Hip Hop Meets Ballet

After having had a few months off dance class, I decided to dive right back in with Craig's Save the Last Dance workshop at Frame yesterday.

Yes, I, someone with no ballet experience whatsoever (I tried one class when I was four, told the teacher that I hated it and that my mother said it was fine and never went back), decided to try to learn the Juilliard audition piece in two hours.



Clearly something that was never going to happen. My hip hop's not that great either, though I know, in my younger days, there've been times when I've been on fire and absolutely nailed the piece at the last moment, giving my instructor no end of joy.

I may have forgotten his name, but, sir, please know that the comments you made at my very last dance class that summer have stayed with me and made me continue with street dance, even if I'm doing it purely for fitness and fun.

In any case, it was an incredibly fun if frustrating workshop. My brain simply cannot cope with arm and leg movements simultaneously, which is very annoying for someone like me, as I've done dance for so long, and that is my single, biggest problem.

Still, I managed, with my arms doing whatever felt right when I wasn't thinking too hard.

But I can tell you: it's hard. So when I found this video of former Miami City Ballet Principal Alex Wong off So You Think You Can Dance dancing some amazing hip hop, I was completely blown away. This video doesn't include the rehearsal segment where Alex is just about freaking out because he's so out of his element, so when you put this into context, it's just... whoa. Dude would have won if he hadn't been injured, I swear.