Rihanna "You Da One" | Jayvee Monthly Jam with Marc Nunez

Our very good friend Marc Nunez was teaching last month for Jayvee Dance Center's Monthly Jam. Here's one of the videos featuring our own Brien Palisoc dancing with him!

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The Road to Hip Hop International

By Emeroy Bernardo

It’s been about three and a half weeks since the chosen 7 of FamBiz started up rehearsals for Hip Hop International. This is the first time we’ll be competing at this competition. While three of us have been to the competition, only one of us has actually had the opportunity to compete. We have no idea what to expect, and all we can really do is prepare.

It’s been 7 rehearsals and things seem promising for us. Right from the get-go we’ve hit the ground running. We’ve adopted a workout routine before every practice, designed to attack every muscle group at once to quickly raise everyone’s heart rate so we can build up our stamina. Even though Hip Hop International only demands a 2 minute routine, it’s what’s in those 2 minutes that really count. And with only 6 rehearsals left there really isn’t any time for messing around.

For those of you who aren’t too familiar with how Hip Hop International works, here’s a quick rundown.
Along with the criteria of performance, staging, crowd appeal, showmanship, and execution , each crew must perform a minimum of three street dance styles (this includes party dances).
Considering that not all of us break and not all of us lock, it’s been a challenging and enjoyable experience seeing everyone evolve and step out of their comfort zone.

Along with the requirement of three street styles, there’ll be a panel of eight judges.

4 Skill Judges, 4 Performance Judges

Performance Judges
They evaluate and score the routine according to performance, creativity, staging, showmanship, street presents, and variety of styles

Skill Judges
They evaluate and score the musicality, synchronization, execution, and difficulty.

So considering the fact that this is a maximum of eight dancers and not a sizable group like 20 or 30, it’s practically one set of eyes watching each and every one of us. There’s no hiding in this competition, if a person is unable to execute, everyone will be able to see.

Overall this is a new challenge for us, which has made us set the bar higher for ourselves. Whether we win or not, we’ll see what happens. It’s just exciting to be a part of this opportunity and to be able to share that floor with many talented dancers from across the world. Even though this is just the beginning of our journey, it is exciting thinking about what’s to come.

The Road To Hip Hop International: Part II

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Back To Our Roots

This coming Thursday and Friday we will be performing back at our first home stage at Glendale High School for their Dance Drill Team's Annual Revue.

Though many of our members come from different backgrounds, FamBiz was first started by the dancers of Glendale High, and we have, and always will, call it our home. It's always an honor to be invited back to perform where you first started. It's a very humbling experience.

Come check out the show Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20 at 7:00PM!

Tickets at the door are $12!

UPDATE:
Due to the overwhelming amount of numbers that had to be cut yesterday night, FamBiz will NOT performing tonight in order for the other routines to be show cased. However, some FamBiz dancer will still be performing for the Glendale High Alumni routine.

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Wow! Check This Out!

A couple days ago, one of the artists whose song we used for our Hero routine gave us a shout out on his website. This was a dope surprise!

Check out the page and support his music!

http://www.bebeboohgz.com/2011/05/11/fan-appreciation/





On another note, we'll be performing over at Wonderland tonight at Hollywood! It's been awhile since we performed at the club, so come out and support and dance with us after!

Here's where we'll be at!

Wonderland Hollywood

1835 N. Cahuenga Blvd.

Hollywood, CA

See you guys there!

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Quotes From My Three Favorite Coaches

By: Emeroy Bernardo

I'm no basketball player or really have been, nor have I every been that great at sports. But what I know I am is a dancer and leader. A lot of demand is expected in being a leader and and even more to be a great one. There are so many elements that have to be considered from team chemistry, aesthetics, and the psychology of each person and the team as a whole.

When I first started leading, I was ruthless jerk that had nearly impossible expectations from my dancers. I had forgotten that I was working with people, not robots. Throughout the years I have evolved into what I am today, less temperamental and a bit more outspoken.

About a year ago, I decided to study up on some coaches and how they brought their team together from the ground up through both books and documentaries if there were any available. What I learned was truly inspirational and motivational, and helped me further developed my style of leading because of it.

Today one of the members had posted a quote on the Facebook group, which compelled me to share these quotes. I hope you guys enjoy the read.

Phil Jackson

• "Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.”

• “Always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart.”

• “Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together.”

• “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.”

• “Approach the game with no preset agendas and you'll probably come away surprised at your overall efforts.”

• "Once you've done the mental work, there comes a point you have to throw yourself into the action and put your heart on the line. That means not only being brave, but being compassionate towards yourself, your teammates and your opponents."

• "Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing."

John Wooden

• "Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

• "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."

• "Never mistake activity for achievement."

• "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

• "A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."

• "I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."

• "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

• "It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

• "The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."

• "Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

• "Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

• “The best way to improve the team is to improve ourselves.”

• “Discipline yourself and others won’t need to.”

• “Time spent getting even would be better spent trying to get ahead.”

• “It is what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

• “There is nothing stronger than gentleness.”

• “Big things are accomplished only through the perfection of minor details.”

• “Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting.”

• “Be most interested in finding the best way not in having your own way.”

• “What is right is more important than who is right.”

• “Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.”

• “Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress.”

• “If we’d magnified blessings as much as we magnified disappointments we would all be much happier.”

• “The worst thing that you can do for another person is the things they can and should do for themselves.“

• “Do not permit what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do.”

• “Love is the greatest of all words in our language.”

• “Much can be accomplished by teamwork when no one is concerned who gets credit.”

• “Never make excuses; your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them.”

• “Make each day your masterpiece.”

• “Make friendship of fine art.”

• "Acquire peace of mind by making the effort to become the best of which you are capable."

• "Be quick, but don't rush."

Vince Lombardi

• “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”

• “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.”

• “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

• “Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It’s a state of mind – you could call it character in action.”

• “The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.”

• “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”

• “Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

• “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.”

• “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”

• “Leadership is based on a spiritual quality --- the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.”

• “Winning is a habit. Watch your thoughts, they become your beliefs. Watch your beliefs, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character.”

• “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

• “Confidence is contagious and so is lack of confidence, and a customer will recognize both.”

• “If you don’t think you’re a winner, you don’t belong here.”

• “If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired with enthusiasm.”

• “Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will all be judged on one thing: the result.”

• “Winning is not everything – but making the effort to win is.”

• “Success demands singleness of purpose.

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Outside of FamBiz

As a family of dancers, it's apparent that all of us share that talent and passion for dance, but every now and then I find out something new about someone that I didn't expect. We get can get so caught up with who we are at rehearsals, performances, and whatnot, we can forget that they do other things too. Here are a couple of videos I have been wanting to share ever since I saw it.

A video made by Anthony Macareg. I would label it as a surrealistic short due 
As creepy as this is, I thought it was aesthetically brilliant.

Emeroy's Demo Reel that got him hired at Sassoon Film Company


Dance for Loved Ones. Marc's X-mas video to Roxine

 

Anthony Macaraeg is a Jedi

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The Road to Urban Street Jam: Friends and Family Night!

Happy Hump Day! It's March 1st and Urban Street Jam is only 4 days away! We're super excited in debuting our set, "Hero" to everyone this Saturday! We've been doing a lot of preparation and polishing whatever we need to for the routine meaning plenty of hard working late nights. And a handful of our dancers have been getting sick so I just want to give them props for still coming to practice and still putting in the work.

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"Don't let yesterday take up too much of today."

Something that I used to wonder as a dancer back when I was in my high school’s dance team and first starting up FamBiz (back then known as E.S.U.I.) was why some rehearsals or performances would go so well one moment, and then not so much the next. I know it was frustrating for the coaches and captains, and was sure as hell frustrating for me.

I guess this can relate to a lot of movies sequels, most of them will never be as good as the first.

It came to understanding that no matter how good the product is done before, the next one may or may not be as good as the previous, if not more. People want consistency. And that’s what I believe a lot of us want. People can only stomach a roller coaster for so longer before throwing up.

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Wannabe Rockstar Choreography

A couple months ago we shared some behind the scenes footage of a music video we shot with a local artist. This isn't the finished product because it's still in production, but this is the part of the choreography for the video. It's missing a few parts, but hopefully you get the idea. Comments are more than welcome! We love hearing your thoughts!

If you want to check out the behind the scenes look for the music video!

Click here: Wannabe Rock Star Video Shoot - Behind The Scenes

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We're On a Boat!

It's TRUE! FamBiz will be dancing on a boat-unfortunately no T-pain. Brought to you by Jayvee Dance Productions! It's going to be over at Long Beach! Dancing, Music, and BOOZE! $30 presale ticket and $40 at the dock! Get them while they're still $30! If you want more info, check out the flier below! Hope to see you guys there!

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Get Your Head In The Game – Part 4

Respect Your Rehearsal Space

Lost In The Clutter

We as people face a mountain of distractions everyday. Too many of these disruptions can cost us dearly if we have a lot of work get done or deadlines to meet. We have no control over protecting ourselves or our teams from these distractions, but you can help by making sure the environment you guys work in contributes to the focus and efficiency.

It’s hard to focus if the place you do most of your work in is a mess, whether it be at work or at rehearsal. Your productivity is affected if you don’t have the space you need, and the more you allow things to get in the way, the more stressful and frustrating everything becomes. Once your work or rehearsal space becomes associated with these things, you may find your enthusiasm for rehearsal becoming affected. Every minute
you spend making sure you have an organized workplace will save you hours in the future. Here are a few things I’ve kept in mind through all the rehearsals I’ve experienced.

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Seasons Past

Interested in getting to know who Family Bizness a little more? Join us as we walk down memory lane as this video shares what we did as a team last season. Things have changed so much last year, so many ups and so many downs that we've all endured together. The growing pains we've faced has made us stronger as a family. We look forward to sharing this upcoming season with you guys!

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BoogieZone with Phanie!

Last week was Stephanie's first Boogiezone class! Congratulations Steph and we're super proud of you! She was nervous before she started the class, but as soon as she got the ball rolling she had a lot of fun teaching everyone. The piece she taught was definitely her style of high energy and the class in the end was high in energy! Look out for her to be performing alongside with FamBiz, Breed, and Encore at Maxt Out!

The Phanie Iceberg Duet and Interview

Boogiezone Groups

Want to know the Phanie a little more! Go check out her blog over at Oh My Phanie!

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Get Your Head In the Game-Part 3

Visualization

  

If You See It You Can Achieve It; If You Can Dream It, You Can Become It
Visualization; imagination, probably one of the most common forms of mental preparation. It's simply just sitting yourself down at place where no distractions can get to you and mentally placing yourself at that situation. The more intense and clear you can visualize it in your head, the more value it can have as a “real” experience.

All sorts of people use this technique, from dancers to athletes. I was first introduced to the use of it my first year of being on Glendale High's Dance Team. I definitely underestimated the effectiveness of this exercise. As important as I knew mental exercises were back then, I kept thinking that the physical practice was far more important. I’ve had many moments where I didn’t expect myself to mess up on a particular part of a routine, especially if I knew I had gotten it down. But sometimes we get so caught up in the adrenaline rush we get too ahead of ourselves, or we get caught up in our heads that we blank out in whatever we’re doing. Both cases have happened to me on stage and during a battle. And for some people, it can be hard on a person’s belief in their ability.

Remember. Breath controls the mind, and the mind controls the body. Not the other way around.

The author of Quantum Fitness, Dr. Denis Waitley says the visualization is the mind being able to implement vivid images of the performance as if they’ve done it before. And when the time comes to actually execute and perform, it would be as if they’re just repeating it.

We all want to be prepared, but often times we’re took focused on practicing the physical aspects of what we’re preparing for. A good amount of performance comes with how mentally ready we are with it. Visualizing what you have to do allows you to react to the situation accordingly without having to think about it; and it can be an extremely effective tool along with hard work and determination. It allows you to prepare your skills without having to over work your body.

Everyone has their own way of mental preparation. In FamBiz, we practice 3 different forms of Visualization: The Safe Spot, The Winning Performance, and The Train Wreck; each exercise preparing the mind for different situations.



The Safe Spot

During the rehearsals and run-throughs where we’re dancing full out, it’s hard to listen or give notes to dancers right away because we’re still trying to catch our breath. Our mind is going as fast as our heart rate.
Just as the title en tales, the safe spot is a place where you take your mind to a place it feels most secure. It's hard to give notes if the dancers aren't relaxed and their minds are in a frenzy.  After a run through, I tell the dancers to go get water to replenish their body and to go to their safe spot so they can replenish their minds. Once they get their mind right, I proceed to give them the notes that are needed.



The Winning Performance
This form of visualization is the most common for a lot of people. You simply sit down and imagine yourself doing the routine. A good friend of mine, Audrey Benson, gave me insight on how to make this even more effective. Along with envisioning the routine the way you want executed, imagine that you are already on stage in full costume. The bright lights shine upon you as the crowd yells. Create a much more vibrant image for yourself to practice in. If you feel pressure or excitement while doing this, good, the more you become accustomed through this feeling in your mind will transfer to when you actually perform. You’ll become better in performing under pressure.

A lot of the time, I find myself moving and practicing with the music which is ok.  But I definitely found it much more of a challenge when I did my best to just run the routine in my head before physically executing it. From there I find areas of the routine where I'm most uncomfortable with. I take that to note and practice it as best I can so the next time I run it in my head, there won't be a gray area. The more you focus on how well you run the routine in your head, the closer you are to executing it the way you want physically.



The Train Wreck

After I let the dancers envision how they want to perform the routine. I have them envision them messing up as worst as possible, to the point where it feels like it would scar them for life. It can be an uncomfortable experience depending on how vivid you make it to be, but I believe once you’ve experienced the feeling of it, you’ll definitely do all you can to make sure you don’t ever feel it again.

Messing up or blanking out on stage is something we all don’t want to experience when we’re performing on stage. The feeling of panic as you try to catch up where you left off can be killer on your performance. Some of us may have experienced it, I sure have. Some people brush it off, but some others take it to heart. I’ve seen some people tear up because of slip up, feeling like the quality of the routine they worked hard for messed up all because of them.

Sayings like “don’t mess up,” and “losing is not an option,” are a few things that are strongly enforced within our society nowadays. It’s made to seem that these areas of thinking shouldn’t even exist. Good or bad performance. Win or lose. The result of either all rests on how well you as an individual have prepared. Focusing on the good outcome is a good thing, but to completely avoid the latter can really take a toll on some people if they’re not ready for it. Messing up, making mistakes is a possibility, but the more you try to avoid the thought, the more you allow the fear of it to grow. The only way to get rid of the fear is to allow your mind to fully engage in the thought of it, no matter how painful. After doing so, let it go. Allowing yourself to accept the fact that there is that possibility of making a mistake or losing can greatly raise your awareness in your execution. 

It All Comes Down To This…

If you’re serious about trying to up your game as a performer then it’s important to know that your mental preparation is just as important as your physical preparation. It’s something that shouldn’t be ignored. If your mind and body aren’t in sync, it may affect your performance. Depending on the dancer, it may or may not be affected too much, but that small percentage still adds up in the long run. It’s the little things that count that prepare you for the great opportunities. How well you prepare can be the result of how you perform. And when it comes down to it, all you can really do is give it your all. In the midst of the backstage craziness and anxiety, doing your best is what you have control over, and if you did, then your job is done.

How do you visualize doing your routines? Let Us Know! Fambiz.fb@gmail.com

Get Your Head In The Game Series:

Part 1, Part 2

References:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FIH/is_1_69/ai_n18608921/

http://www.psychic101.com/Visualization.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_11_79/ai_n15950486/

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Results Are In!

You guys chose it and it looks like the winner is Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby with 39% of the votes! That song definitely kept the lead for awhile, but held on to a slight lead over Jason Mraz - Lucky having 38%. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote! We really appreciate it. As Stephanie begins to choreograph her piece make sure to stay tuned so you can get more info on what to expect or bring for her class! We'll see you guys at BZ class in a week!

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Lucky Strike Thursdays!

Looking for something to do on a Thursday night without having to spend too much money?

Come check out Lucky Strike Thursdays located at LA Live in the Beautiful Downtown Los Angeles.

It's 21+ and FREE OF CHARGE! 

Happy hour starts at 10 PM meaning cheap drinks!

The event is hosted by our own Marc Miranda and Roxine Ami

featuring FamBiz Alumni at the DJ Booth: DJ OMFG and DJ

Er0ck! Come check it out!

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