how are your lessons going? thread II
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scullystwin42
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so, not a lesson, but did my mambo - which i've been struggling with FOR SO LONG - for a party performance, and FINALLY it was good. We nailed the one part that has been a thorn in my side for MONTHS. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY, finally, sheesh.
It's a reverse turn/feather finish. What could be so hard?
Bwahahahahaaaaaaaa
Bwahahahahaaaaaaaa
I have finally gotten smart(er) about preparing for a competition. I'm trying to show up at the last sets of lessons as warmed up as I would be if I were stepping onto the competition floor. It's not that easy to do because I need a fair amount of warm up and life (including traffic) tried hard to to interfere today. But I liked the result quite a bit. Pro and I were both pleased, both with the pretend we're at a comp part and the lesson part. At one point during the "pretend we're at a comp" part, we had stepped off of the floor while a song we didn't want to dance to played and he asked if he could talk to me or if he was supposed to be out of the floor with somebody else. 
I said he could talk to me. When he wanted to demo something, he said, "It's OK, there's some general dancing going on at the moment." 
I said he could talk to me. When he wanted to demo something, he said, "It's OK, there's some general dancing going on at the moment." VronskyWasSoVain
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Starting to get positive feedback from fellow students. Obviously, the instructors are always encouraging but I am now noticing positive feedback from the students, both female and male ones.
IF it was, the majority of Pro's would have quit years ago !!..
FancyFeet
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Think pro may have noticed the girl in the mirror too... he's been super nitpicky all week.
For example: in the last 2-3 minutes of my first lesson this week, he showed me a change that he wanted to make in tango. I was confused, and made him demo it a couple of times. The next day - when I have logged exactly 0 practice minutes - he want to work on it. We do it, to music - having never tried it before - and in my head I'm all 'yes! Figured it out! Did the right steps, with the right timing, and managed to commit and throw myself sideways and no one died or fell over!'. Pro's response: "NO! Head to the right. (annoyed tone>) I told you this yesterday." My response was a silent stare, raised eyebrow, and turn away to walk back to the start position. (He may have gotten the message at that point, because he backed off a little.)
On the upside, he has sought me out after both lessons to state that he's "really pleased" and that "we did some really good work"/"made some really good progress", etc. It's making me want to kill him a little less, but still not really in the mood to be pushed super hard right now.
Oh, and he wants to start rounds (maybe just 3 dances to start) next week for "conditioning". I have no comp on the horizon... am in a technical fixes phase, and haven't even been running full dances in practice. Cardio is happening in the gym right now, and have zero concerns about my level of conditioning given where I am in my prep. When exactly did I become his practice partner?
For example: in the last 2-3 minutes of my first lesson this week, he showed me a change that he wanted to make in tango. I was confused, and made him demo it a couple of times. The next day - when I have logged exactly 0 practice minutes - he want to work on it. We do it, to music - having never tried it before - and in my head I'm all 'yes! Figured it out! Did the right steps, with the right timing, and managed to commit and throw myself sideways and no one died or fell over!'. Pro's response: "NO! Head to the right. (annoyed tone>) I told you this yesterday." My response was a silent stare, raised eyebrow, and turn away to walk back to the start position. (He may have gotten the message at that point, because he backed off a little.)
On the upside, he has sought me out after both lessons to state that he's "really pleased" and that "we did some really good work"/"made some really good progress", etc. It's making me want to kill him a little less, but still not really in the mood to be pushed super hard right now.
Oh, and he wants to start rounds (maybe just 3 dances to start) next week for "conditioning". I have no comp on the horizon... am in a technical fixes phase, and haven't even been running full dances in practice. Cardio is happening in the gym right now, and have zero concerns about my level of conditioning given where I am in my prep. When exactly did I become his practice partner?
Last comp that I'll be doing this year is next weekend, and Pro just substantially moved the goal post on my dancing. Not because he has a bad sense of humor, but because I was ready to learn a couple of things. And I asked to work on some of it. 
It'll be interesting to see what happens in my lessons next week and to what extent he tries to incorporate it at the comp. Some of it is just me dancing better and I can hope it will at least begin to show up; some is a matter of how he chooses to lead. In an act of remarkable intelligence, he varied his lead on the move in question during today's lesson. Me, confused: uh, did I screw up or did I do what you led? (I had done what he led.) We also discussed competitions for next year and some dancing goals. To be continued, but I gave told him my approximate budget for the year for competitions--for the entry fees and his charges--and told him he could choose; his first choice was Hawaii Star Ball. We're on the east coast.
It'll be interesting to see what happens in my lessons next week and to what extent he tries to incorporate it at the comp. Some of it is just me dancing better and I can hope it will at least begin to show up; some is a matter of how he chooses to lead. In an act of remarkable intelligence, he varied his lead on the move in question during today's lesson. Me, confused: uh, did I screw up or did I do what you led? (I had done what he led.) We also discussed competitions for next year and some dancing goals. To be continued, but I gave told him my approximate budget for the year for competitions--for the entry fees and his charges--and told him he could choose; his first choice was Hawaii Star Ball. We're on the east coast. VronskyWasSoVain
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Turns out I've been doing the cuban motion all wrong. Dancing is so counter-intuitive. What you see and what you're actually doing are two different things.
FancyFeet
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You've just had the realization that will start you on the path to significantly improving your dancing. Congrats!
VronskyWasSoVain
Active Member
I'm doing line dancing routine and I saw a video of myself rehearsing. I don't like the way my body looks. The more I watch myself dance, the more I wonder why I'm doing this. Why can't I have the great body types like the instructors at my dance school?
Even though I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm the healthiest I've ever been.
Even though I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm the healthiest I've ever been.
Had a frustrating session today with my partner, we weren’t happy with our results at our last comp and so have been trying to fix the issues we saw and there were some improvements but we also ended up getting short and annoyed with each other. Called the practise off earlier than normal so that we would still be friends!
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