How are your practices going?

Pryn said:
thinking all tango steps in terms of the T-A-N-G-O mnemonic
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1. one of the guys I danced regularly with at socials (when I used to attend those) would murmur those letters under his breath as we danced the tango. Every. Single. Time.

2. my pro was testing my memory of a new pattern after we'd been working in silver smooth for many months, and I couldn't remember how it ended. He frowned at me & said, "N-G-O!" I rolled my eyes & said "you've GOT to be kidding." He shrugged & replied, "back, side, together. N-G-O."

3. no matter whether you use a series of letters, numbers, quicks, slows, or anything else to keep things straight in your head, I assure you that I can and will screw it up anyway. I made my teacher practically fall over from laughing a couple weeks ago, because I was demonstrating something for him while saying "quick - quick - quick" out loud, but what I was actually DANCING was quick - quick - slow. My body was doing it right, but my brain got stuck on the word "quick" and just kept saying it.

But hey - at least I was saying the third quick slowly. "Quick - quick - quiiiiiiiiiick."
 
I reached out to a WCS practice partner this week asking if he wanted to practice Tuesday or Friday and he said let’s do both!

I was excited but then a late work meeting got scheduled and so he had to reschedule for tomorrow. But since I was antsy and wanted to dance I randomly texted an intermediate dancer that I never practiced with and asked if he wanted to practice last minute today? And he said yes!

So he’s coming to my house this evening to practice, since you can do WCS in a smaller space. I told him he can check with my other practice partners to make sure I’m not a serial killer.

In addition I am meeting a standard practice partner later this week. And I have a tryout for a smooth practice partner later this month.

WCS is definitely the easiest to find male practice partners tho :-)

The dancing for free is still something bewildering and wonderful to this pro/am dancer.
 
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Update on practice space. I now split my practice time at 2 different branches of the Y.

(i) Branch P. The one with the larger, sprung floor and two walls of mirrors, but with very limited open-shared-use times.

(ii) Branch R. The one where I’d unhappily been using the racquetball courts. About 3 months ago, they finally agreed to let me use the small studio with one mirror and hard-tiled floor, for one hour per week, and I have to be escorted to the studio room so that they can unlock/lock it. (Aside: I jokingly asked the manager if the racquetball bully-boys were finally happy. She said they very quickly found someone else to complain about.)

So, I was jaw-droppingly:jawdrop: surprised when I was at Branch R this week, and the Manager told me that they were going to make an extra key, so that when I swipe in at the reception desk, I can pick up the key and not need to be escorted to the studio room. AND, AND, AND!: they said that they now have plans to re-floor the little studio room so that it will have some kind of sprung/cushioned floor!:dancingbanana:

Color me SPEECHLESS! (well, speechless after I made sure to thank them profusely for letting me use the room, and telling them how much I appreciate the proposed modifications they are planning.)
 
Cal said:
they were going to make an extra key, so that when I swipe in at the reception desk, I can pick up the key and not need to be escorted to the studio room. AND, AND, AND!: they said that they now have plans to re-floor the little studio room so that it will have some kind of sprung/cushioned floor!
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How amazing is that! That works out so crazy well!!! I'm am beyond thrilled for you.
 
(Note to the ballroom dance purists: This update is not meant to provoke, it's meant to share my journey and reflect my excitement and thoughts on the latest developments of it.)

Magic Pro and I are working on 2 dances that were going to be part of a bigger showcase at social studio. The studio has decided the event is not going to be a full showcase after all. It will be a social dance with special performances sprinkled in. We have the honor of being 2 of the special performances.

Our first dance will be a traditional waltz by the bronze syllabus. It's basically our comp routine with a few more bronze figures added in. Waltz is my favorite smooth dance right now - (What not foxtrot, Pryn?) - so I'm excited to be as blissful and graceful as I can pull off as a ballroom newbie.

Our 2nd dance though...
Magic Pro has dubbed it the least traditional rumba he has ever danced. He originally prepared a rumba/cha-cha hybrid to the song I chose with a few dips and 3 lifts. However after seeing my thoughts on choreography for almost the 1st minute of the the song, he was intrigued and decided we'd just build a dance together.

Purists scroll past please...
My choreo uses lyrical and contemporary movements along with heavy rumba movements and overtones to try to act out an emotional story that I feel the song implores. (Yes, inspired by my DWTS dreams.)

As I showed him my thoughts on choreography earlier this week, he added counter and complimentary movements to tell the story and make it more partnership friendly.

The instructors and students that were waiting for their lesson to start just watched with interest as we worked out the contemporary/lyrical movements, beginner level lifts/drags/tricks, and integration of syllabi figures - they got so into observing our creative process and not wanting to interrupt our creative flow they decided to warm up to our music.

It was a fun and engrossing process and I'm sure my primary instructor will not be thrilled about the straying from the beauty of a classically structured/syllabi compliant rumba. But, this creative process is another dream come true for Prynderella - that I'm paying good money for, so... :D

We didn't finish choreographing together before our time ran out but we did figure out our movements for half of the (just under 2 mins) song. Magic Pro said he'd work on a syllabi-friendly section of the dance this week and we can work on the ending tonight, of which he already has some specific dips and tricks in mind.

I'm excited to for tonight's practice to see what else might unfold and how we conclude the story. He also said it's nice to have a someone who is open to a little bit of acro. He's missed doing it.

I also have ideas for the ending - (Really, Pryn?), but I'm hoping that lightening strikes twice and we can craft an ending together that offers just as much emotion as the intro and gives it a good closure.

(The emotional song I choose just seems to require it of us.)
 
Pryn said:
(Note to the ballroom dance purists: This update is not meant to provoke, it's meant to share my journey and reflect my excitement and thoughts on the latest developments of it.)
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Great that you are having fun with this and Magic Pro! Showcases and other special performances are the perfect places to play around with non-syllabus, expressive choreography (as long as both parts of the partnership, whether pro-am or am-am are on board). Even the champion pros do this with showcase routines, so enjoy!
 
raindance said:
Great that you are having fun with this and Magic Pro! Showcases and other special performances are the perfect places to play around with non-syllabus, expressive choreography (as long as both parts of the partnership, whether pro-am or am-am are on board). Even the champion pros do this with showcase routines, so enjoy!
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Thank you! It's been fun. But, therein lies some of the guilt. Pros have a deeper knowledge of the dances and know the rules before they break them. I'm not even in that same ocean, let alone the same boat. :D So, I feel a bit of imposter syndrome when suggesting choreography to him.

Pryn said:
I'm excited to for tonight's practice to see what else might unfold and how we conclude the story...
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Lightening didn't quite strike twice this week. Magic Pro and I had very different visions of the 2nd half of the dance (approx. 1 min left of the song). Lol.

His vision included 3 more lifts and 2 more dips (one of which had me upside down with my legs at his shoulder), and lots of rumba solo time for me. I asked him to dial it back. I requested more figures that I already know, not to put me upside down, and to have more partner dancing and less tricks. Especially, since we only have a few lessons left between now and the performances.

Also, improving my basic technique is still important to me (especially after watching my awkward leg positions in the comp videos). I have a hard time focusing on employing technique, if I'm focused on remembering so many new figures and tricks correctly and on time. I also reminded him that I'm still a newbie who is learning how to maintain her balance so I'd appreciate more basic partner work, especially after some of the more disorienting lifts/dips.

He shared his vision was to demonstrate the higher level figures that I can do, show off my athleticism & flexibility (which is non-existent in my mind - I am so not an athlete), and challenge me to learn new things outside of the bronzie box.

While I appreciated his votes of confidence on all those points, I told him I felt overwhelmed with all of it and it made nervous trying to cram in all this learning in just 3-4 more lessons. He understood and is reworking the ending. We'll see what next week holds...

I have a feeling our inspired rumba is going to become lead/follow for the 2nd half of the song vs set choreography (like comp). But, we'll see....

Gotta love the creative process!

I might have vented a little... but know, I really do enjoy the creative process. And I love that Magic Pro believes in me as much as he does. Hopefully, my confidence in my abilities will match his some day.
 
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Pryn said:
Thank you! It's been fun. But, therein lies some of the guilt. Pros have a deeper knowledge of the dances and know the rules before they break them. I'm not even in that same ocean, let alone the same boat. :D So, I feel a bit of imposter syndrome when suggesting choreography to him.
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All true, but you are in a slightly unusual position. Unlike most Ballroom newbies, you have an extensive general dance background. You may not yet know the specific rules of this style well, but you have developed skills and understanding of aesthetics and partnering in general. You can absolutely leverage that knowledge to make choreographic suggestions. It is just up to your pro to figure out how that aesthetic can be best achieved under the technical constraints of Ballroom.

Which, I might add, could be a very effective way to show you how your extant skills can be translated to this new field!
 
Note to Self:
Think ahead Cal! When you mindlessly grab a dance top that has draping and a non-removable float hanging off the back, you look like a total DORK at the Y.
 
Cal said:
Wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The Y has just filled my Tuesday practice time slot with a Yoga class.
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Thats a bummer. I use my studio M-F but on the weekends or if I have an early lesson i like to use the group room at my gym. I run into the same issue that group classes are going on when it’s most convenient for me to go.

Side note: some insurance companies or if you have USAA they go through a program called Active Fit Direct. I have USAA and use it to get a $28 a month gym membership.
 
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