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Finally took the plunge and migrated out of here.  Check in on me at www.mikeyip.com

Meeting Antonio Vargas

Sunday night, I had the privilage of meeting the Dance Maestro behind Mission Impossible 2, Strictly Ballroom as well as Tiempos Mejores. That’s none other than Mr. Antonio Vargas himself. Born in Casablanca, Antonio Vargas was attracted to Flamenco at a very early age. His inborn musicality could equally have drawn him to become a concert cellist or a percussionist. However his passion for the art of Flamenco and the full realisation of its potentials have been the driving force behind his long and brilliant career.

The list of Antonio’s works is extensive. From opera to film, from small stage performances to big festivals, from solo performances to productions with the best artists that Spain has to offer at the moment, Antonio has done it all, including a television show with the Beatles (Granada Television, 1964); he played the Fiddler in a London production of Fiddler on the Roof (Her Majesty’s Theatre, 1967); he has created his own Flamenco Dance Theatre works and adapted well know plays and novels to the Flamenco repertoire.

From April to June 1999 Antonio choreographed and staged a flamenco segment for Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible II, directed by John Woo, which was released in May 2000 in the US and World-Wide shortly thereafter, breaking box-office records. He also accepted an invitation to play a cameo role in the same film.

Coming back to last night, Antonio along with some of his students showcase some excellent flamenco dance both steps with him playing the guitar as well as with the audience clapping along. One thing for sure is this is not the type of flamenco dance that we see in movies and music videos but the high energy version. Is it worth to pick up this dance style? I know for sure that it’s not the dance for me. For now, I’ll just stick to Salsa. For some of the photos, click here.

Anugerah Industry Music ‘08

with Alex (SingleTrackMind)

Thanks to Alex (SingleTrackMind) to invite me along for the walk on the blue carpet and to watch the AIM’08 award show in PWTC. It’s been 10 years since I last stepped into AIM and it felt great to be back! Well, the last time, I was at the backstage most of the time getting myself ready for the opening act (I was part of the opening act along with Afdlin Shauki) instead of walking down the blue carpet… wait.. it was Red that time.

with Shebby Singh

Anyway, yeah. So at 7pm, I got myself over to PWTC and I left my coat at home. GRR. Met some old friends from ASTRO as well as some others from the Entertainment industry before we were whisked off to the VIP Lounge for some refreshments prior to the start of the show.

with Dayang on the Blue Carpet

With just minutes away from the start, I finally found my seat which was 5 rows away from the stage. Hoorah for me as I whisked out my camera and start to check out the distance I could cover, was bloody happy that I got such a nice seat. During one of the award presentation though, was told by the floor manager to hide my camera and clap as the camera would pan through my face as the winner was just sitting behind me.

Where I sat…

Didn’t really sit through the entire award show though as the last 30minutes was spend at the green room with some of the local artistes camwhoring and having some drinks before resuming my seat to watch the closing act. I think I’ve covered the entire show through my photo album.

The 3 Divas Performing

After the show, we were then asked to proceed down to the 2nd floor for the post event party. Nicely set up Post event party, with enough food to go 2 rounds but seating wise, a tad sad, spend some time catching up with Liang (he won 2 awards!), Dayang as well as Karen Kong before heading to the other half of the hall for the dancing bit. Last word from this event is… CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!

with Karen Kong

Called it a day for myself about 2am before I head over to Salsa Havana to continue some ‘real’ dancing though. You can check out the following albums for the photos.

• AIM ‘08 1 of 2
• AIM ‘08 2 of 2

with Liang

with Pete Teo

with Suki

ANTONIO VARGAS @ WhiteRoom Bilique this SUNDAY!!

Taken from Mambochinita…

We have a VERY SPECIAL GUEST in town this weekend and he will be coming to The WhikeRoom Bilique tomorrow night!

Antonio Vargas, one of the grandmasters of SPANISH FLAMENCO will be dropping by to chill at our Sunday social while on holiday in KL. Senor Vargas has an impressive resume that spans a couple of decades. He is also a pioneer in the field of Flamenco dance theatre and has traveled and performed extensively around the world, changing the lives of those who perform with him. Being in high demand, this man has also choreographed for movies like Strictly Ballroom & Mission Impossible (just to name a few). I highly recommend catching him if you can….great people like this are hard to meet in Malaysia!

Now you may say, so HOW IS THIS RELATED TO SALSA? Salsa & Latin America are linked to Spain…..and one of the national dances in Spain is…yep Flamenco! In addition, the posture, poise, grace, expression and level of mastery will surely INSPIRE you to be a better dancer! (whether its socially or as a performer)

Besides, Senor Vargas will be indulging us in a brief intro to Flamenco and an impromptu performance. I was told it will happen around 10:30pm+

Really, you don’t want to MISS this opportunity! To dance is to live!

Dance is the hidden language of the soul. ~Martha Graham

Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself. ~Havelock Ellis

MODA Fashion Gateway

Thanks to some friends, I received an invitation to the MODA Fashion Gateway to have a feel of what goes on there. No, I’m not there as a Photographer as I was informed that there’s only a limited number of space for photographers and some people already have all their friends in the list.

Anyway, like I said, there as a guest so I didn’t really try to take any photos. Yes, I tried with just some Camwhoring with my friends happening only, that’s like for an hour, until the fashion show starts then my hands automatically went for the camera and started snapping away along with of the other guests there. Some spotting just a point-n-shoot camera and some with dSLRs.

The Fashion show was well organized with some of the new models and designers showing off their stuff. Please don’t ask me who won the best new Models and New Designers award as straight after some of my friends finished their stuff on the catwalk, we were all just camwhoring away at the back stage.

You can check out the photos that I took at the links below, from the show itself to the Post Event Party @ Velvet that we went to. Yes, it was a happening night that does not revolve around Salsa dancing for me.

The show itself was well organized with Gillian Hung being very hands on in the whole thing. Hosted by Edwin Sumun, they had some top designers attending the show as participants as well as judges, the judges that was there to judge the new designers include the likes of Edmund Ser, Sonn San, Dato’ Tom Abang Saufi, Dato’ Bernard Chandran and Douglas Chew. We even walked away with a nice bag designed by Gillian herself!

Anyway, this show was so big that alot of the local top models showed themselves at the catwalk as well as attending the event as guests. But then, I’m not here to bore you with what went on at the show, so hope you guys enjoyed the photos I’ve posted so far and if not enough, click at the following links for more photos!

• MODA Fashion Showcase 1 of 3
• MODA Fashion Showcase 2 of 3
• MODA Fashion Showcase 3 of 3
• Post Show Party @ Backstage & Velvet