My "Sana Molette Ne Ente" video

[the gattchoon]

Well, since some people (like Ho =P) aren't registered on MySpace and can't access my videos, here is one of my videos on YouTube... don't know if you have to be a member on YouTube to view, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4aBnM2pHtY

It's my Sana Molette Ne Ente video from 2002. Ahh! Short hair!! =P Not the best freestyle, and not very planned. It was pretty spontaneous, since I was only there to see people and a couple people asked me to join freestyle just for the hell of it.

My old old old Stomp To My Beat video is on DDR Freak. And thank god nobody put up my ancient Afronova video from 2000... where I wore this leopard print mini skirt, drew whiskers on my face, had some ears and a tail, and freestyled in heels to Afronova next to a plush lion. Oh... when you're young, you'll do so many things...

[O 16581 72452 5]

Yo,

Pretty good, wish DDR was still crackin' like it was back in early 2000! Had some rad times on those pads.

[FLAKK]

Nice freestyle.

[Arka]

Hmm, v. cool. The lighting makes it difficult to make out detail, unfortunately, but I love the level of energy in your performance. I also like the level of... coordination? Probably not the best term. Integration might be more correct.

As another member of the "no MySpace" crowd: post more videos!

[Ho]

Welcome to Indiana...

...you're the best freestyler we've got!

I love your relaxed yet naturally high-energy style.

My own freestyles are generally improvised on the spot. I may practice ahead of time to find places in a song for a few specific moves (though I often miss those and end up doing something completely unplanned that I end up liking more), but I rarely have the patience to just memorize steps. The few times I try, I feel like the memorization really takes the fluidity out of my style because I'm concentrating too much.

I prefer spontaneity and just going with the flow. My biggest complaint on my own freestyle is that I don't feel like I face the audience enough since I am still reading the arrows. Though I do read ahead and have enough "glance tricks" to overcome that to at least some extent. In the case of your video, I was really impressed with how much you faced away from the screen.

If you haven't already done so, check out the video archives here on IndyDDR. They're actually mostly freestyle videos. You'd think we actually did a lot of freestyle around here, but the fact that I rarely video anything else probably skews the perception a bit. You'll also notice that many of them are quite old as it was somewhat popular early on, but has been in decline as most people either moved toward PA or just moved on entirely.

[the gattchoon]

Welcome to Indiana...

...you're the best freestyler we've got!

I love your relaxed yet naturally high-energy style.

Don't kid me! But remember, that was back in 2002. I learned to be a lot more relaxed when before I used to be more tense when I started out (see STMB video on DDR Freak from 2001). Then again, being a girl... I naturally get away with stuff like blowing kisses on this video. =P

In the case of your video, I was really impressed with how much you faced away from the screen.

Actually, that must be my best routine in terms of memorizations, because I generally don't. Sana Molette Ne Ente (I think it was on Light) is not that hard to memorize on the spot. If you notice, sometimes I turn my head to the screen... if you can't see it, I might be looking out of the corner of my eye, because the song has a lot of places you can easily remember 3 to 5, maybe more, arrows on the spot. =P Even my brother was impressed, because it was generally known to the old school NorCal DDR'ers that I sucked at memorization and facing the audience for most of the song. The judges liked that (and I knew all the judges), and I think I got brownie points for that and the kiss... but it must've been like 11th or 12th place. The STMB was like 5th place.

The few times I try, I feel like the memorization really takes the fluidity out of my style because I'm concentrating too much.

If you really work on a routine and find an appropriate song... I think a very valuable piece of advice I remember from someone else is "If you would do your dance/DDR routine at a public dance, club, in front of people OFF the DDR stage, then you're doing a good job." (See Miss Toy's freestyle guide on DDR Freak). I guess if you don't do impromptu all the time, you can always work on one routine and if you memorize your dance, you don't necessarily have to memorize the arrows. Just your dance routine. (If you know what I mean...) =P

My biggest complaint on my own freestyle is that I don't feel like I face the audience enough since I am still reading the arrows.

On impromptu, you'll notice I do look down at the arrows a lot... I do it on my Sana video, too. I know I made this a habit because I wouldn't step far enough when I began to play, and when I started I was 11 and I was shorter. Still, my feet are practically the same size now, 7 years later and so I still have that habit because I'm still small. It was also made habit when I tried to start memorizing songs... I don't like looking at other people when I play, so I just look down, because I can't look anywhere else. And it would look totally dorky to close me eyes! =P

I will definitely check the videos out some time. =)

[Ho]

I totally understand.

For the most part, I just don't take/have the time to try and memorize steps/arrows. However, I do have certain songs that I play so often that I naturally develop somewhat of a "routine" simply from repetition.

But in general, I do the same as you by reading an entire screen of arrows at once so that I can look away from the screen for a measure or two at a time. I'll also simply turn sideways so my back isn't to the audience but I can still glance at the screen.

And on that last point you mentioned, I've never really been one to stare down at the arrows on the stage. When I said 'face the audience,' I meant simply having my face toward them and not toward the screen. But even if I'm facing the audience, I don't generally make much eye contact with people.

I still prefer impromptu/improvised performances for myself because it just feels more natural and I have more fun with it. If it's not planned, it's not wrong! It also gives me more freedom to do whatever, whenever. When I play DDR and PIU in public, I'm freestyling probably at least 80% of the time...it's just what I do. Even in tech tournaments I'll be swinging my arms around and adding unnecessary movements. It's just the way I play.

[danc1005]

Pretty good, but my opinion doesn't really matter cuz I haven't seen too many freestyles...I think you set some kind of record for how fast you moved up to Standard on here.

-Dan

[the gattchoon]

Pretty good, but my opinion doesn't really matter cuz I haven't seen too many freestyles...

Thanks! Everybody's opinion matters. =)

Honestly, since people say that "you're your own worst critic," I have a lot of bad things to say about my freestyles... but then again I haven't entered a FS competition since that Sana vid. And then yet again, I haven't really played since then! Minus the spontaneous trip I took to Megaplay last weekend. =P

I think you set some kind of record for how fast you moved up to Standard on here.

O RLY? Hahahahaha... oh well. ^^;

[Ho]

Out of curiosity...

Why did you stop playing?

[Riot]

Pretty good pretty good.

[the gattchoon]

Out of curiosity...

Why did you stop playing?

Haha... I was young. Drama. Can't drive. Couldn't really go out. Brother moved out, no more easy access to arcades.

Maybe the simple way to put a long story short in a few sentences is... my mom used to tell me that "Arcades are only for boys."

I used to be a huge HUGE tomboy back then, and I started dating one guy that I met through DDR, and my parents didn't like him. There's the drama. Got grounded.

I'll tell you later. Maybe in an LJ or PM. =P

And then I got more involved with other stuff. Silly video games. =P

[AllusiveGold]

God! How do you guys do the whole freestyling thing! I saw some videos of Joe when he used to freestyle, impressive stuffs. You are very good Gattchoon, nice!

[Arka]

Maybe the simple way to put a long story short in a few sentences is... my mom used to tell me that "Arcades are only for boys."

This drives me nuts, in large part because my mother always had the same attitude (despite the fact that my father got me into computer games as a very small child and, if she had any quarrel with that, she kept it to herself). Where does this idea *come* from? Is it that girls and young women are generally not supposed to be as techy as boys, and arcade games are seen as an example of "tech," or is it a question of trying to keep them away from "unwanted [human] influences" (such as your then-boyfriend apparently was to your mom)?

I've been pondering this issue for years and it's still baffling.

[the gattchoon]

God! How do you guys do the whole freestyling thing! I saw some videos of Joe when he used to freestyle, impressive stuffs. You are very good Gattchoon, nice!

http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=27643

This was posted by my brother's girlfriend, and I actually liked this bulletin, so it's about freestyling. There's a lot of truth in it. But I think, personally, things to keep in mind are 1) have a lot of fun and 2) relax!!! Relaxing is a big thing, because if you're all tensed up, then your freestyle, whether impromptu or no, won't look as flowing as you want it.

This drives me nuts, in large part because my mother always had the same attitude (despite the fact that my father got me into computer games as a very small child and, if she had any quarrel with that, she kept it to herself). Where does this idea *come* from? Is it that girls and young women are generally not supposed to be as techy as boys, and arcade games are seen as an example of "tech," or is it a question of trying to keep them away from "unwanted [human] influences" (such as your then-boyfriend apparently was to your mom)?

I've been pondering this issue for years and it's still baffling.

Now, as for Arka's reply... it was kind of inevitable. I have two older brothers and we played video games a ton when I was little. I had the dollhouse, the barbies, the play kitchen, etc... but I always like watching my brother's play and would play too. Eventually, my oldest brother (see sig), kept up with getting new consoles and games and I always liked them. My mom was more concerned about our schooling, because she used to do the whole take away the controllers and hide them in the closet thing when we played too much or wouldn't stop.

I kind of didn't want to stop at first, not only because I had begun to make a really good social life for myself, but because I was obviously really active at that point. I stopped DDR 99% when I was like a sophomore in HS and got really lazy and because I started eating more due to all the DDR/exercise, I continued eating a lot. You know the drill. Hahaha... I played every once in a while when my brother would visit, but I never got rid of how lazy I was and still am. So... I'm trying to get back into it so I'm not such a lazy person anymore who sleeps all day and snacks whenever I'm not sleeping. =P

There were some guys that I made really good friends with that my mom did like. The only reason they didn't like the boyfriend I had was because he was shorter than me (a.k.a. Lil' b). And after him, I was talking to another guy I met through DDR, and it ended up that my parents didn't like his parents. History stuff, right? Oh well. Big deal, we're all still friends. But what can I do? I was only 12, 13, or 14. Big deal. What I worry about is now, and now I'm back to DDR. Maybe. =P