I have this project with Nestle and Brainbeam events and i must say, i am lucky to be getting work these days! Times are hard but God is so good to be giving me projects like these! Went to Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Cebu (tomorrow) , Pampanga (Nov 15) and Cavite next saturday! Exciting but tiring as well! I am lucky to have this job! I get to touch people and they get to learn something from me and i from them! Happy life!
Met Chef Jeremy, art teacher Anna Knicolai, Voice teacher Joel Alinsunurin and Connie from Golds Gym and it has all been fun fun fun! We will surely miss each other when all this is over! I have missed my classes at Golds, Globe, Peak and Polo Club because of all these out of town trips but i need this, i guess! To break my routine sometimes and to shake me up so that i have more belly energy to dance with my regular students again!
Lord give me strength to do all that i have to do!
I have also realized that i am really “Makapal na ang mukha” in a good way! I dont get nervous anymore when i have to speak in front of a group! Which is great since my job entails me to be really candid and energetic! I just get the mic and talk and i actually enjoy doing this! Sigh! Thank God I am a people-person!!
Last November 5, Summer and i were hired to dance as bellydancers (ano pa nga ba?? lol) for the movie Tanging Ina Part 2! Not sure if you’ll see me, i hope so! Relatively quick shoot as compared to Agent x44 when i did it last last year! 3 days in Pampanga and don’t blink at all, because you will only see me for 2 seconds, and it was hazy lighting because it was a club scene, lol!
Appl, Jen and Osang accompanied us and we had great fun! But i hope Jen and Osang will one day forgive me, because Summer and i kept on having our pics taken with AiAi and Eugene Domingo when they also wanted to take pictures with them! Sorry, i really forgot!!
It will be shown Christmas time in time for the Metro Manila Film Festival! Watch it pls? And do not blink!!
Last nov 9, I conducted the 1st performer workshop at Peak and i am happy that there were 4 girls who were willing to face their fears and learn how to be a better performer by joining me in this workshop!
This is not your normal workshop as there were invited judeges to rate your performance and tell it to you in your face, whether you lack facial expression or you should have added more slow movements, etc. Plus, we had a video and a tv so we could easily see how we look as we perform!
Kudos to Joyce, Dulce, Kristine and Mel!
Bellydance really changes lives! I am so happy bellydance found me!
1. The person who cares the most loses the most, and im not talking about relationships ( i believe that love is should be shared and by giving, you receive more love) I am actually talking about work. I mean, if you care about a job, and you screw it up (whether your fault or not, it doesnt matter), you lose a part of yourself…
This happened to me recently. I cared so much about the project, i wanted it to work thinking that people were depending on me. I worked fast, did a good job, and then i learn that i am just one of the people they asked for help… would have helped me if i knew where i stood, so next time, i will ask first - “APART FROM ME, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE????”
I believe that everything happens for a reason and that all is not in vain if we learn something from our negative experiences. Lesson learned. Thank you!
I feel sad. A client, Apple, asked me one time, how does one become a professional dancer? And i replied, if you get paid to perform, you’re professionally dancing already therefore, you are a professional dancer right??
But i beg to disagree! Being a professional is different from just dancing and getting paid to do it. A professional cares what other people think of them, a professional knows that you don’t use people just to get ahead in your career, and most of all, a professional practices humility!
All the best dancers started out as beginners. We should not think that we are the best, because there will always be someone better than us. I have encountered a lot of aspiring dancers who forgot to be grateful to their teachers, and that is very sad. Once you start thinking you have nothing more to learn, that is the end of you.
I had an encounter with an international dancer, and she put on a lot of airs and demanded a lot. I was surprised and discussed it with a friend. So, my friend goes, “Would i ever get to where she is now in her career? You know so i can throw my weight around and feel superior ” Hahaha! I hope i never get to be like that dancer. If you are exceptionally good, it does not matter if you are not acknowledged the way you want it! You are good and other people will see that without your demanding for their attention. Neither talent nor fame gives you the right to throw your weight around!
I am that old, i know that product “pagoda cold wave lotion”, i guess you can guess how old i am, hahaha! Whenever i say that name, what i mean is i’m pagod, or i’m tired. Hahaha! I guess it kinda stuck because when i was still with Whiplash, i got exposed to gay lingo and we’d say, janet Jackson = mainit (hot), emmias/muk ap = make-up, lafang = eat, Judith Banal = panalo (winner), and goda = pagod (tired), but for me , it will still be pagoda cold wave lotion (i can still remember the commercial with this girl’s really bouncy curls bobbing up and down as she’s dancing with an imaginary partner in a disco, funny talaga!!
But wait, why am i pagoda? My son’s yaya left for three weeks (she’s back now), im teaching kids this summer 3x a week and their energy is really another level but i love them, theyre really cute and lovable, and practicing for bellyfest (june 28 show at the Glorietta), choreographed 6 dances just this month, and added mon and thu 11Am bellydance classes at peak so its an additional load on my schedule. Kinda hard on my back already, i cannot carry my son anymore, uhm, i really be shouldnt because HE’S 4 YEARS OLD NA PALA AND NAGPAPAKARGA PA!!
But i am not complaining! I like that i am busy but of course i miss my daytime naps! Ooohhh, i love to sleep, i once slept for 20 hours straight! I was so tired that time because we had a big show. BUTI NAGISING PA AKO!!
Hey, may i just write this so it’s on record? I love the bellyfest dancers, all the people who are dancing for the Bellyfest, my God, you are the best! The back up dancers are so professional and gorgeous (uy!!) and the lead dancers are needless to say, professional and hardworking and gorgeous too (hahaha)!
I handpicked the dancers this time (no auditions like before) and i have no regrets! I just adore their intensity and dedication to the group. I guess it helped that i know all of them already and that there is no ME but just WE.
In a group dance, the choreographer has to be respected as the authority and only then will there be unity. In any group, we have to respect the leader, or else bow out of the group gracefully.
Thank God, He has blessed me with different experiences, and because of that, i am stronger now, i can foresee (a little what problems may arise, and i am a better judge of character now.
Talent alone does not make a dancer, character does.
If only i could, i would like to educate clients on what not to say when they ask for performers’ rates. I usually get asked my rates and sometimes, it makes me feel bad when i get comments like “ang mahal naman!” (it is so expensive) because i guess, they dont realize that what they are actually saying is “you are not worth that much”.
Many performers feel hurt when they hear this, me included, so I hope clients will be more sensitive. If you will ask for someone’s talent fee, you can just say, if you really can’t afford it, “I’m sorry, i really would like to get you for our event, but we can not afford it.” That sounds so much better than “Ang mahal naman!!”
My friend, Marylene, asked me to do this video for her company, Hot Occasions, and here it is! We shot it at Mr. Hardinero along Quezon Ave, we actually performed it at least 10 times, may close up, long shot, reaction shot, etc. It was an experience
Do you know that i love magazines and books?? I mean, my dream job is working for a magazine and just knowing what is in and what is out and just widening my horizons and just touching paper and writing…… I even love the smell of paper!! Hahaha!
Anyway, i visited Summit media office a month ago and i was in awe! I was starstruck because I met the editors of Marie Claire, Cosmo and OK Mag which heretofore, i have only seen in magazines! When i was still dancing for ASAP, SOP, Keep on Dancing, etc. I dont normally get starstruck, hahaha! So i guess, i really love magazines, huh?
Anyway, that is my dream job, i took up Mass Com and i was the associate editor of our Journalism class, and i loved every part of it! Guess if I am not a dancer, I would be a writer, I wish!!
