Jazz Boxxing

I’m taking advantage of the delayed posting so I’m actually writing this right after my dance lesson but you won’t see it until tomorrow. Reason for this is that I’ve already posted once today so I want to space it out. Plus I want to write this while it is fresh in my head.

So the choreography is not as scary as I originally thought. We worked through the two parts that were actual West Coast Swing moves and they weren’t too bad. Of course, we are in the learning phase so the steps are being done slowly. It will be a whole different world when we have to take them to tempo.

I did tell JoNY that I was reserving judgement until I had tried things out. That’s better than my normal first negative reaction so that’s a step in the right direction. The side by side stuff is OK. I mean I did a Jazz Box in the Peabody routine and after that is basically a grapevine. Not too terrible. (Yes I know there aren’t two X’s in Box in the title – I thought it looked cooler)

There is one little problem though. He wanted to do some steps where you do quick changes from one foot to the other. As much as tried not to, it is still like a little hop and required me to land on a slightly bent knee. And the knee decided to tell me that was not a good idea. Which is why I left after group class to ice rather than staying for party.

Sigh. I’m not going to go off on a “woe is me” tangent here. I mean you play the genetic cards you were dealt and complaining won’t make it go away. So that step will have to go. Fortunately, there is a Plan B that we can work on next time. I am also approaching the end of the effectiveness zone for the injections I had back in January and that may be playing a part as well. Although the knee has not been problematic until yesterday so it may just be overuse.

On the whole, the thing feels like an amalgamation of West Coast and Fox Trot. The guy was trying to match the rhythm and maybe he felt those parts were more Fox Trot like. I mean West Coast is kind of down and a slot dance but the Jazz Box and Grapevine seems a little bouncy for a West Coast.

I’m not really complaining though. I do like how the thing flows and moves. It just doesn’t feel totally like a West Coast but, then again, I’ve done a lot of West Coast routines so doing something a little different isn’t bad.

Since I couldn’t find a song, JoNY had a list of options and gave me homework to pick one. She had a favorite but it just didn’t speak to me. (Boy that sounds really …) I found two that jumped out so I need to listen to them a few times to see which one rises to the top.

So just a short little post mostly about dancing today. Figured I’d get my first impressions of actually doing the choreography out there while it is still fresh in my mind. I’d like to try and write it down somehow but most of it is still a blur.