Destination Rounds-burg, it is just outside Here-We-Go-Againsville. The lessons this week focused on Smooth and Rhythm rounds. This was done as a checkpoint on where I am with my dancing across the various styles. Do I plan on competing, outside of the studio, any time soon? Great big NO. Am I sure if I will compete/perform outside of the studio again? Smaller no.
Going over the various dances with pre-recorded choreo is always a treat. The dancing is in short bursts. The more I think about it, competitive ballroom seems to be more akin to sprinting. The dancing is not for long and it switches quickly between the styles.
We started with the Smooth styles. Waltz was solid or at least done to a level to have minimal feedback. I continue to count the dances out loud and try not to die or hold my breath and count. Turns out if you hold your breath and talk you will nearly die. Foxtrot was my next strongest style, but some elements of the "coached" choreo are still a struggle. I find it difficult to lead some elements because I am not familiar enough with dancing those elements.
Tango was slightly above mediocre. Some patterns I mess up consistently because I have practiced them incorrectly. Breaking bad practice is super difficult. The other areas of struggle are with lackluster leading. This is an area that having choreo I think is a weakness because the person you are dancing with "knows" what should come next, but they try to "act" as if they don't. My instructor tells me she continues to work on just following what I lead, but at times she still anticipates because she knows what should be next.
Viennese Waltz on the first trip was TERRI-BAD. I believe I am scared of the dance on some level because of the perceived speed. I imagine it is akin to learning to race a car. You have to learn to be comfortable with the possibility of wrecking to really learn to do it. I am not comfortable with this possibility because I loathe the idea of doing something that prevents my instructor from making a living. To paraphrase Drago for my own well being, "If I die, I die". The second and third go around were improved, but in the notes it was listed that the dance continues to need work. That is the most obvious statement of all time.
The Rhythm dances were generally better, even though we have done them less lately. The general comment was I need to make sure I finish every pattern before moving on. The focus moving forward with the dances is going to be on hip action. This is 0 surprise to me as it is an area that I make nearly 0 progress in. At this point I am thinking it is because I understand theory, but not the praxis. I shouldn't be surprised in this because I was VERY theoretically grounded in Grad School. Or it is because I am too chunky, which I am sure does not aid in the area.
At the end of the day I really need to decide on what my current dance goals are. Overall I do this because it is fun and a community that I enjoy being included. I have friends within the community and have generally found people in the dance community to be more accepting than some other communities. Dancing competitively is something that I waffle on continuously. It is enjoyable and nice to test my skills against others. However, as a lead, there is less competition and as a lead in my age range there is even less competition. Does competition dancing make me a better dancer vs. does taking lessons (i.e. time spent dancing) make me a better dancer? My view of competitions is they are akin to tests in the education world. Lessons are akin to classes. They are certainly related, but where do you grow more?
Enough rambling.
