I finally fell!!!

[Peaches]

WOO-HOO!!!

We were working on dips at the tail end of the lesson, because I'm getting dipped socially and want to make sure I'm doing things correctly...

Well, I was tensing up and not going all the way back and letting him take some of my weight (not a lot--still supporting myself for the most part). So, he had me down in a dip and was keeping me there and encouraging me to relax a bit and let him take some weight.

And I panicked. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to just say "Let me up, NOW!" but it didn't. I just knew I needed out right then. So, I found my own way out--under his right arm which was kind of around my back. (Don't know how to describe it.) It would have gone OK, because I made it out from under his arm, but then my foot slipped out from under me and I went down on my left knee then onto my left hip.

It was kind of embarassing, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Of course, it was just the two of us, but it's a start!!!

 

[Laura]

Well, I guess the good thing about falling is that you now know what is the worst that can happen.

I hurt my back tensing up in a dip I was doing for a show. It took me a good eight months of body work to permanently fix it. So it's good that you are learning how to do the move properly, rather than trying to learn it in a hurry so you can slam it out by a certain deadline.

 

[pygmalion]

Yeah, Laurua.

Dips are hard for me. The trust involved is hard for me. If it's something simple, where I can mostly support my own weight, no problemo. But, if I have to take a leap of faith, wow. It's quite a leap. :?

 

[waltzgirl]

It is something of a relief to get the first fall over with! My first (and so far only) fall happened in a large performance group class. There wasn't a lot of room and we were doing turns. The girl next to me hooked my foot as we passed and I went down like a sack of potatoes. On my tailbone. (Un)fortunately, a reasonably well-padded landing spot!

 

[SPratt74]

Yeah, Laurua.

Dips are hard for me. The trust involved is hard for me. If it's something simple, where I can mostly support my own weight, no problemo. But, if I have to take a leap of faith, wow. It's quite a leap. :?

You know... that's exactly my problem lol! I usually end up teasing my instructors by telling them well... if you knew my history of men you would know why I don't trust you lol. But I am the same way. I'm getting better at it now that I've been at it for six months with the same two instructors, but I still have those same problems though. I don't know what to do about that either!

 

[SuzieQ]

You know... that's exactly my problem lol! I usually end up teasing my instructors by telling them well... if you knew my history of men you would know why I don't trust you lol. But I am the same way. I'm getting better at it now that I've been at it for six months with the same two instructors, but I still have those same problems though. I don't know what to do about that either!

You've got two totally trustworthy guys there---just take a deep breath and relax--I've never come close to being dropped by either of them--but you are smart to not trust just anyone in that way.

 

[alemana]

i looooove being dipped but i know that would change if i were ever injured by one.

 

[Peaches]

It is something of a relief to get the first fall over with!

Yup. I'm considering this like baby steps...I've done the fall when it's just us there. Next step...falling during a social. I've got a goal!

 

[Peaches]

i looooove being dipped but i know that would change if i were ever injured by one.

I'm sure I'd be the same way if I got hurt.

I mean, my knee is really bruised and very sore...but I don't think I can hold this one against him since I pretty much did it to myself.

 

[Peaches]

just take a deep breath and relax

lol...this reminds me of a conversation I recently had with a different teacher of mine... We were doing something different, but the sentiment was the same.

We'd been joking back and forth with double entendres for most of the lesson, and for this one thing he just looked at me and said with mock seriousness, "Just trust me and relax, I promise it won't hurt. It should feel good."

To which I replied, "But will you respect me in the morning?"

Both of us just lost it and had to stop what we were doing we were laughing so hard. It did get the point across, though, and break my tension which had been building.

 

[bordertangoman]

ah Icarus, flying too close to the sun!

 

[SuzieQ]

lol...this reminds me of a conversation I recently had with a different teacher of mine... We were doing something different, but the sentiment was the same.

We'd been joking back and forth with double entendres for most of the lesson, and for this one thing he just looked at me and said with mock seriousness, "Just trust me and relax, I promise it won't hurt. It should feel good."

To which I replied, "But will you respect me in the morning?"

Both of us just lost it and had to stop what we were doing we were laughing so hard. It did get the point across, though, and break my tension which had been building.

LOL!!!

 

[DWise1]

I've only ever dropped one partner in a dip. That was at the end of a Lindy song where she assumed that I was going to dip her, which I wasn't going to do, so she just threw herself into the dip. I tried frantically to catch her, but she was way off-center from me when she did it, so I was leaning way forward holding onto her and trying to advance in the direction of her fall and trying to get my feet to catch up and get under my center but never being able to. The most I was able to do was to turn her fall into a slow-motion descent that ended in her sitting on the floor (ie, it was a very low-impact exercise, a soft landing).

At least I've never dropped a partner when I was leading the dip.

 

[cornutt]

You've got two totally trustworthy guys there---just take a deep breath and relax--I've never come close to being dropped by either of them--but you are smart to not trust just anyone in that way.

No partner of mine is going to fall if I can possibly help it! But there are certain moves that you are smart to not do unless you know for a fact that the leader can do it properly, and dips is one. Now, my instructor always tells me that if a follower does a dip properly, I should be able to let go and she should still be on her own balance. However, I know that in the real world, we don't always hit it that precisely, so the follower is probably going to need at least a little support.

(I do sometimes like to lead a deep dip where I'm taking the partner's weight totally off of her feet. In fact, we have a routine that includes that. But I will only lead this with my DW or a few other followers that I know are comfortable with it, and that I trust to hold their body tone and not go down like an armful of wet laundry. :shock: )

I got my fall out of the way fairly early, when I got tangled up with my instructor one day. But I wrote here several months ago that I had just realized that I wasn't getting out of my balance comfort zone, and it was holding me back on some things. For example, in rumba, I wasn't letting the weight move across my foot on my front or back steps, and this was inhibiting my Cuban motion and preventing my steps from being as crisp as they could be. This evening, in a silver cha-cha class, I realized that I've extended my old zone quite a bit, but now I've developed a new zone. So it's time to go to work on stretching that. I still don't think that I've pushed myself far enough in rhythm that I'm actually in any danger of falling.