Dancing with the Stars

THE first full-dress rehearsal for Dancing With The Stars came a lot earlier than expected but the show was barely six weeks away when Serina Lim realised this year’s Studio 23 production was going to be bigger than anything they had ever put on before.

It was a Sunday evening. The first half of the programme was unfolding in eleven items — from fitting black outfits and serious expressions to colourful explosions of big skirts and sassy movements.

In front of the dance studio’s full-walled mirror was Serina, cross-legged on the floor with her production crew — a mix of young professionals, resourceful amateurs and two KL imports to fill a necessary vacancy.

Everyone had a pen, a set list held together with binder clip, and a serious expression that rivalled the dancers in the opening number and endured to the end of rehearsal several hours later.

Speaking to thesundaypost, Serina admitted to having problems delegating tasks — something she had to come to terms with in Studio 23’s dance theatre production Dance Me A Story (DMAS) in 2011 where she played the role of producer, director, writer and marketer.

“I was responsible for training all the performers in addition to preparations for my own performances. I’m very bad at delegating. Because I don’t like doing marketing or dealing with props, I didn’t ask anyone else to do it because I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone,” she said.

With the tight choke hold for time in Dancing With The Stars (DWTS), she had no choice but to ask for help. And she found among her performers people who not only enjoyed doing what she hated but were also very good at it.

“When I thanked a student for helping with the marketing, she said she found it fun. And those in charge of props were on a roll, coming up with creative ideas and details that would never have occurred to me.

Because of this, I am able to focus on what I love best — training my dancers. I’m still kicking myself for learning this lesson so late.”

Lots to live up to

The memorable success of the last show meant Studio 23 has a lot to live up to when rolling out this year’s production, featuring 120 performers from both the studio’s dance classes, as well as the fitness centre.

It also has a production crew of 17 people. Around 20 per cent of the performers are first-timers.

Serina pointed out that this was a nice balance between new people raking up stage experience and a larger supportive group to act as mentors and cheerleaders.

“Normally, our productions draw almost exclusively from our dance students. But this year for the first time ever, we have really significant representation from every programme in our studio.

“Not only are all our dance programmes featured but also our Core Strength students, and even a good chunk of our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teamis involved.”

The second half of the show is broken down into five mini stories told through the songs of five icons in musical history — The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Queen, Madonna and Michael Jackson.

Serina said if DMAS was a full-length novel, then DWTS is more like Reader’s Digest.

“DMAS was more formal with two longer stories and we performed to an audience of 1,400. It was a theatre production, so the audience came just to watch the show.

“DWTS has bite-sized stories and more variety. It’s more fun. It’s a sit-down 8-course Chinese dinner at the Four Points, so we’re hoping for our guests to come and enjoy an evening of dinner and a show.”

Tribute to music legends

Shortlisting songs in a tribute to favourite music legends was a process that started in December 2013.

“Besides choosing music icons who revolutionised the world of music, I had to not only consider which songs would be interesting for the audience to watch being represented as a dance, but also which songs we could do some justice to as performers,” Serina added.

DTWS was meant to be one of Studio 23’s small, informal event for students to come together and showcase what they learned.

However, Serina has already planned to take time off with no studio recitals or productions for the next two to three years although classes will run as usual under her team of instructors.

“I had my baby girl in December 2012. The last two years had been a challenge for me because I’m not a multi-tasker. I’m most effective when I can focus 100 per cent, so I have decided to take the next two years off to spend time with my daughter.”

Because of the long break between productions, they decided to pull out all the stops and aim for the moon. A pretty tall order even for the person who called the shot.

“I was wondering if we would be able to pull it off but I have been amazed and inspired by the amount of commitment shown,” she said, adding that her performers scheduled their holidays around rehearsals.

It made sense to scale back on some aspects due to the time constraint but the performers and production crew had things to add and could handle their own.

“It ended up with adding more details and items to our show. DWTS is no longer just my idea. With everyone involved putting so much of themselves into this show, it has evolved into something much bigger.”

Serina said they were all really still amateurs.

“This year, we didn’t want our lack of experience to be a problem, so we decided to bring a professional stage manager from Kuala Lumpur to oversee our production. We’re already learning so much from her and it’s such a big help to have someone to handle all the things that I can’t.”

There’s also the matter of breaking even. For their last big outing, they donated the proceeds to Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS). This year, they can’t yet say if they will cover costs.

“However, we really believe in our performers and in this show, so we just decided everything we make will get funnelled back into the production to make it the best we possibly can.”

Positive atmosphere

Studio 23 began as a sanctuary for women — where they can feel safe and comfortable to be themselves.

“Our goal is for our students to bond – to support each other. We’re very particular about setting a positive atmosphere where our students are given the opportunity to be the best version of themselves,” Serina explained.

“We believe in the potential of our students and nothing gives us more pride than seeing our dancers grow and bloom as they step out of their boxes and conquer things that scare them.”

For her, dance has always been about expressing different moods and emotions. Not everyone understands the history or technique of a dance genre but everyone understands emotions.

“We tell stories through dance. Technique and styling are like grammar and vocabulary. The better you are in these, the more effective your storytelling will be. You don’t need big impressive words to touch someone. In dance, you don’t need a perfect body or elaborate technique to talk to your audience.”

This year’s show will test the skills and limits of everyone involved but Serina is ready for that, saying her role is believing in people until they start believing in themselves.

“I don’t see things or people as they are, I see them as how they could be if given the chance to be the best.

“I had some amazing teachers in the past who did that for me, who made such a difference in my life, and I want to do the same for others.”

Dancing With The Stars is taking everyone involved to places they have not been before.

“I read somewhere about choosing a goal big enough to stretch you, and DWTS is doing just that not only for our performers but also our production crew who are experimenting with new ideas. Scary but exciting,” Serina mused.

And there lies the challenge with shooting for the moon — even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

Produced by Studio 23, Dancing With The Stars is on November 9 at Four Points Hotel.
Tickets are available at RM100, RM120 and RM150.
For booking info, call 012-8053005 or email [email protected].
Join them on Facebook at ‘studio23kuching’ for updates.