Adjustments

Last night, we finally got a chance to dig into the comments from Medal Ball. The Waltz comment was about frame and we worked on that but, as we danced through the pattern, OwnerGuy had a few other things to bring up. There’s a part in the pattern where we come out of a step into a corte which leads right into a syncopated spot run.

The problem is I’m sitting here and I remember what he said but I’m not sure how to best describe it. There’s lots of talk of taking my right shoulder away because that gives her no option but to follow. I know there was also the set up where I need to finish turned towards her in a parallel position even though we are coming from something that isn’t parallel. The first step to start the rotation is back although he said it would feel like a side step even though, as I reminded him, he said there are no side steps in Waltz. Technical thing. I did eventually get to a point that was closer to what he wanted then I was doing before so we will see if it can be replicated.

Lots of talk on sway and where it comes from and keeping my knees flexed so I can be free to make the sway happen. I sort of remember getting to this point with JoNY before the world went dark so now we try to bring it back and make it happen more routinely. The tough part of all this is that the various body parts that have to move in certain ways and trying to get them to all cooperate.

The Fox Trot was a little different. The coach had made a sort of cryptic comment and he thought Z could explain it me but Z is not at the studio that often when she isn’t teaching. OwnerGuy didn’t quite get it although after watching us do a twinkle, he came up with an idea that may or may not be what the coach meant but it certainly did seem to improve things. It was all about the third step which I was kind of rushing and leaving short. Fox Trot is slow/quick/quick and it is almost like you borrow just a bit from the next slow to finish up the third quick and extend it a bit. That’s probably not 100% correct but when I focused on making the third step longer and then moving through it, it was easier to stay on time.

Have you ever had the same dish at multiple restaurants but found one that just tasted so much better than the rest? Even if they all used the same basic ingredients, but this one place just had something a little extra. Not something you could put your finger on but just a little thing that made a big difference. That’s kind of what these things feel like.

It did get me to thinking about the whole dance thing. I know I’ve missed out on a lot of these things as I’ve moved through instructors. And this is not to take anything away from any of the people I’ve worked with. They were certainly able to teach me a great deal. It is just that OwnerGuy has that little something extra just from his years of experience and years of competitive dancing. And maybe those little things aren’t quite as important in Bronze or maybe even some of the first Silver patterns. I mean they probably are important everywhere but if you are doing a complex pattern, knowing some of these little tricks just makes things flow so much better.

The downside to all this is not only do you have to remember the steps but you have to remember all the little things associated with each of them. Sometimes, I think it may cause some short circuits in my head. It is also where it is easy to get frustrated when you don’t remember or have to reminded of something so I need to watch for that.

Well OwnerGuy is out so we shift gears a bit and go back to working on the routines just to keep them fresh. Oh and we started in on the Rumba last week as well so that comes back. More stuff to remember! As Yogi Berra might have said Ballroom is 90% mental; the other half is physical.