how are your lessons going? thread II
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I can't believe I forgot this until just now, but the manager (who is also an instructor) told me I should do a Showcase with the new instructor while I was at the front desk taking care of some business. I actually replied with the same thing I said here, that I didn't think we would have good chemistry together. He said "what?" in that same way people respond when you are self-deprecating, but then the convo ended or moved on and no more was said about it. You are correct, though Loki, I think at some point I'm probably going to have to be more direct about telling them to lay off if they keep asking me about it. I suspect they are under pressure from the owner to get him booked with lots of lessons.
I've been dancing more with Pro recently and a bit less with New Guys--I wasn't adjusting between the different leads quickly enough and it was making it difficult to go into a Zen-like happy place near competitions. (You can use your imagination. 
) However, Pro travels a fair amount for competitions so I still frequently have lessons with the New Guys. If I don't dance something with them for a few weeks it really highlights the progress I'm making. Me, to Smooth New Guy: I dance better than I did a month ago! Him: You always dance better than you did a month ago. Me: I'm excited about it anyway!
My lessons with Pro have been even more detail oriented than usual (something that I did not think was possible) and it's been cool to see how that translates to my dancing in my other lessons. What I've worked on with Pro with shows the most improvement, but the technical improvements come through everywhere.
Rhythm New Guy and I have spent a lot of time recently working on upping my cha-cha basics and we continued that today. I have a couple of practice drills to work on.
) However, Pro travels a fair amount for competitions so I still frequently have lessons with the New Guys. If I don't dance something with them for a few weeks it really highlights the progress I'm making. Me, to Smooth New Guy: I dance better than I did a month ago! Him: You always dance better than you did a month ago. Me: I'm excited about it anyway! My lessons with Pro have been even more detail oriented than usual (something that I did not think was possible) and it's been cool to see how that translates to my dancing in my other lessons. What I've worked on with Pro with shows the most improvement, but the technical improvements come through everywhere.
Rhythm New Guy and I have spent a lot of time recently working on upping my cha-cha basics and we continued that today. I have a couple of practice drills to work on.
Purr
Forum Master
So, no lessons or dancing for the past 2 weekends...due to a variety of reasons...kind of nice to take a breath and step back...strongly suspect that someone who knows me personally discussed prior posts on this thread with pro based on VM and texts I received...content to do drills on my own for awhile...when I'm ready to start dancing again, it will be there...
cornutt
Forum Master
My summary of this week's lesson: In a shadow position, when you're supposed to turn, then turn, darn it, even if it feels like you're going to run over your partner. If you lead properly (and she's paying attention), no crashes will result. One of a number of places where I need to be less tentative with my partner.
cornutt
Forum Master
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Purr
Forum Master
It's just how it is. There's a couple of people who made the connection years ago. There's another more recent person, but I'm a little dubious it came from there. And I'm sure there's others.
You have to figure when you post here, there's really no such thing as an anonymity. You may have mentioned competitions you've been, placements you've achieved, pros or coaches you've worked with, or vendors you've purchased from. You may have mentioned other personal information like where you live, what you do for a living, or your marital status. You may have a connections to a studio, like FADS or an independent. You may have photos; even what you think may be an innocuous photo for an avatar picture can provide information. And you may have the connection to the DF community on FB, or maybe connections to other online communities. If someone were really motivated and had the time, they could potentially "unmask" anyone.
Purr
Forum Master
Who's potentially crashing into whom?
Shadow position was scary for me when it was first introduced. There's the unfamiliarity, the trust issue, and directionally I lost it where I was should be going. These were worked out over time, so it made better sense.
FancyFeet
Forum Master
Not cool, people.
FancyFeet
Forum Master
Lesson last night, with me nursing a minor headache and a bruised left foot - so probably slightly crabby at the outset.
Tango was fine... VW was not. Pro had applied a correction last week, I spent hours working on it over the weekend... after our first pass of the ballroom, he decided he doesn't like it, and once again started throwing everything but the kitchen sink at me to try... I did not handle it well. I got to the point where I walked away from him and sat down for a minute... which seemed to indicate to pro that there was something going on (you think?).
We ended up having a discussion about how I've been working my a$s off on this dance, trying everything he's throwing at me, and I feel like it's moving in the wrong direction. It's feeling awful and heavy, and I'm tense, and I'm starting to rush it because I just want to GET IT OVER WITH. And how when he starts throwing a zillion things to try at me, I feel like he isn't sure what's wrong but that it's terrible, I'm not sure what to focus on, and I start to panic. Oh, and somewhere in there, he told me "It's very simple, just six steps. You do much harder things in other dances"... to which I responded something like "It's really not helpful when you tell me something that I am struggling with is simple. Because I'm not stupid, and I'm trying, but it's not simple to me."
He seemed in the mood to actually listen to me on this one, so I told him that I don't think the problem is technical at all... because sometimes it's absolutely fine, and it's often our first run through that is the best. For me, it's about finding those few (1-3) key things to focus on. So we need to pick one or two, and let me stick with those for a few weeks to see if it's working before changing or adding to it. Conclusion: we're stripping everything away from my brain in VW, and going to what I do in a number of other dances - thinking knees forward, head back. We tested it a bit last night, and it looks promising.
Then W and FT. They were fine. Then I apologized for getting frustrated.
Tango was fine... VW was not. Pro had applied a correction last week, I spent hours working on it over the weekend... after our first pass of the ballroom, he decided he doesn't like it, and once again started throwing everything but the kitchen sink at me to try... I did not handle it well. I got to the point where I walked away from him and sat down for a minute... which seemed to indicate to pro that there was something going on (you think?).
We ended up having a discussion about how I've been working my a$s off on this dance, trying everything he's throwing at me, and I feel like it's moving in the wrong direction. It's feeling awful and heavy, and I'm tense, and I'm starting to rush it because I just want to GET IT OVER WITH. And how when he starts throwing a zillion things to try at me, I feel like he isn't sure what's wrong but that it's terrible, I'm not sure what to focus on, and I start to panic. Oh, and somewhere in there, he told me "It's very simple, just six steps. You do much harder things in other dances"... to which I responded something like "It's really not helpful when you tell me something that I am struggling with is simple. Because I'm not stupid, and I'm trying, but it's not simple to me."
He seemed in the mood to actually listen to me on this one, so I told him that I don't think the problem is technical at all... because sometimes it's absolutely fine, and it's often our first run through that is the best. For me, it's about finding those few (1-3) key things to focus on. So we need to pick one or two, and let me stick with those for a few weeks to see if it's working before changing or adding to it. Conclusion: we're stripping everything away from my brain in VW, and going to what I do in a number of other dances - thinking knees forward, head back. We tested it a bit last night, and it looks promising.
Then W and FT. They were fine. Then I apologized for getting frustrated.
Yes. Gazillions of people read DF who don't post on it, I know I've posted enough for anybody in this area to know what studio I dance at, and it's likely that people from this studio and its "sister" studios read DF even if they don't post on it. Thus, I (usually) rein in my snarky side.
Purr
Forum Master
When I post I FB, I try to think in terms of how I would feel if the post were on the front page of the local paper. It's seldom that I post anything negative on FB; mostly it's neutral or positive.
With DF, it's less so. I've been on the DF a long time, and some folks, no idea for sure how many, know who I am. And now, I don't really care either. I can point to many bad experiences that have come through dancing, that I get to the point of wondering where the benefits outweigh the bad. It's the law of diminishing returns kind of thing.
I think I'm getting in a mood now, and it's time to find some hot tea and chocolate.
With DF, it's less so. I've been on the DF a long time, and some folks, no idea for sure how many, know who I am. And now, I don't really care either. I can point to many bad experiences that have come through dancing, that I get to the point of wondering where the benefits outweigh the bad. It's the law of diminishing returns kind of thing.
I think I'm getting in a mood now, and it's time to find some hot tea and chocolate.
flying_backwards
Well-Known Member
I've been there lately too, that place where I start weighing the downs and ups of dancesport training. Yes, tea and chocolate do help. Tho lately I've experimented with substituting flowers. Costs more but fewer calories. My house looks like a florist shop these days.
I hope you and I both find more positives and keep dancing and enjoying it. I used to look forward to lessons, and feel uplifted after. I want to get back to that. Dancing itself used to be the reward. And it can be again.
cornutt
Forum Master
We've got a place in a showcase routine where we do several laps around the floor, doing several different varieties of right turns done in shadow position. The particular one I'm struggling with starts with her at my right, and my hold on the right side of her ribcage with my right hand. We do a shadow right turn with me on the outside of the turn, which means I have to start the turn by cutting her off, so to speak. The turning action positions her to my left side, and I take a ribcage hold on her left side. Then, we do three running steps, and as we do it I pass her from my left side to my right, in front of me, and the pattern repeats.
There's two places where I was flinching because it felt like I was going to run her over. The first was the first step of the right turn, where I have to cross her line of dance. For the lead, it's a bit like initiating an ordinary natural turn from promenade, except that she's turning too. The second place is the second step of the running turn, as she is passing across from my left to my right. That second step is supposed to be between her legs as she goes across. It's taking a bit of a firm lead for me to get her over there so I can feel reasonably confident that I'm not going to kick her in the back of the leg.
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