The Marketing Department

Part: Follow

Dances: Nightclub 2-step, Waltz, Tango, Viennese, Bolero, Rumba, Salsa

Hovers: 2

Friday night we ended up skipping the pre-social dance practice (as we did on Wednesday and Thursday). We'll blame the Thanksgiving holiday for that. It was good to get out though and dance after a more or less lazy day on Thursday.

Jeff said he was feeling great on Friday, very relaxed and less worn out from working out right before and also because of the two day break. I was definitely less tired than usual, but I didn't think my dancing was much different than usual. One thing is for sure; I know that I am much more in the moment when I am dancing these days than I was even 3 months ago. I credit that to our daily practice and social dancing. Granted, there are times when I'll get ahead of myself and thoughts about what's coming next will flit across my consciousness, but more and more I find that I'm just there responding and not worrying about what happens next. I think a lot of that has to do with confidence on my part as well. When I was just starting out I tended to be really nervous when social dancing because I had no idea what would be thrown at me and I had no clue whether I'd know how or be able to respond appropriately. Now, I am confident enough that I have the skills to follow most things that could be thrown at me on the social floor if they are actually led; it's just a matter of opening myself up as much as I can to the lead-follow communication and having the confidence that I can actually do this.

Another aspect I enjoy of the whole lead-follow and social dance dynamic is how I, as a follow, can make the lead look really good (or just the opposite, for that matter). So while following is my job, the creative part comes in for me in the styling and the way I respond to the directions so as to show off what the lead is doing, and I find that to be a lot of fun. It's something that I feel I have been able to develop more fairly recently, now that I have a stronger grasp on the fundamentals than I did maybe one year ago. As Simeon and Kora like to say, the lady is the "marketing department" for the partnership on the floor, and I think that's a great way to conceptualize it. Anyways, it's a skill that I think the social dancing has helped me develop a lot more lately.

All in all, a good night of dancing for us. Jeff danced more than I did, I believe, because "gentlemen were scarce," and we didn't get to dance foxtrot, but the dances that we did dance were fairly smooth. Viennese this time was nice and slow, but not too slow, and so actually felt very relaxed, smooth, and natural. Even the fleckrels were relatively successful. That's a win.

After our semi-break week, we should be back in the game this coming week; hopefully a bit rested and with some renewed energy. Recharging is always good.