photoshoot with @bythewei
When I was in Singapore, I was lucky enough to once again take part in a photoshoot with the incredibly talented, super visionary and creative photographer Weili. He’s responsible for the picture on the sidebar of this blog.
What makes Weili super good at what he does is a combination of skills that many photographers do not have.
His attention to getting the perfect shot is second to none – he’ll happily take hundreds of shots until he captures the entire package of mood, lines, lighting and contrast.
He also understands vision, and is very much like a magazine’s art director/creative director in that sense – he understands setting the scene, how to make the lighting work like instant real life photoshop (seriously, he somehow obliterated cellulite at one point!) and how to use any space to lighting advantage. The shot below was taken in a room with a BRIGHT blue wall behind me but you totally can’t tell.
Additionally, Weili has people skills – something so lacking in MANY creatives. I don’t know Weili as well as I’d like to as a friend, and yet he has an ability to draw out your emotion and mood and capture the very essence that is in your persona for the shoot. He talks you through, almost coaching you as he yells out things to jolt you into the moment, shows you the shots you’ve taken and guides you through moves and what he’d like to see. I also really love that he allows your personality to shine through, and tries to capture the weird, the whimsical, the intrinsic characteristics that make a person THEM, and isn’t scared to take unorthodox poses. Like so:
my favourite pic of the whole shoot!
Invariably, with all those skills, coupled with his extensive dedication to the technical aspects of photography, he manages to produce shots that are overwhelmingly authentic, real and almost scarily stark. A great piece of art evokes a feeling in you, and I think Weili has this in him as a creative person.
You can view some of the other dance shots in the series here on his site. If you’re based in Singapore and after a shoot, you should totally contact Weili. He’s fab.
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single happy moment: villas & sunshine
In 2010, over Easter, myself and my fabulous dance team took a little trip to Bali for the Indonesia Salsa Festival. I was teaching, and my team was performing. We decided to land a few days before the festival to soak up some sun, and rented a gorgeous villa in Seminyak.
The week seemed to go by lazily, with us starting the day by rising blearily from bed and tumbling straight into our private pool, daily visits to the spas, then afternoons spent between lounging with cocktails on the deck, and having somersault competitions in the pool again.
It got so utterly decadent that one of the things we seemed to think was HILARIOUS by the end of the trip (proving our delirious happiness) – was swim up to the edge of the pool and peer over, pretending to be sharks. UH HUH. YES. We are just so cool.
can you hear the Jaws theme playing? 
fooling around on the deck
It was probably one of the best trips we’ve done as a team, simply for all the pool time and laughter that was shared. SUCH a good single happy memory to have in the chill of mid winter in Melbourne, and to look forward doubly to our Thailand trip this November!
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adelaide salsa festival 2011
Am currently on-route to the Adelaide Salsa Festival – every year, I go to this fantastic event to teach, perform, dance, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to catch up with my fabulous and talented Latin dance peers from around Australia.
This year I won’t be dancing much obviously, but I have missed dancing incredibly and am excited to be surrounded by the music, people and community that I’m passionate about, and teach and perform to the best of my ability!
I’m also particularly proud – this year 3 of my own team, trained by yours truly, are also teaching and performing their on professional couple routines on stage. I can’t tell you how pleased I am for them and how far they’ve come!! If there’s anything better than teaching – it’s watching your students achieve greatness themselves and getting excited about their soaring to new heights!
It’s going to be a wonderful weekend. Dancing. Learning. Teaching. Performing. Great music. Great people. Partying hard. Hanging with my amazing team. Good lord, I’m tingling with joy, and do appreciate my life so!!
Read Morehow my students saved me
Every year, our performance teams gear up towards a massive event held in January, called the Sydney Salsa Congress. (By the way, I’m twittering too much clearly, I typed “@Sydn” and then sat for a moment wondering why the link didn’t magically appear.) Spin City Dance usually brings two teams – one student level, and one pro level, to perform in front of a heckuva lot of people from all around Australia.
Whilst there are many other teams that my other incredible instructors teach performance to throughout the year, the Sydney Congress team is the one that I always personally choreograph, train, and lead. I’m just a bit fussy that way. No surprises, really.
Last year was no different – in August, we started putting out the word that the performance course would run for 12 weeks leading up to Christmas. Just one slight spanner in the works – in August, just as we did all this, my back decided to play totally dirty. I could barely walk, let alone dance, or teach, and my headspace was absolutely abysmal – devastation and depression reigned.
By the time first week of the course came around, I’d been in bed for 8 weeks straight (IN bed. Not out of work, but bed-ridden). And I couldn’t really sit up for very long, just about 1.5 hours at most. My team of instructors and I discussed it – I still wanted to do the routine, but it would have to be assisted by them, AND the students would have to be clear that I was under duress (read: delusional from painkillers).
On the first day, I hobbled into the studio, the team got the sofa bed set up in the corner so I could teach from there. Students milled in, and to my horror, I didn’t know at least 70% of them. They were all new to my school, or at least, to me – how the heck was I going to explain that they were going to have an invalid for a teacher??
Yup, I thought I was screwed.
Wonderfully though, after a few ice-breakers (so all 40 of them could get to know each other), I explained the situation to them, and explained how I would be teaching “using my words” and my team (who didn’t know the routine mind you since I couldn’t exactly demonstrate it!) would be showing them what to do. And they were amazingly understanding, and game for the experience!
So. Week after week, I’d hobble into the studio, get set up on my sofabed, and instruct/choreograph/lead them from my corner. And this team, well, my word. Week after week, frustrating as it must’ve been for them, worked incredibly hard to make the routine in my head, one that was fun, entertaining, and demonstrably great to watch! They’d all come from different schools, different levels (a few of them were even almost complete beginners) and as the sessions went by, I saw a solidarity form within the group.
They wanted to help each other. They wanted to learn. They wanted to produce a great performance piece. And more lovely, they actually cared about me, rather than lamented my inability to give them more energy. Some sessions, I had to leave early from sheer pain. A horribly guilty feeling, as any teacher would understand. Some sessions, I was so delirious that I didn’t remember what I’d showed them before, and patiently, they’d show it to me and we’d work off a shared consciousness.
As the 3 months of training started drawing to a close, my back actually started feeling better, and I was able to give them all the special tips that you can only show people, not talk about. And my team, wow, they just blossomed. From a group of shy beginner/intermediate dancers to absolute show ponies. And when they did their THANG up there in Sydney, I was incredulous, proud, and most importantly, it made me well up with emotional tears.
Words can’t describe the pride you feel when a group of people come together, to perform wonderfully in front of 1000 people, and the joy that surges through your veins. Nothing can prepare you for the moment when the music is blaring, you see their faces light up, and all the execution is flawless. Especially when it’s been SUCH a long hard road. Seeing people who 1 year ago had just sauntered into their first dance class “just for a new hobby”, becoming lithe performers with a flair for entertainment with a HUGE crowd screaming? PRICELESS.
Every year, I’m lucky enough to experience this with the team I take to Sydney – we are lucky enough that the crowd always goes wild for us, and even luckier that our teams are always full of energy and perform well. Yup, I’m already a lucky lucky girl, I know it.
BUT this year was different. This year, instead of feeling completely like this was THEIR triumph, incredibly, the energy was much more emotional, just so much more passionate. Why? Because this was the team that brought me back to life.
It’s hard to explain, but with this team, I could’ve so easily gotten one of my capable staff to take them. Forcing myself to go in every week though, gave me 2 hours of sunshine to look forward to, and to feel satisfied after. Having such a deep passion for teaching, it gave me time out of the house, just to do something I loved.
And this team of genuinely great people? Well they gave me back my energy. They trusted me, even though I couldn’t give them much. They respected my knowledge, even though I couldn’t show them much. They proved to me that I was still relevant, still wanted, still integral, despite being well, for want of a better word, in a pathetic state and stage of life.
They gave me the yearning to teach again, the zeal to get better fast so I could show them some stuff, the inspiration to work harder on my dancing once I started getting better (rather than give it all up, because frankly, it seemed too hard at the time). They supported me through a horribly difficult few months, without even knowing. Little messages after classes, consistently giving me feedback, always making sure I was looked after. Plus you know, letting me be delirious at times when my body just failed me, time and again.
Thank you Bond team. I have always adored teaching, and always feel that the energy you get out of teaching a bunch of great students is incomparable to many things in life. BUT you guys… you guys have given me what every teacher can only ever hope for – the very passion back into some very tired and painful bones. You gave me 2 hours every week to look forward to, and made me feel like I was a good teacher despite being a non-dancer. Thank you for representing me, my school, Melbourne, and most importantly, for trusting us with transforming you into genuine show ponies. I can’t wait till your next performance!
Check out my team performing here.
Read More2010 Redux – An Open Letter
Dear 2010,
As the world around me prepares for New Year’s Eves festivities to say a dastardly goodbye to you, I’m taking a moment to reflect: you have been a huge mixed bag for me. I can safely say there’s never been a year where I felt quite so on top, and quite so low, all at once. Let me explain, 2010, why I don’t hate you (but have a cautious relationship with you):
Here was 2010:
This year, I travelled a lot, particularly in the first half of the year. I finally got to see India, one of my “homelands”. I went to Bali twice, Malaysia twice, and was in Singapore every 2-3 months on average. I was interstate so often (every 3-4 weeks) that my Australia wide salsa family has never seemed so close, or as wonderful. This was so nice, years of being in such a small scene have brought some of us industry leaders together in such a wonderful way, every trip though work based, has felt like a holiday with friends.
This year, I’ve had lots of visitors too, visitors that meant the world to me – Sheila for a month, my mummy when I needed her most, my Aunty and my cousin whom I adore oh so very much. Those visits inevitably left me feeling more and more like Melbourne and Singapore are both tandem homes, and like my life here wasn’t isolated from my loved ones, but shared in lovely ways.
This year, I got injured a lot. A pinched nerve in my neck/shoulder at the start of the year, a torn ankle ligament mid year, and then the most devastating of all, a prolapsed disc that was pretty serious but luckily escaped surgery. I spent 4 months of 2010 either in bed, or in a catatonic painkiller-induced stupor, unable to drive, commute, work, dance or travel. It wasn’t fun, it made me depressed, and has pretty much killed the dancing career I had. It really felled me, this injury, and I missed many events, including competitions that my teams apparently placed in (!!), half a best friend’s wedding, and more. I was cared for wonderfully by my friends and S, but nothing in my life had prepared me for this. I’m still coming out of it – there are bad days and good days, but I can drive, I can walk, I can do most things now as long as I take it easy and slow – and for this I am grateful.
This year was when we moved into our “forever home” and for the first time ever, entered home ownership with my beautiful man – and it has funnily enough been in tandem the worst time of my life (injury) and best time (home!). Our relationship has grown incredibly through the entire process, and we go to sleep each night expressing to each other just how blessed we are to share a beautiful home, with each other.
This year, I truly learnt what it feels like to build a future with someone, have experienced true love, have felt that wonderful settled heart inside of me. I’ve learnt to live with teenagers which is an evolving journey. I’ve been welcomed wholeheartedly into S’s family, a wonderful thing since mine is so strongly held in my mind! I’m slowly becoming stronger, and grateful that I have a beautiful space to recover in. I said goodbye to my bachelorette pad of 7 years – where most of my 20s happened, filled with so many incredible memories of debauchery, gatherings, parties, family time, cookups, and more, but moved into my forever home, what a trade!
This year, I decided having a job wasn’t enough, and that having passion in my career was incredibly important. I had insightful conversations with some mentor-like people, for whom I must thank profusely – realising ultimately, what my strengths and callings were, I found the strength to quit my job and pursue my consultancy dreams instead. It’s still slowly coming together, but golly, what a great decision – given the chance to work a job or help people fulfil their capabilities? I choose the latter. Haven’t looked back.
This year, the quitting job thing meant that after 3 years of 17 hour days (day job and then business from 6-10pm every night plus weekends and travel) – I was able to sit back and evaluate. There was no reason to punish my body like that, and even less reason when my health was constantly in flux, my head and heart always a buzz of confusion, and my relationships and friendships suffered due to my absence. This wasn’t the life I wanted, but it took stopping for me to realise that. 2010 was the turning point – I was going to seek the life I wanted without the mayhem.
This year, I learnt to care for myself. To eat right, to be inspired regularly, to see beauty in all around. To celebrate being a woman and my femininity, to understand my body better, to be more in tune with my emotions, my needs, and lifestyle. To be frank with loved ones, to seek healthier relationships, and have the energy to ignore ones fraught with unhappiness. It’s made me a happier person, and I know this will continue now as it has become a way of life.
This year was somewhat drama filled – I was treated by some people from various parts of my life, poorly. I’d never felt so much like I was back in high school being bullied, but I reflect and am proud of my actions, reactions. Drama always happens, it’s the nature of humans, but this year I felt equipped to handle it, with grace, dignity and some humour! I’m glad to be entering my 30th year feeling like I can take whatever any human being throws at me, because of my innate strength and belief in myself. I’m especially glad to have learnt the ultimate skills – of not hurting others just because they’ve hurt you. Of removing myself from the drama. Of staying professional.
This year, I was recognised in my dancing career in ways I never felt before. I’d received accolade and opportunities before that reflected this aspect of my career, but this year, something changed. Feedback from world-renown, respected people, came in droves. Positive affirmation that I was doing well in my business, in our school, in my own dancing. Invitations and offers that blew me away. That made all the things I sometimes have to deal with here in our small dance scene, worthwhile. That made all the ridiculous “tall poppy” type assertions that have at times been unfairly thrown at me, moot.
After so many years of being in the salsa scene, after exactly a decade from my first ever dance lesson, so many years of maintaining my outward exterior whilst in turmoil inside over the vagaries and politics of the scene. So many years of learning, trying so hard, and trying to teach well, all this affirmation was so welcome. The bonus was that it came from everywhere. Yes, we were doing something right. Plus, watching my students excel on a national stage, watching my school grow and watching my team explode with richness - this all was a gift.
This year, I’ve learnt where my support systems are, and am incredulous at just how far reaching and huge my network of love is. In various times of adversity, an unprecedented number of people from far and wide have supported me, assisted me, kept my spirits high, and generally left me wondering how it is that I could be this lucky. Thank you everyone. Truly.
This year, I’ve grown. This is all I can take away from a year that has been at once blessed and brutal. I’ve been humbled by the wonderful things that I’ve been fortunate to experience, receive, and have, angry and sad at the whipping that my body has taken, deliriously happy to have been so close to my family and friends, reflective upon circumstances that I couldn’t change, and hopefully, through it all, been a pleasant person to know. (I take no responsibility for the moments when I was all painkillered up.)
This year, I’ve been enriched by the people around me, have blossomed through new life changes, matured through difficult circumstance. I have grown more into my own skin, and accepted a lot more of myself and human beings around me. I am happier than I was, infinitely so, despite physical circumstance. My heart has swelled, my brain has been nourished, and my life has developed in ways I couldn’t have imagined or planned on 31 Dec 2009. And now that I’m officially almost that stupid number age that no woman wants to think about (hint, it rhymes with “dirty” for a reason) - it’s certainly nice to feel like I’m coming of age.
Most of all 2010, you taught me a lot about being alive, and truly, that I can conquer anything. 2011, give me all you’ve got. I have no plans or expectations – your friend 2010 taught me the folly of that way of thinking! Just bring it, and bring it good!
xo
Shan
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