Bitearsweet

Omg I got there early today but I SO thought I was going to be late for my private cos the bus broke down! Luckily they got it working again and I arrived quarter to 12. Pete showed up a few minutes after and he thought Jackie was supposed to be there at the same time (I thought maybe they changed something) so we waited a bit. I chatted with Pete a bit and he asked me how I started dancing. I told him it was because of guilt and he was shocked but thought it was funny. He likes asking that question cos everyone dances for a different reason and it's fascinating to him. I told him how my family doesn't really support me doing this (they do, but they don't at the same time cos while they come watch shows and stuff, they keep telling me it's a waste of time and they don't understand why I do it at the same time). Pete's been around the world teaching and he told me he totally understands cos having been to Japan, Korea, and China, he realized it's all the same with Asian families. Turns out he didn't have much support either. He had the opportunity to tour when he was 16 and his dad said that ok, you tour for 2 months but then what after? Was he going to make money dancing, raise a family on the money he makes from dancing? But he said once you make it on TV and your parents see, they all go "oh that's my baby!" cos it's then turned into a type of accomplishment and makes them proud ^^. Pete's really patient at teaching cos he understands that not everyone grew up around that kind of music so it's a little difficult for some people to grasp. He actually recently came back from Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou and said he was talking to someone there and they realized that it was so difficult to grasp because they didn't grow up listening to that type of music so while it seemed natural to him, it was something completely foreign to them. I myself grew up trained in classical music and listening to Chinese pop songs. He's even danced to classical music before! He said that as long as there's a beat, you can dance to it. He actually likes to listen to classical music when he's on the plane cos it helps him relax.

Throughout the class Pete was saying the I was doing really well and it was great! There was one move that I kept screwing up though cos he said I kept thinking about the move too much. After a while he realized I was leaning back instead of forward and that was throwing off my timing, which is VERY important in popping! He apologized for not catching it earlier and then I finally got it. Omg, he actually made me FREESTYLE for 30 minutes! I thought I was going to DIE! Well, actually it didn't really feel THAT nervewrecking and I knew he was there to help me, but it was Poppin Pete!!!! I don't freestyle in front of no one and then all of a sudden I had to do it in front of Poppin Pete! I finally understand what it means to sit in the pocket of the beat! I heard it a lot before but I never understood it until now and I finally realized I wasn't popping in time! Pete taught me to listen to music like I never did before! He gave me great pointers too. He kept stopping me and showing me what I could do with my arms. I don't move my feet enough and I don't finish my moves. He didn't mind that I was constantly staring at the ground, since I am a beginner! I finally got in the groove and there were a few times that he was saying "nice! good! there we go!" which boosted my confidence ^^ One of the times I was finally getting into it and the song ended... so he made me do it again lol! He constantly reminded me when I was off beat to listen to the music and move to the music. Freestyling is actually just random movements. If you can move your arms, you can freestyle. If you look up what popping is about, it's a freestyle dance where you apply the popping technique to. He said it's good to have an appreciation for other dance styles and to learn from them, and he recommends people look up the history and stuff about dancing and popping, etc. instead of just taking it for granted and doing what we just see on TV or YouTube. It's good to learn what it's actually all about and how it came about. I then got a photo with Pete ^^ and he said he was going to burn a copy of the music and give it to me so that I can practice popping. Yay!!!

The $250 was SO worth it!!!!! I learned more today in that 1 hour class than I have learned in these past 2 years!!! Pete is SUCH an amazing dancer and teacher. I'm TOTALLY going to take another private lesson in the future!!!