Dance Team

So it has been about a year since I've last written anything here... I figured I'd never go back to this blog, I didn't ever have time. Well, that's not true, I have time, but I got bored. It was a phase. I also have to do write a blog for English class, but it's really dumb and pointless. Right now, I just need to rant somewhere other than twitter because my thoughts are more than 140 characters long.

So I was on my school's dance team last year, and I still have to audition this year if I want to get in.. That being said, my school has a homecoming event, called Flaming P. In honor of my school's name, Punahou, we have this huge P that we light on fire during the night. Before they do that, the dance team, the cheerleaders, and other random entertainment acts perform. Since I was on dance team last year, I get to dance at Flaming P this year. I've wanted to dance at this event for quite a few years, so you could imagine, I was quite excited... was.

What happened? One might ask. Well my coach said we were going to do a dance we did last year, which was to Shake It Off (by the queen, Taylor Swift) and it was an extremely peppy, jazzy, dance routine. I normally don't like those kinds of dances, but I really enjoyed that one. So today I walk into the studio at early o'clock, and my coach says another student has choreographed a dance, and asked everyone if we wanted to learn her dance. We unanimously wanted to learn a new dance (I don't know why, it's so much work to learn new stuff). I was down to learn a new dance, but I soon found out is HIP HOP. Like, are you kidding me? I can't hip hop. I had to learn the dance anyways, so it was no use complaining. This dance is so suggestive, and hip hop to the max, and I had such difficulties trying to do it. Here's where I have problems.

1.Everyone else can hip hop. They take classes, and know the style. Meanwhile, I'm this tall ballerina, with long legs and toes meant to be pointed. Even my close friend who also has a body type like my own looked better doing it than me.

2. It will look TERRIBLE in the situation. It's mostly all standing up, and tight body movements will be lost in the dark. Shake It Off has many large body movements because it's jazz. It looks impressive, and has a bright vibe to the dance.

3. I can't get the choreography. It's humiliating; literally everyone else looks like they know what they're doing, and can rock this dance. I forget the steps in the middle of the dance, have to watch someone else, and then I'm completely late. Yeah, being late is just a Ballet Hawaii thing. We dance off the music so we can hit that extension, or finish the penche. Apparently that was terrible training for hip hop.

4. No hate on the choreography, but I dislike the choreography. It just doesn't have a vibe I can connect to (it's because I'm not a stripper jk). I like showing of my jumps, turns (which we can't do at Flaming P because it's in grass), and extensions.

5. I have the "wrong" body type. I touched on it earlier, but my friend and I fairly tall compared to the rest of the team. I have really long legs and a this torso, which is usually amazing, but I look out of place on the team. The other girls all have a similar body type; short (5'2 ish), not really too thin, feet that look better flexed, and are actually friends with each other. 

I guess I just need to vent somewhere, because nothing I do can change anything. I just have to focus on drilling the choreography and getting the vibe of the dance. I feel uneasy though, because his rehearsal felt like an audition for me for next season, and I've completely ruined my chance. If I do get in, I feel like this is how it will be learning every new dance, and I don't want to ever be in that position again. I still have to finish my choreography for the audition. I'm dancing to One Direction - Drag Me Down, and it's probably the only pop song I actually like. I don't feel any better about it now that I've wrote here, but if I get in, and I have a hard time learning a dance, I'll know how far I've come.

Song of the Day: Imagine Dragons- Warriors

Song of the day: Imagine Dragons- Warriors

Ok, I really am digging this song. I love Imagine Dragons. I love the "new direction" they're taking. Sort of a darker side, and I love it! I remember hearing about Night Visions being released, and I checked it out. Boy, I couldn't get enough. I love the edginess and rasp of Dan Reynolds' voice. I was in love with Radioactive, of course, and I really liked On Top of the World, and Amsterdam. I think the flow of their peak popularity is really interesting. For one, they didn't become super popular until almost a year after Night Visions came out, and a lot of the songs that are popular were songs that were released before Night Visions, like It's Time. I also don't get what genre they are. Some songs sound alternative, some indie, but they're hardly indie anymore.

I just recently listened to Warriors in depth. I first listened to it because Imagine Dragons tweeted about the collab with League of Legends and linked the video to the music video, which was I guess was for the LoL 2014 World Championship. I didn't really listen in depth to it at that time, but I later ended up seeing a youtuber tweet about it again, so I decided to listen to it in more depth. I LOVED it!!! I think it matches the spirit of LoL, and the title really sums up the vibe. I can dig it. I can shamefully say that I've been wanting to start playing LoL for a while,but one of my favorite bands was probably the selling point. I'm seriously a noob kooking scrub (a compilation of slang for being terrible) at video games, I was always raised to "stay away from the device that will consume your life!". Making a connection between things I like is kind of easing me into it.

So, the actual song. I love the lyrics: "We are the warriors that built this town". It's a very bold and prideful statement, it context. The words are about: fighting hard, and getting what you want, and thriving, literally or metaphorically. Even though I don't really understand LoL, I get that to win the game with your team you have to be strategic and use intense concentration. It's hard work, but that's what it will take to win. Metaphorically, in another context it's saying "Be unique. Don't listen to anyone else but yourself." The first verse goes 

"As a child, you would wait, and watch from far away,

But you always knew that you'd be the one

To work while they all play."

This is (literally) about working while everyone else is just playing, but I think it means that everyone else is doing the same thing (play) but you are the only one who can change yourself and be different (working). In other words, Imagine Dragons is telling people to be hipster... just kidding... that's just the way my brain works.

Later,

-Yummi

Chinese Homestay

Hi! So this fine evening I'm listening to Happy Little Pill bu Troye Sivan. I just got home from jazz class, tired as ever, and inspired by something, but I don't know what. Maybe my inspiration doesn't even exist, and the lack of it will spark an idea in my mind. 

So this past weekend I was selected to host a student from my schools sister school in Shanghai, China! I was debating for a long time whether I wanted the responsibility of another kid in out life for a week. I originally didn't want to do this because of an experience having a shadow follow me around of a student that got into my school, but wanted to get a feel for it first. The "problem" was, I knew this girl, but only small kine, and this girl was super shy. Aside from that, my friends and I are not quiet people, nor censored social butterflies. To say the least, it was a little terrible. I was such a failure at the task! That made me not want to do it at all. I also felt like I wanted my own personal space at home, not having to entertain another child as well.

None the less, I still decided to do it. I have to admit, it's a really cool experience, but what really sold me was my Chinese teacher. She was freaking out about how she needed only one more host, and she really wanted me to do it, so, like the good obedient xue sheng (student) I was, I kind of did it for my teacher. I love her deary, and her class as well, (I had her as a teacher last year as well) so I turned the form in. 

Now I'm "in", so to say, and I'm glad I did it. I guess this is probably an experience of a lifetime, even though I'm not even the one going to a entirely different country! Just meeting kids from another country is great exposure, and I don't know where else I'd do it. I'm really looking forward to doing it, I expect to have fun, especially because my mom and I are planning all these fun acivities, and whatnot. After they go home, I'll definitely make a note to write about it again. At this point, I'm all done listening to TRXYE, so I guess that's my reason to end this note and go jam to Zedd now.

-Thanks for getting this of my mind, Yummi 

Stereotypes?

Hi! It's been a while. Happy Friday! School's been busy, keeps me from doing things I want to do. I think the worst thing is, in your free time, I might find something cool, and then I'm super inspired to blog, but I don't have the time. Right now for instance, I haven't found something really cool, or been really inspired, I just feel like writing. It's sort of inspirational. Its 9:30 at night, it's raining. Muggy. I'm wearing a dress. Does that never feel inspirational to you?

Anyways, what I was going to write about. Dancers are often very badly stereotyped. I have personally gotten the bad end of the stick; people tend to be pretty nice and respectful here in the islands, but I know in other places it's not as easy. Just today, in one of my classes, we basically got to ask questions about one person. When it was my turn, I got asked a question: what is your favorite outdoor activity? I though about it for a second; I answered, hiking. Someone else asked me: what is your favorite indoor activity? This girl knew perfectly who I was, and I know she was just wanted to see if I said dancing or not. Me, being put on the spot, couldn't think of anything, so I just said dance. A bunch of other people in my class just said something like "Oh, of course." The people who didn't know me said something like "Oh no wonder, she looks like a dancer. I was somewhat taken aback, I never really get stereotyped like that. My body is not a stamp of a "dancer body," it's just, I don't know. It's just me. I guess my body just looks like a "dancer body" because I've dance a whole bunch. I can summarize my, and many people's other thoughts: I don't like stereotypes. I don't mind being known as a dancer, but I don't think people realize that it's not all I ever do. If it was all I wanted to do I'd be training professionally.

I always feel pressured when I do dancer things in public (crack my ankles, toe knuckles, go on releve) I feel self-conscious, like someone watching me knows I'm doing something that a normal person does. One of my closest friends does dancer things all over the place and I don't know how she does it. I guess I don't know how she wears floral patterned jeans and patterned Converse either. My other friends always question us, which I'm ok with, and they always want us to do a really high kick or something, and I don't mind that, but it's kind of annoying. I mean, dancers are just human. That was a terrible explanation about stereotypes, but I felt like writing about this, its been bothering me. Go look at some other stories, there are better ones. I'm positive they're better:)

Song of the Day: Tristam- Once Again

So I guess I want to start of this blog with a series of posts I'll do called Song of the Day. It's probably going to most of the blog, but that's okay. If you don't want to hear about music, that's okay too.

Today's song of the day: Once Again by Tristam.

https://soundcloud.com/monstercat/tristam-once-again

I really enjoy this song, as I'm writing this, I'm listening to the song. I also really like EDM, and Monstercat is also pretty chill, so I'l probably have Mostercat frequently here. So, about Tristam and me. I knew who Tristam was before I really listened to his songs a lot, of course, listening to Monstercat, I would. I really got into his music because of a Youtuber by the name of PyroPuncher (See? Told you I was a nerd). I one of his livestreams he played a Tristam song (I forget which) and I really enjoyed it, so I went and listend to more Tristam after that stream. Boy, am I glad I did that. I found all of his amazing songs, and I've put him on my "favorite artists" mental list. I think he's a great singer, the voice goes great with his music. I must say, the drops kind of all sound the same, but that doesn't EVER keep me fro listening to them. They're amazing, what can say? 

So, why I like Once Again? Well for one, I really love his voice in this song. His words almost sound slurred, like he just woke up. In the singing parts I really like the distant staccato, over the calm vocals. The fade of the vocals into the drops is really calming too. I really enjoy the beginning where the piano is featured. It sets the mood of the song quite nicely. The drops kind of remind me of trying to push out of whatever troubles the song talks about, in your own eyes.

To me, the lyrics say: we can make it out of terrible situations.The lyrics "we can build it once again" makes me feel like something destroyed can be fixed, no matter how hard it is. The lyrics "We'll calmly walk away, walk away from the fray" makes it feel like the situation is something we've caused, but we have to be able to, and will build it once again.

XOXO, yummi

Intro

Hi! I'm yummi, which is a play off of my middle name. I'm a teenage girl from O'ahu, Hawaii, who really has no idea what she's doing. Don't ask, I won't know. I want to just use this blog to talk about random things that I feel like talking about. There isn't really a category this might fit into, just random things that may in some way, shape, or form fit into my life. I like to talk about music, dance, books, clothes, I don't really know. I'm kind of a nerd, that may take a form in this blog, I don't know. If you may have realized, I'm not sure about a lot of things.

So, a bit about myself: I'm a dancer, I've done ballet since I was three years old, and jazz since I was eleven, as well as other random dance classes, hip-hop, lyrical, contemp, modern, etc. I love music, I play the piano, clarinet, and ukulele. Wow I feel like I'm writing a get-to-know-you paper assigned by my teachers in the beginning of the school year. Oh yeah, I started school about a week ago, and it kind of sucks. Go figure. I'm also learning to play the guitar, but I'm nowhere near being even decent. I also love shopping, but I'm a girl, so that may or may not be obvious... yeah. Anyways, I like stores like Brandy Melville, PacSun, Vans, etc. I've recently been really into Free People too, but that's too expensive for me to even think about buying their clothes. Tear ;(

So that's kind of about me, I'll probably write something else about music, but you've probably already seen it. Under the assumption someone sees this anyways. Oh well, it's human to talk to yourself, right? I don't know.