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Dance event waltzed into a new record
J-on
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Saturday, July 16, 2011
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By CALYN ONG
Photos by SONG SOOK KIN
UTAR, July 16 (J-on) – A new record was set in The Malaysia Book of Records when a total of 188 pairs dancing couples participated in Waltz, with Love 2011 at Block K’s Student Pavillion on July 9. The event now holds the record for being the largest waltz gathering ever held in Malaysia.
Jointly organised by The Entrepreneurship Society, Dance Club and 1Malaysia Society of UTAR, the event also exposed students to a simple yet elegant form of formal dance.
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| Organising Chairman Ch’ng Winn Shern officiating the event with the VIPs: (from left) Dr Teh Chee Seng, Ch’ng Winn Shern, Dr Ngerng Miang Hong, Dinesh Pillay, Dr Lee Mah Ngee, Mr Lim Heng Hong and Mr Chiang Jeng Fong |
In his speech, the organising chairman Ch’ng Winn Shern said that he got the idea to organise the record-breaking event from an Air Asia’s in-flight magazine he read during his journey from Kota Kinabalu en route to West Malaysia.
“I was browsing through the magazine when I spotted an article featuring students from the University of Melbourne setting the world record for the largest ever robot dance. At that moment, I decided to achieve something extraordinary in my life as a university student.
“I was also fortunate to find a group of committee who share the same dream as I do about half a year ago and from then onwards, we continuously worked hard in order to realise our dream of achieving something big as well as bringing UTAR’s reputation to a new height,” said Ch’ng passionately at the end of his speech.
The VIPs who were present at the event include the university’s Vice President Dr Teh Chee Seng, Faculty of Arts and Social Science’s Deputy Dean Dr Lee Mah Ngee, Faculty of Business and Finance’s Deputy Dean Dr Ngerng Miang Hong, Head of Department of Student Affairs Mr Chiang Jeng Fong, Executive of Centre of Foundation Studies (Perak Campus) Mr Lim Heng Hong and Chairman of Student Representative Committee 2011/2012 Dinesh Pillay K. Thayalan Pillay.
Dr Teh who was there to give the opening speech on behalf of the President said, “It is a good idea to hold the Waltz, with Love 2011 because UTAR strongly upholds holistic education.”
He also congratulated the organising parties involved for their commitment putting the event together.
Around 20 fiesta booths were set up at the event where both participants and audiences were able to redeem Wilber Pan’s showcase tickets with the tickets they have with them.
Apart from the record-breaking waltz dance and fiesta booths, programmes such as sand art, keyboard battle, singing and musical performances also graced the event on that night.
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| Wowing sand art showcase by a student who learnt the techniques from watching YouTube videos |
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| Keyboard battle between two students who played several pieces of music including Pachelbel's Canon in D and Yiruma’s River Flows in You |
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| Crowd cheered for an encore performance from the band, Moron 6 following their performance of Love the Way You Lie and Zombie. |
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| The organising chairman personally played the piano to accompany the short musical performance. |
When asked if there were any significant problems faced in organising the event, Assistant Public Relations Manager Chin Hui Xin said that there was a low turnout rate at first as the participants were too shy to find dance partners.
To overcome this, they came out with a new plan where students can sign up without a partner and the committee will help assign a partner to each of them according to their height.
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| Chin, emphasising that the event is mainly focused on building new friendship among the participants. |
According to the Head of Dance Department Chew Kai Wei, both she and her assistant, Charmaine Wong Chze Yen, took up dance classes from instructors in Ipoh for three weeks in preparation for the event.
“The classes for the participants which started from Week 3 onwards were held every Saturday and Sunday from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
“The participants vary from fast-learners to slow-learners. To ensure everyone can perform as planned, we uploaded a video onto Facebook where we guide them when they are practicing by themselves at home,” said Chew.
One of the participants, a second year Journalism student Chan Kai Waey, said that she is impressed by how big-scaled the event is and enjoyed the sand art showcase.
“I attended four classes and I managed to learn the steps in the first two hours as I am a fast-learner,” said Chan.
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| Chan Kai Waey, a Journalism Y2T1 student who participated in the event. |
There was also a participant who easily stood out among the rest on the night of the event.
“I came with my friends today and hopefully this event will help carve a good memory of me as a student here in UTAR,” said Sebastian from Germany who will be graduating in January next year.
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| Sebastian, an Electronic Engineering student with his dance partner. |
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| At about 10.30 p.m., 188 pairs of participants danced gracefully to the song Time of My Life, setting a new record in The Malaysia Book of Records for the largest waltz gathering ever held in Malaysia |
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| Ch’ng receiving the certificate officially from an officer from The Malaysia Book of Records on behalf of the organising committee |
The event which lasted for about three hours ended on a high note at 11.00 p.m.
