Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Last Week's Lesson.. A Little Showing Off


Sorry for the delay gang, unfortunately life has been busy with non-dance related events. Which keeps me from updating you all as much as I'd like….I hope this post finds you all well… Lets get straight to business.

Last week's lesson was a blast! I had a guest come in and my lesson was right after hers, she really enjoyed dancing with TNG, and wanted to stay and see me dance… RT and I were only too happy to oblige! We started with a Cha Cha…one heck of a fast one too, then we slid right into a West Coast Swing, and then East Coast, back to West Coast, and another Cha Cha! Then we checked in with my guest… by this time my face must have been beat red as RT and I have not whipped around the floor that much in a LONG time! Then RT mentioned Salsa, so we placed ourselves where my guest had a prime view and I said "Ok, if we go out dancing, this is the kind of thing you'll see."

Off we went, it was so funny, I was trying much harder to actually dance like I do when I'm out socially, as opposed to making comments and laughing my way through it as my lessons normally go… every time I looked at RT when I was supposed to, per instructions he's always given me, he was either clearly thinking about what he wanted to lead me into next, or checking to make sure my guest was watching. It was the first time in a long time that I actually felt like we were dancing. That's a feeling a girl can get addicted to! At the end of that Salsa I was really tired…and I think only 15 minutes had passed, but my workouts at home are much lower impact than actually dancing… so RT asked me what I wanted to do next and I told him we should slow it down, I'd even let him pick something smooth!

Teacher's choice for smooth was Fox Trot… which after doing all that Rhythm made me feel like a fish out of water, but we managed to get something that resembled a Fox Trot out. Then I think we did another Cha Cha… and a East Coast that RT changed to West Coast half way through… some songs work out that way… and we slowed down for a Bolero, which I am VERY new at, but if I can muster the patience, would like to learn more of... Then I noticed my guest leaving, so we stopped real quick again so I could thank her for coming and say goodnight. Then it was off to some technique work for the last few minutes.

Technique lately has been all about pivot turns… specifically the Coca-Cola turn. Apparently I wasn't doing it at all… there was a session a bit ago where I spent the entire lesson trying to pivot to my left for a Coca-Cola and every one would end with my saying "Nope, that's not it." – "That's a little better." – "That wasn't it at all, lets do it again." And RT would fill in any gaps with "That was better, really." – "Come on Kat." - "Uh, no you should try that again."- "Yes! That was it!."

Well, we worked on it again... and I had tried to practice a little... but after hitting my head on my refrigerator because I lost control on a spin I've been practicing all of that a lot less aggressively lately. I am pleased that not only did the Coca-Cola feel a lot more solid, but I wasn't popping up either! (I have the habit of popping up to the balls of my feet when I pivot or spin, instead of allowing my knees to absorb the weight shift... I just pop up. Something I've been trying to break)

So it was 35 minutes of dancing and 5 minutes of technique, but actually that 5 minutes was probably the most improvement I've been able to display in one lesson in a long time!

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