Last weekend, I attended the Melaka Line Dance Competition at the Pay Fong School in Kubu, on 6 December 2008. This was the first ever competition of it's kind, thus I was curious to find out what exactly it would be like.
Tickets were RM40 a piece, I got one for myself and one for my wife. Arrived half an hour early - a good thing too as it was pouring that time, sure to be a massive traffic jam if we were to arrive "on time".
To inaugurate the event was the ever present Datuk Wira Gan Boon Leong, a prominent local politician who was frequently invited to partake in opening ceremonies all around Melaka. Seen him around quite often. Even shook hands with him once (he has an iron, vice-like grip - ex-bodybuilder....).
Anyway, there were several teams from around Malaysia (mostly from Melaka and one from Negeri Sembilan, if I remember correctly). Each team was given the opportunity to present their dance routine under the scrutiny of a panel of judges that lined the perimeter of the dance floor (which was on ordinary days the badminton courts - we are in a school hall, after all).
First thing to note - almost all teams were using the similar dance songs, like "Mony, Mony" and "Part-time lover". So, we had around 4 or 5 groups using the same song, frequently, back to back. On one hand, this got quite repetitive. On the other hand, the judges were able to judge based on the same song, so this made their job "easier" (?).
Photography in the dark hall was a challenge in both equipment and skill. A minimum of ISO800 was needed, even with F2.8 lenses. I neglected to bring along my F1.8 and F1.4 lens, to keep my bag light. Due to the absence of my 18-200mm, which was still under repair, I brought along a few other alternative lenses:
- Nikon 70-300mm F4-5.6 AF-S VR - Not really for indoor use, but I didn't have much choice. Had to crank up to ISO800/1600 to use - even then, most shots were blurred beyond salvation.
- Sigma 150mm F2.8 - My sigma macro lens, being a macro lens, focuses really slowly. Once locked on, the shutter speed was much better. However, at 150mm, it was a little too long from where I was sitting to get a wider picture.
- Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 - the workhorse lens for low light. Didn't have enough zoom at the tele end for tight shots, but then again, where else to get a more affordable F2.8 zoom?
After all the teams had presented their dance numbers, we made an early exit to avoid the rush of the crowd at the end of the event. Overall, it was a good experience, but the only letdowns were that the table was too small to seat 10 people comfortably, and also the servings were too small (then again, what would you expect for just RM40, when the rate these days was RM60-70?).
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