Original Photo from Ayel Mari

It's my favourite time of the year again, which is summer! This year, I have four months because my school implemented the calendar shift from June to August. Summer means dance classes, one of my favourite things to write about.

I went back to Groove Central for their summer workshop and there was no way I didn't want to be part of their 10-year anniversary. Sure, I was only there last year but since then, they've helped me improve as a dancer.

I enrolled myself in two classes, Urban and Vis A Vis. Urban, because I watched their performance last year (when the class was still called 'Urban Theater') and I got interested in the style and how it somehow tells a story. The class was headed by coach Chips from UPeepz. I signed up for Vis A Vis because I wanted that angas feel to the choreography, also because I wanted to go under coach Vimi and coach Ken. Honestly, I wanted to enroll in more classes but it was expensive and I might push myself too much.

Urban  © Raul Ceralde Supnet

Since I enrolled in two classes, I met tons of new friends. I always think that there's a "small world" factor for those I meet. Every summer, there's always someone who I meet who is apparently also friends with someone I know. I'm not saying it's a bad thing but it's usually a way I start conversations.

This summer helped my character as a dancer much more than I expected. I saw what I was missing all this time; confidence. For as long as I've been dancing I've been too timid but also prideful. I learned that when I'm performing or even just freestyling in my room, I've got to have self-confidence. Believe that I can do the thing I love. Though I need to keep in mind that I'm not the best and there's always room for improvement. Until now, I'm still very terrified of dancing alone in front of an audience but it's reduced now (hopefully). I still don't want to be forced into a cypher, though.

Vis A Vis  © Ken Laput

I want to thank Groove Central for letting me be part of their 10th anniversary and my coaches and classmates! All of them made the first two months of my summer splendid!

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