How Are Your Lessons Going? Thread 3

Zhena said:
Have one of your practice tops screen-printed with the words "It's hard. It takes time." Then you can just point to your chest at the appropriate moments.
Click to expand...
Genius suggestion. At my first lesson this week, I asked Pro to imagine that I’m wearing a headband across my forehead, printed with the words “It’s hard. It takes time.” He laughed and said, “I wrote those words!” Throughout the lesson, I regularly gestured to my forehead in response to something or other he said. A couple times I even pushed my bangs (fringe) off my face with one hand while I mimed writing on my forehead with the other.

Definitely a good reminder for both of us. And I think we were both surprised at how frequently it came up.
 
I was a bit worried about not remembering any tango from last week (I hope to eventually add more days but need to look at the $$) but it actually wasn’t too bad. We put together some walks and progressive link and some reverse turns. And my teacher started to introduce some quickstep. A tipple chasse and something else. I have to check my notebook bc I write down notes after the lesson because I have the memory of a goldfish.
 
Had extra lessons this week because Pro and his wife are off to the UK for about a week. Then when they get back I have about 4 days before heading off to Minnesota for the Snow Ball.

He gave me homework. . . I'm supposed to do it.
 
Focused mainly on silver foxtrot this week. It’s haaaaaard. But the rewards are worth it! I’m learning more about CBM and how to rotate my body to work in connection with Pro’s. Sometimes I feel like my body is supposed to be constantly rotating (or spiraling, or wringing itself out like a wet cloth, or however you wanna describe it).

We went back to our slower approach of working on very small chunks of material at a time. I LOVE it when something goes right! Even when it’s just a series of a few steps in a row, it feels totally different when I keep my frame and rotate my hips and swing my leg through (and whatever else I’m supposed to do that I usually forget).

During the process of breaking down the patterns into chunks, and the chunks into elements, and the elements into individual movements, I’m starting to see why Pro says I’m a good follower. What I call “clueless,” he calls “responsive and instinctive.” I didn’t know what he meant & didn’t believe him until very recently. E.g., we’ll be working on a specific section of a pattern, in so much depth that I lose track of where in the pattern we are. He reminds me, “this happens right after I’ve lowered your hand to my waist.” I stare at him in confusion, because I have no memory of him ever moving my hand to his waist, don’t know why he would or when he should, and it has literally never even registered on my radar that it’s happening. If he were to ask me to describe the pattern and identify at what point he lowers my hand to his waist, my answer would be, “but you don’t do that…do you???” Or he’ll ask me to demonstrate part of the pattern by myself, and I am genuinely flummoxed and freeze in place, because idk which foot my weight should be on, or which direction we’re moving, or where he will be in relation to me once we’re dancing it together, etc.

See why I call it “clueless”? But Pro seems more pleased with our lead/follow abilities and less concerned by the - uhh - unexpected breadth and depth of my ignorance.

And sure, it’s eye-opening (borderline humiliating) to realize how little I know; but it’s also eye-opening in a good way, to finally realize how well I’ve been following his lead.
 
Snow....Snow..... I was going to have a rhythm lesson with rhythm pro. It ain't happening. (We shovel by hand and it's not happening in time for my morning lessons. And even if it does, I'll be dead from shoveling.)

I hope Smooth pro's flight to UK doesn't get cancelled this afternoon.
 
Lessons lately have taken a balanced approach between Rhythm and Smooth. I am glad to at least have the balance and feel like I have made some progress lately. In Smooth the focus has been on the Waltzes and in Rhythm the focus has been ChaCha. Things have been varying between technical, learning new pattern sequences, and continuing to improve timing.

In slow Waltz, which is among my favorite dances, we have worked on lengthening strides and adding more dynamic movement throughout the dance. As we have been counting out loud throughout the dance, the timing has improved, and the dancing has been very enjoyable. We have reworked the sequence of patterns a few times and my instructor has been more open to playing with patterns lately. My instructor did comment during our latest lesson that she has been having a really nice time dancing Waltz lately and she feels our connection in the dance is excellent.

In Viennese Waltz, a dance I have enjoyed, but typically do not feel confident in because of the lack of actually doing it, we have focused on being more controlled. Control has consisted of precise placement of feet throughout the dance, not over-rotating, completing each movement, and not cutting steps short. At first it was HORRENDOUS and just 10 kinds of ugly. As we have done it more and I have been given specific things to work on, it is at least less horrendous. For myself, I can say that I feel more in control, but not comfortable. Like everything, repetition and time will aid in this area. When it is a dance style that isn't danced often and isn't danced socially often, it is super difficult to get the repetitions.

A phrase I have heard repeated at my studio is to dance your part. At some level this makes sense, you should focus on your own dancing, but, there's always a but, this is partner dancing at the end of the day. Focusing on your own dancing through solo practices is helpful; this is only helpful to an extent, at least IME, because dancing with another person changes things. I can dance my part all day long, when another person is added all of a sudden they are in my way of dancing my part. Partner dancing is funny I suppose, it is part dancing solo and part determined by another person. I don't know the exact percentage breakdown of it.

ChaCha has been used to work on several technique aspects in Rhythm dances. I have been instructed to be more deliberate with foot placement and rolling through rocks. Similarly to Viennese, there has been specific attention paid to finishing steps. This has been part of the diagnosis for my continuing bug-a-boo of timing. I tend to blend steps and move onto the next without finishing first (that's what she said).

On a related, but separate note, I am not exactly sure where I am headed with my dancing. I have wrestled with the question of competitive dancing (non studio competitions). It is an exceedingly expensive aspect of this hobby, that for me, a 1 to maybe 2 time a year competitive dancer, is difficult to justify the expense. As something I may do 1 time a year only, it essentially becomes a vacation. My general opinion of competitive ballroom dance is it is only beneficial to your dancing if you are doing it, at a minimum of every 2-3 months. Using it as a gauge of your own dancing you would need more than 1 time a year checkpoints. From things I have gleaned from others, the way to be noticed by judges, is to compete more often and take coaching from them or their disciples. Again, when doing it once a year, I just can't justify the benefit to improving in dance. As a vacation and overall enjoyment of life, it does make sense and becomes justifiable. Overall, I want to have fun with dancing, I want to thought of by others in the dance community as a decent dancer, and I want to have a creative outlet. From a performance standpoint, I have enjoyed doing studio things, but I can't fully say how performing at competitions is on my enjoyment. Performing is fun and I think plays into my aspiration of being thought of as a decent dancer.

Anyway, the journey continues and there may not be a defined path or goal marker, and that is ok as well.
 
DoWrongRight said:
HORRENDOUS and just 10 kinds of ugly
Click to expand...
lolol
DoWrongRight said:
I can dance my part all day long, when another person is added all of a sudden they are in my way
Click to expand...
this!
DoWrongRight said:
there has been specific attention paid to finishing steps
Click to expand...
same here - always - in every dance
DoWrongRight said:
that's what she said
Click to expand...
**spits coffee on computer screen from laughing so hard**
you have NO IDEA how many times during my lessons I have had to clamp my mouth shut to make sure I don't say that. (Damn you, Michael Scott, for planting that phrase so firmly into my brain!)
DoWrongRight said:
the journey continues and there may not be a defined path or goal marker, and that is ok as well.
Click to expand...
yes, it is! also, the path and goal markers change all the time, and that too is OK and totally normal.
 
Jive today. More basic practice. Think I’m starting to get the idea of what the teacher wants, but need to practice so the pieces fit together and look less clumsy. American spin arms need work, as does shaping. Kicks are getting better now that I have the timing down, but need to get sharper.
 
In my lesson today my instructor wanted to use the time to work Argentine Tango instead of our Rhythm/Smooth routines - we’re planning a doing an AT comp next month at a local festival. I was fine with it today but next week I do want to at least run the other routines.
I’ll save the tango details for the other forums, but he did explicitly say that he wants to use this low-pressure comp to see how I do in my first dance competition. I’m doing the same thing, and also to see how the studio handles setting up entries and if he’s the type to have strong opinions on costumes (For the record, he asked if I’d picked what to wear, I said I’d thought about it but asked if he had any strong opinions on it, and he said “wear something appropriate for tango”. Cool thanks, very helpful lol).

I’ve been doing group classes in AT for about three months longer than ballroom, and more hours per week in group class. I think it’s helped a lot with lead/follow and staying on my own balance.
 
My lessons this week were re-scheduled to today due to the snow/cold. So, today, my first hour was with Pro2 with me as Lead and we did some work on Whisks and Double Reverse Spins. It seems that with the DRS I sometimes keep my right leg too straight when it is the trailing leg and that is probably why that foot “stutters” a bit on the floor as I bring it around and do the rotation. So, I’m trying to find the proper “relaxation” point of that knee.

My second hour was with Pro1 with me as Follow and we focused on problem areas in Foxtrot. We’ve got a Continuous Hover Cross where I need to adjust the timing of the change of my head. On the Open Natural to Outside Swivel – sigh- I need to adjust the timing of my “internal rotation” so that I don’t become a square “unibody”; and – kind of like my DRS – I need to pay attention to my “trailing” leg in the swivel.
 
I haven’t completely decided if this is a good thing or not, but I’ve come to realize that at this stage of learning silver smooth, and perhaps for the rest of my dance journey, my lessons won’t be filled with exciting leaps into new heights of anything. I’m not at a plateau - far from it! - but the steepness of my learning slope has decreased dramatically. It will be a veeeeerrrry slooooow climb from here…more like a nature walk than a trail hike with lots of elevation.

However, the path has infinitely widened. There are so, so many new layers…delicate subtleties of movement that change everything…lots of tiny lightbulbs of comprehension on all sides that flash briefly but brightly…seeds planted several years ago that are now sprouting and even budding.

It’s a lot to take in.

Pro is back to being supportive and encouraging and playful; but I can still sense his eagerness and corresponding impatience. I know it’s a compliment. He genuinely believes I’m capable of a lot more than *I* believe I am, and he wants me to see my abilities and my dancing the way he does. And I’m pretty sure he enjoys teaching me because of the way I want to learn. The way he describes it, most students don’t want this kind of depth. So when he teaches them the first step/count 1 of a left turn, for example, he breaks it down into maybe 3-5 parts, and that’s more than enough for them. But for me, he breaks that same step down into 15 different parts, the first few of which occur before count 1 even officially begins.

And I love that! (See comment above about the infinitely widening path.)

But, as I remind him several times during each lesson, it’s hard. It takes time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Dance Ads

Advertise on Dance Forums Reach dancers, teachers, studios, event organizers, and dance-friendly brands. View ad options
Back
Top