Fluke Dancing: When You "Accidentally" Nail It

Part: Follow

Dances: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep

Hovers: 1

Yesterday evening was our final review day. Jeff was threatening to come down with a cold and I was really tired, so practice had less energy than normal, but we did manage to work on a few things. Jeff feels quite confident now with all of the choreography, so we worked on the back open promenade in tango, because the shaping and rotation felt off, and then going in and out of promenade throughout that whole tricky section. Something was strange about the oversway too. Basically we reviewed those sections lots of times, slower, and faster, and tried to get a feel for where we each needed to be. Sometimes I went too far outside partner, so I worked on staying closer so he wouldn't lose me and so I wouldn't get stuck, though sometimes his right elbow would get too far back and I had a hard time staying where I needed to be. We had to laugh though, because it seems like whenever I bring up some problem or issue I'm feeling with the lead or his position, Jeff protests that there's nothing wrong and dances it just to prove it to me, of course fixing whatever the problem was in the process.

Then he'll say, "See? What's wrong?"

And I'll return, "Of course...NOW it's fine. What did you do differently?"

And he'll say, "Nothing. It's always been good."

Whatever works, right? I can usually tell by a certain mischievous glint in his eye that I actually had been on to something...but of course he can't admit that. Then again, last night, Jeff thought it appropriate to remind me of that one day when we decided that once and for all we'd fix our fallaway-reverse-slip-pivot of doom in waltz because it was so awful, only to nail it time after time...proving that I'm not a good judge of these things. But we both knew and admitted that section was awful and that day was a sort of a weird fluke, so after laughing about our sudden and unexpected bursts of good dancing, we got back to tango.

Jeff thought it would be a good idea (or funny, or mean, or something) to see how low into the knees he could go in preparation for tango with me in frame. He kind of forgot that I also have pretty strong legs and that tango frame is kind of hard to hold up when you get that low...needless to say we both ended up sitting on the floor laughing as the whole thing collapsed, providing an entertaining spectacle for the foxtrot class right next to us.

We also reviewed a bit of quickstep and foxtrot choreography, just to make sure it was fresh in our minds, and ended with a foxtrot, by my request. Though not the most lively and energetic practice, I think we've been making a good first week of it after such a long break. Tonight, it's Aria's weekly practice party!

Why is it so easy?

Part: Follow

Dances: Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Quickstep

Hovers: 2

Last night's practice was more review at Aria Ballroom. Although the floor is still very slow and a bit sticky, I do like the secure feeling I get dancing on it. The one goofy thing is that every time I drag my heel crosswise against the floor boards I get that clickety-click noise as my heel tip goes over the floor seams. I can tell that my brand new suede leather heel protectors are going to wear off very fast!

Anyways, we nailed down the last bit of our quickstep, which was really the more outstanding issue, as well as the rest of the foxtrot. I've slacked dangerously in my memory of our routines; but at the same time I think it's helped my following. Still, I was able to help Jeff remember some of the timing issues in tango and a little bit at the end of quickstep.

One thing Jeff commented on was how the last bit of our quickstep felt so much easier than we both remember it. It used to be one of the worst spots, I always thought. I don't know how, but we just kind of slid in and out of the quick open reverse into reverse pivots into double reverse with no problem really, and barely any strain on our frame...not usual at all. Personally, I think it has something to do with the timing of our shapes. I was turning my head at all the appropriate junctures and not dropping my side, and Jeff was shaping in a way that made sense for the turn, and we matched! Amazing what that can do. I did posit that perhaps we only think we're better because we've been away from it so long that we don't realize how bad we are, but Jeff disagreed. Our dancing has improved, for sure...at least as a couple. I'm inclined to agree. Even after switching from practice hold to full frame, it was still working, so we must have been doing something right. I'd say that my overall observation is that we move much better together than we used to; everything seems more in sync. I'm more docile to the lead but also confident enough to do something with it, he's more nuanced with the leading and doesn't drag or shove me around. But perhaps I speak too soon. Maybe yesterday was just a good day.

Practice consisted of reviewing the four routines, and by the end we were feeling pretty solid with them. Next up will be tackling some of our known technical problems.

Fallaway Foot Finish

Part: Follow

Dances: Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Nightclub 2-step

Hovers: 2

Last night was our first practice as such since the Christmas holiday, and our first practice at Aria Ballroom! We decided that this week had better be review week, since our dancing has lately only been on the social floor, we don't necessarily ever dance our routines all the way through, and perhaps were in danger of having forgotten them. As it turns out, we remembered the waltz and tango just fine (and Viennese hardly counts), but foxtrot took a little review, and quickstep is still not quite all there. Then again, those last two dances have longer routines (3 longs sides and 3 short sides each), so that would make sense. Other than some stupid fumbles on my part in tango, I'd say we've held it together okay. Probably right now we're somewhat oblivious to some of the gross technical errors we're making, but at the same time I think the time off and the more frequent social dancing has, at least personally, made the dancing looser and more relaxed, in a good way. e

I titled this post after a figure name that Jeff blurted out with when he was trying to say something about a fallaway reverse slip pivot and feather finish. Over the time off, I ended loosing a good deal of my syllabus "nerdom" and am not as quick with the figure names as I used to be, but since Jeff was not international syllabus born and bred as I was, he often invents creative names for figures, like "worm-in-the-box," "fallaway-foot-finish," and yesterday, something like "double-super-spinny-thing" for double reverse. Anyways, we had some laughs over our communication breakdowns there. All in all though, we made some headway with remembering the routines, and we ended with the nightclub 2-step, which still feels great. Our friend Ed was hovering around with a video camera, apparently, just to keep it low pressure, you know?

Triple Threat

Part: Follow

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

Hovers: 3 or 4?

Aria Ballroom is hosting four dance parties per week, and this month they are all free, so you could say I'm taking advantage of the situation. Since I've been to three dance parties since my last post and danced with Jeff at all of them, I'm combining them into one post since in some respects they're running together in my mind.

After the Thursday practice party in the post below, we had the Friday night salsa party. This was preceded by a huge salsa class, which Jeff mostly led. I jumped in as a lead or follow depending on what was needed during any given rotation. The music for the dance that followed was mostly salsa, with a bit of bachata and some other Latin music thrown in. I didn't dance a whole lot during the dance, though Jeff and I danced one salsa, and I danced a rumba with Peter, one of the Aria teachers and a competitive Latin dancer. This party wound down a bit earlier, and in the end just Jackie and Lorenzo and Jeff and I were left. I had slipped on my standard shoes and started practicing a bit by myself in a corner, so when it was only the four of us left, Jeff decided to play a nightclub 2-step and a waltz so that we could all "warm down." We still really like nightclub 2-step, probably our best dance...but then again, it's the easiest of all. Anyhow, afterwards we had to check out this new self-serve frozen yogurt place that had just opened that day only minutes away. It was so good, especially when tired, hot, and hungry from dancing, and we predicted that the Aria dance crowd will be returning often in the future.

Saturday is Aria's ballroom dance party. It's intended to be the largest party of the four and features a wide variety of dance music. As it turned out, there was a great showing for this party, about 50 people in total, plus, the intro classes beforehand were well attended as well. Everyone had a great time and the music was a lot of fun (of course!). I believe Jeff and I managed to hit all of our standard dances at least briefly, though we didn't make it through in quickstep. Surprisingly, considering that we haven't practiced in so long, it's feeling pretty decent. I think what's held up the best is our movement; we're covering a lot of ground and our control seems pretty good. I think I'm following pretty well too. It's gotten to the point for me now that I really don't worry about anything having to do with lead-and-follow anymore, I just do my best to come-with and stay-with and move smoothly. I don't know if Jeff's noticed it, but I have fewer freak out "thinking" moments when we're dancing; really, I have no reason to anymore. We danced the last waltz on Saturday night, which was a very long and slow one, and really kept it together well. To top it all off, apparently Kora said that our waltz looks "legit." Of course, she had to qualify later with, "It looked a lot better than I was expecting," but still, we'll take what we can get! And the best part? We're starting up practice again this week!

Sunday night was Aria's first West Cost Swing party. There wasn't huge turn out for this one, but I did get to dance a bit and help out some newcomers. I'm getting a better feel for how the connection and rhythm work, but I still need to work a lot on my turns and balance. Jeff and I also danced a couple of nightclub 2-steps...always fun. Some of the swing dancers were commenting that they'd never seen nightclub move that much...we laughed and Jeff explained about how he likes to incorporate traveling steps from various smooth dances when he gets a chance. Really, how can you not love foxtrot and contra-checks, wherever they happen to show up? After getting to dance quite a bit considering that it was a West Coast Swing dance and it was me dancing (not a WC dancer by any stretch) I ended up leaving a bit early, before the dance ended, since I was pretty tired from the full weekend plus the daylight savings time change. If all goes according to plan, the next post should cover a practice session. Yes...I have missed it. A lot.