One word; INSPIRING – this can pretty much describe my entire Cali experience. Let me start off with the main reason why we were there in the first place, SOCKHOP 2008! It was the first annual Sockhop that Funks SF put together, so you should be looking forward to Sockhop 2009, 2010, etc. The participating teams included: Funks SF & SD of course, Funksters, Choreo Cookies, SGBM, Project EM, Team Millennia, Kaba Modern, & many more!

On june 21st, FR3SH arrived at the venue to check in. Not gonna lie, walking into the venue on that saturday afternoon felt like I just entered a ring of lions. Watching the other teams tech before us kept making my stomache turn. I was sooo neeeeerbeous, but when I stepped on stage because it was our time to tech, I thought about why I was in Cali & what got me there to begin with. I finally convinced myself to get over my nerves, to just have fun & dance because thats what I love to do. Before I knew it, our tech was over & all the other teams that were in the crowd watching us went wild. We had crazy support from all the teams that we had been INSPIRED by for YEARS. If you thought tech was crazy, then I can’t even begin to describe the feeling after the real performance. Actually I can try… it was literally like I was living my dream.

I spent a lot of time with Emerson Aquino, director of Project EM. He told me something INSPIRING & it went something like, “You guys had a tough crowd to impress. C’mon, you guys are dancing in front of random west coast heads who will judge you in comparison to our west coast style. They gave you a standing ovation … just know that you guys are accepted on the west coast.” With that being said, I’m so proud to say that we have built this bridge from the east coast to the west coast that is just the start of many more crazy events to come.

Workshops the next day were just as crazy. Some of the people were Kj Gonzales, Keone Madrid, & Tony Testa. I got to meet a lot of great dancers & I got to bond with all the teams before the show. Over all, this is definitely an experience that I will never forget. It has been an honor to share the stage with these teams & hopefully it wont be the last time. We’ve opened so many doors & who knows what the future holds now.

KEEP DANCING, STAY INSPIRED.
–AMANDA BRIMAT (Project D Alum, Fr3sh Dance Co.)