I wanted to blog about it because I usually only post about my Decembers, and this happened in April. This deserves a special post anyway. Enjoy!~
Saturday 20 April 2024
Breeze Shelters, Singapore
I first heard of the event through the grapevines like how dance used to be. It was close to the date and I didn't know if I could make it. Brought an extra shirt anyway in case lol.
Frankly, I was a bit worried when I found out about this because well.. 1) It has been raining in Singapore recently and I don't know if we're down to dance through it [is it feeling-feeling Step Up movies?!]
2) I'm not sure if a lot of Singaporean dancers/kpoppers will show up. While I want to welcome everyone, it will be sad if there is a lack of local representation!! This is Gotoe's first time in SG and I didn't want him to think lowly of us, or have our version look pathetic.
Of course I hoped for the best but realistically, we have lesser space/time/population than many other countries. That's even before we add more filters like "dancers" "kpop" and deeper categories like "actually in Singapore right now" "brave enough to dance in public" etc.
Maybe I'm getting old and starting to worry too much!! I can't help it, it's something I care about and I tend to overthink.
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| Candid group shot, © Z-Axis / @xxzxxan |
Pre-Event
As expected, I got lost. Went rounds at MBS only to give up and relying on fellow kpoppers to point me to the right direction. Thank you to those who helped!. You know who you are ;)
My video is below!. You can watch my not-so-epic adventure below. Like I said in the video, I could feel myself getting warmer when I was getting closer to the right direction. Legit felt the spirit deep down in my heart!! Big vibes!~
RDP Part 1
Eventually I found the place and just joined the circle. First impression: impressive rig set up with the sound and lights, and the tension was already high!! I was so happy!. People were dancing, cheering each other, singing along, waving their lightsticks. I quickly found a safe place to put my bags and went off to join the RDP.
You can watch the first RPD session below!. This session was done mostly as a collaboration with GoToe, who came all the way from Korea. He is one of the OG Kpop/Dance Youtubers, and in my opinion, still the most successful. Very honoured to finally be on his channel :')
RDP Part 2
There was a quick intermission with a kpop drum cover performance by Clyve Choo, followed by some local Kpop Dance Cover crews. It was a nice breather. That being said, the mood and energy level never died.
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| GRID Crew Performance, © Z-Axis / @xxzxxan |
See if you can find me!. Haha. I also managed to find more friends who were there, and have random chats. There were quite a number of passersby and they were supportive!! Really appreciate that they'd take some time out of their night to check out what we do~~
The second round of RDP then began, you can watch it below.
Before we knew it, the second session was over. There was then a drum-dance along segment, followed by a filming of Z-axis's latest cover project. You can watch it here. They did the full version of Chungha's latest song titled "I'm Ready". Totally slayed if you ask me ;)
Post-Event
The night ended with a group photo-taking. Gotta get that 인증샷!~
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| All photos courtesy of Z-Axis :) |
Everyone then went on to do their own thing, so I joined the unofficial queue to take my photo with Gotoe. Thank you Ram for helping me take the pictures!!
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| Beautiful view at the back and funny photobombs as well :3 |
Since I rushed over, I didn't have time to prepare a proper gift for him but he was thankful nonetheless. I just wanted to give him a Singaporean product, hope he likes it!.
Our chat was brief but I managed to say whatever I wanted to say to him. I'm so glad I went. Today's TMI: 첫 인상!. He is actually cooler than I expected. Don't get me wrong, he's still funny and crazy like in his videos and online personality but ngl I was a bit starstruck.
After meeting him I think my respect for him grew even more. Awesome that we got to cross paths on this fateful night. Thank you once again for coming to Singapore and all that you do for the K-pop/K-Dance/K-tube scene!. You are amazing :)
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| 미안 I had to crop some people out for this lol |
Oh. I managed to bring a tiny Singapore flag and brought it out for the group photo. Some others brought their fandom lightsticks. I am proud that we came prepared!!
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| Singapore Pride! Credit: Z-Axis |
While kpop is on the rise and a lot more normalized these days, I know some would still say that k-pop is stupid and k-dance is not a "real genre". Many still look at us unfavourably due to bad apples, online hearsays, or just limitations be it self-induced such as ingrained stereotypes and narrow-mindedness, or external problems such as lack of access to proper channels, poor structural support etc.
Documentaries love to paint the industry as something young, silly and toxic. In my opinion, there are pros and cons in everything. I think that everyone should experience kpop/kdance scene for at least once in their life and see it for themselves before passing judgement. You may be surprised!
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| 그래 wolf, 내가 wolf! Awouuuu~ © Z-axis. |
Of course you might read this and think "EZT is a kpophead that's why she'd say this", but think about it. People of all backgrounds: nationality/race/religion/economic/gender/MBTIs [lol] all come to one place and -as though magically- know the same choreography and can dance together. Usually, happily.
Some of these people I've seen often but never spoken with nor do I know their names. But what's for sure is I've had precious memories with them and they were a part of my life.
Personal feelings aside, I'd rather see people regardless of age get together and be active in a safe [and most times, encouraging] environment. All these, for usually free-of-charge!. :D
For all we know if kpop didn't exist we might all be fat lonely people engaging in debauchery!! Okay maybe some of us will have normal lives. To each their own, I suppose.
Speaking for myself, I may not boast a large following or gotten rich, but Kpop/KDance has definitely impacted my life and me as a person, and taken it to the next level #iykyk ᄏ
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| Tonight, such a beautiful night~ © Z-Axis |
Still feels unreal [and lowkey] illegal to me but whatever. Overall it was a wonderful night back out and a fantastic way to boost the rest of 75% of the year. ^^ \m/
Crazy how I've been k-pop dancing since 2010, and it's amazing to see how far we've come. What the hell, who would've thought!. We were just doing what we love!! So touching lol.
We still have a long way to go. Over the years dues have been paid, and hopefully in time to come life will reward our efforts. I hope that whenever you feel discouraged you will pick yourself back up and continue FIGHTING. 사랑해요!~
Thank you for reading my blog. Thank you to everyone who runs and supports events. All contents are solely mine, if re-quoted please credit back to this blog :)
© EZTS8.
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