Lately, I have not been very diligent blog writer. Three weeks passed by without posting anything. I did not write down the notes from my lesson with my partner and our regular teacher. Meanwhile, I took another lesson with him, and his new teacher, this time. I want to start with the notes from that last lesson.
The teacher made several valuable points.
First of all, she asked me to do pivots, as in ochos, and overturned ochos, on both sides. She noticed that one of my sides gets more lazy than the other. I do not twist my hips as much as I need. The exercise went as follow: first I was doing backward and forward ochos using her as I would use a bar, and therefore pushing and twisting on my own. Then, she (or the partner) would add the lead, and I would follow the lead. But the point made was that with the lead present, I had to move, push, and twist with no less energy as if I was moving on my own.
Importantly, she made me step-pivot to music. I was struggling to keep up at times. I have got to practice that on my own.
Another note -- pay attention to the amount of pivot the leader is actually leading. Release your hips, and twist well in the middle. Stay leveled.
Then we moved on to giros/molinetes. Again, she found out that I tend to underturn. Another great point the teacher made: the centrifugal force in the molinete turn does not come from my physically leaning back, away from the leader. It is supposed to come from the circular movement, from the energy of the turn itself. Duh.
After that, we tried some giros with sacadas. The teacher said that every time the leader does a sacada, I had to twist even more, as if slightly overturning my pivot. It would give the leader the nessessary space to perform the sacada.
Hint -- do not look at the floor during giros, and you will not end up dizzy. Let alone the posture is much elegant with the head and neck pointing straight.
And last but not least, the boleo. I finally tried to pick my foot up from the floor. I have to do it on the back movement. Also, pay attention at going through the collect position every time. Basically, after the boleo is done, I ought to find myself in a neutral position to the leader, waiting for his next signal. It can be forward step, for example, or side step, or americana, or a contra boleo.
All in all, it was a good class. Physically tiring. My body is not used to such amount of energetic twisting. I really could use some training.
All the (although not very numerous) milongas I had during that period of time, were very enjoyable. I felt sure of myself, powerful, and calm, even on a super crowded floor or with a not-so-perfect lead. And the most important thing, the dancing was pleasurable with everybody I said yes to.
I am eager to see how it goes tonight. It has been a while since I hit that particular social floor. It feels a little like homecoming for me, every time.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tough Love. Posted on November 18, 2007.
Since I last posted, I had two private lessons with my two partners, as well as a number of practicas, and a smaller number of milongas.
First of all, I have been focusing on my technique and feet placements. I learned all over again, how important working on the simple walk is, alone, and with a partner.
Secondly, I have been working on my following, and improving connection.
Those two are of course, tightly related. Although, I believe, as a social dancer, it is more effective to put the following and the connection first.
I have got quite a few insights during my lessons and practice sessions.
Some important things I learned, and wanted to make a note upon:
Slowing down my follow does not come merely from moving slower or dragging my feet on the ground. It comes from the right way of reacting to the lead. The good illustrative example of it would be a boleo. First, the body moves, twists, and the foot is just following the body (that is following the lead). Very important, again, is to avoid placing the feet deliberately, trying to control them. Rather monitor the lead, and sense where the leader wants my feet to go, and at what speed. Same goes for the ochos, and other pivots. Keeping my weight forward, not shifting it too soon, is essential.
About bad habits. My and #2's teacher caught me crooking my body sometimes when I perform turns, pivots, or changes of directions. Instead of keeping my sides even and tall, and twisting in the middle, I just bend in funny places. We noticed that, for example, I do it while being led into a colgada. I have to watch it in practice. The objective is to stay tall, not drop sides or hips, and not bend or flex in the wrong places.
Molinetes are still a big concern. I have to pivot as I pass feet, not to step, collect, stop, pivot and pass. It is all done in one sweep movement. And again, keep the connection to the leader, do not step away from him.
Trying to work in open embrace did me a lot of good. It made me realize that I have to be more active in my movement, while keeping connection to the partner, of course. That also made me more aware of my balance, and losing it in such figures as pivots, and, especially, boleos. I need more practice in open embrace. Lots of stuff here, however, I can and should practice on my own.
In sum, I shall say that, perhaps, I got a new long-term goal. Till now, I noticed, I had mostly danced as I could, as my skills would allow me. I had been more or less happy to just manage. Now I ask myself more and more a new question. How would I like to dance if I had a choice? What kind of a dancer I want to be? My partner keeps talking about acquiring his "dancing voice". What is mine?
Certainly, I have got all the time of my life to answer that one. But one thing is sure. I do not wish to be just "a following dummy" anymore. That's said, I have to really listen to my needs and make sure they are attended timely.
The question about how I want to dance is very much related to musicality. I am not sure how to work specifically on my musicality. I think it should come out of working on technical ways of expressing the music, on how to move to music. And when I have the means and the skills, and am conscious about them, I will be able to make a choice.
On a social front, I decided it would be a good idea to make my Monday practice with my second partner a regular thing. He is getting better, we get along well, and the last few practice sessions turned to be really fruitful.
Also, a big milonga with good leaders once a week would be a nice habit to maintain.
First of all, I have been focusing on my technique and feet placements. I learned all over again, how important working on the simple walk is, alone, and with a partner.
Secondly, I have been working on my following, and improving connection.
Those two are of course, tightly related. Although, I believe, as a social dancer, it is more effective to put the following and the connection first.
I have got quite a few insights during my lessons and practice sessions.
Some important things I learned, and wanted to make a note upon:
Slowing down my follow does not come merely from moving slower or dragging my feet on the ground. It comes from the right way of reacting to the lead. The good illustrative example of it would be a boleo. First, the body moves, twists, and the foot is just following the body (that is following the lead). Very important, again, is to avoid placing the feet deliberately, trying to control them. Rather monitor the lead, and sense where the leader wants my feet to go, and at what speed. Same goes for the ochos, and other pivots. Keeping my weight forward, not shifting it too soon, is essential.
About bad habits. My and #2's teacher caught me crooking my body sometimes when I perform turns, pivots, or changes of directions. Instead of keeping my sides even and tall, and twisting in the middle, I just bend in funny places. We noticed that, for example, I do it while being led into a colgada. I have to watch it in practice. The objective is to stay tall, not drop sides or hips, and not bend or flex in the wrong places.
Molinetes are still a big concern. I have to pivot as I pass feet, not to step, collect, stop, pivot and pass. It is all done in one sweep movement. And again, keep the connection to the leader, do not step away from him.
Trying to work in open embrace did me a lot of good. It made me realize that I have to be more active in my movement, while keeping connection to the partner, of course. That also made me more aware of my balance, and losing it in such figures as pivots, and, especially, boleos. I need more practice in open embrace. Lots of stuff here, however, I can and should practice on my own.
In sum, I shall say that, perhaps, I got a new long-term goal. Till now, I noticed, I had mostly danced as I could, as my skills would allow me. I had been more or less happy to just manage. Now I ask myself more and more a new question. How would I like to dance if I had a choice? What kind of a dancer I want to be? My partner keeps talking about acquiring his "dancing voice". What is mine?
Certainly, I have got all the time of my life to answer that one. But one thing is sure. I do not wish to be just "a following dummy" anymore. That's said, I have to really listen to my needs and make sure they are attended timely.
The question about how I want to dance is very much related to musicality. I am not sure how to work specifically on my musicality. I think it should come out of working on technical ways of expressing the music, on how to move to music. And when I have the means and the skills, and am conscious about them, I will be able to make a choice.
On a social front, I decided it would be a good idea to make my Monday practice with my second partner a regular thing. He is getting better, we get along well, and the last few practice sessions turned to be really fruitful.
Also, a big milonga with good leaders once a week would be a nice habit to maintain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
