. Right before my college graduation at UCLA, I got hired part-time to teach at a charter high school once a week to set up their dance program. That summer, I continued to coach those students and then I left for New York at the end of the summer. I started dancing with a collective a few months after arriving that led to an employment with Young Dancers in Repertory. A Brooklyn based organization that brings dance teaching artists to public schools and summer programming. I taught for this organization for 6 years at a myriad of different public schools in Brooklyn, after school programming, multicultural events, community programming, summer in the parks programming, and their center for dance studies. The commutes were long on the subway (I read A LOT of books & magazines!) but when I saw the students perform or show me what they learned in my classes and sometimes apply to other classes or teach their teachers what they learned - it gives me great joy. Because teaching dance to a wide variety of students becomes so much more than the technique, you also teach life lessons. I've also taught students that are much older than me and taught workshops for senior citizens at a community center. You know its funny because my performing artist career has given me multiple opportunities to teach at a variety of different places. Now I'm back in Singapore and I'm teaching for an awesome arts school, started adult open-level dance classes, and my old "home" at SAS.

I guess the old adage of "when it rains, it pours" applies to life here. Creatively, I am working on a project titled Habitat and I'll be taking it to Edinburgh Fringe festival this summer and meeting my dancer from NYC in Europe! (Talk about long distance rehearsals!)

Life appears to be all fine and dandy on the outside but I know I'm still feeling rather down despite all the changes and developments. A lot of it has to do with TCK issues I'm grappling with and the ugly side of being a TCK. *sigh*

Free Performance this week in DUMBO, Brooklyn as part of the CoolNY 2012 Festival! 

Last year, we performed a 10 min. excerpt of Chameleon at the same festival and received beautiful pictures that we used in our publicity materials all year. We performed Ivi's solo (for the last time :-(  - We miss you Ivi! Hope you're having a blast in Grad school & enjoying London!) and unveiled Tsubasa and Laura's duet that was originally a solo performed by Yoonjung.

I hope you will join us this week for another excerpt of Chameleon titled "Converge" and its the big group section with a fusion of dance styles ranging from Flamenco, Balinese, Postmodern dance, Japanese folk dance, and as always all the stories my current dancers bring to the piece!
This piece seems to evolve by the locations (professional theaters, dance studios, outdoor stage, community centers, gyms, and a cafeteria!), cast (we've understudied each other's parts, substituted, and performed it in so many times in different settings), lighting (or no lighting), with and without projection! hahaha...


Here are the details for this week!
CoolNY 2012 FESTIVAL
Program E
Feb. 2, 2012 & Feb. 4, 2012
7-8:30 pm
White Wave JOHN RYAN THEATRE, 25 Jay Street, DUMBO, BROOKLYN

Directions: F train to York Street (1st stop in Brooklyn!)
Here's a map!




View Larger Map


Some of the pics from last year's festival!
Photo Credit: Yi Chun Wu

Canadian Send off party & Benefit Performance

June 29, 2011
Location:

Young Dancers in Repertory

5602 Fifth Avenue

Brooklyn, New York

Pre-performance Q+A and mini dance workshop starting at 6!
Performance will start around 7:15 pm
Come early to get a seat! Limited Seating.
Wine, Cheese, Snacks following the performance.

$10-15 Suggested Donation
*All proceeds will go towards transportation, accommodation, and performer stipends for our tour.

Catch the full length version of Chameleon before we go on the road!

AHDC is heading off to Toronto this summer to perform at the Toronto Fringe Festival. We will be taking Chameleon, the experience of global citizens there and can't wait to share it with the multicultural Toronto audience.

Young Dancers in Repertory has graciously opened up their space to us for a informal Benefit performance & send off party.

Here's the FB invite for the performances in Toronto, please forward them to friends and family that you know in Toronto: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191438540904473


Photo credit: Nicholas Fox

Pictures from Cool NY 2011

We performed a short excerpt from Chameleon at the Cool New York Dance Festival in February 2011 and I received the CD of pictures taken during the performances. I want to share them with you because the pictures came out amazing.

Photography by Yi-Chun Wu

If you're in Toronto, Please save the dates to see Chameleon in your city!

July 6, 2011 Dance Workshop at O.I.P. Dance Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada. 4-6 pm. C$20 per person

July 6-17, 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival. Toronto, ON, Canada. http://www.fringetoronto.com/
Location: Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79A Saint George Street, Toronto, ON, Canada
C$10

Friday, July 8, 2011 - 10:30pm - 11:30pm
Sunday, July 10, 2011 - 7:15pm - 8:15pm
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Thursday, July 14, 2011 - 11:15pm - Friday, July 15, 2011 - 12:15am
Friday, July 15, 2011 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Sunday, July 17, 2011 - 5:45pm - 6:45pm

(If you're a TCK in Toronto - check out the Toronto Third Culture Kids group on Facebook!)