My Very First Time!

I was competing in the preliminary round of Dance Prix Indonesia on April 16. I was there to represent my university ballet club. The event took place at Teater Kecil Taman Ismail Marzuki Jakarta. I felt like, let me quote Miley Cyrus, “my tummy’s turning and I’m feeling kind of homesick” through the day because everybody seemed so awesome and professional, like I was the only beginner here and I did not feel confident at all. But at the same time I felt so excited because Dance Prix Indonesia was my very first contemporary dance competition (I was never a competition girl!).

I was the contestant number 22 out of 23, and the one who was number 23 got third place last year so the pressure was so thick I could cut with a knife. I thought miracle happened because I didn’t feel nervous at all when I was on the stage. I was dancing so freely and I felt satisfied with my performance. That was really surprising when people gave me applauses and cheers, I didn’t think that they would be entertained with my performance because my skill was below the others’. Anyway, I was so curious about the result but we had to wait for about 30 minutes before the result was up.

You know what? I got into the finals!!! I couldn’t believe that and I wanted to cry. The final round was on Sunday afternoon. All contestants should perform with the same choreography and variations they did yesterday. Preliminary round was tough but final round was the whole another thing.

Around 1 PM, all contestants were told to be in the backstage, preparing for their performance. The competition started with all categories from ballet (junior, pre-senior, and senior) and then contemporary (solo and group). I had to wait until 4.30 because contemporary solo would begin at 5, and I tried to keep my body warm by stretching. I managed to make friends, some of them were foreigners (the fact that there were some foreigners (and their dancing = goals!!!) in the competition made my stomach flip in the worst possible way). They were all so nice!!! I was glad I talked to them lmao.

At 4.30, we were told that we got the chance to try the stage for five minutes only. The time when all contemporary solo contestants got into the stage was my favorite part of the day because it was so awesome, I felt like a Broadway dancer. We were there, with no music, but we danced with our own choreography, and everyone seemed so focused on themselves. Even though it was not organized and people were moving on their own, it was just awesome if you saw it with your own eyes. It felt like I was in the movie or something like that.

Our five minute was gone and the competition started to begin again. Every one of us was called to be on the stage and my turn was up. I danced but I was not really satisfied with my performance because I forgot my last jump (that was the stupid of me). Well my preliminary round’s performance was better but that was okay. At last, I didn’t win. I said that I was not disappointed because I knew I wouldn’t (and couldn’t) win. But to be really honest, deep down inside I was a bit disappointed because I knew I could be better than that. Well this was my very first competition after all and I was super happy I went through the final round. It was a blast!