Keone and Mari Madrid! <3

Yep. Soz for the spam of videos. I didn't know which videos to link and I was thinking "maybe I'll just put the ones I really like", and even the list above doesn't cover all the ones I like. I had to stop myself. Ehehe. Anyho, I attended their dance workshop and watched their showcase, and it was utterly inspiring. It was surreal to have been able to watch and learn and dance with the people I've been looking up to and whose YouTube videos I've been watching since forever ago. Jaw dropping. Sensational. Amazing. Happy. Inspired. So much feels. Even thinking back about it makes me happy and it's been 5 months already. What's even more amazing, is how humble they are. The fact that they've won first place in competitions, gets invited to places all over the world to teach and perform and dance, with lots and lots of people asking for photos (maybe autographs?) with them, but yet they still remain incredibly humble kind of shocked me for a moment. You would expect that at least one of them would be slightly stuck up? Nah. Nup. Nope. None. Nada. Zero. So sincere, so humble. Oh and a totally amazing moment (which I still fanboy over every now and then) happened after their showcase. Meeting all of the Cookies members were amazing and I loved talking and getting to know them, but I got the chance to actually meet one of them who I've been looking up to pretty much since I started my dance journey. Mariel Madrid. Watching her dance gives me goosebumps. The good ones I mean. After which, I would feel fuzzy and warm and happy and I won't stop smiling for a while. Meeting someone who I looked up to a lot, made me jittery and nervous. I didn't know what to say. But when she came out and I said hi, all nervousness went away. She was so friendly and humble and she had such a bright aura around her, it just made me happy (even from a not fanboy point of view, other people have also mentioned she had a positive vibe/aura around her). The way she greeted me and our conversation for about 5 minutes, omg. Oh. Em. Gee. O. M. G. It was the best 5 minutes of the week. Or even two weeks. Three? Idk, it was amazing. At that time there weren't a lot of people around because people were being ushered out and Cookies had to go back to their accommodation place to rest up. But Mari and I kept on talking whilst slowly making our way out of the theatre. Talk about what, you might ask. We talked about her experiences in Melbourne so far, her life in San Diego (extremely briefly), dancing, food, and God knows what else but those were the topics which stuck out to me. I just paused for like a good 5 minutes reminiscing about the conversations we had after the workshop classes and after their showcase. Anyway, the vibe she (and our conversation) gave off felt like we were old friends reconnecting after a long period of not seeing each other, which involved hugging and linking arms whilst walking out of the theatre (in a friendly way, don't worry Keone hehe) and merrily chatting away. It was amazing getting to know someone I've looked up to in a more personal level. And her passion for her art, her dancing, just made me want to improve myself to the point I'd be able to dance again with her one day, let it be on stage, in class, anything! Thank you for inspiring Mari, and if you're reading this, let me give you my word that this 'baby dancer' will make sure he improves as much as he can and will come dance with you again one day. :) #fanboyfeels