1 month to go. Physie birthday celebrations!

The countdown clock has finally ticked down the last month before the BjP 125 Year Spectacular!

The Spectacular is a mass display telling the story of the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture's rich and evolving history. It can be likened to the Sydney 2000 Olympics display but this time instead of 800 performers there's 2000! Over 30 choreographers, and an army of behind-the-scenes helpers have created a 2 hour show capturing the talent and strength of physie performers. 

Girls and ladies from 16 zones across Australia are taking part in this great event (not to mention the families and supporters). They've dedicated their weekends to practices, learning new moves on top of their regular syllabus. Most zones have scheduled five compulsory rehearsals in the lead up to this event and the final dress rehearsal is the day before the performance.

However, getting 2000 girls from across Australia to Sydney for the Spectacular comes at a cost. To the teachers, parents and supporters who are volunteering their time and all the clubs helping to fund-raise to get their girls to Sydney, your efforts are truly appreciated. Thank you for giving the physie community a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While I am not participating, I have heard wonderful stories from my physie classmates and their daughters who are performing in this grand event. 

Catch all the action on Saturday June 24, 7:30pm at the Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney SuperDome). With a seating capacity of over 18000, it's not too late to get your tickets. Also, BjP (partnered with Cooper Teamwear) has a line of limited edition active-wear and merchandise for its 125th year birthday celebrations. 

Crossword fun

Hi physie girls (and ladies), I've created a crossword for you to beat holiday boredom. See how many you can get right or learn something new about physie.

Crossword activity

Crossword answers

Tracking your progress

Here I'll share some tips on tracking your progress as part of the self-improvement blog series. Keeping a record of progress can be hard due to the fact that it is difficult to calculate or measure. Some achievements show quantifiable progress while other developments are not quantifiable. For example, you can measure how high you can kick but you cannot measure how well you dance. That raises the question of, "How do I know if I've improved?"

Sometimes it is frustrating to see little improvement on a week-to-week basis. So here's advice that can help you improve in the long run.

• Remind yourself of the bigger picture, the physie year is around 40 weeks.
• If you are relatively new to physie, look back at how far you've come in a short period of time.
• Listen to praise and feedback from your teacher and peers. Believe it when they tell you that you're doing well (seriously you are) and trust that they will guide your further progress.
• Video yourself so that you can be your own audience and critic (but don't be too harsh on yourself). At the end of the year video yourself again and see the difference.
• Practice diary - Write your thoughts, questions, goals and achievements ... I can now touch my toes ... Tonight I learnt the last 16 counts of swing ... You can even doodle/sketch your routine.

Start now! Competition season is just around the corner.

Physie in the media

Welcome back! My second year of physie begins. This year BjP Physie has a lot to celebrate with the 125 year celebrations held at the Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney Superdome) in June. In the meantime, please enjoy physie entertainment with these insightful media clips below.


Physie 101 for dads - a series of short videos exploring physie from a different perspective

Physie: Discover a uniquely Australian sport - featuring a newcomer's experience of physie and the 2016 syllabus.

Physie attracting new fans - a special segment about physie on ABC's 7:30.

Happy holidays!

Adversity and resilience in performance

From losing your footing to losing a hairpiece on the dance floor, adversity in performance is inevitable. Here's the newest post in the self-improvement blog series on how to deal with challenging situations and overcoming them.

Here are some undesirable situations that I'm sure physie girls/ladies can relate to:

• Sweat in your eyes
• Safety pins unclip 
• Memory lapse - forgetting the next move
• Hairpiece/jewellery falls off (seniors/ladies) 
• Muscle cramp

The aforementioned situations can hypothetically happen to anyone, so below is a collage of tips to deal with setbacks in performance (click to enlarge):

Beyond one's control

As we enter the month of November, junior repechage and zone championships have already come and gone. This means that competitions on the national level are underway.

Welcome to my newest instalment in the self-improvement blog series where I'll be discussing the factors that you can and cannot control in a competition setting.

Factors that are beyond your control:

• who your competitors are
• the judges' decision 
• how well others dance

Factors that you can control:

• being the best dancer you can be
• what you eat, how much you've rested 
• hours spent practising 

Focus on the things you can control and always stay positive.
Good luck to all the girls and ladies who are competing at nationals.