Hip-Hop Workshop

Dance: No Pain. No Gain.

Just yesterday I did something I have always been and am still absolutely in love with. I had a brilliant time with those wonderful and talented people whom I truly admire and enjoyed challenging myself to newer levels! Now you might wonder what could I have possibly been up to… I danced!

Activity Planning

Two years ago, upon moving from one german city to another, I had to bid my hip-hop crew goodbye. It was unfortunate however I am aware that from the two years spent there evolving as beginner in hip-hop to an amateur, I still cherish memories of my previous dance experiences and could only hope to improve my skills. Hence I continue to keep in touch with my ex-crew members and coach as well!

Through social media, I recently discovered that my dance coach was kicking off a dance tour around Germany, with his colleague. They will be hosting workshops to dance and travelling to ten cities in May and June - one of which was my current city! I was super excited and knew instantly that this was an opportunity at another CAS activity: Creativity & Action!

Welcome workshop tour!

It would be a super purposeful activity in the following ways in regards to the Learning Outcomes:

1. Increase my awareness for areas of strengths and growth as I manage this task to plan for and attend the workshop. People skills will be necessary to communicate effectively with the choreographers. Additionally, my dancing skills will improve furthermore.

2. Undertake a new challenge to participate in a hip-hop workshop with other, more developed dancers.

4. Work collaboratively with my friends who are interested to join this hip-hop workshop and the other dancers when practicing together.

5. Show much dedication to this activity to realise the task successfully!

6. Engage with issues of importance such as health and fitness, and certainly the significance of self-expression and creativity through the means of dancing.

7. Raise ethical issues regarding dance communities to share their skills with one another and communication through dance and music.

8. Increase my expertise in an established area of skill: dancing hip-hop!

After discussing with my CAS co-ordinator, I invited two of my friends to attend this event with me. One of them had already have experience with hip-hop at a young age, and the other had never had dance lessons before but was extremely interested in this genre of dance. Then, I simply purchased the tickets and waited eagerly for the intensive session and to meet up with my coach again!

Reflection

Upon arriving, my friends and I introduced ourselves to the choreographer we will be dancing with first. He was the one who decided to host the two guest choreographers. We were reassured by him not only on the fact that he could teach in both English and German, but that he would help us improve our moves through simple explanations and motivating support. We were thankful to have met a dedicated choreographer and started dancing right away.

Choreographers at work!

Three choreographies with three various styles of hip-hop and five and a half hours later… We conquered the intense workshop! It was very exhausting yet every moment and every bead of sweat was worth it!

Sweated n' danced - and loved every moment!

Personally, I felt that I have improved within just a few hours of dance in one day. How so? In terms of my confidence to practice and to move freely as I dance. As the training progressed, I felt more capable to express myself through movement again, as I have loved to do previously in classes, hence allowing myself to add some extra spice and attitude to the routines. 

Learning chore #2 together

Nevertheless, the whole workshop, that consisted of four fifteen minute intervals for refreshening and a quick bite, pushed me to my limit - which I endured as best as my body could. It was wonderful to be working towards more complex and heightened choreos and to challenge myself to become a better dancer. In fact, I found it more productive that I was one of the less advanced dancers in comparison to the others who participated as this idea of being the ‘worst of the best’ motivated my mind. 

I understand now the consequences of not having danced regularly for the past two years in classes after the experience. Compared to when I was dancing with my crew,  I picked up the new steps quite rapidly, allowing myself to be firstly in terms of memorising the move, comfortably incorporating it into the routine, and also being prepared for the next move to be introduced.

A little GIF: dancing with the others

However, as I noticed my weaknesses, I was surprisingly able to identify my strengths too. These included my ability to understand the rhythm and beat quickly so as to coordinate the moves in the correct timings as well as execute the steps precisely and quite effectively too. From what I observed amongst the other dancers, I believe that my moves were done with more flexibility and accuracy than most. Towards the end of the workshop, I hope that upon evaluating my skills and flaws I am able to learn and further develop my dancing.

The full chore #3

Overall, it was an awe-inspiring session to be in the same room training with professional dancers and experienced learners. It has most definitely allowed me to grow steadily as an amateur hip-hop dancer and taught me communication within the dance community through language and through dance. During the breaks, we discussed together about the importance of support for dancers everywhere such as the Rich Fam project and how learning is the most importance skill for evolving one’s self into the best possible dancer/choreographer!

Take more chances. Dance more dances.

I hope to improve my hobby and to dance more frequently and confidently when around others! Cheers to another successful CAS activity!

Evita ☺

Update: The effects of dancing vigorously after not having danced for so long drove my body to its limit. It required two days after the workshop to completely recover from the extreme ways I stretched my muscles! No pain no gain right?

First-Aid Course

The importance of being a good samaritan!

Activity Planning

As one grows, one realises just how fragile life can be, whether it be a result of a traumatic incident or a simple snap-back-to-reality situation. Hence, we should always try to be thankful for health and safety as without it, everything else would be irrelevant - be it fortune or success or even happiness for that matter. Nevertheless, should one crisis present itself where a person seeks first-aid, the skills to handle the victim carefully requires tranquility and control. As a result, after living seventeen years, I have decided to take part  in a first-aid course to learn the essential skills to become a capable samaritan. 

Additionally, this activity would be a perfect start for anyone dedicated to become a future medicine student. In fact, it benefits one to understand how to engage with patients and learn how the body biologically, chemically and physically reacts in several example scenarios. A final factor as to why this would be a purposeful CAS activity is that it is required for obtaining a driver’s licence in Germany and hence I am keen to learn a new skill.

The training occurred in a special school for first-aid courses and will certainly be safe. The supervisor for this CAS activity was naturally the First-Aid instructor, Mr Arnolds who taught us interestingly and comfortably.

Reflection

It was exciting to attend a first-aid seminar and be one of many students, whom ages vary over a wide range, in order to learn or reinforce the skill of attending first-aid. The entire seminar lasted the whole day, i.e. 8 hours and it felt reassuring to learn so much and practice the procedures with mannequins. Naturally, the whole seminar was conducted in German and I was pleased with myself that I was able to understand almost everything - except a couple of times when specific terminologies were used in German where I was unfamiliar with. Then I asked a friend of mine for a quick translation. I took notes carefully and repeated the steps in my head repetitively. 

At the end of the day, I was proud to have learnt how to execute each step should anyone require first-aid attention. It was at times mundane and slightly monotone since there was not always an activity in between to keep the learners focused but fortunately I managed to stay concentrated and remain persevered to understand the difficult language vocabulary used. 

There was even ethical issues debated heatedly by a fellow student, a middle-aged man, who argued that one should call the emergency unit prior to attending the victim. However, this was not the case as one would be unable to inform the authorities how serious the situation is without first inspecting victim. 

To summarise, I have learnt how to do… a stabile Seitenlage, Herzdruckmassage, and how to use the AED (or Defi for defibrillator). The following image from Google Images shows the entire procedure in German:

A german flow-chart explaining the procedure to first aid (selected from Google Images)

Following that, we learned how to carefully tend to an injury such as poisoning (from alcohol, carbon monoxide, berry etc.) as well as fractures and the loss of minor body part such as a tooth or a finger. 

To recap, here are my achieved Learning Outcomes for this Service CAS activity:

1. Increased my awareness of my areas of strength and weaknesses: communication and interaction.
2. Undertook the new challenge of attending a First-Aid Course where German is the language of instruction, i.e. my second learnt foreign language.
3. Planned when to go where and register myself in advance for the seminar.
4. Worked collaboratively when necessary during the training.
5. Showed perseverance as I attend 2x four-hour trainings in one day.
6. Engaged with an issues of global importance, i.e. health and safety, medical attention and care.
7. Considered the ethical implications of my actions for serving my community.
8. Developed a life-saving skills.

I enjoyed learning so much in a subject I am very interested in and I hope to further increase my knowledge and expertise is this area in the near future. For the time being though… driver’s licence here I come!

My certificate for successful participation in the first-aid course seminar!

Evita ☺