ONE DAY EQUATORIAL LINE DANCE CARNIVAL 2004

It's over! It's done! I have finished the competition I have been waiting this whole year! (Well, a condensed version of it, anyway)

This competition had invited a famous line dance group Masters In Line to judge the competition. The team consisted of 3 men and 1 woman; all very talented dancers and superb choreographers.

My category, Open Individual - Amateur, had a total of 6 participants. There were semis to go through, during which there are 2 heats per dance (3 persons per heat); and we have to dance the same dance twice. First time during our own heat, we danced the full song; second time everyone dances on the floor together for about 1 minute.

It was a real joy to hear that I made it to the finals! I had been soooooo dreading that I would be eliminated!

I gave it my all and everyone said I did really well. The results finally came out after dinner:

I got SECOND placing!!!!

Everyone was telling me that they expected me to get first though... my line dance teacher Teresa (who was furious that I didn't get first - she kept saying the judges were cock-eyed); my captain Mei Ling (who really thought I did the best on the floor); the girl who did get first was good, but even she herself said she thought I would get first. To be honest, I don't know what to think because I obviously did not watch her dance when I was dancing on the floor at the same time, so there's nothing for me to compare to. It was my second dance that impressed everyone; a dance called Cobra to the song Jumpin' by Liberty X (very funky). I think my first dance set me back - a dance called Country 2 Step to the song I Just Want My Baby Back by Jerry Kilgore (typical country music). Helen said my variations were too repetitive to the point of being monotonous. But my Cobra was apparently the best on the floor.

Anyway, second placing isn't so bad... I got a cash voucher of RM150, a free night's stay at Equatorial Bangi, and a food hamper!

A lot of people have also come up to me and said that I have improved tremendously since last year. Last year, I went into the Bangi comp alone and unguided; I made it to the finals, but I failed there of course, having no training and no foundation. This year, I surprised everyone by giving it a very hard fight to the top in an open category. I surprised even myself. Only the day before I was praying not to get fourth place (I thought there were only four competitors in my category then). Only that very morning I was struggling to complete a particular step in Cobra without teetering and falling over. And the whole day while hyperventilating, I was praying that I don't revert back to what coach calls my 'sotong' arms (which was a dominant problem in my dancing before this) under stress.

The most important thing to me is that my own coach Bronya said I deserved first place. That means more to me than the placing I actually got, because she's not an easy person to impress. During training, she is of course very encouraging but she's not the type to mince her words or give false flattery. She has gotten angry with the team before for screwing up, and she has told us off many times. Whenever I practise my individual dances, she yells often at me (unsurprisingly). But competition time, she is the most supportive person I could ever find. She won't give us false hopes, but if she thinks we deserve to win, then she'd say so.

All I'm praying now is that with all these flattery, I don't get too big for my dancing boots. Hehehe.

As for the team, the WILD WEST BABES got.... FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!

Which we obviously DESERVE!!!!!!!!! We beat the team that beat us in the Dance Option competition!!!!!!!

Other noteworthy winners: Yvonne from my team was the champion for her category , 45 years and above, whereas Bronya shared top placing in the Open Individual - Advanced and Professionals with another teacher. Yvonne is of course ecstatic, as we are for her. Bronya on the other hand, is not too happy with the placing. It does sound rather ridiculous to have tied placing in a competition like this. It seems as if the judges merely submitted the marks and the tally was used directly for placing, instead of deliberating on it for a while before deciding who the champions are. Personally, I think she deserves first placing on her own. She's a wonderful dancer, and the only problems she had was forgetting the steps (very common - in fact all the people in her category did, considering the stepsheet is not a very easy one to follow. Heck, I forgot my steps quite a often during Cobra in my semis although I managed to cover them up) but she managed to cover them up. No one else could touch her sharpness and fluidity.

Well, it was a great night... hope for another comp like this next year!

PS: Special thanks to Wai Seng for taking the trouble to travel all the way to Bangi to watch and support!