Tuesday, February 28, 2012
*Ballroom dance lesson with M.S. 2 hours. Addressing how quickly my step goes to the heel on heel leads and how to smooth that out so there are no “bumps.” No dumping of sides, which usually is from foot sliding too quickly and rib tipping. Spent quite a while on shaping of my left side when in promenade. Worked on controlling how I come down from rise, using, drum roll, mah feet! Head direction changes in Smooth: errrr, if his imitation of my eyes/facial expression is accurate, I look absolutely inward and partly demented when dancing. I appear to be looking at nothing, when he wants my head to snap quickly from spot to spot. Actually, I’m looking at a lot of things at a very rapid pace and slipping out of focus a lot less than he and viewers might assume. My eye motion is very rapid and almost constant except in diffused moments that yogis called “soft eyes.” That’s how I am able to read text at an absolutely blistering pace and why people think I’m just turning pages when I’m flying through the words. Note to self: this way of looking fails me utterly on the dance floor. But, getting my head to snap and my body to follow after, trailing, is very difficult for me. They want to work together like Siamese twins, never separate. After working hard to get feet absolutely gripping the floor and maintaining very good balance, it was odd to have the moments of release of the floor in parts of Tango.
In Latin, we slowed everything waaaaayyyy down and only addressed very simple elements of Rumba and Cha Cha. Rumba, surprisingly, did not suck. Maybe a little in back steps but scarcely at all in forward and side steps. Cha Cha showed my left foot to be a lot more hesitant and lacking in coordination than the right. Forward locks were OK when done slowly but eh not so much at speed. I love getting core rotation but, as teacher pointed out, if I rotate beyond the point where my feet can maintain turn-out, that’s too far. I can still go quite a bit, I just have to concentrate on turn-out and floor pressure more.
Heel turns on the Running Right Pattern in Quickstep were brilliant for me. Fully on the heels, and properly timed. This was heavenly. I loved the feeling. I want everything in Standard to feel this controlled. Foxtrot’s glide is increasing exponentially. I’d be tempted to dance nothing but Standard for hours every day and to compete in it solely, if I were a lot younger and could scare up a partner. (Not a teacher; no offense, Teach, but it would be fabulous to have a great partner who I didn’t have to PAY to dance with me, a partner who danced close to my level instead of miles above my level. A dream held by thousands and thousands of women who have nowhere to dance but pro-am, and, well, better there than not at all!)
All in all, a very good workout on the dance floor.
*Yoga: 20 minutes. Rodney Yee’s Ultimate Yoga dvd, section on Power Foundations. This section is great for releasing my hips and loosening hamstrings, which are both pretty tight lately. Cardio has helped strengthen my legs after my hiatus in early February. I can get into bow position much more easily now than 10 or 12 days ago. I’m so glad I made time tonight for a bit of yoga. It relaxes tightness in legs worn out from the cumulative effect of daily cardio and from using legs super athletically to keep my feet in the dance floor. It’s not a truly meditative or spiritual approach to yoga, but it’s very effective for my muscles. I’d like to take time for yoga to be more holistic in effect.
