Ritchies Trip to Europe 2010

TESTING

2010-08-29T16:37:00.001-07:00

testing

Sessiong a the mall.

2010-04-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hey folks... Aight.. this was something I've been meaning to do for a while. Sorry for the lag. Here is a clip of me and Sebastian sessioning at a local mall in Geneva. We did this numerous times to prep ourselves for the event.

Switzerland... brrrrrrr!

2010-03-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

So, a couple days in the Swiss, I got to go sight seeing just a little bit. For the most part, the weather here is brrrr cold and it sometimes rains. We spend most of our time practicing for Juste Debout. Its kind of hard to check out a lot of places. Its not impossible though. I've been video taping a lot of our rehearsals. I wish I can post them up but I don't have a connection to upload em. Anyhow, you can just enjoy the pictures.

In Switzerland, its all about the cheese and the chocolate. Ill say that one more time..... CHOCOLATE!

I swear this thing has crack in it. Ill brings some home for the friends and Fams!

I checked out "Jet d'Eau" waterfall. Its this waterfall that shoots so high up.

One of Sebastian's friend, Kathleen, is a Filipina. I was trippin out cuz you don't see many filipinos speaking french. They took me to this spot to eat fondue. It was along the coast. SO awesome!

Basically, you get a piece of bread and dip in cheese sauce. The dip that Kathleen and I had was with alcohol. Sebastain doesn't drink so he got the regular one. In the first bite, you can definitely taste the alcohol. It was goooood and lots of fun.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch more of the dancing part of my trip. We've been rehearsing about 4 routines for the battle. This picture below is at one of the malls. We stayed here late rehearsing. I feel great, a little anxious though but I cant wait to see whats next. Keep posted.

From Geneva to London and back to Geneva Switzerland!

2010-03-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

My trip so far has been a lot of fun. Its such a learning experience traveling outside the U.S. Its been 7 years since I've traveled to a different country so I forget what to take in account when packing. There are many things that kicks me in the ass such as, electrical outlets, currency exchanges (taking % out of what you exchange), most of all the language barrier. Maan, I'm just dying to learn how speak French.

I arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on February 28th around 1130pm (swiss time). Sebastian picked me up and he graciously open his apartment for me to stay. I stay in one of his unccupied bedrooms. As soon as I got in, I didnt bother to sleep that night. We did some errands like grcery shopping and what not. Seb cook this meal call "Raclette" which is basically a mixture of sausages, pickles, steamed potatoes all covered in melted cheese. It was greeeaaatt! and Heavy. After that, we went out to a bar where one of Sebs friend is spinning House. Called it a night after that and slept like a baby.

The following morning, our flight leaves straight to London! These two were my role doggs! Omar on the left and Sebastian on the Right (Teacher and Butcher..lol - inside jokes-).

The weather was nice and ccccoooooollllldddd!!

We basically went to London to enter in this Jam called "House Dance UK".

Good experience. I made it past the first round but couldnt go past the second. This round I lost in was a three way battle and the guy that took that round actually won the whole competition....eerrr I know I could have done a lot better but I guess the pressure and the vibe got to me. However, I got a lot of love for my style. The event was filled wit so many house dancers and vibing out to these dope House Tracks (omg the music was great!). On the other hand, Sebastian made it to the finals. I felt that he should've taken the whole thing but you know.. what evs. (the judges will pick who they like.) The biggest lesson I learned was that I was too shy when I dance. This was told to me by Omar. It got me thinking to the things I want to improve - as a person in general - not just with my dance. I look at this as a GOOD warm up before Juste Debout.

March 1st 2010
This day was fun, we shopped at "Oxford Circus" in London. We walked all over, even SOHO. Here are some pics.

Meeting new people from all over is always the best. Here are (from left to right) Lisa, me, Arnold, Omar, and (I forgot.. sorry). The Frenchies! Good Times!

Missing our Flight!

What made this trip to London extra special was that we missed out flight back to Geneva. The next flight back was 6am the next day so we ended up spending the night at London Gatwick airport. I just couldn't sleep that night so I ended up drawing and playing on my psp most of the time. "Costa" this coffee shop was the only open the whole night. Costa is my friend. It provided me coffee, chips, sandwiches etc. I couldn't tell you all enough how good the coffee is here.

What a trip London was. I wish we had more time to stay but ya. I'll never forget this. BTW, I have video of me and Sebastian at the House battle. Ill bring that up as soon as I get back to the U.S.

The next post coming up should be about Switzerland. Adieu!

Pictures from Omar

Day 1 and 2: Airplane ride.

2010-02-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

Nine Hour trip to Europe, this is what I mostly did... and sleep.

WE MADE IT!

2010-02-26T09:17:00.000-08:00

To everyone of you. I couldn't thank you enough for your contribution. It means so much. Ill never forget it!. WE MADE IT... reached the 900. From here, its time to boogie down in Europe. Keep posted. BLESS!!!!

Ritch

Ritchie Needs Your Help

2010-02-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

How to donate

The best way to donate is by sending it straight to my paypal account. You can access it by clicking the 'donate' button below.

I'll accept check, money order and cash. You can send it to this address by February 25, 2010:
Ritchie Ramirez: 1133 3rd Avenue, Los Angeles Ca, 90019

Your contribution is extremely appreciated and I would like to give you something back in return. If you'd like, email me your address and receive a gift for your generosity. Subject it "Ritchie's Fundraiser": rramirez19@gmail.com

"One Man Band" 9x12(frame) $100.00

"Memory Catcher" 9x12(frame) $100.00

"Photographers Assistant" 9x9(frame) $75.00

Some of the Munny's are already sold.

A: Munny "SlummDoggy Billionaire" - sold (view)
B: Munny "Shi-CaCa" - $75 (view)
C: Munny "Mr. Green" - not for sale
D: Munny "Munny Pacquiao" - sold (view)
E: Munny " Cowman" - $100 (view)
F: Munny "Mid-Knight" - $75 (view)

My Groove!!

I put together some clips so you can what I do and how I groove.

I'm here at Open House every Tuesday nights.

Yours truly is Winner of the San Francisco 2009 House Dance Conference. This is Tsunami and I going at it.

This is Open House doing or debut at Carnival.

About Juste Debout

The Idea

"Top" hip hop dances have a different impact on people.
Until then, there was no event presenting the various styles of "top" dance: Popping, Locking, Hip hop new style and House dance.
That's why, in 2001, Bruce Soné, lover of the dance for a long time, and the MPT Victor Jara, led in that time by Pascal Gilbert, decided to organize a journey of perfection in New York. The idea was to reward 5 better students of classes.
The classes were taught by three great US dancers and choreographers: Brian Green, Shannon Mabra and Jazzy J.
In 2002, the organizers did it again, but this time, by making the Americans come in France.
The purpose was not only to touch more people, but to allow people who couldn't afford move to US to see great names of hip hop dance and by that way, to develop hip hop dance in France.
"Juste debout" was born.

What is exactly the "Juste Debout"?

World wild key event for all!

Thousands of spectators coming from the four corners of the Earth attend the most important event in the world in terms of hip hop dance, discipline called "top".
The concept: award dancers –amateurs or professionals- for their originality, musicality, spirit and homogeneity. 4 great techniques of top dance are explored: Locking, Popping, Hip Hop and House Dance. A 5th category, Experimental, is offered, referring to new influences and opening top dance to new horizons.
It is an unavoidable meeting for all professionals of dance (producers, choreographers, artistic agent, dancers…) French and foreigners. This meeting is a way to discover talents of tomorrow.

Internationals preselections facing an exceptional jury

Preselections: about ten dates organized abroad and in France, the last stop at the city hall of Paris. Only 16 duos of dancers are selected for the day of the Meeting in Paris-Bercy. The winner dancers of the preselections confront each other, 2 versus 2, per dance category, in front of a professional jury.
The jury composed of strong personality recognized of the hip hop dance, award 4 winner duos and a soloist winner dancer in experimental.
The Preselections, the dance Workshops given by the jury and the Meeting create an innovating area, meetings and convivial exchanges one of a kind for dancers all around the world.

Juste Debout, it's also a magazine

Juste Debout it's also, since 2005, the first bimonthly free magazine in France in the dance world. This magazine, that currently don't have any equivalent in France, either in paying or free press, is delivered in 20 000 copies in dance school around Paris and in France for huge cultural events dedicated to dance. You can find the Juste Debout Magazine on the top page of the website.