Pay Attention When You're Driving!!

Dances:  Nightclub 2-Step, Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep
Part:  Lead
Workout:  Chest and shoulders at the gym.

Another great workout today.  Sarah joined me for this one, and in some exercises her form could use a bit more work, but she's sticking to it.  I often joke (much to her chagrin) that her arms look like a snake that swallowed an egg.  It's really not that bad, but she's so skinny that her muscles are all she has.  She's terrified it's going to impact the way she looks when she dances, but I doubt it.  Every girl out there has muscle you can see.

Practice today was awesome minus one small mishap during our round.  We started down the first long side of our Waltz which now takes up ALL of the floor.  I always have to shorten up my steps so as not to crash right into the exercise bikes at the end.  It was during this first long side that I let my mind drift.  I started thinking about maybe moving the bikes in that corner out of the way and how I would go about doing that.  In the brief maybe two seconds (max) that I wandered off, my Waltz fell apart.  I went into some random figure and I just stopped.  I guess dancing is just like driving a car.  You HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION.  No texting, talking on the phone, drinking, etc.  But other than that, we danced the best round to date.  Every dance fell into place quite nicely.  A HUGE contrast to yesterday's abysmal off day.  Even the Quickstep went well.  Our stamina continues to increase as well.  I think dancing the routines once through is fine right now.  It's repeating it the second time that gets taxing.  We'll need to start working on facial expressions soon.  For the most part I think we're ok on that front.  Maybe need to be a bit more expressive, but overall we present the right sentiment.

After the round we started working on the Quickstep.  At first I was NOT happy about the fact that today was Quickstep day again, and Rumba Crosses day at that.  But my tune changed rather quickly.  For some reason they just worked today.  We were in sync and our connection was MUCH more consistent.  I think I figured out a small trick to it as well.  I need to make sure to get completely around Sarah in one go.  Almost as if I was rotating quickly around a pole.  That way I get out of her way and she can do her part.  I'm not sure if it was that or whatever Sarah was also working on, but the Rumba Crosses are now working for the most part.  Moving past the Rumba Cross, the Running Right Turn is still a little shaky.  I don't think I'm truly leading Sarah to do a heel turn into it.  We're still relying on her to fabricate it on her own.  On the bright side, the Closed Impetus after it is working beautifully now as well.  Sarah is no longer falling on top of me or holding me back.

We ended with a little Foxtrot lead and follow.  I'm trying to mix up the routines when I do this.  Both to throw Sarah off and also to make sure I can get back on track.  I find it's quite tiring to lead and follow in an open room.  It's much easier when it's crowded.  Probably because the situation will dictate what you can and can't do.  I think this aspect of our competition game is ready.  We shouldn't have any traffic problems.

What can I say, some days you just nail it!