cornutt
Forum Master
Had a great private lesson yesterday, despite not having danced in about three weeks, and my upper body being very bound up from working on the house:
I have been stuck on some very fundemental things in silver waltz for the past several months. In fact, it has felt at times that I was going backwards: I've had a lot of trouble maintaining a consistent connection; there are certain areas where I always felt "stuck" and losing momentum (such as the exit from the open left turn), and in general I felt like I was having to push my partner around and really physically exert myself in order to move. I'm afraid me and the DW have had some arguments over it.
She decided to pass last night up because she's still pretty worn out from our holiday painting marathon. So it was just me and my instructor last night. My dear instructor had surgery on her left foot a few weeks ago, and my lesson last night was her first teaching since her surgery, so she wasn't really sure what she would be able to do. So, instead of trying to do a lot of reps (which is what I usually want to do), I asked her if we could video a few steps and then critique the tape. I've never done this before; I've got tapes of the DW and I doing routines, but I've never just taped a practice. So we fired it up and did a few open left and right turns.
After we looked at the tape, she suggested some exercises for me to do. She said I had become overly conscious of my left arm (true) and that she wanted me to forget about the darn thing and just dance my frame. She also said she wanted me to be more aware of my upper body position. So she got a couple of the big 10-gallon water bottles from the water cooler (empty ones, natch
), and she had me hold them to my chest as if I were holding a partner in a practice frame. Then she had me do a few left and right turns.
It worked! I'm not sure exactly how, but suddenly I had an awareness of my upper body position that I've never had before. And right away I picked up on a few things. In the first half of the left turn, I've been letting my legs spread. When I made myself close it up, I discovered that I was getting nowhere near enough upper body rotation, making it impossible for me to take that backwards contra-body position properly. It was a lazy habit. The next thing I discovered was the the exit step of the left turn, where I always felt like I was losing my momentum, I wasn't really swaying -- instead, I was just leaning to my right, breaking at the waist. I corrected that and found it easier to bring my leg through, but it still wasn't quite there.
So, next, the instructor had me dance it with one bottle balanced on my head. She did it with both hands first, and had me try that. Then, she told me she wanted to try it using just one hand to balance the bottle. She did it a few times, getting through the left turn and as far as the twinkle on the right turn. So I tried it. The first time, when I got to that exit step on the left turn, the bottle fell off in front of my face at that point. Welllll -- I was leaning my head forward! That explained a lot of things! I found it surprisingly difficult to make myself keep my head up at that point. I'm not sure why. But I eventually did manage to get it straight, and once I did, that step got much better. After that, and a few other tweaks, I was able to get through the left turn and up to the right-turn twinkle before I lost the bottle. The instuctor said that was really good.
For our next exercise, she said I needed to feel what a proper level of contact and resistance should feel like. She got the core of an empty paper-towel roll, and we stood facing each other and put it between our centers. She told me to lead me through the paper-towel roll -- no other contact, and without losing the roll. We weren't dancing, just walking in step, but it still took concentration. I only lost it once, though, and we went around several corners with it.
We then fired up the video again, and did the same left and right turns as the first time. We watched them both back to back, and she pointed out to me where I had improved, and a few places where she said I still needed more work. She then said something that she's never said to me before: "You really have it in you. I saw it for the first time tonight." That felt really good, becuase I've kind of felt like a klutz lately. I thought about it and I told her that tonight I had understood some things at a level that I haven't comprehended it at before. Some of you probably know what I mean: it's that first time when you suddenly get the big picture and you can do it without having to devote conscious thought to the mechanical details, and you all of a sudden have that gut feel for what needs improving and what to do about it.
I've had a lot of problems with isolation of my torso and head movements. Last night gave me an awareness of these areas that I haven't had before. I really have to thank my instructor for coming up with those new exercises. I know she gets frustrated with me sometimes because I insist on having all of the mechanics explained to me in detail. That's the way I have to learn, but up until now, I haven't been able to put all of the pieces together. The things she had me do helped me realize how it all plays together. I've been doing the head-balance thing tonight in the apartment with a laundry basket, and I can now actually sense all of the head-balance things that she's lectured me on over the past year.
So even though she probably won't see this: Thank you, Mendy. :kissme:
I have been stuck on some very fundemental things in silver waltz for the past several months. In fact, it has felt at times that I was going backwards: I've had a lot of trouble maintaining a consistent connection; there are certain areas where I always felt "stuck" and losing momentum (such as the exit from the open left turn), and in general I felt like I was having to push my partner around and really physically exert myself in order to move. I'm afraid me and the DW have had some arguments over it.
She decided to pass last night up because she's still pretty worn out from our holiday painting marathon. So it was just me and my instructor last night. My dear instructor had surgery on her left foot a few weeks ago, and my lesson last night was her first teaching since her surgery, so she wasn't really sure what she would be able to do. So, instead of trying to do a lot of reps (which is what I usually want to do), I asked her if we could video a few steps and then critique the tape. I've never done this before; I've got tapes of the DW and I doing routines, but I've never just taped a practice. So we fired it up and did a few open left and right turns.
After we looked at the tape, she suggested some exercises for me to do. She said I had become overly conscious of my left arm (true) and that she wanted me to forget about the darn thing and just dance my frame. She also said she wanted me to be more aware of my upper body position. So she got a couple of the big 10-gallon water bottles from the water cooler (empty ones, natch
), and she had me hold them to my chest as if I were holding a partner in a practice frame. Then she had me do a few left and right turns.It worked! I'm not sure exactly how, but suddenly I had an awareness of my upper body position that I've never had before. And right away I picked up on a few things. In the first half of the left turn, I've been letting my legs spread. When I made myself close it up, I discovered that I was getting nowhere near enough upper body rotation, making it impossible for me to take that backwards contra-body position properly. It was a lazy habit. The next thing I discovered was the the exit step of the left turn, where I always felt like I was losing my momentum, I wasn't really swaying -- instead, I was just leaning to my right, breaking at the waist. I corrected that and found it easier to bring my leg through, but it still wasn't quite there.
So, next, the instructor had me dance it with one bottle balanced on my head. She did it with both hands first, and had me try that. Then, she told me she wanted to try it using just one hand to balance the bottle. She did it a few times, getting through the left turn and as far as the twinkle on the right turn. So I tried it. The first time, when I got to that exit step on the left turn, the bottle fell off in front of my face at that point. Welllll -- I was leaning my head forward! That explained a lot of things! I found it surprisingly difficult to make myself keep my head up at that point. I'm not sure why. But I eventually did manage to get it straight, and once I did, that step got much better. After that, and a few other tweaks, I was able to get through the left turn and up to the right-turn twinkle before I lost the bottle. The instuctor said that was really good.
For our next exercise, she said I needed to feel what a proper level of contact and resistance should feel like. She got the core of an empty paper-towel roll, and we stood facing each other and put it between our centers. She told me to lead me through the paper-towel roll -- no other contact, and without losing the roll. We weren't dancing, just walking in step, but it still took concentration. I only lost it once, though, and we went around several corners with it.
We then fired up the video again, and did the same left and right turns as the first time. We watched them both back to back, and she pointed out to me where I had improved, and a few places where she said I still needed more work. She then said something that she's never said to me before: "You really have it in you. I saw it for the first time tonight." That felt really good, becuase I've kind of felt like a klutz lately. I thought about it and I told her that tonight I had understood some things at a level that I haven't comprehended it at before. Some of you probably know what I mean: it's that first time when you suddenly get the big picture and you can do it without having to devote conscious thought to the mechanical details, and you all of a sudden have that gut feel for what needs improving and what to do about it.
I've had a lot of problems with isolation of my torso and head movements. Last night gave me an awareness of these areas that I haven't had before. I really have to thank my instructor for coming up with those new exercises. I know she gets frustrated with me sometimes because I insist on having all of the mechanics explained to me in detail. That's the way I have to learn, but up until now, I haven't been able to put all of the pieces together. The things she had me do helped me realize how it all plays together. I've been doing the head-balance thing tonight in the apartment with a laundry basket, and I can now actually sense all of the head-balance things that she's lectured me on over the past year.
So even though she probably won't see this: Thank you, Mendy. :kissme:
