how are your lessons going? thread II

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Gotta love lessons where, due to a wicked knot in your back (from maybe a little too much practicing on the weekend) and an abbreviated warm-up (thanks, work!), you request that you not start throwing yourself around full speed doing QS right away... so instead of sticking to the plan, you run tango with Pro, where he's really pleased with the work you did over the weekend and does the adorable nodding to himself thing.

Then you move to FT, typically one of your stronger dances, but one that you have not danced with Pro or anyone else since your last competition (7 weeks ago!) though it has been practiced... and Pro makes you dance it by yourself agonizingly slowly and RIPS IT TO SHREDS. So, by the end of the lesson, you're all "I'm terrible. And have soooo much work to do. Can't even do a feather right." Thanks, Pro :rolleyes:

(I really do mean thanks to Pro. It may have been a rough 30 minutes, but correcting those 7 thousand little things will take my FT to the next level.)

Edited to add: Pro concluded the lesson with: "Good work. But make sure you get here early enough to get in a really good warm-up tomorrow, okay?" Guess I know what's happening during today's lesson...
 
Thought I was headed to lessons, as they were scheduled, only to find Pro left with pre-teen son, across the pond for a comp. Sigh, wishing child best of luck, but missing lessons, well, sigh.
 
FancyFeet said:
Pro concluded the lesson with: "Good work. But make sure you get here early enough to get in a really good warm-up tomorrow, okay?" Guess I know what's happening during today's lesson...
Click to expand...

I was right. QS was up first.. and, thank goodness, the work I put in on the weekend is showing up. It was... actually quite good. Not perfect yet, but the technical improvements are coming. Pro was super pleased. And at one point, complimented his own lead, which had me :rofl:

We then moved to W, where my routine is still only about a month old. I'm of the opinion that for it being that new, it's going really well... but there's this one spot that I'm struggling to get exactly right. Last week, we got it to work, this week, not so much... and Pro got frustrated... to the point where I told him "Look, it's not like I'm trying to do it wrong. So please don't get frustrated with me, because then I get frustrated and it gets worse." He assured me that he wasn't... but after I said that, his tone changed, so I'm sticking with he was ;)

Thinking about it last night, I realized that it was the second lesson in a row where the first dance we've worked has gone exceedingly well, then frustration creeps in during the second. Maybe he and I are both a little guilty of setting our expectations for the lesson based on how the first dance goes... but I can't always apply a correction immediately (or even find the right correction immediately), or apply a new one each and every time before I get some time to work on it. I also think that Pro gets a little frustrated when something isn't working and he can't figure out why... which is happening with increasing frequency as I advance.

This morning, I woke up to find an e-mail he sent me late last night - from the time stamp, it would be after his evening lessons and subsequent personal practice with his pro partner - with a video link showing me alternative styling for the part I'm struggling with, to watch and try to see if it feels better for me that way. (Little things like that are why I was so committed to working through the really rough patch we hit last year. Because much as we might clash sometimes, dude cares.)
 
Rhythm yesterday, with a coaching from the new female teacher at the studio. worked through open cha again, the beginning, again. the first 10 measures of the routine are quickly becoming the million dollar step (steps?). got some excellent feedback from her, which i was very pleased with - hard to implement immediately, i looked and felt like an ungainly giraffe in heels. also got a good drill for overall body movement and control, and another two ways to combat my "never use my core" problem. That has improved quite a bit, there is just more to go still. slowly getting over my frustration and discouragement.
 
Lessons with New Guys tonight. Smooth ended up being all tango. The best was an improvement to my movement in promenade position. Kind of thrilling. I wanted to say, "could we just do those two steps again, please?" The 4 steps after that are getting better as well. (See post above for how I seem to be covering less and less in my lessons.) Brought some corrections from last lesson with Pro into the Tango as well. Lesson with Rhythm New Guy started out with a little bit of Viennese Waltz, and it was definitely better. Then cha-cha, first time in about a month, and it was actually better than it had been, odd as that seems. Well, part of it was. He asked to see me do one part by myself and I got the "that would have been good if you were dancing smooth" comment. I knew it had felt like smooth, not rhythm, but he had to explain to me what I doing incorrectly.
 
Had my first lesson in (low) heels in months! I bought a pair of practice shoes (which I swore I would never do......when did my joints get so old??) and we gave Waltz, Quickstep, and VW a try. It took a while, but I'm slowly adjusting. The knees did OK....and I got a double "high-five" from DP after VW! So, things are slowly moving along. When my new low-heeled court shoes arrive, then the real work starts!
 
Looking forward to Wednesday, double lesson, will be asking pro to do rounds, or at least try them with me, seeing how far I can push that foot without backtracking. It's time.
 
This week was very satisfying. We broke down and reconstructed some basic Mambo steps -- and it just feels sooo much better. And it is also helping with Rumba! Now, if I could just have the same positive experience with anything in smooth....
 
Female Pro gave some really good recommendations on how to apply Alexander Technique to my shoulder/topline position, so I hope that I can incorporate that. Male Pro pulled apart some pesky problem areas in Quickstep.
 
Lessons with Pro tonight. He made substantial adjustments to how the building blocks of my body are lined up when I move. The result is better balance and freedom of movement. Pretty phenomenal and it shed major light on some things that have come up with both him and Smooth New Guy. A lot of pieces are beginning to fall into place, though it is going to take quite some time for all of this to solidify.
 
Ok, today is the day, no K2 tape, 3 different pairs of heels with low various base for heel, and three different "rounds" finding out what works best, finding out if I am even up to "rounds" it's a finding out kind of day. And to say the least, I am nervous (although ski season lessons taught- went quite well but then again I am not pivoting the heel of my foot). Fingers crossed.
 
Mainly closed smooth. still need to be more stretched up in my frame but flexible enough to allow shaping. But there was improvement on size of steps and body movement. Foxtrot needs a lot of work. Closed rhythm - i have some conflicting info between my teachers that needs to ironed out, mainly on being more relaxed in upper body vs engaged core and muscles moving. continually need to remind myself to use the floor more to generate mroe energy up through my upper body/spin/arms to create bigger movement. and at the same time being stretched up.
 
My lesson last night:

Went well, had this gem of a conversation as we tinkered with new waltz:

Pro: Let's try a higher connection.
Me: Okay.
(We dance.)
Pro: I liked it. What did you think?
Me: Um, not so much. The one before [this run through] was better for me.
Pro gives me puzzzled, 'please explain' look.
Me: Look, I didn't like it.
Pro continues to give me the look.
Me: Okay, fine. When we go to a higher connection point, it's all boob. I can feel you better when it's a little lower and I can use ribcage as my contact point. Do you understand?
Pro: Yes. Well, not really, because *gestures to own chest* But ok.
 
FancyFeet said:
My lesson last night:

Went well, had this gem of a conversation as we tinkered with new waltz:

Pro: Let's try a higher connection.
Me: Okay.
(We dance.)
Pro: I liked it. What did you think?
Me: Um, not so much. The one before [this run through] was better for me.
Pro gives me puzzzled, 'please explain' look.
Me: Look, I didn't like it.
Pro continues to give me the look.
Me: Okay, fine. When we go to a higher connection point, it's all boob. I can feel you better when it's a little lower and I can use ribcage as my contact point. Do you understand?
Pro: Yes. Well, not really, because *gestures to own chest* But ok.
Click to expand...

File that one under, ugh men :P
 
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