Category: Behind the Scenes: Dance by Lina

Dance by Lina x Dancer of the Month: Monica Gana

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A little something from our Ms. December Monica Gana! I met monica with Miguel a few years ago and after watching her perform we were so impressed with the energy she brought on stage and in her rehearsal space. Monica brings fire on stage as soon as she steps on it, we will never forget the first performance we saw her dance in and since then I’ve been such a fan of hers. A dancer with Ballet Philippines, she shares with us today her time and words of wisdom, to those who would like to be inspired by this little ball of energy. Here are a few things about her and we hope you love reading about her as much as I loved to get to know her.

1. How did it feel to pursuing your passion? 

It’s really been a journey. Being a professional dancer has taught me many things and they’re not just about dance. I’ve learned so much about life and of being a person. If I didn’t pursue dance, I don’t think I would be the way I am today.

2. Are there other things and hobbies you like or do? 

Aside from binging on Netflix, I like to read. “The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto” and the “Divergent” series are a few of my favorites. I also take Pilates. It really helps me feel in tune with my body and I learn something new every time. Since my body can’t take gluten well, I bake my own treats.

3. Are there things that you regret not doing or wish you could do? 

“I can’t. I have rehearsals.” This was my motto all throughout my school years. There are times where I wished I went to that party or hung out more with my high school or non dancer college friends. Sometimes, I wonder what if I took a different degree. Would I have pushed through with having a dance career? Then again, this is the path I was meant to take. 

4. What do you enjoy doing in your free time when you’re not dancing. 

Lately, I’ve been fond of these DIY miniature house models. Creating the little furniture and ornaments and then putting together all the pieces to build the little house brings me to a happy place. I also like to swim. Not only is swimming a good workout but it’s fun. It also helps me think and reflect. 

5. Did you finish college? And what are your plans in the future? 

 I graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts Degree in Dance from the College of Saint Benilde. They had a consortium with Ballet Philippines so I was lucky to be able to study and start my career at the same time. Doing both was a struggle. It took me 5 years to graduate but it was all worth it at the end. 

There are so many things I want to do in the future. I want to be a dance teacher, a Pilates instructor, a writer for a publication and a physiologist. When I start to get frazzled by my future plans, my mom reminds me to focus on the present. I believe that though. You have to focus on your now because these moments don’t last forever. 

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That’s d pointe dance shop, Manila

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Hello Dancers and Dance lovers,

As you are now well aware of, I’ve been fixing my website and sharing YouTube videos revolving around my life and ballet. Today I want to feature another ballet store in the Philippines called, thats d’ pointe dance shop. This shop owned by Ms. Charmaine, is located in Metrowalk, Ortigas ave. and in Fisher mall, Quezon City. The Shop is very much complete with the basic things and they have an ample amount of stocks, of course if you need special sizes you may also request that with them. They are very accommodating. I will be attaching our new video blog to this post.

If you are ever in need of dancewear, you may visit them today, and you can also check out their online store on this link, That’s d pointe dance shop

TUTU DANCE STORE, TAIWAN

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DANCE STORES IN TAIWAN: TUTU DANCE, TAIWAN
Welcome to Taiwan! Besides my VLOG which i posted on my new youtube page, I’ll be writing more about Tutu dance, in Taipei Taiwan.
HOW TO GET THERE: 
From the main station, or from any train station. Take the train to Zhongshan Elementary school ( TAKE EXIT C ) or you can also take the bus. Cross underneath the big highway and go straight, about a 2 min walk until you see the 7-11 to your right, turn right to the small street.
You will see an entrance to your right as you can see in the video and go up to the 7th floor, you will find TUTU DANCE showroom.
ABOUT TUTU DANCE STORE:
What I love about Tutu Dance store, is that it is probably one of the most complete dance stores that I’ve been to. Even compared to Chacott in Japan, i really love their selection of leotards, shoes and warmers. They have all kinds of selections, styles and all brands! Including online shops such as myself. In terms of shoes and pointe shoes, they also have all selections of sizes, including the new kinds of fits and the rare to find styles and sizes.
They even require all their staff to take ballet once or twice a week, which is why I love them because all their staff are knowledgeable on what to recommend and they are also very quick to follow in new trends. They are a very hands on shop and they definitely know how to take care of their dancers.
If you’re ever in Taipei, go check them out! I’ll leave you their address here under this blog and a map to their store. Enjoy Dancers!
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Dance by Lina Update: Spring and Summer collection

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Update on my dance wear line, we’re currently trying to develop 4 new things. The portable ballet barre, a mens sizing chart, a tweens sizing chart and a plus size line. I recently gave up on making leotards as it is too difficult to deal with the spandex fabric. I decided to stick to warmers, knit and cotton. Also some skirts, and our favourite tutu bag.

Here are some of the new colours we might be introducing by the end of this month! You can follow my Instagram account for other updates on colours. These colours are for our knit warmers.

For our long skirts, which did so well last year we decided to add a new  for spring: PLUM, we are also hoping to add at least one more rose colour, then for our portable ballet barre update we just finished our first sample! So we are much excited to showcase this by the end of the month.

We always appreciate our customers comments. So any suggestions are welcome! A lot of these ideas always come from you guys and what you guys want to see me develop next, Thank you for always supporting my line, its really almost like a dream come true that started as my own little hobby into becoming something quite big and special to me.

❤ Lina

FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY! (my shop and I) dancebylina.com

PERSONAL INSTAGRAM: @dancebylina_

INSTAGRAM shop: @dancebylina_dancewear

Dancing with the heart, not the bones.

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Today I woke up and as usual checking the hundreds of notifications I now get daily, I got a special message from someone who is now a good friend of mine, and a very loyal customer to me. Anna, 51 years and still dancing despite suffering from osteoporosis. The woman who broke her bones but still continues to inspire us, I am often amazed at what she can do and what she continues to do even at her age.

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When I first met her Anna was very kind, although we have had plenty of misunderstandings with her costumes. I continue to provide them for her because she has been a good challenge for me, I never really take costume orders anymore because I don’t like dealing with the stress but with Anna I really wanted to help. Often times when we would meet, she would not be okay and she would be in so much pain. Yet when she would dance, you could see that she wouldn’t show you that. I saw a very strong and kind god fearing woman.

Her spirit continues to inspire me to teach and to share to my students her story. I hope that someday when I am as old as her I could would still also be dancing just as much as her. A costume I worked on last month for her was featured today on the Philippine daily inquirer newspaper along with her story, i hope that you could all grab a copy of our local newspaper to inspire you somehow. Weather it be about dancing or about life, I am sure you will love reading more about her, just as much as I have loved to have gotten to know her more too.

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Dance by Lina update, May 2016

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Its our recital in 2 weeks, my birthday in a few days and I still have to rehearse my students with the other school. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t been able to update again. We started making a new line of pouches. Pouches for your small dance things. I get all the cloth from Japan and everything is Pure Japanese cotton. Well thats what my supplier would say.
We also decided to stick to skirts, laces and other things like the sort. Recently my sewer and I studied how to make Practice tutus and tutus so we are also looking into making more of those too. I know I’m not a professional designer, but I’m having a lot of fun figuring things out and working on more things. It’s starting out to be a very exciting business.
I’m not sure weather I should continue it or not after next year or just pre ready everything months before and shipping out orders. Plenty of decisions to make, but looking forward to an exciting things ahead of us this year. Its been really fun and I’ve being doing really well but It takes so much of my time that sometimes I don’t get more than 3-4 hours of sleep in a day.
Foot Stretchers, Ballet pouches, Ballet skirts, Practice tutus and dance costumes ❤ This is my focus as of now. All products are available on the link below or visit The Dance store PH for any of my products.
dancebylina.com

Fabric shopping, Singapore

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I got most of my information from reading other blogs and heres a personal opinion if you plan to visit fabric stores in Singapore. There are plenty other places other than Bugis, Little India and Peoples Park, Chinatown. I had the most fun however shopping on Bugis street because they sold a variety of different designs.

  1. If you are looking for Cotton Fabric then the small store at the 2nd floor of Peoples park would be the one for you. That store reminded me of Yuzawaya in Tokyo. They had every kind of Fabric and thats where i found most of my pure cotton fabric. If quality is what you are looking for, then that would be the best place to visit. Go down at Chinatown and exit on exit D. (2nd floor at the far right end of the floor) Just a bit more pricey as compared to the other shops but if money is not so much of an option. 20-25SGD budget per yard, is not such a bad thing.
  2. If you are looking for Spandex and all kinds of sparkly and other types of Fabric then exit C of Chinatown is for you. They have plenty of cotton fabric too but i would prefer the store on exit D, based on quality.
  3. If you are looking for chiffon and all kinds of unique designs and prints, then Bugis is the street for you. They do have the cheapest options too, and you could bargain prices down. I was able to buy most of my chiffon and laces at 2SGD and some at 8SGD per yard.
  4. Little India if you are looking for more exotic chiffon fabric and the most unique designs. This is the place to go to, also they have plenty of beautiful beads and jewels for costumes and etc.

These are just some of my tips. Most pictures were taken at Exit C of Peoples park China. If you’re looking for just one place and you’re pressed with time then Chinatown might be the best place for you. Although its just a little bit more disorganised and smelly it has the most options of all the places mentioned above. I would have wanted to go around more places but I was also pressed with time, so ill save the Fabric building near Little India for the next trip.