SYF DANCE 2007- SAJC: LIBERTA (FREEDOM)

[meterwest]

what is the name of the song during the first part?

[fannatic89]

@meterwest It's one song only for the entire item. From the movie Gladiator. This is the version by the Ten Tenors, "Now We Are Free".

[dancingupastorm]

i had to watch this again after today * tear. love sajc dance!

[XiaoPeace]

Great Job !

[wiishup0nast4r]

This dance is amazing... Congrats on the gold. :)

[Pottyf0rPotter]

This reminds me strongly of the MGS 2007 SYF Dance, Bliss! They even have some of the same moves... Is it the same choreographer, or something? Even the costumes look alike...

[fannatic89]

yes. we have the same instructor, Zaki =)

[Pottyf0rPotter]

I KNEW it! :D Haha... it's very good. He's a pretty good choreographer...

[fannatic89]

yes, this is done by zaki =)

[gina176]

Marvelous, Gold with Honours.

[jambolayia]

i should tell u that , no matter they say, this dance was amazing, its fabulous, trust and believe,, i am a dancer my self i am from the island Jamaica, and that the way we dance in our country. i would to dance with u guys .. i love it so much and more i love the music.. i do ...congrats.... u did a wonderful job.. i love it ....

[jambolayia]

please can i get the name of this artist , the person or persons who sing this song.... gurls ur were awsome.. looking reall great . i have bin hook on this dance so bad... very wel dun

[fannatic89]

there are guys in the dance too you know... =)

[fffafaaa]

Il Gladiatore by The Ten Tenors.

[potatocoucher]

you guys have awesome technique! ((:

[akensg]

To discreetion, it's called layering..

I'm am still in awe. It doesn't matter what the judges thought. The ending sequence is genius.. Other choreographers are gonna study this one, believe me..

[akensg]

One of the most uplifting dance works I have ever seen. Thank you.

[INDICATIONS]

can you please also add dunman sec modern dance performance 2007 ...... thanks

[WASBE2007]

i'm not a dancer myself but i thought this was quite an elegant performance :)

[maxisgood]

made me cry and provoked my soul beautiful from sue in england

[lilyofthevalleyyy]

i believe it was more because of the music?

[prancingmorons]

dance and music are one! dance is the percolator and essential expression of music!

[everytime2sad]

the choregraphy of tis dance is amazing...

[Geraldin3x]

zaki's choregraphy is soooo distict =.=

[SakuraTenshi94]

personally, I think this dance is absolutely beautiful.

Every second, there is movement of some sort, creating excitement and anticipation.

Zaki is a wonderful choreographer.

And you guys expressed this dance very well.

[discreetion]

too much movement... very messy...gold.... not honour

[JaneTyl]

I think a real dance should be with great energy, and the theme or the feel of the dance should be there. Well they've definitely got good dancers..But somehow it seems like they're all dancing for the competition only... Like there is no real dance feel? Like they all look like they're rushing to remember their steps, or they're hurrying to their places..Yes...a little messy.

But still really good (:

[lurbbeJOSE]

actually..i tink this dance deserve a gold..but not gold with honours... If you actually observe, its quite messy. a good dance school that i think really deserve gold with honours is St nicholas secondary...their dance would be more impressive... :) But overall, this dance is good too..

[xanatoze]

i agree.. i swear that cjc's dance also deserves gwh too!

[easterturtle1994]

is st nick's syf dance video on youtube?if it is can send me?pls thanks

[SakuraTenshi94]

This definitely deserved a Gold with Honours...

[vjy1980]

awesom and simply wonderful, watching this video inspired me to get creative.

Well done!

[danceawaaay]

You guys danced really well(:

[300degree]

Wonderful music, interesting movements, beautiful costumes, technically strong and cool chOREOGRAPHY. can ani kind soul tell mi the title of tis music, i had been looking for it since quite long ago.

[fannatic89]

Well, this song originated from the movie soundtrack of Gladiator. The original song is 'Now We Are Free' performed by Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard.

But this edition used by SAJC Dance in our SYF is by The Ten Tenors. It can be found in their latest album 'Here's to the Heroes', track 12: Gladiatore Suite: Now We Are Free/Il Gladiatore

[deepsugar]

OMG YAY IM GO GLAD U UPLOADED THIS HONG HENG

You guys did awesome okay! You worked your butts off, gave 200% and till today I still get goose bumps watching this! Don't let anyone put you down because at the end of the day you were the one that put yourself on stage and you have all this to show for yourself and your talent okay!

Seriously if I could watch the SYF performance again live I think I'd probably get a heart attack, or start crying, haha. You guys did great, srsly.

-Charwong

[fannatic89]

Thanks char! X) you're such a darling senior ;)

[wg1989]

this shd be a gold with HONOUR!

[roseyangel]

SAJC certaingly deserved MORRE than a GOLD

[QinGw3n]

i saw their performance on syf nite 07, it was rily nice =P esp their lead dancer !!!

[watercolourprints]

I am positively clueless as to why SAJC did not attain a Gold with honours. The dance was definitely worthed more than just a Gold.

[tobydh]

do you have any friends who are in SA Dance? maybe you can ask them about the judges' comments. Their teacher i/cs should have received them and shared them with the dancers. Maybe then you'd be more clued in.

[fannatic89]

thank you for all of your care and concern! =) yes, we received the comments a long time ago already =)

Red

SAJC Dance

2006/7

[tobydh]

Actually my reply was for watercolourprints: enlighten yourself with the judges comments - if you know anyone in the dance group (maybe fannatic89) who is willing to share them (in private of course) that is. You may personally like the dance (while some others don't) but the judges surely have their reasons, which should be taken seriously as learning points by dancer and choreographer alike. To sirmisspiggy: if you are a senior, do get yourself clued in as well.

[uriel51999s]

SA dancers should continue dancing as their dances are definately superb but even better when enhanced by such creative choreograhpers. All I wanna say is, SAJC is the ultimate!

[yceng]

i was touched. SA, well done.

[gymmerz]

When it comes down to it I believe that all positive or slightly negative comments made here (there are no purely negative comments here right?) reflect the dance community's high regard of SA dance, coming with our own expectations which might or might not have been met. It is the only reason why this video is the most watched and highly-commented SYF video out there. In my opinion, this performance alone does not speak for the spirit and effort of the dancers.

[gkh2606]

That I do very much agree.

[lansehudie]

I am sure it is no coincidence or fluke that SA dance has attained the following and clout it has today.

I stand by whatever I've said about this piece.

And pls, since I'm not from those schools, I don't have access to their videos; do upload the other schools' excellent dances so that the global community can see that the dance scene in Singapore schools has more than one choreographer's artistry to offer.

[gkh2606]

Then again it's just what I think, I hope I'm not offending anybody.

[gkh2606]

Well, it's true with what you said about props and about dance interpretation. I'm just comparing because there is this unfortunate habit for the judges to compare with the other dances during the competition. Btw, I agree that a dance shouldn't be judged by its video but I was there to watch it and to tell you the truth, I was quite disappointed by this piece because I've seen the 2005 piece and I had rather high expectation of their 2007 piece.

[sirmisspiggy]

well the 2005 piece and 2007 piece are very different in their aims and themes. im not sure if they can be compared but if ur looking at it frm the pt of view in terms of lines, 2005 definitely wins cus the aim was really a very dramatic feeling. 2007 however aimed to move away frm such blatant methods to something more subtle. apparently it looks like not everyone caught that.

[gkh2606]

Yea, I guess the judges didn't get it as well.

[rasav123]

actually you did ask for comparison as seen on sajc's syf 2005 video comments.

"fannatic89 (1 month ago)

well, sajc's syf 2007 is up on youtube already. go view =) and can someone post up the other schools' syf for 2007 so they can compare the gold and gold with honours standards =) "

but then again i think you guys still did GREAT! :D

the movements are reallly good. loved the layering.

[fannatic89]

wow. i did! X)

but that as stated, that was "1 month ago" we're talking about "3 days ago" now you see X)

thanks anyway! =)

[sirmisspiggy]

so many comments seem to be totally misplaced.

its natural for items choreographed by the same person to look similar in style and blocking. its impossible to expect him to come up with vastly differing stuff unless he has a personality disorder.

zaki was a pioneer member of NUS Dance Ensemble. this dance is not NUS dance ensemble's standard jus so u noe. if u wanna see something that is truly NUS Dance Ensemble, watch an item by the title of Pacem en Mortous.

[sirmisspiggy]

finally, im not going to comment on how ppl ought to appreciate dance. this is the very nature of art. have any of u watched arthouse pieces done by reknowned dance companies like Cloud Gate Dance Theatre? I love their lines and fluid movements that are influenced by wushu and taichi. however i have frens telling me its like watching wushu opera.

dance is interpreted and appreciated in different ways. the above item starts with joy, then chaos sets in, followed by hope at the end.

[sirmisspiggy]

i believe zaki chose NOT to use props for this item bcus the costume itself IS a prop and he wanted to focus on the emotive aspects of the dance, as opposed to grandeur lines of syf 2005. if he added in props, it wld be too much motion on stage and will distract the view frm the blking.

i personally believe that dance shld nv be appreciated and never judged frm a video, bcus the viewers are denied the dance in its totality.

[lansehudie]

"bcus the costume itself IS a prop "

Yes, for the functions of determining the visual tone of the performance. BUT, in the context of other more obtrusive/inventive use of costumes as props (St Anthony Canossian's use of the skirt for wings, TPJC's use of the lampshade prop as a skirt, etc.), if this was REALLY the intention of the choreo, then I must personally say it was a very WEAK attempt to do so.

[sirmisspiggy]

"if this was REALLY the intention of the choreo, then I must personally say it was a very WEAK attempt to do so. "

that is YOUR personal opinion and how YOU chose to interpret it. as i have said, different individuals appreciate different things. pls refrain from making comments in such a manner which wld make u look prejuicded against any college or choreographer.

[lansehudie]

Emotive aspects? this was one of the more 'dance-y', and less theatrical items this year, and it certainly stirred one emotion from me: a tired sense of deja vu. I couldn't really care less after 2 minutes.

By contrast, RJC's dance made me feel sad and indignant at the marginalisation of the samsui women and the brazenness of the youth. I felt the multivariate and conflicted emotions of womanhood in AJC's 2005 item. I was there. I saw the first 2/3 of the items that day.

[sirmisspiggy]

i was also there at the syf 2007 and i was performing at syf 2005.

i thought rjc's item lacked direction until the end. their blocking was rather one dimensional. it was a novel concept however.

if u havnt gotten my pt by now, its this. there will always be pts of contention over dance. dance is art. lets appreciate it for wat it is and see the good in the items rather than shooting down pieces that we dnt agree with.

[gkh2606]

I agree with the RJ dance. Though I feel that the transition is a bit bad, but generally, it's good. The AJ item this year is pretty decent too.

[louielouielouis]

someone pls teach jolynn how to cut the disc!! Haha

[gkh2606]

The 2005 one in which the climax is picked up again at the very last bit with the umbrellas pushing back and forth and the urgency brought about by the music was so much better.

[gkh2606]

I think this dance got a gold because it starts off with a rather high note and climbs upwards thereafter until it starts plunging at 2:53. The atmosphere, the feeling of awe and grandness starts to plummet from there and all that is left to see is just the synchronization and nothing much. Compare this to CJ and HC who further heighten their climax at the very end, this would pale in comparison.

[fannatic89]

it was meant to plunge in climax at that timing and if you did realise, it picked up at the end again.

well, you can always keep watching CJ's and HC's item. no one's asking for comparison X)

[gkh2606]

It did try to pick up, but it failed to garner the previous splendour in front.

[gkh2606]

Well, I actually watched them for over 30 times now especially for the CJ one. Please don't be offended. I'm comparing only because I feel that they got a Gold because the judges compare. That's a very unfortunate habit of the judges. But I think it's true.

[fannatic89]

so you mean you knew what the judges were thinking? you can read others' mind? that's a real amazing feat! =)

how i wish i could be like that too. well, too bad, im not as capable =)

"I'm comparing only because I feel that they got a Gold because the judges compare. That's a very unfortunate habit of the judges. But I think it's true."

"It did try to pick up, but it failed to garner the previous splendour in front."

okay. if you think so... X)

[gkh2606]

That again, is my own opinion. Why do I feel that you are so easily offended?

[gymmerz]

Replying to lansehudie: "So you have a case of one school's item looking shockingly familiar - because it is the exact same piece danced by another school under the same tutor in a previous year." That was exactly my sentiment when I saw MGS's item this year (before I knew it was also choreographed by Zaki). It would have been worst if someone ripped off another choreographer's work, but adapting your previous work for a different school seems unfair to the dancers.

[gymmerz]

Replying to lansehudie: "So you have a case of one school's item looking shockingly familiar - because it is the exact same piece danced by another school under the same tutor in a previous year." That was exactly my sentiments when I saw MGS's item this year (before I knew it was also choreographed by Zaki). It would have been worst if someone ripped off another choreographer's work, but adapting your previous work for a different school seems unfair to the dancers.

[firemenbin]

i totally agree.

well but since it was the decision of the cheorographer, he shd have consider that. wat a wrong move.

and rjc's dance was wonderful!

beautiful images could be seen.

thats good in an dance!

[lansehudie]

One criticism of SYF is that choreographers can choose to rehash old choreography or even copy foreign ones; the test is on the students' ability to perform it. So you have a case of one school's item looking shockingly familiar - because it is the exact same piece danced by another school under the same tutor in a previous year.

As for this piece: if I mute the sound, why, haven't I seen something like it at some NUS Dance Ensemble concert a few year's back?

[lansehudie]

Just to respond to firemenbin: quite similar?

Contrast the social message of RJC's samsui women vs callous youth, with TPJC's abstract but sublime jellyfish, with TJC's ninja inspired (at least to me) piece, and of course HCI's no-holds-barred props and staging.

[nabilaaarock]

i like the dance.very nice(:

and congrats for the gold.you all really deserve it.

[firemenbin]

so sorry. and i hope u wont compare urselves with other jc's cause u cant compare. every dance is unique in their own ways. yours is the technique and ur costumes. the song was great too, but the choreography failed to bring out the best of the dancers. such a pity.

[firemenbin]

you guys may be VERY technical but yeah, no point.

and seriously there is nothing wrong with the choreography, however it is too plain. if u realise that most of the dance are quite similar this year. you guys might be lucky to get a gold for originality. sorry but no offence. Morever the formation and scene that are to be pictured are to vague and to be truthfull the last part of the dance is abit messy.

lifeless piece of work. de standards have dropped since the last batch.

[firemenbin]

erm firstly congrats on ur gold! but allow me to say some comments and i hope u wont take it to heart.

serioulsy i agree with lansehudie, the choreography is fine but it is uninspiring. you dunt see a connection btw the dancers and the song/dance. dey are just like abit soulless(some of them). and u dont see them communicating to the audience through the dance.

[heartytarts]

this is pretty good.was it choreographed by zaki?

[fannatic89]

yes, it's zaki's choreography =)

[lansehudie]

Lovely dancing and stage presence; however one can only watch so much swirling skirts, turns and turns and turns before wishing the music would just end. In my personal opinion the uninspired choreography is a waste of the dancers' hard work.

[kellyfied]

Hey juniors,

Absolutely breath-taking, amazing stuff there. So so proud :] And what a gorgeous ending!

Wish people filming dances down would quit zooming in and out tho- Would've loved to see the full effect of the entrances/exits and blocking changes!

Love,

Kelly ('o4/'o5) :]

[fannatic89]

thank you so much, seniors! =) you can watch it @ rapture 2007!~ ha. matinee tickets are still available!!!~~~ ;)

sajcdance. blogspot. com

eat. sleep. dance. REPEAT.

Red ('06/'07) =)

[purplesnails]

juniors, that was great. great technique, costumes, and zaki's choreography, wat can i say?! how you guys didnt get honours just.. i dont know. but we're all proud of you. ;]

-sam ('04/'05)

[mandywongs]

whoa, always loved your school's dance group. love this dance!

[girlintown]

haha, love the skirts.

[farique]

hell ya! nice dance.

u guys r superb la.

all the best in everything.(:

[hokeypokes]

very inspiring performance. fabulous technique too =]

anyone uploading ACJC's? i'm dying to watch it.

[jolynnn]

ACJC's was really really really really good. but i have no idea how to cut the video from the disc.. :/

[BtzX]

nice dance, nice movement and coordination...

very pretty costumes and a lovely different version of the gladiator soundtrack that was used for the song...

however there's a lack in story and soul to the dance, felt that the dance was detached to the song...

and it doesn't have a climax curve...

all and all a good piece, well deserving a gold...

[RETARDEDsalihan]

CONGRATS ON GOLD. nice dance. u guys dont deserve gold ! GOLD WITH HONOURS !

[sirmisspiggy]

Zaki - People have eyes to see.

and indeed they do. to invoke such emotion with jus the body is testimony to zaki's ingenuity and sajc's effort. kudos to u guys! ;)

[dyanreenzaki]

Excellent! Well done SAJC Dance group

[spasticfied]

Could you upload SCGS's one? THEY'RE (scgs) AWESOME OKAY. Supercool. Must upload please thankyou! (:

[sinsha]

this seriousleh gave me the goosebumps dude. GREAT DANCING! and the costumes are SUPER LOVELY! cheers for SA dancers`

[lancing]

NICE DANCE !! LUV it ...has the WOW feel ..lol