when is it time to take out a move that you can't master?

liz

liz

New Member
I was just commenting on another thread about routines. I was wondering when would you decided that a certain piece of chorography was just not working for you? There are several sections in my cha-cha that just don't feel like they are as good as they could be. I really feel like if we reworked these sections that we could find something that would fit much better. There are just somethings that are just "not Me"... Does this happen to you all,too? How long would you say is long enough before changing these sections? As of now we have be doing this routine for over a year...
 
hehI can't really say how long, but as to when, i've changed my routines halfway through a comp before. one particular sectino of my cha (ironically enough) just was not working. So warned FP and NP that I was changing routine an dto make sure they followed, didn't assume as to what I was going to lead. :)
 
You're not alone. For my last competition, my partner and I had to throw out some material that we just couldn't get. We hung in there and got many, and some took a lot of trying and retrying. But a few had to be tossed. Don't know where to draw the line, just a feeling I guess. Coach's advice could be a determining factor too.
 
Think that I will try to get F to look at it and hopefully he will agree with me.. and we can just do something ANYTHING else!
 
If you have been doing this piece of choreoghraphy for a year and its still not working, I'd say, its not for you. We have had groups that, for whatever reason, just didn't suit us. Nowadays, if we get a lot of coaching on a particular group and it still isn't working, its gone...but we usually give it at least 6 months.
 
I'm curious how it happens that one would have marginal material make it to the comp floor. For me, if it's giving me trouble during practice, it just doesn't make it to the comp floor until it's better. And if it doesn't get better, it might even get shelved from practice for a while, in the hopes that the underlying technique problem can get addressed at the right time.
 
DP/DH and I have deleted moves while talking in the car on the way to a comp. That is also the point that we shore up any problem points, like "You know I have trouble distinguishing between X and Y, so if you are going to lead them out of order, make sure it is extra-clear."

As to how marginal material makes it to the comp floor, for us at the Bronze level, it is because there is an underlying weakness that didn't get flushed out during practice. For example, last comp we had improved a tango move, and our last dozen practices were good. But in the heat of the comp, my muscle memory was not as absolute as I thought, and I flubbed it. So this time out, I've noted that all improvements of that nature (it was largely a power and styling change) need to be made right now, so that they are solidified during the next couple of months before comp.
 
Funny. I thought about posting something similar. We have a complicated figure including a wing postion. You often hear how even top professionals don't include wings in their routines. But somehow our regular coach thought it suited us. We wrestled with the figure for a while because we did not want to just give up. Finally we went to our coach and told him that it was not working. He changed the section a little bit. But toward the end of the lesson he said no you need this figure and I think you can do it. So we struggled with the figure another year. About a week ago after another wrestling match of ours, my partner said no it did not work and said he was going to ask our coach to change it again. At that time we were supposed to have a lesson with a renouned visiting coach soon (not that our regular coach is not renouned). So I convinced my partner that at minimum we should ask her if she could make the figure feel better. Last Saturday we had a lesson with her, spending the whole time working on it. At the end of the lesson even though it began to feel a little better, the coach said if I were you, I wouldn't do it. And then she mentioned again how even the top pros don't do it. That was it. Enough of this struggle. We are changing it. Still in a way we feel good that our regular coach had so much confidence in us that he believed we could do it.
 
White Chacha said:
I'm curious how it happens that one would have marginal material make it to the comp floor. For me, if it's giving me trouble during practice, it just doesn't make it to the comp floor until it's better. And if it doesn't get better, it might even get shelved from practice for a while, in the hopes that the underlying technique problem can get addressed at the right time.
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I think that different people might have different definitions of marginal material-- our collegiate team goes to about 3 competitions each fall and spring semester, and a lot of ppl compete whether they're floor ready or not. Some of this has to do with unstable partnerships as a lot of girls don't have regular partners, or scheduling when one partner can't make it to a comp so you dance with someone else who you've only been practicing with for a few weeks, as well as student schedules where your partner's away for the summer and winter breaks for months/weeks at a time. The girls on our team will also compete TBA (at least in syllabus) so sometimes there's a lot of faking it on the comp floor.
 
waltzguy said:
Did your coach mention why? I like the wing a lot.
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She did not say why. But I assume the usual answer: It is very hard to look nice and natural, and it takes a lot of time and practice, and it will never feel natural, and a little mistake in the excecution can have ripple effect, etc...
 
liz said:
I was just commenting on another thread about routines. I was wondering when would you decided that a certain piece of chorography was just not working for you? There are several sections in my cha-cha that just don't feel like they are as good as they could be. I really feel like if we reworked these sections that we could find something that would fit much better. There are just somethings that are just "not Me"... Does this happen to you all,too? How long would you say is long enough before changing these sections? As of now we have be doing this routine for over a year...
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As a Pro-Amer, I usually tell my teacher right away after I try a few times and if it does not work for me. I follow my instinct and most of time it is correct.
 
dlgodud said:
As a Pro-Amer, I usually tell my teacher right away after I try a few times and if it does not work for me. I follow my instinct and most of time it is correct.
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I am also a pro/amer, I dance open gold rhythm. I have tried to make it clear that these sections just don't feel right and when I watch them back on my comp vidoes I think that there are may other things that will work better. I can't seem to get him to see that I am not just trying to change the routine, that these parts just don't seem to fit my body. When I do find parts that are "me" it is very clear very quickly.
But, how do you know that something isn't going to work or it just feels funny because it is out of your comfort zone?
 
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