NRA Dance Club, formerly known as New Revolving Age was first founded in year 2000, with a crew of 8 members. As of now, their strength is about 300. THAT is how much this club has grown.
When the term grown is used in here, it's more than just in numbers. It also includes the definition of them growing physically, mentally, and most of all, growing together as a club.
One of the things NRA focuses on for their members in the beginner classes would be "getting the basics of the basics right". By that, Mohd Sophan Ng, Principal of the club means, "getting them down on the floor and getting their body frames right". The next fundamental would be, isolations.
Isolations, would be the moving of parts not done in daily life. In this case, chest and hip isolations.
"The basic trainings will last for about four to five months, and if they are ready, they'll move on to the next level," added Sophan.
After the basic trainings, there'll be choreography for the students to learn, and they never fail to have fun during class.
Trainings aren't the only things that these passionate dancers do. They participate in competitions as well. Some of which include the annual Suntec Dance competition and the Impressario Competition. Members can either choose to volunteer to join these competitions themselves or are selected by the trainers to form into a team.
Sophan highlights, "When we pick people to join the competitions, we look not just at their abilities, but their characters as well. Person A may not be as well-trained as Person B, but if we see that he tries harder than the latter, we'll give him a chance to let him join the competition, hopefully it drives him to his maximum potential."
Danzation the event is synonymous to NRA. This event is a channel for current members to have their fair share of experience on the stage. It mainly serves as a platform for the members, to see if they have the tenacity to train under extreme conditions.
Danzation was supposed to be held next year, however, it has been pushed to 2013 so that it will be held in conjunction with Ngee Ann Poly's 50th anniversary.
Something I personally like about NRA, would be their fashion. Bright colours is a norm and colourful and pretty dance kicks (shoes) would be a plus. An example would be:
If you're looking to join NRA, be sure to join their auditions when they open up next year! And, fret not if you're worried about whether you can dance well or not, because this is what Sophan says:
Photo courtesy of Shane Chong and myself.
"We're looking for people who are willing to move; willing to go all out. The audition is their one-time chance to get something they want. It's not so much on whether they can or cannot dance, but more of whether they try their best and give it their best shot."
