Coaching Prep

Well, OwnerGuy deserted us again last night and now I’m wondering if he is going to be around for our coaching lesson on Thursday.  That left JoNY and I to work on Viennese Waltz and Fox Trot as those appear to be the two dances we are working on with the coach tomorrow.  Viennese Waltz because I agreed to do it at the next open house and Fox Trot because JoNY feels it is our weakest dance.

She may be right. I just don’t really know.  All of them feel about the same so it is hard to pick one that is off.  I know the Fox Trot goes bad because of the pivot and that’s a little frustrating because I’ve done pivots before and they’ve usually been OK.  But it is what it is and if this guy can help, then its a good thing.

We need to pick a song for the Viennese Waltz and I hate doing that because I just don’t have a catalog of songs in my head.  I told her we just need to go through the list and pick one but we haven’t done that yet.  There are two parts of the Viennese Waltz that are the most problematic.

The first is something we do after the Tandem Turn which is hard to describe but at the end of the Tandem Turn, she’s behind me and we are looking down the line of the dance.  By the end of this step, she’s supposed to be on my left and we are supposed to be side to side and we are supposed to be looking at the wall.  So there’s lots of movement and there has to be a turn in there somewhere but neither one of us were clear on how to make that work.

The second part is the loop.  We basically end up side by side with her on my right side as we face the opposite wall.  I’m supposed to step back and then side and forward and pick her up as she’s spinning.  Done right, it sets up the loop which starts with an advanced left turn.  Done wrong (as we continue to do), the pick up is awkward and momentum stalls and we move sideways rather than down the floor.  I’m just having trouble judging how to pick her up while still having some momentum.  If I stop and wait for her then I can’t get the rotation on the advanced left turn.

In Fox Trot, our biggest problem is the pivot and getting the right amount of rotation.  The other problem with the Fox Trot is that neither one of us really have it down.  So we spent a lot of time yesterday trying to remember all the feathers that OwnerGuy put in and how they are supposed to rotate.  And there are some steps that we just had to do several times until we figured out what we were supposed to do.  I’d remember pieces and she’d remember different pieces and we’d try to put them together.  At one point, OwnerGuy did come off his lesson just to remind us of how one particular step was supposed to end.

I’ve worked with this coach before but this is the first coaching lesson I’ve had since I’ve started working with JoNY.  I don’t know how it will go because we still don’t mesh all that well as a couple.  We are dancing Silver steps but I wouldn’t say we are a Silver couple at this point.  I don’t know what this guy is going to think since I do think things have regressed a bit since I was working with Kid T but maybe that’s just me.

The coach was at the studio last night and he was fully booked which is why we are doing our lesson on Thursday.  As usual, most of the available slots were taken by Z’s students and others who are in the special club of people who take a lot of lessons.  They managed to talk him in to coming back on Thursday so others (like me) could have a shot.

But he taught a Master Class in West Coast Swing yesterday.  It was good.  It was basic but he was really focusing more on the technique and keeping the steps grounded  and not bouncy like East Coast Swing.  I do love West Coast Swing.  Well, I do love most dances and I’d probably try to master them all except that would take more time and more money and that’s just not where I am right now.

They got rid of another intern either late last week or Monday.  She was there on Thursday but gone yesterday.  Didn’t get any details about why.  It is always funny to see someone become an unperson.  Usually, for someone who’s been at the studio for a bit, they get a good bye announcement at a party.  The ones who flame out early just quietly disappear never to be spoken of again.

I think our seasonal confusion is going to come to an end this weekend.  We are supposed to go from having highs near 90 to highs just barely in the 70’s.  When we snap back to fall, we snap back hard!  I can already feel the approaching front.  Another one of my fun headaches.  If it lasts the normal 24 hours, it should be clearing up when I get to the lesson.  If not, it could just add an extra layer of fun to the coaching lesson.

OK, time for me to go do something else now.  Later.