Well, hello friends. For those of you who want an update on my life in the past year. This is it! Its going to be ridiculously long but an insane amount of stuff has happened recently and I think that enough of my friends see my FB output + videos to hope that you will also take some time out of your day to read this mini novella Im about to write. I tagged you in this post if: you were an integral part of this journey and just because I didnt write about you doesnt mean that I dont think about you and appreciate what you brought into my life. Trust me, your good energy helped me through tough times. I am employed, a powerful dancer, a judge, an MC, a student, a teacher, a lover, a budding photographer, and many other things because of you amazing people. Eventually, I hope to do the same for you and others who wont understand the importance of a smile and honest conversation until after theyve become whole. Also, apparently FB has a tagging limit so if I didnt tag you Im sorry!!!!!!! First things first, I am back from the Bay. Ive been back in Chino Hills since April but I wanted to be really low key about it because I needed to get my life stuff together before I go out and see all of you again. Anyways, after I graduated from UCI and from my Teaching English Abroad program last year my soul needed to breathe in a different place. Luckily, my good friend Ryan allowed me to stay at his place pretty much rent free so that I could explore the idea of living up in the Northern part of California. It turned out to be a gift that I will never forget. For the first month, I wasnt dancing much but I was going out to live music shows, clubs, bars where there were so many new dancers and dancing people and eventually trying to learn as much as I could about the culture before popping. Luckily, I was able to hook up with Pandroid, Chinese Robot, Playboyz Inc, and many others who were able to give me a taste of that Bay area flavor and history. To say that it was a blessing to my anthropology/history obsessed mind is a massive understatement. Throughout my time I was having a lot of deep discussions with my good friend Lil B about what we would do with dance and technology. We also partied like it was nobody elses business. Our first battle was the Halloween event that TURFinc threw last year and it was tough as hell. Every round was a true fight and it relit the fire for battling that had waned while I was in LA. To be honest, I was becoming exhausted by the lack of spiritual expression that I was seeing at home in peoples movement and the Bay was a perfect place for me to juxtapose my experiences while also adding what they did better to my dance. In my time in the Bay I got to spend some time with my old high school friends while also making new friends from the area. Won a 1v1 in Sacramento and a 3v3 in Oakland while getting a lot of great feedback and eventually I was put on TURFinc All Stars. I got to spend a good amount of time in Davis where I got to kick it with my brother but also meet new dancers who were working hard at their crafts. Needless to say my inspiration was running high... At the exact same time that my funds were running low. Like broke as a joke low. Like I had to borrow money from a best friend of mine low. I couldnt believe it. It seemed like everything was going right in my dance life at the exact same time that everything was going wrong in my love and financial lives. I was incredibly conflicted about what my next step would be, should I move back? Did I even want to? Could I find a job? Was it even worth it to struggle out here? I needed a sign. The girl I was on and off with at the time came to visit me in the Bay for a day or two and when I drove her back home to SoCal, I got my message from the Universe. I knew that I couldnt fake that I could stay outside of home any longer. My parents had understood why Id left but they couldnt understand why I felt like such a failure needing to come back home. It was an egoic understanding of the problems in my life but it was seriously causing me so much stress and anguish. I had thought graduating college meant that I could be grown but I found out that the connections Id made in SoCal werent nearly as strong in a new area like the Bay. My relationship eventually collapsed due to distance and time but I knew I needed to go back one last time. My first time judging in the Bay was for Lil Bs going away jam. It was a decision hed made to go to New York and find his path there so we all gathered for one last hurrah. That was the jam that Shez called me out (like real street dancers are prone to doing) and it was the place where I decided that my stint in the Bay Area would finally come to a close. I wanted to end with a bang so I decided to enter the ONLY All Styles event with my Far East Movement brothers (Pandroid, Cein, Matteo, Mark) and Dillard + Steve. A true roadtrip with the bros, the jam was very inspirational. I got the chance to meet dancers that Id only seen on screens and see their crazy high skill levels. Entered my first house battle and got to top 8, got to top 8 in the 5v5 and got to semi finals for the invite only dance league. Seriously, a dancer that i really admired when I was just coming up in the game and told me that I was the MVP of a jam that I didnt even win. What I would quickly like to say about Sacramento is that they have the craziest kids Ive seen throughout Cali(although the other areas are quickly catching up). The level of skill and patience that these kids are operating at are a tribute to their teachers - Knowbody, Animal, Guttah, Surf Boogie and more are giving the kids what they NEED and it shows. Since moving back to Cali I tried being a temp for the Irvine Company (which didnt work out well because I didnt particularly like the work environment and the hours) and Western Dental. Eventually I figured out that none of that kind of work would sustain me so I ended up using my English teaching certification to become an English tutor. I started subbing classes at the local studio RHC (which has now become Revolution Performing Arts Studio) which resulted in me becoming a faculty member with 6 classes a week now teaching popping and hip hop. My decision to withdraw from KM Legacy activities was predicated on my fluctuating work schedule but also the nagging feeling that I am not ready to put myself out there for choreography and as a choreographer in large groups yet. What I will tell you about my life now is that I am extremely happy with where Im at. The time I spent in the Bay gave me the energy and the reason to pursue teaching in various forms, becoming a larger part in Warriors Crew/Local Legendz/RHC Staff and to give me the courage to say yes to joining Tiffanys Universoul Hip Hop. It has allowed me to start new projects with good friends and it has sent me an amazing and supportive girlfriend in Connie Haah. I will always keep the Bay and those in it close to my heart because without them I could not be who I am now. I am a weekly teacher at RHC and currently teaching for the next couple weeks at Millennium Dance Studio. My grad school applications are in the works and I have more kids to tutor than I know what to do with. Through it all, my friends have been understanding of my absence and happy to see that Im doing well which proves to me that I chose great friends. If you made it this far, thank you for caring and taking the time to read this. Im back in the area so I do truly hope to see a lot of you soon now that my schedule is back to being as busy as ever and because Im at a much better place in my life. If you have ever counted yourself as a good friend of mine, then know that I still count you among mine. I hope that when we see each other you will forgive me for disappearing for the better part of a year. It was much needed recuperation time and I need time to recharge my spirit after I expend large amounts of energy like I did in college. I hope that youre doing well and that you are fulfilled by your lifestyle. I wish you the best of luck until I see you! To my dancer friends, I hope youre still training and if youre not doing that I hope you still find some time to dance when your soul hears the rhythms. I miss all of you, hope to see you soon. May peace and blessings abound in your lives!!
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:22:37 +0000
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