Apathy to Practice

F

FTL

New Member
Does anybody experience occasional lack of energy or interest to practice? What do you do?

I had this frustrating experience yesterday and I am really forcing it to make use of my free time. The outcome is quite sloppy and non-productive with my partner remarking that I am not myself that day. We tried AT, salsa, and standard with the same result. Really, sometimes it just feels like "work".:(

It is a good thing that my drumset is always nearby and ready to bear the brunt of my frustration. I felt better after a good amount of funk and samba grooves. :rocker:
 
why not just take a day off to rest. get in an extra nap. get to bed early.

the spirit and the body need to time regenerate. no use forcing what isn't there. it'll come back in spades in due time and you'll be quite naturally bursting with energy & enthusiasm! :)

anyway, that's generally my approach. i do not force.
 
I go through mental overloads every now and then. Work, work, work, affects my AT... Badly.

So, every now and then, I take a break from AT, have coffee, and a brownie, and come back to it in a couple of days or so. Works great for me.
 
Ampster said:
I take a break from AT, have coffee, and a brownie
Click to expand...
Brilliant - I also take breaks when I get that "beating your head against a brick wall" feeling but I always felt there was something more needed to help restore me. Now I know the secret - brownies!

It's better to take a few days off than fight frustration; if it isn't fun then it probably isn't dancing! I know that I can be a horrible, crabby old git at those times and that certainly isn't any fun for Julie.
 
I'm always apathetic about practicing. AT, ballroom, doesn't matter. I've got the attention span of a gnat with ADD. So, generally, I don't practice unless I can do so while smoking. Which limits my practicing to things like walking, posture, and adornments. Ballroom...well...doesn't really happen.

Now and again I go through somethink like a "Tango Crisis." Like this past weekend, inconveniently timed to coincide with a tango marathon. Haven't found a solution, but they do pass. I find the key is to listen to lots of tango music, to make me wish I was dancing.
 
Hopefully next week I'll be able to get another hour of AT. We've been working on Rhythm pretty hard.

But maybe it's just because I'm new to AT--since the dance is so much more about the dance relationship than it is about performance, I feel that practice and dancing is much the same thing. Unlike in Ballroom, where I feel that the practice sessions are very different from both straight dancing and performance.
 
And I look forward to hearing all about your next AT experience.

I agree about the practice/dancing thing.
 
Dave Bailey said:
Must resist...


Does everyone have "Tango Crises"? Does it ever get better? :(
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I have Tango Crises all the time. Almost on a bi-monthly basis. It happens when I try to make something work, and it just doesn't happen... :headwall: Trying to practice in that state of mind just makes things worse, and you tend to make an enemy of your partner.

So, I give it a rest... dance with a stranger, step away from AT for a couple of days. As before, have coffee, and a brownie...

I find that revisiting it after a break, things come together much more easily.

It is a game of patience.
 
Ampster said:
Trying to practice in that state of mind just makes things worse, and you tend to make an enemy of your partner.

I find that revisiting it after a break, things come together much more easily.

It is a game of patience.
Click to expand...

I agree. Yep, partner not happy, not to mention the fact that I also landed my gancho on the wrong spot. :bkick:

Sometimes if it is not happening physically I just listen to AT music to improve my musicality or mentally play out some of the patterns which I could practice when crisis is over.
 
Yeah. Ouch is right. That's why the kinda freak me out--if I screw that up, the consequences are not good.

My teacher keeps telling me he'll take full responsibility for the consequences. My response is that it's not him I'm concerned about, but his wife would probably have something to say about it, and she could pound me into dust.

OTOH, I'm beginning to wonder if there is a "right spot" for ganchos. I know there are. I also know that whenever I've gotten gancho'ed, it's been in the wrong spot. The aim is uncanny. Good thing I'm not a guy.
 
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