Tango in the Afternoon

With July 4th happening last week, I had a week off from dancing so today was actually my first lesson in July. As much as I do love the dancing, there are benefits to having some time off. But it was good to get back.

I do like the change of pace of having a lesson in the afternoon although I wouldn’t want to move all of my lessons to mid day. Not that it is a big production, but it does require an almost complete wardrobe change. My summer days are spent in shorts and t-shirts. I could wear them to a lesson but shorts and dance shoes is just a little weird especially when you really want to wear dress socks.

I know other people do come in very casual wear but I’ve always ended up putting on a shirt with buttons and a collar for my dance lessons. Why? I don’t know. Given that it is practice, it might be better to err on the side of comfort but the instructors typically don’t wear super casual stuff so maybe it just seemed better to match what the guys wear. Well, I don’t totally since they usually wear ties and I’m not going to put a choker around my neck unless I absolutely have to.

Today was kind of fun because, while the studio was open, I was the only student. I got to watch OwnerGuy working with a couple of the instructors who are going to be competing. As a student, I found it entertaining to see the instructors being on the learning end.

We did a quick smooth round (Waltz, Tango, Fox Trot and Viennese Waltz) just to warm up and to keep those dances from gathering too much dust. The rest of the lesson was spent on the Argentine Tango routine we’ll do in October.

We had a coaching lesson that last Wednesday. As luck would have it, the original coach had to back out so they scrambled and brought back the guy who just judged our last Showcase. We had already worked with him once after Showcase on the Argentine Tango so he was actually excited to help choreograph a routine.

It is still a work in progress but we did link the first part of what he did with the part we had so it is on the way. Like all routines, there will be hours of practice for the minute and a half at Showcase. Long term, we will do this again so it won’t be a one and done.

Last night, we also started working on the formation for the Showcase in November. Seems a bit early but they can only dedicate one lesson a week and we know that people are going miss lessons so you need the extra time. Only got through the beginning but that’s to be expected.

But I do find that learning choreography and routines is more fun than just drilling on techniques for something you already know. There will be both leading up to the Fall Showcases which will keep it interesting.