Author: laurennly

Behind the scenes: Ansyl Yap at M.U. Live

Two nights ago, I accompanied my cousin Ansyl Yap Cadag, (a lot would know her as Ansyl Yap as it is her screenname) for a taping at ABS-CBN on their late music show called M.U. Live. If you probably don’t know her yet, she’s an artist under Bellhaus Entertainment, Inc. and has been doing gigs for Spotlight Productions.

I actually didn’t know what show we were taping until I got into a house with a sign that said, “Pinoy Dream Academy” and saw an inner room at the side with a set, has a stage complete with a drumset, some cameras and other music parapehernalia.  I knew at that point that I was in for some serious business and gave myself a pat on the back for wearing a a great but comfy outfit for the long night ahead. Here are some behind the scenes photos.  Continue reading “Behind the scenes: Ansyl Yap at M.U. Live” →

Lady reppin’!

If ya’ll don’t know what’s up in the breaking scene, you should definitely look bonafide B-girl Bea up. She’s a B-girl and a member of Funkroots crew, one of the most renowned breakdance crews in the community and Stellar, an all-female group founded by Philippine All star Lema Diaz. She has been a B-girl for a really long time, she used to tell me that she got into breaking when she went to the US with her cousin and saw how fresh and interesting the style was. It really opened her eyes to the possibilities of breaking and honing such a challenging skill in her. That’s how she got hooked and ever since then, she’s been dancing and doing battles like battles were for breakfast. All this done by a girl.

I trained with her last year and there I saw girl power at its finest. I couldn’t be more gung-ho about what I would be learning from her and she couldn’t be more accommodating and nice. I used to go to her house and train there and enjoyed every minute. That was last year and making 2010 the year of taking all kinds of risks for me convinced me that the year was such an epic and fulfilling one in the history of my life.

Continue reading “Lady reppin’!” →

We All Stars

A lot of people said they wouldn’t bounce back. A lot said they wouldn’t win again. But here they are, winning yet another title. The Philippine Allstars just won the Dance2Dance Competition in Switzerland. It amazes me how they remain to conquer the dance world and how incredibly humble and down-to-earth they remain to be after all the wins and championships.

What I love about the Allstars is their impetus to give back. Since their starting years from 2005, they’ve always tried to share what they have to the community despite limitations especially when they were first starting out. They always knew that they weren’t only representing for themselves but for Filipinos all over and ever since then, what they’ve shared to the world now is an accolade beyond comparison – an undisputed recognition to Filipino dancers. I’ve learned a lot from the Allstars most especially from the interview I had with them a couple of years ago. What was just supposed to be a concise interview turned into more than an hour of storytelling of the Allstars’ journey and deep-rooted philosophy. You would understand how I was personally moved as Kenjohns, Sheena and Lema poured the innards of their journey and their life as a group together. From that day forward, to be honest, I have never held such high regard nor respect to any other dance crew but them.  Ever since that day of the interview, I knew something inside me changed. That change propelled me to help in one of their projects back then, collaborate together and later on, take training under them.

Last year, on the opening of the Allstars Dance School, they held a summer showcase. I was picked as one of the dancers to perform with them on stage and the experience was priceless. They held an open audition for dancers who’d like to join them perform and all I can say after that audition was that I emerged a better dancer through everything. If being watched by all of the Allstars dance and cypher wouldn’t make you a better dancer, I don’t know what would. Apart from teaching choreography, they told us to freestyle on the spot, making an all together cypher. The Allstars couldn’t have been more gracious as they cheered and encouraged some shy ones during freestyle. After a few days, I got a text from Ate Tzy (Michelle Tzy Salazar – resident B-girl of Allstars) saying that I was picked as one of the dancers to perform and we had rehearsals for the next coming days. I am still very thankful.

Having been able to rehearse and perform with the Allstars was just amazing and even saying it like that is still an understatement for me.

Love the provocativeness of this picture.

Grooving.

Showing the boys what’s up.

“Fly”

Thankful for the moment.

Yesterday was the 6th anniversary of the Philippine Allstars and their recent win at the Dance2Dance Competition in Switzerland was definitely the perfect way to celebrate.

Happy anniversary Philippine Allstars and congratulations on all the achievements! 6 years strong and counting. You will always be my biggest inspiration.