how are your lessons going? thread II

Last lesson before USDC; went very well.

Had a wonderful lesson last night- worked on jive, chacha and foxtrot- so much to practice!

Had my first lesson in a very long time today. Went great, I've missed having new material to work with.

Getting anxious...no lessons in almost three weeks, haven't danced since USDC. Burned out on rhythm, but not ready to quit dancing. SO ready for the next phase! Lessons Monday...can't wait!!

That's exciting GGin! I haven't really danced since USDC either, had one post competiton review lesson of video, scores, etc, etc and did a little and then I went on a nice trip out of town!

Lessons today were fabulous. Danced smooth today for the first time in, well, months - and spent more focus and energy on it that I think I ever have in the almost 4 years I've been dancing. I'm truly excited about dancing for the first time in a very long time - spent a good three hours in lessons today and it wasn't nearly enough!

Doing a bunch of extra lessons in preparation for our studio's comp coming up next month. One thing I'm doing this week is taking some solo coaching with a male coach who is helping me with my leading. He's trying to "quiet down" a lot of my leads and take out unnecessary motion. Lately I've been feeling like I have to exert a lot of physical effort in order to lead, and we're working on some of that.

Got a royal buttwhuppin last night. In silver Am. waltz group class. That was a humbling experience.

First time in months that lessons were actually fun. I mean, they're always good but lately rarely FUN. Possibly because we have a rather lengthy break before our next comp and the pressure was off. Or maybe because we were playing with the open choreography to change some things that have been nagging. Either way, I'll take it!!!

Open Bolero with new pro finally coming together. Open cha, not so much...ugh, the whole choreo needs to be revamped OR i need a whole new bloody routine.

Gah! Sorry about the double post there!

Got to do all the fun stuff in smooth today- develope, pivots, oversways!!! I"m practically busting out of my seat right now I'm so excited!

Totally loving every second of it - truly excited about dancing for the first time in a long time. Finding it very ironic that I am thrilled to be overloaded with "homework". Smooth is definitely a more natural fit for me, except for the very minor (okay, not so minor) part where I have to un-learn years of deliberately training my body in latin motion. For some unfathomable reason (usually involving a lot of tripping, bumping of knees, and almost falling over), turnout, ribcage separation, and settling the hips don't seem to translate well into smooth.

Silver rumba and cha-cha under the new DVIDA syllabus are really coming together. The extra lessons I've been taking this month are helping a lot. Next week, spend some more time on the bolero.

Foxtrot is doing better too. Waltz and tango still need help. Oddly, Viennese waltz is where I've had the most success correcting the things my coaches have had me working on.

OMG new bigger frame. It hurts in a good way. It's forcing my back to stretch out instead of compressing itself and forcing me to use my abs more. Now to make it stick. lol

Really need to work on torso flexibility. An hour of smooth, with a big emphasis on body alignments, and now my ribcage is sore.