February 2011
262 posts
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Diary of a Mad Dancer (training log)
01/31/11 Tuesday
*Practice: 2 hours. Warmed up with Standard Waltz. When I was doing Latin, I always warmed up with that because it woke up my feet and the large joints of my legs, then got the core revved, then the arms fluid. No Latin any more :-( Figuring out a new way to get myself going early in the morning when I haven’t done anything more strenuous than drink espresso beforehand is...
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January 2011
232 posts
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“Without passion, all the skill in the world won’t lift you above your craft....”
– Twyla Tharp, choreographer
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Look Before You Follow
Fake Followers: Aren’t there enough people on Tumblr who want to look at your naked crotch shots? Do you really have to follow my dance blog in hopes that I will re-follow yours automatically or, at the least, check your archive and go “oh, please?” Trollz, you are soooooo lame. And probably limp and alone, too, if you need that many pictures.
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Diary of a Mad Dancer (training log)
01/30/11 Sunday
*Practice: 1 1/2 hours. Wah! It was supposed to be 3! The power went out. No heat + no music = no dance. Only got to work on two of my American Smooth dances and start on one of my Standard dances. For Smooth Foxtrot, Bronze & Silver, I spent a long time noodling over the count and will have to talk with my teacher about it on Tuesday. On the “2” are you...
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“A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what...”
– A little philosophy on a cold winter’s night.
—-Madonna, who usually seems to get exactly what she wants.
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Diary of a Mad Dancer (training log)
01/29/11 Saturday
*Practice: 1 1/2 hours. American Smooth: Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Viennese. I think I may have discovered a way to turn my left wrist in hold so that, in a chain-reaction, my left shoulder stays down and back. I have double-jointed elbows, so the connections in my arm and the way things rotate is not the usual. I can certainly work around it, just a matter of finding out...
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“You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations.”
– Stevie Wonder (via kari-shma)
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Diary of a Mad Dancer (training log)
01/28/11 Friday
*Lesson with M.S. 2 hours. Mostly American Smooth, as I’ll be doing it in a comp next Thursday, 2/3, but a teensy bit of Standard as well. Standard is always good for tinkering with and refining the frame, since you never come out of hold. And, some teachers, like M.S., blend a few Standard figures into American Smooth routines, which in the vast majority of comps is...
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Don't wait for a perfect moment. Take a moment and...
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Diary of a Mad Dancer (training log)
01/27/11 Thursday
*P90X Lean: Week 3, Day 2. 1 hour. Cardio X. This hour flies by. It goes so fast, I’m practically looking at the clock cross-eyed, trying to figure out if I have misremembered when I actually started. Another thing that confuses me: In this dvd, Tony says, “If you are doing Lean, this is your second workout of the day.” Ah, that’s not how it’s laid...
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Diary of a Mad Dancer (training log)
01/26/11 Thursday
*P90X Lean. Week 3, Day 1. 1 hour. Core Synergistics. I like this workout day. Core work is satisfying. Frankly, I don’t think any core class/DVD could compare to the rigorous, Pilates workout that I used to attend, which was run by the ballet mistress at a local, dance school. That workout could make a Navy SEAL bark for mercy. It is pretty easy to cheat on core...
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“Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world...”
– Norman Vincent Peale (via kyliefrost)
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Diary of a Mad Dancer (training log)
01/25/11 Tuesday
*Lesson with M.S.: 2 hours. American Smooth. Since my instructor, M.S., had a lesson over the weekend with renowned, pro Standard dancer Anna Mikhed, he had lots of new stuff bubbling in his brain, percolating through his frame and trickling into my lesson. Not that I can hope to incorporate more than a fraction of what he took in from the divine Anna, but I am glad to get even a...
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