Actfa IHDC Program by Clarice Jena Luo

"Will you be my dance partner?"

It took a single question to bring two people together in the pursuit of what was casually labelled as an interest or more commonly thought of as a pastime. Never underestimate the simplest of questions though, for it can make the greatest of changes. Fortunately for myself, this one particular question became the stimulant to search and re-ignite a passion that I had assumed to hold minimal significance in my life.
I first came in contact with Salsa over a week ago with my dance senior from college who first proposed the idea of picking up Salsa as a hobby by asking if I would like to be his dance partner. This happened just over a week ago and it marked the start of a journey of self-discovery. It took that one session for me to realise that dance is still a defining and essential part of me that I wish to nurture and develop. Having only danced with a classical background throughout most of my life, the world of dance that I had previously known was a heavily structured and regimented dance form that provided very little space for self-expression and experimentation. ACTFA provided me with a much-needed and refreshing change to my perspective of dance and what the human physical body is capable of doing. That very same day, my dance senior and I both made the decision to join ACTFA's classes on a regular basis.
The decision to take up the IHDC course at ACTFA was a choice that I had to think through very carefully as it was a decision that would affect my short and long term plans with regards to my direction in life. The instructors and students at ACTFA provided me with insight that I needed to make a well-informed decision. Several of them were encouraging and enthusiastic, which made classes very enjoyable. From my first day at ACTFA, I was able to pick up some of the basic and intermediate steps of Salsa. I also especially enjoyed the advanced Salsa Shine class which was challenging as well as fulfilling at the same time. The classes made me more aware of my body's co-ordination, mental agility, physical stamina and focus. The instructors were extremely helpful especially to enquiries and they accommodated sufficiently to the needs of students, particularly if the class had new beginners. One thing I must point out is the mutual respect that students and instructors share with another; it was very comforting to see that the environment is highly condusive for learning and creating genuine friendships with fellow dancers.
Although it was not easy putting up with classes on consecutive days, I look forward to each and every single one of them because I relish the challenge and the visible results I get out of each of them. Yoga and stretching exercises as well as body isolation classes are very helpful classes in terms of improving flexibility and training the mind and body to focus its energy simultaneously. Call me masochistic if you will, but I obtain a tremendous sense of accomplishment from simple things such as forcing myself into a front split or being able to leave the class feeling like my body will definitely ache the next day. As my ballet teacher always used to say: If there's no pain, then there's no gain! Well okay, the disclaimer here is that it doesn't mean that I am severely injury-prone nor will l consciously inflict pain upon myself, but instead, the effort put into working the body will definitely prove worthy of the results during execution of the dance moves.
Despite having previous dance experience, there were a few challenges that I came across while working on some of the classes over the week. In fact, ironically, having a classical dance background does not always equate to being able to pick dances up quickly and might instead prove detrimental. I found myself being unable to get rid of my classical posture during exercises that required a lot of chest and shoulder moement. Body isolation classes pose the most challenge to me as they require massive amounts of muscle control and body awareness. I had to get rid of my previous muscle memory attached to executing ballet moves and focus on keeping an open, unaffected and neutral body.



Undoubtedly, classes at ACTFA have proved to be beneficial and I am looking forward to being assimilated into the school's dancing culture as well as seeing improvement to my dancing in the long-term. I hope to constantly be learning and open to new challenges along the way towards being a diverse and strong performer.