Fighting spiders

It's another late morning in my near-week-long stint home alone; Dad will be back from diving tuh-morrow! I don't like waking up at 10-plus, and especially waking up at 10-plus still feeling drowsy. I've been languishing at home mostly as can be expected. I'm awful at laundry; cleaning I quite enjoy, even though I'm not exactly superb at it either. I love throwing things away (things, people, memories...)--quick psychoanalysis, anyone? I spent a couple of hours fixing up the bathroom, the kitchen and the yard, although I haven't my mother's stamina and so didn't quite do the absolute thorough bang-up job. Speaking of bang-up jobs, it just started pouring, and I accidentally flooded the floor while over-excitedly kicking aside the laundry basin to bring in the clothes hanging outside. I guess the mopping it entailed didn't hurt.

Yesterday I was fighting ants, spiders, dust bunnies and baby cockroaches, although not in the boyish, gung-ho way, but in the squeamish, armed-with-an-aerosol, trigger-happy way. After waking late, cleaning, and languishing, I embarked on my second solo driving adventure. The first was on the day my dad left, a trip to and from UCC only, and so wasn't quite adventurous. This time I had to memorize new routes and practise multi-tasking--I'm terrible at driving and talking at the same time. I picked Clement up from PA, and we dinner-ed at Golden Mile. We failed to find a florist, found instead half of The Concourse knocked down. What a pity. It was my favourite piece of architecture in Singapore. Clement suggested getting a soft toy, and I bought for Jessica a medium Piglet from 7-Eleven. Back at the small open-air carpark, Clement thankfully helped to guide me out of the lot next to which an (un)strategically parked car was trying to test my manoeuvres. Automobiles are space-time compressors; roads are a lot shorter than they seem on the map, and driving in circles doesn't take up very much time. After several missed turns and surprisingly quick recoveries, we got to School of the Arts to watch T.H.E Emerging Choreographers by T.H.E Dance Company. I don't quite share in founder and director Kuik Swee Boon's taste, because out of the five pieces, I found out from Jessica that he's sending the two I didn't quite like to the Tari Festival in Kuala Lumpur in July. Then again the others are probably too obvious (the Internet item), too unpolished (the bus-stop item), or too draggy (the slow-motion item) for festival inclusion. The Internet item by Yarra Ileto was my favourite--excellent choice of songs by Fennesz, skilful choreography of the projector, which was manually raised, lowered, covered, exposed. The bus-stop item by Lee Ren Xin for me had the most promise, as well as the best moment where three dancers took separate lanes between ballet bars and danced mid-air in sequence, creating a beautiful, surreal effect. (Is there a name for that kind of effect on film?) The music by Ryuichi Sakamoto was bliss as well. The draggy item by Zhuo Zihao was entitled Flowing, and I concurred when Clement remarked that he felt energy flowing out of him. I prefer more energetic, less sleep-inducing movement as well, but I appreciated the style of the choreographer, even if it wasn't my favourite. The item was whole, unlike the two chosen items. One is lazily named Just Another Piece; the other is called 2 Songs by Björk, and Lee Mun Wai in the programme explains that he wanted to choreograph 'without a conscious, pre-determined theme, to work from a more visceral level; a level that's more sub-conscious allowing the body to speak instead of the mind'. In other words, his item is intentionally anyhow. While I subscribe to post-modernist theories of shifting centres (God, man, etc.), I don't quite enjoy post-modernist art of centrelessness. I think centres, themes, ideas are helpful, constructive, provocative, even if they aren't definitive. All said, the dancers were really strong. Clement thought Jessica's very physical floorwork was effortless. I also always enjoy Hazel and her clean, taut style of dancing.

On my sold soul
Ensemble rehearsals have begun for both Four Short Stories for Republic Polytechnic's concert and Samsara for Prague. I sold my Reggae II course to Ching Cheng because of a clash. I'm quite excited for the upcoming item she asked me to choreograph for, which I've decided to do to a Lady GaGa medley. On a side note, I really really really want to attempt reggae to Kat DeLuna's Dance Bailalo; maybe I'll do it for Blast busking.

I realize we've done at least five choreographies by Zaini in roughly half a year, including Les Choristes, Sway, Let Me Fall. The two current ones are ridiculously step-intensive, and fast. Samsara in particular is incredibly alien to me. Saturday was good though. It was going to be a killer day with rehearsals for both items plus tech class. But I'm finally getting the hang of both choreographies; at the very least, I feel on top of things, and not drowned by them. It helped that I got on a high in the last few hours, and also that Rozana was a riot. After, I went with Clement and Koustav for chi-cken, leko (fish crackers), cheese tofu (Koustav: 'the best thing Jennifer has done in my life'), ice cream cones and a large coke. Joy. I wish Koustav was going to Prague. Sad.

Open Platforms
I went for a few one-off classes recently. Chun asked me to help with her Platform class so I met her a night earlier at Music Forest, where I saw Qiuyu (had forgot her name) and Peishan, and learnt reggae-ish choreo to Boom Boom Pow which was very nice. I mostly helped her rewind the music and remember her choreo, although I didn't end up being very helpful. Our dynamic is still really off but she is oblivious and I am through talking through things. The actual class was tougher-than-expected (from Chun's point-of-view) for some, I think, because even if the steps are simple, certain stylistic details can be a struggle/show-stopper. Loved the choreo and choice of song, as with Joo Teng's Open Studio the following Monday. Big, shiok choreo, but marred by forgetstepititis (Copyright Xu Zi). Calvin's Platform was a lot of fun. I was half-hour late after getting my new laptop at Funan. I must say that laser mice rock, and I love the one I chose. After class I went with Brian to Noodle House Ken for ramen and some HTHT.

On cute cardboard
I met Michelle Rose last Sunday. The Christian Lacroix costume exhibition was dinky and awesome, way better than I had expected looking at Michele's photos. Beautiful sketches, frou-frou galore... I wonder what kind of budget these French productions have. It was also our first time at the National Museum. I loved the clean, open spaces. Michelle liked the colonial elements better, like the ginormous window sills you can sit on. I think if she could she would go back centuries and become a Gothic heroine or a Regency damsel-in-distress. We then watched Fast & Furious. I loved it. And I don't think anyone should make any apologies for it. That would be so rude. Paul Walker's cardboard acting was noticeable but tolerable, and I suppose Michelle is right: 'but he's cute cardboard!' I'll be seeing her again tomorrow now that she's back from Malaysia--yay!

Bum like me

Pop music finally started to pick up in April after a bum first three months. Only slowly though, and I'm killing the good songs by putting them on repeat ad nauseum. Two victims this week. The first marks the return of one of my favourite artists ever--Basement Jaxx. 'Raindrops' was premiered by Pete Tong on his BBC Radio 1 show Essential Selection two weeks ago. It is reminiscent of 'Romeo', all those years ago, only it sounds more happy-Ibiza. The sitars are back, in what Pitchfork pithily calls 'the exploded sweet shop that is a Jaxx fan's comfort zone'. Maybe that's why their cover art always makes so much sense.


'Romeo'. Basement Jaxx. XL, 2001. Basement Jaxx TV on MUZU.

Way before The Pussycat Dolls started gyrating to Bollywood tunes, Indian influences crept their way into pop music via Timbaland productions such as Missy Elliott's 'Get Ur Freak On' and Bubba Sparxxx's 'Ugly' (both 2001). Here are my favourites from that era:


'Addictive'. Truth Hurts feat Rakim. Aftermath, 2002.


'React'. Erick Sermon feat Redman. J, 2002.


'Mundian To Bach Ke'. Panjabi MC. Superstar, 2002.


'Husan'. Bhangra Knights vs. Husan. Positiva, 2003.

The other song that has got me hooked, and perhaps more so, is David Archuleta's 'Touch My Hand'. I heard it for the first time in his Idol performance, which was harassed by pitch problems galore, but nonetheless worked, especially in the swelling and soaring moments. The song was written by the folks behind Natasha Bedingfield's uptempo hits, and approaches Scandanavian pop perfection, complete with less-than-sophisticated lyrics. It has made me dream of choreography, something which hasn't happened for a long time. On a side note, along with my Facebook friends list, I've been trimming my YouTube subscriptions and Twitter followings, and David Archuleta is definitely a keeper on both sites. I love his personality. Another (quite) young man I am totally in love with is Jim Cantiello. His Idol recaps and live blogs are hilarious, although I'm finding trouble keeping up with both at the same time. The MTV website is not Cantiello-friendly at all.

I thought this week's Idol was very good, a very solid top five. I'm with Simon, who remarked on hindsight that it was 'the best show at this stage of the competition'. He also backed Matt Giraud's 'My Funny Valentine', which I loved the most. I'm a sucker for impassioned vulnerability, what can I say. I'm unsure of Jamie Foxx's intervention in lowering the key, though. He advised Matt to climax the song in full voice. But Matt's vocal sweet spot lies not in the belting range, so that advice would have worked better if it were Kris or Danny. Matt looked umcomfortable and sounded shrill when he hit that note, and soon after eagerly retreated into his falsetto. I'm curious to know what the original version sounded like.

Bust, trashed, lost
I woke up one Monday morning and found that my spectacles frame had inexplicably split during the night. I failed to fix it with super glue, and spent the next few excruciating days in contact lenses, suffering daily haemorrhaging in the eye.

I finally got rid of the old and sickly phone, who went periodically into seizures, flashing a white screen for a few times, before finally refusing to start up altogether. My dad bought me a Nokia N79, which I quite love, although I must say the Seal Grey is way off what is shown on its website.

I misplaced my laptop when I went to visit Pao Yau at Mount Alvernia this past Monday. To this day I'm not quite sure where I left it. Went back to the hospital later that night, called back the next day, made a police report online... And now I'm thinking maybe a Sony Vaio NS?

On school
School has been quite a bummer. I've been quite a bum about school. Got a couple of B minuses on the latest assignments which is unfortunate. I think I went overboard with the New Journalism on the first report, where it was commented that I should have been more reflective. The second paper was torn apart (figuratively) by a professor too academic for his (or I guess my) own good, blindly shunning all sources that veer even in the slightest from his simplistic definition of 'academic'. Exams have been less painful than expected, although I'm about out of ammunition in terms of smoke grenades. I definitely will not approach the level of atrocity I achieved with last semester's grades, if only because I've submitted all of my assignments.

Singled out
I took a nap after the paper on Thursday morning, and woke up an hour after shutting off the alarm. Thankfully I met a cab driver who knew how to thread through traffic, and I was late, but not too late. I'm going to register for Reggae II, although I'll miss the last session, and I'm tempted to sign up for Popping as well. I went to O School again after my Saturday paper, knowing this was my last Saturday of freedom before I sell my soul to Ensemble. I bumped into Alvin, and we took two classes together. Alex's was awkward. I had major timing issues, and was unsure of slinking into the 'Single Ladies' character, which Alex called me out on. Fredy's style on the other hand I'm super comfortable with, and Alvin and my performance at the end was quite well-received, I think. It's a distinction I need to figure out; there are subgenres of jazz funk apparently.

After the classes I went to check out Iluma, which is ironically way too dimly lit in the day time, at least on its first three storeys. I love some of the detail-work by WOHA, especially the red back-lit metal mesh cladding on the interior, and the oversized entrances of the toilet vaults. I couldn't find space at a coffee place to study, and logically decided to watch Revolutionary Road instead. Didn't regret it. I think above all the film highlights how amazingly far the two lead actors have come since Titanic. I personally thought Leonardo DiCaprio gave the stronger performance, in a role that was more complex and harder to play, despite Kate Winslet's award recognition suggesting otherwise.

I rushed to meet Michelle Rose to watch Fly With Me, by the final-year dance students at LaSalle, held at its Flexible Performance Space. Awesome show. Jessica was amazing, as usual, and especially breath-taking in her pas de deux segments. She dances with the purity of a child and the maturity of a woman. Pui Man was fantastic too. I liked her particularly in Albert Tiong's piece; I think she danced the quirky choreography very naturally. There's a very vibrant item by Cheng Hsienfa choreographed to 'Alfama' that I absolutely enjoyed. I also loved Melissa Quek's item a lot, much more than her Timeline, although it is unfair to compare the two since she has more dancers to play with here. I'm looking forward to the upcoming performances, and I know I must seem like some over-enthusiastic groupie for it.