Tornado part 2

Leah C.

March 2, 2010 - 3:00 PM

My weekend was a blur. The Tornado that I previously told you about was sucking more of my time than I had initially planned. We had originally rented a video recorder from the Yamada Learning Center on campus, but there was something wrong with the camera. Instead, we had to use my digital camera. Yes I finally got my Digital SLR camera and filmed the rest of the video with it. I really like my camera because it can record HD videos, so with all the recording we relied on my camera and I was the one who recorded everything. With my tripod and spare batteries, filming on campus in various areas took two and a half days. I woke up at 9am during the weekend and headed to the HKSA office where I met with my 2nd vice president Cindy. Cindy was the director and writer of the skit and I was the producer and camera man.

There were 16 members to film in their individual intro scenes as well as their group shoots together. It was really fun working with everyone and we definitely captured a lot of blooper moments that I hope to present during our Hong Kong Night. That reminds me, I should stress to the committee that we should all hold on to these memories together. I know that there are some frustrations during the planning process of our night, but events like the photo and filming sessions are the memories that are filled with much laughter and fun. Looking through all the videos together, Cindy and I actually started piecing together some of the scenes. Details and the actual video will not be reveled until spring break. We both agreed that everything should be under wraps until closer (2 weeks before) to the culture show.

Now I mentioned frustration. There was a little dilemma that I was not supposed to worry about, since I was not in charge of the performances and dance. We had a GTF volunteer to help us put together our dance that the members and committee were to perform for the night. Instead, the practices and her teaching style got us nowhere. It was frustrating because we originally thought she would help choreograph a piece for us, but after attending 2 practices, and seeing that the dancers were lost, I really needed to take some action. The GTF was kind to help volunteer, and I appreciate all her help, but she only taught moves, that she made up on the spot. I would also like to note that she didn't follow the music or beat, and funny enough she kept saying I probably won't remember these moves next time. To solve that we recorded everything she did. Another problem was that her dance style did not really fit the song. The song was a hip hop song, and she started to add very jazzy and modern contemporary moves. She herself is a hip hop GTF and I understand if she is trying to mix some moves up, but she really didn't choreograph or keep to the beats of the song. She also mostly worked with the girls on their part, where she relied on the boys to choreograph their own part. This resulted in nothing from the guys since they were not dance majors. I really didn't want people to waste their time, especially members who were volunteering their time to dance.

I talked to the committee, and decided to pull some strings. My cousin, Alexis is a first year at the University of Oregon, and is part of the UO Jam squad. I asked her if she would be willing to help us choreograph a piece and she said yes! Hopefully this problem will all work out. I know that she is very busy as well and to teach 15 dancers to dance, whom I would like to mention have had little experience in dancing on stage, may take more time and practice when compared to someone like her who has dance all her life. I asked her Sunday and she agreed to meet us tonight. We requested that she choreograph the beginning for us so that the dancers can start practicing, I hope this no longer becomes a stressful event and that everything will start to come together. HKSA has one month to get everything together and we have only just begun.