Friday Night Social at Fred Astaire South Barrington!

The girls and I took last weekend off from going out, and this weekend wasn't looking too promising for me. Then, late in the week Captain sent out the call to action asking if we'd be interested in going to a party at our "sister" studio Fred Astaire South Barrington. Friday was a better night for me and I do love the folks that work out of that studio, so I was in!

The staff at this studio are real gems! The studio is up and coming, with only two instructors the gent instructor (I'll call MSU, because he "Makes Steps Up") is the same one I danced that blast of a Cha Cha with at the Salsa party a month or two ago. The gal instructor is a total blast, she just seems like someone you'd want to hang out with (I'll call her HBF...she's her Hairdresser's Best Friend because EVERY time I see her her hair is different!). The manager has one of the most vibrant personalities I've come across, and she's danced with RT professionally too... I'll refer to her as RTS because she recently changed from Rhythm to Smooth. So I knew at least from a staff perspective that this was going to be good.

I had been informed from several sources that the theme was "Latin Pot Luck" so I made sure to have something in hand and Captain brought some goodies as well. We don't generally eat at dance parties but if the theme requests it, it's nice to comply. Upon arrival we were greeted by an intimate group of students already dancing. We said our hellos and changed shoes, we were then immediately pulled to the dance floor! Apparently word had gotten out that we were arriving, (I had called earlier in the day to confirm information and it's really unusual for students to visit other studios). It was so much fun! FADSSB as a whole had a very comfortable feel about it, much more relaxed than even the studio we take lessons at. I hope as they grow and advance the studio can keep that vibe going.
Did we dance a ton? No, but the dances we got in were quality and each one was fun.

MSU pulled me to the floor for a Cha Cha, it wasn't as good as the Salsa party, but still fun, and I forgot how badly my shoes stick to that floor! HBF and I danced a Hustle where I learned she really likes to spin her follows! Later, we were all called to the dance floor for something... I couldn't hear what it was and I had to dispose of what I was hanging on to, I arrived to join the group just as HBF was leading everyone through the basic Bachata! Too funny! To think MSU was trying to pull me to the floor thinking I'd be learning something new...when we had already established that RT is my instructor... Like RT would let me get away without learning that!...but Captain and I worked our way through it and had a bit of fun!

I had just had a sip of the homemade Sangria (on an empty stomach) when I was pulled to the floor for another Hustle...and quickly learned to NOT drink on an empty stomach and then take part in a fast dance... I almost lost it by the end! Thankfully my stomach settled as soon as the dancing stopped! At some point MSU pulled me on the floor for a Rumba... and then it hit me... why I like dancing with him... I like dancing with MSU because he actually dances with his follows! He's one of the few instructors I've danced with that actually looks me in the eye! He also really reacts when I allow myself to get into the dance, you should see what happens to his eyes when I end up doing my Rumba eyes! It's totally worth it to let my acting side come out if my lead is going to react like that! He was making stuff up, and really working at getting into my personal space... fortunately for me I don't get scared of him and it ended up being a pretty good Rumba, not the best, but it's nice to be able to dance...you know really dance...with someone besides RT... I don't even know MSU very well... but he's a comfortable dance partner.

The show for the evening was adorable! There was a couple there getting married next week and they showed off their wedding dance. It was great! You could see the man's face just running through all the steps he had to know. It wasn't until later that I learned that they had just finished learning that routine hours before the party! THAT was amazing! Then MSU and HBF (who compete together) were put on the spot for a Cha Cha. True to his nickname, he made stuff up, and I'm pretty sure my mission in life now is to get my hips to move as nicely as HBF... The dance was very cute!

I was also introduced to one of the studio's newer students, lovely woman! During the one Salsa song, I showed her a little salsa basic, and as each of us where off the floor we chatted. She had a lot of questions about dancing, and my article (they have it on display there). Towards the end of the evening they called the last dance, and it was kind of just the two of us on the sidelines...so I asked her if she wanted to Hustle. She followed pretty quickly, it wasn't too long before I had her into a single turn. Then MSU decided to pick us both up and dance with both of us! That was an interesting experiment!

After the party and some small talk, Captain and I left for our other evening obligations... While it probably won't be a habit, simply because we like to broaden our dance horizons. I am sure FADSSB hasn't seen the last of us!

Last Week's Lesson: Learning Control and RT's Observances

Before I begin on last week's lesson, I would like to take a moment to remind my readers that I write everything from my individual point of view. I do not consult RT, Captain, Jem, or anyone else about what I write. It is factual in the way that all these events did actually happen, but I am only able to present them from my side of the story.

Last week's lesson was total craziness! I came rolling in from an appointment, I was almost running late! I have clothes in hand to change into and I brush past RT who was teaching one of his couples. He stops me to ask me how it went... I try and push past him to the changing room because I only have a few minutes and he's in the middle of his lesson. He won't let me pass until I tell him the appointment went well. I thought it very sweet of him to be concerned with my life off the dance floor.

Once changed and back up front, RT picks me up for my lesson and we walk to the music machine where he selects a Cha Cha. My appointment had me totally in mixed up, anytime my usual schedule is interrupted by something like that it takes me a second to regroup. The first part of the Cha Cha was pretty bad, I was actually stepping on my own feet! After a bit, I was recovering and we started working on a step known in some circles as the Turkish Towel (the name FADS calls it escapes me at the moment). This step involves the follow going behind the lead and peaking out on one side, then the other and ending in a rotation stepping backwards. Anyway, we work and work especially on the ending. I was getting a little worn out, but I push forward. I wasn't winded, but I think it was just my reaction to the day. After showing some good improvement we journey over to the music machine and I pull a surprise by sitting on the bench.
"What's that? What are you doing??" says a shocked RT.

"Ah! I'm getting tired!" I stand up "Ok, I'm over it, lets go!"

RT selects another round of music and we're off... we take our place on the floor and he's looking at me...
"Look at you!" he proudly states.
"What?" I have no idea what he's talking about.
He pats both of my upper arms firmly and states "Look at you! You used to be out here!" as he moves one his hands from my arm out about a foot.
I look at his removed hand, "Well, I was never quite out THERE!"
"No, seriously, you're like (he searches for a word) like normal size now!"
I throw him a look that tells him he's crazy "Normal??"
He thinks about it, and gets an apologetic look on his face while trying to search for another word to use. I know what he means, and I know with three active fluent languages running around in his head it's tough to think of the right one.
As he's fumbling over his wording I tell him "I understand what you mean, and thank you, but 'normal' maybe isn't the right way to say it." Who are we kidding... I had a huge smile on my face!
He selects another Cha Cha, now our third, and we're really cruising through this dance! RT is leading every step I know. At one point another instructor (one of my biggest supporters, she's so sweet!) actually stops with her student to watch. At that point RT accidentally brushes my head with his arm during a pass. He says sorry, I remind him that my head has always been in the same spot, but hey it happens! That Cha Cha over he wants to work on the swings.

But before that, he's not done explaining his sudden realization of how much smaller I am than when we started. He whips me around into a cuddle hold. "Look! When you started I couldn't get my arms around you, now look!" (he moves our hands that are linked in front up and down) "We have all this space now! We never had that before!"

I'm totally shocked! Where did all this come from? What prompted him to point out all my physical changes during this lesson? He then asks "How much this week?"

"Two." I state.
"So, you're at 120 now?" (meaning 120lbs lost since day one)
"No, 117." I tell him.
He looks at me....somehow he's able to add up everything in his head from my last few reports. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, the winter was rough, trust me 117."
"Ok then three more and you've hit 120!"He exclaims! "That's amazing! I want three this week!
"I can try for three sure." I respond with much less enthusiasm.

We then pick up with West Coast Swing, in a step that is a variation on the whip. I wrote about it before, it's the step where I completely ran past him because I didn't know the lead for it. We worked really hard on this step, I'm having problems being able to let go and just do it. Mainly because when the lead starts, RT has his hand on my back and puts a little suggestive pressure to have me pivot 180 on one foot, then RT is suddenly right in front of me and I'm supposed to step right into him. Every time we do this, I have visions of some terrible dance collision in my head, that keep me from being able to continue. Thoughts of how I'm going to explain some terrible injury my screwing up this step has caused him keep dancing in my mind! I explain this to RT, he chuckles...
"We won't crash I have control over where I'm going." He informs me.
"Yeah I know, but I am not completely in control of where I'm going, which is a problem."
(We're not even going to get into the the possible black eye I could cause him once I start using my arm at the start of this move)
"Don't worry it won't happen."

RT then runs off to find my favorite gal instructor to show me how the move works. Watching her feet definitely helped. I thanked her, and we were off trying it again SEVERAL more times. In the end I believe we settled on my getting it right nearly 20% of the times we tried, and I guess we'll try and move up from there.

Next up East Coast... this was really more for fun I think as I really only have to perfect some technique within the steps that I know. We're dancing away, and RT leads me into a cuddle hold and freezes... this is a really snug cuddle hold, almost like a hug, and he says it again... "Look how easy this is now." and he picks up the dance again... we do a few spins and back into the cuddle hold "hug style" and he freezes again!
"Yeah ok, your arms must have gotten longer." I state.
He just looks at me, in that silly way he does when I say odd things like that... knowing he doesn't have to provide a response.

The swing ended and we cruised over a quick Rumba, this time only because we do one in every lesson!

The last two dances of the evening were Salsa. RT said something about really liking the tension or something in my following.... which was great!... It did feel like we were connected more on this night. Then he starts the spinning...single spins...which I was going around way too fast. He reminds me to slow it down...which I'm very pleased I was able to do! So my single spins were showing immediate improvement! I just have to remember to control them more often... I'm usually just so interested in getting them out of the way that I get back to basic too fast!

Then we're dancing and he says "Multiple spins"... he always says this stuff at a point where I don't have quite enough time to process it before I'm doing it! His arm goes up, and I keep going round and round. I know I was doing the action of spotting, but my eyes weren't focused, for whatever reason my head went to another plane or something this time. I THINK I made it around 6 times before I said "Ok, done now!" I wasn't really dizzy until I stopped...and it took me a measure or two to recover. We finished with more leads off his body and a few more spin related steps and we called the lesson complete.

As he's walking me to the edge of the floor he starts reminding me that I MUST drop three pounds this week, he was being very insistent about it. I said "Yeah I got it three pounds!"

I sit down to change my shoes and one of the students I've only seen around a few times says to me "Wow, he can be demanding can't he!"
"Yeah, he can, but I kind of need it." I respond and shrug.
"Oh, I know... I've read your blog." She tells me.
"Oh great!" I happily reply and I then inquire as to who she is. Turns out she's one of my regular readers! I was so happy to have spoken with one of my readers! I do hope she enjoys the blog.

On my way out I remembered I had to tell RT something, and I ran over to tell him before I forgot. Almost immediately we were back on the topic of the three pounds. Then... out of nowhere RT pushes me! It was almost one of those pushes you see people do before they start throwing punches!
"What are you doing?!?" I demand!
"Look! I can push you over! I couldn't do that before either!" He happily excliams, then pushes me again!
"Yeah I got it, but don't you push me enough all over the dance floor? Is this really neccessary?" I inquire, and I am met with another push!
"Three pounds Kat, you promised! Next week 120!"
At this point I can't help but laugh!
"Yeah ok, I'm leaving I'll see you next week!"

I don't remember promising... but I'll honestly do my best. Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into!

Lesson on May 1st: Fox Trot

Hi gang! I know I know... I'm behind again... No worries I'm catching up!

If you will recall I had mentioned I wanted to ask RT about working on Fox Trot a little in this lesson. Well I think it's quite possible that we have become psychically linked, because he had NOT read the post, and somehow we spent most of the lesson on Fox Trot! There were two other lessons on the floor that were working on this dance too which could have been the reason for it...but at first I kept thinking How does he know I wanted to work on this? So I told him after like the fourth Trot around the floor "You know I was going to ask you to work on this today."

"Really? Why is that?" He asks. He's always surprised when I ask for anything Smooth.

"Because we ended the last lesson on it and I realized we hadn't worked on it in a long time!"

So we kept working... and we got to a step where the follow actually walks forward, lead walks back. I have never done this very well, but I started off doing it great! We're also working on my keeping my knees bent while dancing smooth, which as I understand it, makes it a more competitive style. I was really doing well! I was able to support myself while my knees were bent, well mostly. RT was asking me to hold up my own frame more. Which is a complaint I hate more than nearly any other. So I continue to try to not lean on RT while keeping my balance. I definitely was showing improvement!

Then crisis struck when I stepped on one of RT's feet. I HATE it when I do that! I will never be ok with stepping on someone else's feet, it completely ruins the dance for me. So I say sorry and I have a sorry face that I generally make. RT always says he's fine...but he wouldn't tell me if he wasn't anyway. SO we do the step again and I manage to step on both his feet! FANTASTIC... now I'm devastated! The sorry face pretty much is stuck on my face now... because I feel just awful... and I tell RT "It's ruined, the dance is ruined, I don't want to do it anymore."

"It's ok Kat." RT tries to assure me, then he makes me do the walking forward step again..and I manage to do it, but I was so scared of stepping on him again! We "trotted" to a few more songs... but the dance was still ruined for me.

We then took a break from Fox Trot, thankfully. We moved on to Salsa, and Rumba both done much better than the Fox Trot. I thought anyway. Oh, and I had a 1 pound loss to report! So happy the scale is moving down again!

Last Week's Lesson: Fighting to Come Back

Well as this week's lesson looms before me I must tell you about the last, it was vastly better than my last report!

The lesson began with the question that is almost always asked of me: "How many this week?" to which I could honestly answer...

"Two."

"Good knocking them down one and two at a time!" RT cheered, followed by a high five (the studio is big on high fives...don't know why).

"If you remember" I retort, "it was supposed to be five."

"I know, but two is great you'll get there one at a time."

What was that! No disappointment? Pure support? That seriously wasn't what I was expecting. Why do I build stuff up in my head like that? I was ready for a knock down drag out war with him about how insane it is to drop five pounds in one week... Although, I have to admit I was very pleased to have the two pounds to report!

We opened with Salsa, becoming a very very strong presence in my lessons. Thankfully because I had worked so hard the past week, I wasn't nearly out of breath by the end of the spins, double spins, sombreros and whatever else RT was leading. I must have been doing fairly well because there were some new leads in there too, RT tried a lead for me into an outside turn (left) by using his body... THAT was interesting the first time I had no idea what he was doing, and wouldn't have had a clue unless he told me that's what it was. Then there is some really crazy and not very comfortable things RT was doing with his, and therefore my, arms. That I don't care for very much, and told him as much.

Then it was breaking down the kinetic and potential energy that goes into a cross body lead. This is where the frustration of the lesson presented itself. Apparently I don't use my upper body in my dancing enough. I'm creating too much leverage here, not resisting enough there. It took a lot of cross body leads for me to show improvement. Then there is the use of my upper back muscles... or actually the lack of use. I was surprised RT could feel the difference... Turns out I'm using mostly my upper arms and shoulders to create the tension, whereas I should be using the muscles behind my shoulder blades. So we did it again and again and I tried to focus my thoughts on using those back muscles. I think I showed improvement... RT then gave me an exersize to practice at home using said muscles... I am to hang on to a door frame no farther from the door than my forearms will allow and create resistance by slightly leaning forward and back and controlling the movement with my upper back. Well I can do the motion well enough, but engaging those muscles is proving to be a challenge.

I have a life long habit of not using the proper muscle groups for activities. I used to have poor knees so I lift with my back, my power comes from my legs so I use those to push and pull things, and I won't even get into the things my body will do to NOT engage my ab muscles. (The last being a constant irritant because that's EXACTLY where I'm trying to drop the weight. I guess my upper back is now added to the things I have to work on. Truly it makes sense because I even hold my frame with my upper arms and shoulders, with the support coming from above my topline, where as I should be using those same back muscles as my primary support so it comes from under the top of the frame... So I guess I'll be hanging off some door frames and cubical walls for a while.

Moving on, RT asked about Bolero and I flat out denied him. I had worked my knees so hard over the last few days that Bolero would have killed them! There was no way I was going to be able to hold anything that resembled a Bolero step because the knees are never really supposed to be straight. I could do a rise and fall for Waltz because that was short and I could do Samba because that was fast. So Samba it was.

My Samba is tragic... but improving! Slowly but surely I think. While RT has never said anything about my hanging on him, I think I'm hanging on him less. So we worked on Samba for a bit, while I normally have little trouble with the timing, I was having some issue with it. Then my tendancy to pull my leg back in quickly was corrected...you're supoosed to leave your leg out there, show it off a bit, and then pull it back for the next part of the basic... that is going to be tough to get down good... I don't like it when either of my legs are out from under me for too long. Ah well, something new to work on! I didn't get any compliments, but I didn't get any negative remarks either. So I was reasonably pleased...and still not out of breath!

Cha Cha was next on the lesson plan. GOOD! Time for redemption after last week's dismal display. This Cha Cha was not technically great, better than most, but not great. My following however was dead on! We did a few good Cha Chas and a lot of spins (no doubles, I still can't pull them off independently) when we ended the last one RT said "Great, now I can lead you into spins from almost anywhere." Yippee! Although I can't imagine were else a spin could be lead from we did them everywhere!

Then RT looks at me "Rumba time, we always do Rumba."

HA! Rumba we did, and I worked on my hips some more, and the spiral at the end of the Cuban walks... RT spent forever trying to get the way he wanted it to finish to me... we broke it down, we practiced. I had always done it where the Spiral comes all the way around to face my partner and then finish the basic, but no... RT wants me to now do the spiral, end facing away from him, and then wait for his lead to whip me around. It took SO long for me to get that from what he was describing. When I finally got it, I told him... "Why didn't you just say that?"

"I was trying to." He stated.

I think I'm going to have to pay attention more closely and work with RT on using less words. For a quiet guy, he really can use a lot of unnecessary words to explain stuff!

Last few minutes of the lesson and RT said "How about Fox Trot we haven't done that in a long time."

"Fox Trot... hmmm... I don't even think I remember how that one goes." I joked, but I was concerned... it had been a LONG time since we'd done a Fox Trot!

Off we went... at first it was a little rough, but I found my stride, and we did a nice basic Fox Trot around the floor, and then RT whispers while leading me into a turn (which are slow and graceful in this dance) "Double." Well...ok then... so I sped my first turn up a bit, and managed to get a second one in before it was time to close frame. Neat! I'd never done that before. It's always nice to end the lesson on a high like that. Well, in all actuality it wasn't that impressive, but in my head it was! I'll have to ask for a little more smooth over the next few lessons I think.

Wow! That felt better that last week that's for damn sure! It's just what I needed to continue stepping up my game and do away with those lessons that just drag me and my instructor down!

Saturday Social: One Heck of a Salsa Party!

I hate it when life gets in the way… I'm more than a week behind! So, this Saturday outing was actually the last Saturday in April.

Captain and I decided to head out for a new-to-me studio for a party that was actually being held by a dance company renting the space. Unfortunately I neglected to get this group's information at the time…but I'll keep an eye out because this group was a lot of fun! They put on one heck of a Latin party. I was certainly hoping for a good night, after my last lesson my confidence was a bit shot.

We arrived at the posted time, but as it turned out the party actually didn't start for an hour, (some kind of web snafu) so we made ourselves busy at the restaurant across the street, and dilly dallied in the studio while they set up. The space was nice, very much an urban loft style and for a studio had the fewest mirrors I'd ever seen! It was a warm and inviting atmosphere with rope lights around the pillars giving off a very candle like glow. As the Salsa music was going strong we took our spots on the edge of the dance floor.

The both of us were asked to dance early on, and we both realized this was predominantly not a style of Salsa that we're used to. First, most of the leads, as kind and cute as they were, would lead Salsa On2 (meaning that first step doesn't happen until the second beat of the measure, something I have yet to figure out). Captain being a much stronger follow than myself can dance On2, but prefers On1…whereas my whole world begins on the first beat. Thankfully the members of this Dance company understood and obliged our On1 preference. Second, these leads were pulling spins and direction changes from places I didn't know existed! By the end of my second dance I knew I was in way over my head, and tried to make an effort to study what I was seeing and attempt to shut off my brain and follow. That produced mixed results (I later learned that this troupe dances almost exclusively choreographed dances which lends itself to being hard to follow...that makes me feel better).

I did get asked to Cha Cha a few times as well, the first with one of the lead members of this dance company, I tell you Social Cha Cha is NOT Ballroom Cha Cha! This lead included Shines, and steps that are generally reserved for Salsa, difficult to follow for sure. Second was a lead that admitted up front that his Cha Cha wasn't his strongest dance, but his basic was strong! He said to me at one point "If there's something you want to do just back lead me into it!" Which was very kind of him to say...first time a lead has ever said that to me, but of course my mind went blank on how to start anything!!! This basic did allow me to use more of the Ballroom style, like checking (putting one foot directly behind the other) for forward and back and I even felt ok with a little arm styling... which those that have seen me dance know I typically lack. Sure the principals are the same for the social Cha but the music doesn't let you get a good "Cha Cha Cha"! If you ask me the "Cha Cha Cha" is the best part of the basic in this dance, how can you not allow time for it!

There were some salseros, and social dancers that were good leads and some of the pairings were just fantastic to watch! One lead in particular had me going for two full songs…fast ones… he was thankfully an On1 with familiar technique..but still...I just about died before the end (these were some of the longest salsas EVER they must have averaged five full minutes!)

We danced a lot more than at most parties we attend, but there were two gents on the floor that had a lot more lasting power than did the Captain or myself. They just kept dancing! It was quite an inspiration for me. Here I am nearing 30 years old and these two, easily twice my age, were burning the floor with nearly every dance! That's the kind of thing that stays with me. I hope to have half that energy as I age.

It was a great night, we left with the definite intention of returning! Whew! Just what I needed!

Last Week's Lesson... Just Trying to Keep Up.

Well in the spirit of my last post, my last lesson wasn't the greatest. It was a study in all that I've lost in my fitness by having a sluggish winter.

We opened with Salsa, I was having trouble almost immediately with the timing on my spins… I was coming around too fast and losing the beat. I think it ended up being ok, but I was getting winded very quickly! By the end I was doing better, but could already feel my face getting red, and I really didn't like the way this was going.

Next up was East Coast Swing, which I thought started out good, but I got that quiet plea of "Come on Kat" from RT, his ever so polite way of telling me I'm lagging. I tried to rally, but it just wasn't working out well… In the end it ended up being a fair Swing, but I wasn't happy at all with my performance. To make matters worse, the next dance was Cha Cha!

"Next blog post is going to be 'The lesson where RT kicks my butt!'" I joke with RT while trying to catch my breath.
"What's going on? How much did you lose this week?" RT inquires.
"Nothing…but now that the weather is nicer I'm working out more but that only started two days ago, I just haven't seen the results yet."
"Why is that? What did you do last week?" (RT was away at a competition last week, so I had no lesson)
"Because, nothing I do at home is as intense as actually dancing." I reply, hoping that could end the conversation.
But no, RT simply states "You know, there are no excuses with me."

Well crap! I hate it when he calls me out like that! I know I need it, but it makes me look like a failure.

"Come on… you said Cha Cha pick a song!" I tell him, still trying to change the subject
"Ok Cha Cha" he replies, "Next week I want you to loose five pounds do you think you can do that?"
"Maybe, if I actually get the full week, seriously I'm starting up again, but five pounds is a lot, and not really healthy." I inform him as we take up our dance frame.
"Five pounds, no excuses." And we begin our Cha Cha…which probably due to my over exhausted state felt really weird.

After that dismal display we moved on to Rumba, which was better I think.. well it felt like it was better.

We ended the lesson reviewing that RT wants me to pick up the pace again and start reporting some weight loss. He’s totally right… I’m WAY overdue.

The ride home was filled with thoughts of improvements and RT’s quietly insistent voice “There are no excuses with me Kat.”