Inspired #9

By Emeroy Bernardo

This was inspired by the writer of The Simple Dollar. Every week I will be sharing the top 3 things that have inspired me as a person throughout the week.

1. How bad do you want it?
Recently I was watching a video on YouTube during work. I was looking for motivational videos to help inspire me to motivate my team. Out of all the videos I watched, this one spoke to me the most.

It's a beautiful short story sharing what it takes to be successful. Me describing it won't do the video justice so you will just have to watch it for yourself.

2. Today was a good day
I didn't get to post this up on the previous article, so I'll share it today!

A week ago from today, I had the opportunity to perform with Fambiz, teach class, hang out with my family, and spend time with my girlfriend.

May not sound much to some people, but to be able to spend time with so much of the people I care about in a jam packed day is truly a blessing!

3. My mom
I was recently listening to a radio show that happened to be on the topic of Giving. They were sharing a story about people still giving to help others even though they themselves are struggling just as much.

The minute they finished telling this story, the first person I thought about was my mom. She has always helped everyone out who ever needed it.
She has always given whatever she can to help out even though she may not have a lot.
She's currently helping out some family financially over at the Philippines and helping out another family member go through college.

She has definitely helped me countless times in the past and still does today.
Her willingness to give even though she struggles just as much as we all do is something that astounds me.
And it's through her that I've been inspired to give more. My challenge to myself now is to not come up with excuses not to.

4. The truest form of expression
I recently found this video of Bruce lee talking about expression through martial arts. I'm no martial artist, but I can relate to his view about expressing oneself in dancing.

Dancers in all essence are performers, yet a lot of dancers I tend to see are not performing. Many get so caught up in the move, choreography, or technique that they forget to add themselves into that equation. Anybody can learn choreography, show off a cool move, and put on a show, but to be express yourself honestly is quite difficult.

Dance is a form of expression.

We can all agree to that universally. Yet even with that it is so hard for many truly express the self. It's not about the style you learned or the choreography you know, it's about how you can truly express yourself through that dance.

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A Dancer Recognized - Kelly Khuu

By CJ Capili

Kelly Khuu, a fellow member of FamBiz and also a dancers that took up dancing at a young age. She is an El Monte native that has made a name for herself around her peers. She has been taking dance for about 8 years, and began her dance training in Jayvee Dance Center, in which she has learned under the styles of Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Jazz, and Tap.
In this sea of dancers, everyone has their story. And I wanted share hers starting from the beginning.

CJ: Who or what inspired you dance?
KK: When I was a little kid my parents would always see me dancing around and decided to put me in dance lessons and ever since my first dance class I immediately fell in love with it.
CJ: To this day, what motivates you to dance?
KK: I know it sound very cliché but dance really is my drug. Whenever I dance, I literally forget everything and everyone around me and just be in the moment. I don’t know if that make sense but whether taking a class, or dancing at a club, I always feel my most happiest when I’m dancing.


Kelly’s roots in training and performing bring her to Teen Groov, a junior team located at Jayvee Dance Center. She was invited to audition by the studio owner at the time, Joanna Vargas. Along the way her experience with Teen Groov, it has led her to meet many great people including one of her best friends and fellow FamBiz dancer, Serena Su. As her experience as a dancer grew, Kelly has also performed under Breed’s junior exhibition team, Offspring, where she further pushed her ability in dance without the stress of competition.

CJ: If you can define Family Bizness, what would it be?
KK: Family Bizness to me is really a family. Everyone on the team truly cares and enjoy each other’s company. I think what sets us apart from other teams is that we actually like each and everyone one of each other. There are no cliques in our team.
CJ: What are your plans for the future for Fam Biz?
KK: My future plans for Biz would be to help us grow as a team and become one of the best teams in the community.

Kelly Khuu, a old member, and once again an experienced dancer that is dedicated to the art. She is young and energetic she will become one of those dancers that’ll contribute to the future of FamBiz, and also to the dance community. Her growth as a dancer will continue to grow as years goes on, and her motivation, dedication, and inspiration to dance will give her the strength to stand against any obstacles she faces. Kelly Khuu is a determined dancer with a lot of talent, and will become a prominent impact into the shaping of our dance team.

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In a Dancers Shoes #1

By Christian Jordan Capili

“My experiences, thoughts, and feelings regarding dance as whole whether it’s my team, the community or my life as a dancer.”


At times as a dancer, our worse opponent when it comes to dancing is our emotions. Our emotions are what drive us to be a better dancer, or it can be the tool that destroy the very passion we have for dance. In this case, when it comes to “Casting” sometimes our emotions play a role in how things turn out for any dancer, and sometimes it either has a positive or negative after-effect for any dancer.

“Casting is a process in which a dancer would “try out” for the pieces that was taught by the choreographers to have a spot for that section in the routine.”

1. When you don’t get casted for that piece – Don’t get mad, don’t give up, just work harder.

What I have learned as a dancer is that, if I don’t get casted to a certain piece there are certain things I am missing as a dancer that fits into the choreographer’s criteria. It isn’t reasons like “I suck at dancing” or “ The choreographer has favorites” or even “I know I did better than that guy/girl” is the type of thinking that will only cause us to think more negatively and cause us to lose the motivation to dance not just for ourselves but for the team as well. Emotions play a major role when it comes to these types of processes in my opinion. Once we let our emotions into our dance nirvana, we lose all focus and we become astray from the real goal of why we dance.

A solution to this dilemma is simple to work harder next time. Ask for critiques from the choreographer themselves, and those criticisms as a result will show were our weaknesses are, and will make us into a better dancer. Every opportunity that may seem lost isn’t entirely gone. As a member of Family Bizness there were times I’d let my emotions get the better of me, but I know better that just because I wasn’t casted for one piece, that one piece won’t be the same group of people the entire season. We all compete in multiple competitions, and changes will be made. And if we continue to work hard and accept the criticisms our choreographers has said to us, then we can improve ourselves twice as much as before.

2. When you do get casted for that piece – Work harder no matter what, be humble and appreciative.

When dancers do become part of the section they casted for, there has been an instance in which a dancer becomes too relaxed, too confident in their ability and even at times possible begin to belittle the dancers around them who aren’t part of the section. Though the last example is a hunch on my part, I believe it has happened somewhere before. Nevertheless these type of attitudes, and ways won’t be a good example for other dancers alike, and will only fuel the negativity that other dancers feel already after a casting.
A quote/statement that was said to me was that we mustn’t let our achievements keep us in one level and make us lazy; we must keep rising and rising no matter what the occasion is. Because as hard as it is to become part of a particular section for any dance team, it is easy to easily lose the spot we worked so hard for in an instant by not showing the dedication and hard work a choreographer asks in return of us dancers. We must be a good role model to those around us and even encourage, support, and guide those who wish to become better. At times people forget to appreciate the things we have been given, even if we are given a spot for a certain section we must still show our appreciation for it and stay humble to it no matter what.

Afterword:
Though it is hard to face these realities, its part of life. At times our emotions play a core role in how we act as a dancer. If we act prideful and cocky, that will be the energy we will let out to those around us; and as a result, we as individuals will look at those dancers who are in a sense “prideful and cocky” as a bad influence to the dance community. If we try to confront these issues and try to find a solution to these, I can guarantee that any struggling dancer in a team can find a safe haven and a sense of reassurance that not all hope is lost. We as dancers need to remember that dancing is fun, it is part of our life and that we can’t let any negativity get the best of us, and if there are those who are astray, we must learn to go back down and help those who are on the ground no matter what.

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It's About Time! #5

30 years of music videos, it's about time!  The past few weeks the dancers alliance have been posting up videos in their fight to get a fair music video contract. we would like to support them in helping get the word out.

You can follow their twitter @dancersalliance and that YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/dancersalliance.


This week we'll be featuring Raquel Horsford-Best, Suzie Q, and Kevin Stea. 

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Life = Risk

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