how are your lessons going? thread II

[FancyFeet]

@Dance Redeemer I'm so glad sharing what I realized helped! Not everyone thrives in those environments, and that's okay. It doesn't mean that we should not be dancers, it just means we need to do it a little differently.

Now that I've figured out what's going on, I'm going to speak to pro about the realization, and take another look at my work schedule to see if I can shift it to something that works a little better. Working from home on the days I need to be at the studio while it's busy is definitely something I'm considering.

 

[FancyFeet]

I want to dance at the holiday show/party, because I want to dance... I just don't want to people. Because the thought of peopling right now makes me feel like I can't breathe. I think I need to share this epiphany with pro, explain that the sporadic practicing isn't actually sporadic at all, and try to work out a deal where I can do the holiday thing but just hide in the storage room, dance my bits and then leave without it becoming a major thing. And that this might continue until I figure out a better way, and I can't keep feeling/being made to feel guilty about it.

Spoke with pro. Deal struck. Hiding, performing and leaving is totally okay if that's what I feel I need to do day-of. He will even speak to the one pro who is, for lack of a better way to describe it, the one that gives me major social anxiety because I need to act and speak a certain way or it turns into this huge thing where I was 'rude' and 'need to apologize'. He's going to make sure that they know this might happen and they need to just let it go without comment because it is not about them/because I hate them/whatever.

(I swear I'm not being dramatic. One time there was a blow-up literally because I didn't interrupt a conversation that they were having to say hello when I passed by them, and that caused offence.)

 

[Purr]

Lesson yesterday...opened with am. rumba...had some discussion about adding drama to end of open Cuban walk figure...pro wanted different end pose with split weight...it's hard to hit and I'm not sure I was successful, but I'll work on it...moved onto am. foxtrot...discussion about connection (which, to be fair, has changed dramatically over the years)...had discussion about double pivots...pro said I wasn't helping enough to generate the rotation...made an adjustment...double pivots whipped right off...also discussion about how I come out of one figure...not weighted right...need to lead with my core/hips more...and a little WCS...pro is leading more advanced figures...causes some angst and then my arm tightens up...hoping with more familiarity this issue will calm down a bit

 

[scullystwin42]

Was able to continue the latin rumba fixes into my lesson with usual pro, BUT we nearly came to blows because he dances latin a little differently and it took me a bit to adjust. also what he says he wants and what he actually wants are two opposite things. grrr. However, had an amazing coaching on rhythm after that. At competition this weekend, first time doing my open latin routines and it was a bit stiff, not as much movement as I wanted, but it wasn't a total disaster. It looks very... beginner to my eyes when I watch the video, and I have to remind myself that I am in fact a beginner in latin .

 

[Loki]

He will even speak to the one pro who [...] gives me major social anxiety because I need to act and speak a certain way or it turns into this huge thing where I was 'rude' and 'need to apologize'.

(I swear I'm not being dramatic. One time there was a blow-up literally because I didn't interrupt a conversation that they were having to say hello when I passed by them, and that caused offence.)

I'd invite him to the parking lot to talk man-to-man, but I guess that wouldn't be appropriate for a number of reasons.

 

[lucia_l]

(I swear I'm not being dramatic. One time there was a blow-up literally because I didn't interrupt a conversation that they were having to say hello when I passed by them, and that caused offence.)

Wow! That person has problems.

Many would consider it rude to interrupt. Sounds like you probably can't win with a person like this since in his mind he'd probably have cause to get 'offended' no matter what!

 

[scullystwin42]

rhythm and latin lessons this week. rhythm, we worked on turns and presentation in my upper body because that needs ALL THE WORK. Latin was reviewing closed for level passing and also working on rumba. i will always be working on rumba, sigh.

I'm pretty self conscious about latin right now, and one of my teachers teased me about it last night, so i bit his head off. We mock each other pretty regularly, but everyone has those things you get sensitive about.

with christmas holidays coming up, not a lot of lessons planned, so it will be a lot of solo practice!

 

[Wannabe Triple Threat]

Had a horrible day at work and ended up picking up a lesson instead of sitting at home stewing and being upset.

Good news: Pro knows the perfect balance of being goofy to make me laugh and difficult technique to keep me focused.

Bad news: I now have new difficult technique that breaks my brain a little.

 

[scullystwin42]

spent time working on shoulders/presentation at the lesson. finally got my pro to see that my arms don't raise up next to my head like his do - the flexibility and mobility just isn't there to not engage my upper trap when i do that. I've tried to work on shoulder flexibility before, multiple times, with little success. Did some more research this week and trying something I haven't before, focusing on releasing using my upper trapezius. We'll see if this helps at all. Also made some alterations to arm styling to compensate for this, so that my shoulders don't look so hunched all the time.

 

[Dance Redeemer]

Lessons have been a little less frequent than usual given the time of year. We're focusing a lot on rumba. We changed the routine, and now we need to improve technique to make this work. I can see it coming together and I really like this routine. We play off each other so much more than before; it's dynamic and interactive in a way that makes rumba fun! Who knew rumba could be fun?

 

[lucia_l]

After focusing on rhythm last year, I've started working on smooth. Oy... frame is hard!!!

Honestly, I probably find it harder partly because my own standards for myself are higher and my body sense is better. But still... hard.

 

[lucia_l]

At my studio open dances, we always celebrate birthdays by forming an open circle, and having everyone dance the Hustle with the birthday person. I've been able to jump in with birthday boys, but I wanted to do the same with the birthday girls. So this month, I've been going to beginner Hustle lessons as a lead.

Interesting change!

Also, interesting mistakes.... The first week, my feet would 'magically' to follow. I'd grimace. The woman I was leading often didn't know quite what I'd done, so I told her I'd "changed back into a girl" and we both got a laugh out of that.

I'm planning to learn lead on East Coast Swing too. There are usually more women than men at open dances, so at least I can switch on the easy dances!

 

[scullystwin42]

first rhythm lesson back after a long break due to vacations and family stuff. Not a ton of dancing, but we did focus on defining my breathing as I danced more. and continuing to work on deactivating my upper trap muscles as i move and dance so that my shoulders stop hunching up and moving my whole body.

 

[Dance Redeemer]

Pro and I ran through all my dances, and he's suggested that we look for a competition. It's been a while and we've completely revamped nearly all my dances at this point, but only one is really problematic (I just can't run through the whole thing without forgetting steps/timing badly). Given we have just one to really focus on, we're thinking of March-April timeframe. I'd been thinking that we wouldn't even look for a comp until late summer/early fall. I like these routines a lot (including the one I keep forgetting) and they seem to sit well on me, so this is the first time I've really been excited about doing a comp.

 

[RiseNFall]

Studio started a new "boot camp" technique class. I love classes like that. Second one, I learned something major;:I had somehow missed the fact that I should be using my glutes in basic cuban hip motion. I have been using my core muscles. Now I'm trying to learn to blend the two. It is not easy to change such an ingrained habit, but it's about the 5th time in two or three weeks that it came up that I should be using my glutes to do something and haven't been. Not surprisingly, they hurt a bit at the moment, but overall my back is appreciative.

I had a terrific coaching a couple of weeks ago. Pro had told me that this particular coach was going to be terrific for what we've been working on, and he was. About 10 minutes in, I said "Ok, you've earned your fee", though we proceeded to cover a few more game-changing concepts. New(er) Guy saw part of the coaching and was impressed with my dancing during it, but when I had a lesson with him the next week he was a bit blown away. The best was that he has assumed that Pro and I had worked on something that we hadn't actually touched. NG: "Oh, so you are applying concepts you learned in one dance to other dances?" (My brain knows that I am supposed to do that, but my body doesn't always seem to.)

Team match coming up, so we have continued to brush off some rhythm. This time, just rumba, and swing, plus WCS. The boot camp technic class definitely came in handy. Pro and I have also been doing a little CW 2-Step and I can see a real improvement in my following since the last time we did any.

My planning of my dance events a year or two in advance just got wrecked because one of the competitions I was planning on doing (and I don't do that many) is putting single dances on one day and mutli-dance events on the next day. I'm one of those people who really needs the single dances to get prepped for the multi-dances so this doesn't work for me. Drat.