When do you practice? (How do you find the time?)

[Yanou]

Hi, I've been a long-time lurker and joined a while back but never been active here. I've been taking lessons for about 3 years. It was just for fun in the beginning but I am more interested in competitions.

Ideally, I want to practice every day for at least an hour by myself at home but I am finding it very difficult because of the time constraint. I have a full time job, go to my studio 3 times a week, and hit the gym 3 times a week. So, my practice time at home is like 15 min. every day. Sometimes, I get very tired at night and I can't practice much. Now, I started to think about practice in the morning before work.

So, my questions to the forum members are:

When do you practice, in the morning, during the day, at night?


How long does each practice session (by yourself) last?


How do you find the time to practice?


I am curious how other people are managing their time.
Thank you in advance.

Yanou

[etp777]

My practice times are generally 30 minutes. I practice over lunch if I don't have an afternoon class, and/or after work. I find the time by having no other life. I leave house at 6am, get home between 8pm and 11pm. Spend on average about 10 hours a week or so at studio, between two privates, all the gropu classes I can take, and practicing.

[mamboqueen]

Good questions, Yanou! And welcome aboard.

I practice when I go to the gym AND to the studio for lessons. Most of this is in the evening. I show up about 30-45 minutes early to my lesson (barring bad traffic) and practice, and sometimes stay an extra 15-30 afterwards to go over things I just learned.

When I go to the gym (4-5x/week), I practice right after my workout. Sometimes it's not always easy to do, but I shoot for at least one hour.

Other than that, when I'm at work, the store, or anywhere with a decent floor, I'm always doing something dance related!

[latingal]

Welcome to DF Yanou!

[Gorme]

I go to the studio at nights after work for about 3 hours. I designate a block of time for dancing. Then afterwards, I go to the gym to workout. I'm exhausted after the workout, so I cannot do that before the dancing.

[DanceMentor]

We both work a full day, but we are fortunate enough to mostly be able to be flexible about the time we practice. Most of the time we practice in the afternoon, but also sometimes in the evening too.

[Yanou]

Thank you all for your reply!

etp... I usually practice during lunch time for about 15 min. Sadly, it tends to be the only practice for the day. And yes, I cut most of other activities from my life so I can dance.

MQ: Combining the gym and practice is a terrific idea. I tried to do it before but I was told that I need to get an OK from a gym manager probably because of liability issues. When you practice at the gym, do you wear heels or dance sneakers?

[Josh]

How do you find the time to practice?

Ultimately, we always spend our time on what is most important to us or what we enjoy at any given moment. I hate doing laundry, and hate isn't a strong enough word for it. So magically, I rarely do laundry until it becomes a necessity. If dancing is something you love, you will not have to struggle to find the time. The time will make itself available. If you feel you "have to" practice, it's time for a reality check. But if you are just looking for ways to increase your practice time, do this: focus on your love of dancing, daydream about it, imagine yourself looking how you want yourself to look, and most importantly, FEEL the emotions that go along with this. Do this, and you'll have more time to practice than you can imagine.

[danceronice]

I practice when I can. (Having hardwood floors helps, though my downstairs neighbor probably thinks I'm nuts.) If I can get in practice time at the studio, great, if not, I do what I can at home and go to the parties and try and dance as much as I can.

[tanya_the_dancer]

I practice in the gym or at home (I have hardwood floors in my house). One thing about the gym - their aerobics rooms tend to have sticky floors (at least around here).

[Some guy]

Josh, awesome post!!!

[samina]

i love dancing...love practicing... have had little to no time all year, but am determined to change my life circumstances to allow for studio time. sometimes we just go thru life passages that narrow all that we can do, and we just do the best we can. not being able to practice doesn't necessarily directly correlate with hating to practice, or not being positive about it.

in lieu of practice time, i have chosen all year to make the best of it and to always be working on something wherever i am.

[BasicsFirst]

Just wondering Yanou, do you have a regular partner or rather just who may happen to be at your groups? My perception is that the practice patterns of dancers differs significantly based on their partnership situation, but I agree with Josh, you may only practice 15 min. minimum every day... for now. But before you know it you'll be back here talking about practicing at least an hour every day.

[dancepro]

Ultimately, we always spend our time on what is most important to us or what we enjoy at any given moment. I hate doing laundry, and hate isn't a strong enough word for it. So magically, I rarely do laundry until it becomes a necessity. If dancing is something you love, you will not have to struggle to find the time. The time will make itself available. If you feel you "have to" practice, it's time for a reality check. But if you are just looking for ways to increase your practice time, do this: focus on your love of dancing, daydream about it, imagine yourself looking how you want yourself to look, and most importantly, FEEL the emotions that go along with this. Do this, and you'll have more time to practice than you can imagine.

Yes, yes, yes, use your imagination there is plenty of time in the day to do that. You just need to get disciplined to do it. I totally agree with Josh. I hate cleaning and hired somebody to do it as I don't want to spend the energy and time thinking about things I hate to do. I found something productive to do that now pays for the lady that cleans for me.

Dancepro

[Josh]

i love dancing...love practicing... have had little to no time all year, but am determined to change my life circumstances to allow for studio time. sometimes we just go thru life passages that narrow all that we can do, and we just do the best we can. not being able to practice doesn't necessarily directly correlate with hating to practice, or not being positive about it.

Exactly, but the amount of time one spends practicing is in direct proportion to how high a priority it is! Whether you feel you are in control of your priorities is another story. Obviously, I personally choose to set my circumstances, thus dictating my priorities, so if I don't practice or study or whatever, then it's because I really didn't want to enough, and I have created that situation for myself in the past from time to time.

in lieu of practice time, i have chosen all year to make the best of it and to always be working on something wherever i am.

This is great advice and something I have always tried to do as well sam--wherever I am, grocery store, waiting in line somewhere, lying in bed, wherever--I try to do something to improve my dancing, whether it's practicing different types of rise and fall very subtley or working on pointing my toes or just doing toe raises or working my hips (have to be careful about this one lol)!

[fascination]

Ultimately, we always spend our time on what is most important to us or what we enjoy at any given moment. I hate doing laundry, and hate isn't a strong enough word for it. So magically, I rarely do laundry until it becomes a necessity. If dancing is something you love, you will not have to struggle to find the time. The time will make itself available. If you feel you "have to" practice, it's time for a reality check. But if you are just looking for ways to increase your practice time, do this: focus on your love of dancing, daydream about it, imagine yourself looking how you want yourself to look, and most importantly, FEEL the emotions that go along with this. Do this, and you'll have more time to practice than you can imagine.
this is key...if you want something badly enough, time appears....I am fortunate...I have beautiful floor in my home on which to practice...this allows me to use any window of time I possess...BUT, when I didn't have a floor, I lived out in my garage on the weekends, slip sliding away on the concrete trying to learn how to do a heel turn...in fact we still have the imprints 3 1/2 years later...but you also have to know what to practice and what you hope to improve when you are practicing, otherwise you will run out of interest in short order...after every lesson, i feel as though I have about 200 hours worth of information that I need to immediately go home and integrate...if I didn't have that, I would feel less inclined to practice b/c I know my routines and so that is only 15 minutes worth...it is more "what am I trying to do with these?" that fuels the practice minutes that could go on and on and on...

[fascination]

Exactly, but the amount of time one spends practicing is in direct proportion to how high a priority it is! Whether you feel you are in control of your priorities is another story. Obviously, I personally choose to set my circumstances, thus dictating my priorities, so if I don't practice or study or whatever, then it's because I really didn't want to enough, and I have created that situation for myself in the past from time to time.



This is great advice and something I have always tried to do as well sam--wherever I am, grocery store, waiting in line somewhere, lying in bed, wherever--I try to do something to improve my dancing, whether it's practicing different types of rise and fall very subtley or working on pointing my toes or just doing toe raises or working my hips (have to be careful about this one lol)!
yep...If I am jogging I am thinking about my forward poise and the length of my back...if I am teaching a step class I might work on swinging my hip on a step that allows it...just about anything can become a moment to solidify something in one's dancing

[Josh]

And that's why you're a good dancer fasc--you spend the time on focused practice, and you did so even when circumstances were not ideal (like concrete!)... You took a circumstance, and created your own circumstance that basically overshawdowed the fact that you didn't have a "good" place to practice! And you're absolutely right, having a focus on which to practice is key, even if sometimes we feel like we're looking stupid or not doing something right... (that would be me! ;-) )

[samina]

Exactly, but the amount of time one spends practicing is in direct proportion to how high a priority it is! Whether you feel you are in control of your priorities is another story. Obviously, I personally choose to set my circumstances, thus dictating my priorities, so if I don't practice or study or whatever, then it's because I really didn't want to enough, and I have created that situation for myself in the past from time to time.



yes, i would say that's true. i have had a higher priority of keeping my job this year, which has taken me away from being able to allocate travel time to practice. because now practice feels to be an extremely high priority, am actually changing work situation to allow for that.

[Josh]

awesome!

[etp777]

Just wondering Yanou, do you have a regular partner or rather just who may happen to be at your groups? My perception is that the practice patterns of dancers differs significantly based on their partnership situation,

BasicsFirst, I suspect this is very true. I know my parents and I have very different practice patterns, and it's not just from different situations (proximity to studio, schedule, etc) but because of fact they can practice together, and I'm by myself.

[nucat78]

I have no hardwood floors and a concrete basement floor so I usually practice before group classes. Since I take a group class 4-5 days a week, it's not too difficult to go early. My studio has a beautiful new sprung hardwood floor so that's an added incentive.

I do spend about four hours a day total commuting to and from work, so sometimes practicing is the last thing I want to do and I can be remiss. When I take a day off for an MD appt or something, I make it a point to spend about an hour at the studio.

I go to virtually every practice dance held at the studio and go to other dance venues every other weekend for extra practice. My pseudo-regular practice partner has been flaking out - professional obligations, she's a dentist - so I've been going dancing with a lady from another studio.

[syncopationator]

I practice any time I'm not at work.

I usually practice by myself during my lunch hour and take lessons and practice in the evenings as well. Weekends I put in some serious time too.

[dancepro]

in lieu of practice time, i have chosen all year to make the best of it and to always be working on something wherever i am.

My teacher always said that every action in standard has a direct relationship to an action you do in everyday life. Find where the actions are common and pay attention to them. Like walking in the park, grocery shopping, sitting down, walking up and down stairs and many, many more. There are plenty of things that you do everyday that you are also doing in the dancing. He always said that you would get two kinds of lessons one that taught fact or one that taught feelings. If you got a fact try to find that same fact in everyday life. If you got a feeling try to find a similar feeling in everyday life. Dancing is an illustration of life and life is a dance.

Dancepro

[emeralddancer]

My teacher always said that every action in standard has a direct relationship to an action you do in everyday life. Find where the actions are common and pay attention to them. Like walking in the park, grocery shopping, sitting down, walking up and down stairs and many, many more. There are plenty of things that you do everyday that you are also doing in the dancing. He always said that you would get two kinds of lessons one that taught fact or one that taught feelings. If you got a fact try to find that same fact in everyday life. If you got a feeling try to find a similar feeling in everyday life. Dancing is an illustration of life and life is a dance.

Dancepro

How profound and so utterly true ... I am just noticing little everyday things that directly corrolate to dance. So I try to focus on those to help me with dance.

Very nice Dancepro!!!!!! Thanks so much, especially the last line!

[dancepro]

How profound and so utterly true ... I am just noticing little everyday things that directly corrolate to dance. So I try to focus on those to help me with dance.

Very nice Dancepro!!!!!! Thanks so much, especially the last line!

When I found out that everything I did in life was in direct relationship to dancing it made it easy to practice. I never stopped practicing (dancing). I didn't feel bad if I didn't get any floor time. It also made me move up the ranks much faster then what I thought it would take.

You are very welcome, it is just a little tip from a great master. The last line is what my grandfather used to say. :)

Dancepro

[fascination]

And that's why you're a good dancer fasc--you spend the time on focused practice, and you did so even when circumstances were not ideal (like concrete!)... You took a circumstance, and created your own circumstance that basically overshawdowed the fact that you didn't have a "good" place to practice! And you're absolutely right, having a focus on which to practice is key, even if sometimes we feel like we're looking stupid or not doing something right... (that would be me! ;-) )
thanks buddy...if there is one thing I have learned about becoming a better dancer is that you have to become rather immune to how stupid you think you look at any given moment, b/c well you probably DO look sort of stupid but you can't fix something unless you expose it...and there is nothing stupid about that

[samina]

My teacher always said that every action in standard has a direct relationship to an action you do in everyday life. Find where the actions are common and pay attention to them. Like walking in the park, grocery shopping, sitting down, walking up and down stairs and many, many more. There are plenty of things that you do everyday that you are also doing in the dancing. He always said that you would get two kinds of lessons one that taught fact or one that taught feelings. If you got a fact try to find that same fact in everyday life. If you got a feeling try to find a similar feeling in everyday life. Dancing is an illustration of life and life is a dance.

Dancepro

exactly, that has been my focus with standard. i think that is how i've progressed so much this year without solo practice.

i feel the urgency for solo practice at the studio now since adding latin to the scene. i work on what i can all the time WRT to latin footwork & hips & rotation & arms & well... whatever i can think of. but i know there's no way i'm going to catch up with latin quickly if i don't assume regular floor time. it's such a different animal...

[jwlinson]

this is key...if you want something badly enough, time appears....I am fortunate...I have beautiful floor in my home on which to practice...this allows me to use any window of time I possess...BUT, when I didn't have a floor, I lived out in my garage on the weekends, slip sliding away on the concrete trying to learn how to do a heel turn

This reminded me of how we began practicing back when we first started dancing. We were both nervous about practicing where others could see, and had very little open space indoors to work with (mostly carpet). Initially we'd practice in the horse pasture, while the horses looked at us like we were crazy. On the weekends we'd go to Land Between the Lakes (large sort-of-but-not-really national park) where we'd find a patch of abandoned blacktop road or a concrete pad and set up a cd player. As our confidence grew, we graduated to Wal-Mart in the early morning hours, and the studio on the weekends when no one was around. If you want to do it, you'll make time and space for it.

after every lesson, i feel as though I have about 200 hours worth of information that I need to immediately go home and integrate...if I didn't have that, I would feel less inclined to practice b/c I know my routines and so that is only 15 minutes worth...it is more "what am I trying to do with these?" that fuels the practice minutes that could go on and on and on...

After every lesson we have, it feels like our brains have turned into "ballroom goo," and we have to go let it sink in over appetizers at Applebee's, while we jot down notes and go over all the info we received. It works.

[jwlinson]

I practice any time I'm not at work.

I practice at work!

Yes, I'm the guy practicing his Latin motion while waiting at the copier, and doing a waltz chasse or maybe a feather step or three step while he passes you in the hall (have to make room to pass, don't I?) It's amazing how our dancing ingrains itself like that.

[fascination]

yep...NP also suggested that since i have the long drive i might as well tape my notes...the man is brilliant...and he is beginning to realize that I would rather hide in my car when I get there early than go in and practice...I still feel like a visitor and definately like a wanna be rather than someone who has any business being there...but I do make up for it at home...

[jwlinson]

thanks buddy...if there is one thing I have learned about becoming a better dancer is that you have to become rather immune to how stupid you think you look at any given moment, b/c well you probably DO look sort of stupid but you can't fix something unless you expose it...and there is nothing stupid about that

I used to be so self-conscious of looking like a total dork when I danced. The more I danced the less I noticed, and consequently the better I danced.

[fascination]

you know...I am fine everywhere but there...but well...I'll get used to it...funny, it's all relative to the size of the pond

[Josh]

I do spend about four hours a day total commuting to and from work

Good lord man, why? With 7 hours of sleep, you have only about 50% of your life outside of a bed and a car (or whatever method you use to commute).

[Laura]

I just practiced from like 10pm-11:15. Then there was an hour's drive home. It kind of sucks but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

[ThreeStep]

You're stronger for it. ;)

[jerseydancer]

We are very fortunate to live only 15 min away from 3 dance studios. We take private lessons in one of them 3-4 times a week after work at 9PM, and 2 hour private on Saturday; we practice 20-30 minutes before every lesson. This also helps to warm up and be ready for the lesson. Then we go to the other two studios on weekends for longer practice (2-3 hours) during socials. I also practice exercises like "green, yellow, red" or "heel pulls" during the day anywhere I can, it could be in line at the bank or supermarket or in a hallway at work; when I drive or walk I am trying to keep my back flat. I think the more you get into dancing (yes, it an addiction -the best one of all the addictions) and make it higher priority the more time you can find for practice, and the more creative you can get about practicing.

[samina]

Jerseydancer, what is "green, yellow, red"?

[ThreeStep]

I believe it's an exercise from the Past Present and Future DVD.

[dancepro]

Jerseydancer, what is "green, yellow, red"?

It is an exercise invented by Hans Laxholm of Denmark. Brilliant teacher and coach.

Dancepro

[samina]

thanx

[NoDayButToday]

Hi, I've been a long-time lurker and joined a while back but never been active here. I've been taking lessons for about 3 years. It was just for fun in the beginning but I am more interested in competitions.

Ideally, I want to practice every day for at least an hour by myself at home but I am finding it very difficult because of the time constraint. I have a full time job, go to my studio 3 times a week, and hit the gym 3 times a week. So, my practice time at home is like 15 min. every day. Sometimes, I get very tired at night and I can't practice much. Now, I started to think about practice in the morning before work.


You can try to see if your gym has a studio. After work, around 6pm, I go to the gym, then make my way to the studio and practice for a while. I don't have a set amount of time for practice, I just dance until things feel right.

[soshedances]

I'm a full-time student with 2 jobs this semester (it's gonna be crazy!!) and a GPA to maintain, so I can only get to the studio once per week.

What are some things I can practice for maybe 15 minutes at a time (as study breaks, ya know?) or as part of my daily activities?

I only have a very small space most of the time (about 5 feet, maybe, that's dorm life), but I'm sure there are ways to get some practicing in.

[QPO]

We don't go out to practice and depending on work, once my partner has finished studying we will practice more, now I use my lounge room and do walks and balances, brushing feet etc. But we don't comp so it is not that important.

[Lioness]

I usually train for 2 hours on Wednesday, and then do social dancing afterwards for a couple of hours. This week I went social dancing on Tuesday with my partner, which pretty much ended up being a practice session rather than just dancing.

[Masaya]

I don't believe that there is such an excuse as being too busy to practice - there is always something you can do to improve your dancing. I'm a first year med student now so I have class/anatomy lab from 8/9am until 4/5pm. Then I go home and study until I go to bed around 1am.
I wake up around 6am every morning and spend an hour and a half training/stretching/practicing. In between classes I practice going up on my toes and holding the position (strengthening my ankles) for 5 minutes straight, or I would go to the bathroom, lock myself in a stall and practice figure 8 for a few minutes (haha). When I'm in the actual class I try to keep my posture good and periodically engage my abs and perineum muscles. I spend my entire lunch break training in the gym or practicing in some random hallway in an isolated area of the school. I take 5 minute study breaks several times in the evening to practice arm movement/walks/etc (this helps me to refocus on my study too). All in all, even with my busy schedule that adds up to about 2-2.5 hours of practice/training every day :)

[QPO]

You are driven and you will succeed.

I don't believe that there is such an excuse as being too busy to practice - there is always something you can do to improve your dancing. I'm a first year med student now so I have class/anatomy lab from 8/9am until 4/5pm. Then I go home and study until I go to bed around 1am.
I wake up around 6am every morning and spend an hour and a half training/stretching/practicing. In between classes I practice going up on my toes and holding the position (strengthening my ankles) for 5 minutes straight, or I would go to the bathroom, lock myself in a stall and practice figure 8 for a few minutes (haha). When I'm in the actual class I try to keep my posture good and periodically engage my abs and perineum muscles. I spend my entire lunch break training in the gym or practicing in some random hallway in an isolated area of the school. I take 5 minute study breaks several times in the evening to practice arm movement/walks/etc (this helps me to refocus on my study too). All in all, even with my busy schedule that adds up to about 2-2.5 hours of practice/training every day :)

[latingal]

Masaya, I used to buy the I'm too busy excuse for practicing - especially those with challenging jobs and the like....but after your post, not buying it from anybody else....

I commend your dedication and discipline (or just plain obsession - *grin*).

[samina]

(or just plain obsession - *grin*).

um... that's the word!

no judgment. it's what it takes. and ditto what LG said, masaya. more power to ya...

[Masaya]

Thanks! I admit, I'm definitely obsessed . . . did I mention I'm currently doing this with a broken big toe? It makes practicing footwork difficult, but I realized there's still a lot of things I can work on with my hips and arms. :)
I was really upset when I first started med school because I was used to practicing/working out 2-3 hours straight. When I realized that I'd have to spend >7 hours a day studying I thought I wouldn't have any time for productive practice and my dancing would go down the drain . . . but if you are really motivated you can always find a way!

[Yanou]

Thank you all for your replies! Some are very inspiring and some are very useful.

When I saw Josh's post about priorities, I thought about my priorities ..... how important is dancing for me? My answer was clear... It is very important. That's why I have spent a lot of my time and money on it. I am farily obsessed. When I walk the hallway, I pay attention to weight shift and posture. When I sit on the chair at work, I do a light stretch and upper-body isolation exercise. (I don't do it too intensively because my body is not warmed up.) When I see a mirror or any reflective material, I check my posture... do some moves if nobody is around.

Since I started this post, I started to practice in the morning before work. I started to go to the studio 15 min. early to practice. I always felt awkward to practice in the studio... but then I realized that if I have a courage to dance in front of audience wearing a rather skimpy Latin dress, I sure have a courage to practice in front of other students (most of them are beginners, anyway) and other teachers.

[Laura]

I always felt awkward to practice in the studio... but then I realized that if I have a courage to dance in front of audience wearing a rather skimpy Latin dress, I sure have a courage to practice in front of other students (most of them are beginners, anyway) and other teachers.
That's a really good way of looking at it. Good for you! Let us know how your dancing changes now that you've started practicing.

[Chiron]

When do you practice, in the morning, during the day, at night?

My main practice is at night. I usually practice before and after my lesson. I need at least 15 min before my lesson to warm up or the first 15 minutes of my lesson ends up being that. I like practicing after my lesson so I can really get a twist on what I learned.

How long does each practice session (by yourself) last?

Anywhere from 15 min - 3 hours. I usually don't force it or have a set amount of time I must practice. Giving myself the occasional off night when I don't feel it seems to help me make the other nights go long.

How do you find the time to practice?

I drive 20 minutes to the studio, so if I'm there I'm going to practice and I usually have 3 hour block of time free (bed usually comes afterwards so it is flexible). I also try to do little things thoughout the day. At the grocery store I usually do rumba walks or feather-threestep-feather-... behind the shoping cart. I'll also do the feather-three step combo when walking down the halls at work. When I'm cooking I usually do parts of rumba basic. At night when I brush my teeth I do hip circles. (Thank goodness I don't have roommates, or at least nondancing roommates). ;)

[Chiron]

I don't believe that there is such an excuse as being too busy to practice - there is always something you can do to improve your dancing. I'm a first year med student now so I have class/anatomy lab from 8/9am until 4/5pm. Then I go home and study until I go to bed around 1am.
I wake up around 6am every morning and spend an hour and a half training/stretching/practicing. In between classes I practice going up on my toes and holding the position (strengthening my ankles) for 5 minutes straight, or I would go to the bathroom, lock myself in a stall and practice figure 8 for a few minutes (haha). When I'm in the actual class I try to keep my posture good and periodically engage my abs and perineum muscles. I spend my entire lunch break training in the gym or practicing in some random hallway in an isolated area of the school. I take 5 minute study breaks several times in the evening to practice arm movement/walks/etc (this helps me to refocus on my study too). All in all, even with my busy schedule that adds up to about 2-2.5 hours of practice/training every day :)

Wow, I'm impressed. You've just motivated me to see what other free time I can squeeze out of my schedule. Just out of curiosity, how do you stay awake in class with that schedule? I never could figure out how pull it off.

[Chiron]

Since I started this post, I started to practice in the morning before work. I started to go to the studio 15 min. early to practice. I always felt awkward to practice in the studio... but then I realized that if I have a courage to dance in front of audience wearing a rather skimpy Latin dress, I sure have a courage to practice in front of other students (most of them are beginners, anyway) and other teachers.

Good for you! I used to feel awkward practicing in front of others. I know we shouldn't care what others think, but unfortunately I do. I had a break through about this early in college when I was playing trumpet and facing the same problem. I could find time to practice alone, but not enough. In order for me to get enough time in I had to practice in areas where other people were practicing. The thought that finally did it for me was, "What do I care more about, people hearing/seeing you practice/screw up or getting better?" The answer was I cared about getting better and didn't have the luxury of time to do it privately. When I started ballroom I had the same problem. However now I could apply the same thought and was fine after about 15 mintues. The good news is the more you do it the easier it gets. The bad news is you find yourself absent mindely practicing things and your friends will call you a show off. (Ok that's only happened when I was learning how to catch my keys behind my back, working on ronde chasses, and improving my flexibility).

[Masaya]

Wow, I'm impressed. You've just motivated me to see what other free time I can squeeze out of my schedule. Just out of curiosity, how do you stay awake in class with that schedule? I never could figure out how pull it off.

I take a 24-oz. cup of black coffee with me to class every day, that's how :)

[latingal]

I take a 24-oz. cup of black coffee with me to class every day, that's how :)

yow...serious caffeine fix.

[Josh]

Since I started this post, I started to practice in the morning before work. I started to go to the studio 15 min. early to practice. I always felt awkward to practice in the studio... but then I realized that if I have a courage to dance in front of audience wearing a rather skimpy Latin dress, I sure have a courage to practice in front of other students (most of them are beginners, anyway) and other teachers.

:applause: Nice!!! Congratulations!! This kind of attitude is what creates exponential increases in the quality of your dancing in a short period of time!!