Entry tags:
Woo!
Happy Open Beta Day! Woo! :D
In.. about 14 hours or so, I should be the proud owner of a Seed account. :) I should also have plans to hang with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zorkian, janinedog and figure out what I'm doing while phoenixsong hangs out with synecdochic Sunday. Woo, and double woo! :D
(I'd hang out with D and others Sunday, except I'm not so much interested in the Stitch part of Stitch n Bitch ;) )
Yesterday was, except for a brief shining moment just before bad, kinda craptastic. Work sucked me totally dry (I'm mostly over that now, though. It just is...) and my brother decided to start some STUPID Internet Drama with my wife (I haven't figured out what, if anything, to do about it. I'm not sure it's worth it to get into it with him, but at the same time I'm sick of his Passive-Aggressive garbage and I haven't ever explained to him why certain things are...)
However, that brief shining moment... :D
We checked out of Bronze I. We were able to show that we knew what we were supposed to know to move forward into Bronze II. :D When I go in to Dance Practice tonight (K is staying home to snag a seed account, but I'm totally going), it will be as a Bronze II student. :D
Wow, though, was it scary. We were both a little freaked out to begin with, and neither of us was at our best due to the day's fun. We got there and were trying to relax, but.. not very successfully.
We warm up for a few minutes. Probably just a quick half-review of the things we need to do, as well as a chance to actually warm up and then Jessie shows up mid-foxtrot and we're off.
Let me start by saying they put us in the smallest room to check out. On one hand, that's good. It's private and the only person who walked in on us was an instructor, once. But it doesn't leave much room to actually move around, as we've trained to do. We've been trained to take big expansive steps in things like Foxtrot and Waltz and I can take a whole two, MAYBE three of those and then have to turn her or go into Promenade. The size of the room, while not an issue, was.. a constriction.
Mind you, if we're going to dance atzorkian's wedding, we'll be dealing with smaller spaces than THAT!
Anyways, so check out goes something like this..
For.. foxtrot, waltz, tango, rumba and cha-cha, we first need to just dance for what was probably 2 or 3 minutes. Just dance whatever you know. So I did everything that came to me... which meant alot of repeating and some showing off of Bronze II stuff we'd done for Freestyles, but it was in our repertoire so why not?
Then, from there, we do this individually. So, without a partner, I show off a left box turn in Waltz.
This, for those at home, is freaking weird. It's like... OK, imagine yourself typing. Now, take away your keyboard and imagine continue to attempt to type without the keyboard. Dancing without a partner is like that. Half of the action is missing, as well as the assurance that you did the right thing (because you can see the right thing being done. You did this, and she turned, thus you did it right.)
So... doing some things, such as underarm turn left in a Waltz which for me was the Waltz box twice but I drop one arm and left up a hand and then drop the hand and lift the arm up again to pick her up.. doing that without her was freakin' WEIRD.
And it definitely shook us a couple of times.
But then, as Jessie pointed out near the end.. when you're this nervous and this tense, you really get to see what you KNOW, what's been drilled so deeply into you that you don't HAVE to think about it.
Anyways, moving on, the Swing and Hustle we just did together. Just dance whatever you feel comfortable dancing and as long as you do the handful of things you need to show you can do, you're good to go. So.. I led K through EVERYTHING I knew.. In Swing, we did underarm turn left, underarm turn right, waist roll, walks and points, sweetheart, turning kicks.. I knew it, we did it. Same with Hustle.
And then, at the end of it, Jessie gives us her thoughts. Interspersed with some very nice encouragements ("Your foxtrot is great! your leg action is great!", "I'm really impressed with your tango. I remember when you went to the first group class.. five months ago? And you've come a long way. I especially love the foot drags. You're WRECKING the floor there.", and "I can honestly tell that swing is a favorite for you.") was some constructive criticism, phrased as things that Michael will work on with us and help us continue to develop. Things like posture ("You've made huge improvement since I first got here a few months back."), frame ("I feel like part of your problem is that you put your hand on her back a little too high, putting your frame out of balance and the both of you as well. Keep your hand down HERE on her lower shoulder and that should really help.") and other things (Michael had only recently, only during review reminded me to not cross my legs when I go into promenade. I forgot during checkout, being nervous. This is just one example of some of the minor things to work on. Nothing huge.)
We left feeling... exultant! We'd passed. We'd checked out. We had things to work on and most of these things were things we knew about already, and all of those things were things we could definitely get alot better at in the next nine months or so (approximate time it takes to get through a dance level is nine to ten months.)
So... here we are. :)
I don't remember the exact date we started Bronze I... It was after the wedding, officially.
But as of last night, April 29, 2009, we started Bronze II
So... what do we have to look forward to?
Alot of refinement. That's how Arthur Murray works, in general. They start off with the very basics, which is what we've learned in Newcomers and Bronze I and they build up on that.
Each dance has it's own feel, it's own motions, and it's own.. emotions. Bronze II, in short, will have us working to make each individual dance look... more like that dance should look.
In specific, we'll be adding cuban motion to our Latin dances, which will be, I think, our biggest challenge of Bronze II. We'll be completing our rise and fall action in Waltz, going all the way to our tiptoes, which will be new to us. it looks like we're going to work on control, balance, etc. alot more, and maneuverability, trying to get around a crowded dance floor. And some work on dealing with Tempo and Rhythm.
Oh, and add things to our repertoire as well. I mean, that goes without saying, right? ;)
*looks up* Spammy, ain't I? ;) Well, at least I cut out a big part of it. :D
In.. about 14 hours or so, I should be the proud owner of a Seed account. :) I should also have plans to hang with
zorkian, janinedog and figure out what I'm doing while phoenixsong hangs out with synecdochic Sunday. Woo, and double woo! :D(I'd hang out with D and others Sunday, except I'm not so much interested in the Stitch part of Stitch n Bitch ;) )
Yesterday was, except for a brief shining moment just before bad, kinda craptastic. Work sucked me totally dry (I'm mostly over that now, though. It just is...) and my brother decided to start some STUPID Internet Drama with my wife (I haven't figured out what, if anything, to do about it. I'm not sure it's worth it to get into it with him, but at the same time I'm sick of his Passive-Aggressive garbage and I haven't ever explained to him why certain things are...)
However, that brief shining moment... :D
We checked out of Bronze I. We were able to show that we knew what we were supposed to know to move forward into Bronze II. :D When I go in to Dance Practice tonight (K is staying home to snag a seed account, but I'm totally going), it will be as a Bronze II student. :D
Wow, though, was it scary. We were both a little freaked out to begin with, and neither of us was at our best due to the day's fun. We got there and were trying to relax, but.. not very successfully.
We warm up for a few minutes. Probably just a quick half-review of the things we need to do, as well as a chance to actually warm up and then Jessie shows up mid-foxtrot and we're off.
Let me start by saying they put us in the smallest room to check out. On one hand, that's good. It's private and the only person who walked in on us was an instructor, once. But it doesn't leave much room to actually move around, as we've trained to do. We've been trained to take big expansive steps in things like Foxtrot and Waltz and I can take a whole two, MAYBE three of those and then have to turn her or go into Promenade. The size of the room, while not an issue, was.. a constriction.
Mind you, if we're going to dance at
zorkian's wedding, we'll be dealing with smaller spaces than THAT!Anyways, so check out goes something like this..
For.. foxtrot, waltz, tango, rumba and cha-cha, we first need to just dance for what was probably 2 or 3 minutes. Just dance whatever you know. So I did everything that came to me... which meant alot of repeating and some showing off of Bronze II stuff we'd done for Freestyles, but it was in our repertoire so why not?
Then, from there, we do this individually. So, without a partner, I show off a left box turn in Waltz.
This, for those at home, is freaking weird. It's like... OK, imagine yourself typing. Now, take away your keyboard and imagine continue to attempt to type without the keyboard. Dancing without a partner is like that. Half of the action is missing, as well as the assurance that you did the right thing (because you can see the right thing being done. You did this, and she turned, thus you did it right.)
So... doing some things, such as underarm turn left in a Waltz which for me was the Waltz box twice but I drop one arm and left up a hand and then drop the hand and lift the arm up again to pick her up.. doing that without her was freakin' WEIRD.
And it definitely shook us a couple of times.
But then, as Jessie pointed out near the end.. when you're this nervous and this tense, you really get to see what you KNOW, what's been drilled so deeply into you that you don't HAVE to think about it.
Anyways, moving on, the Swing and Hustle we just did together. Just dance whatever you feel comfortable dancing and as long as you do the handful of things you need to show you can do, you're good to go. So.. I led K through EVERYTHING I knew.. In Swing, we did underarm turn left, underarm turn right, waist roll, walks and points, sweetheart, turning kicks.. I knew it, we did it. Same with Hustle.
And then, at the end of it, Jessie gives us her thoughts. Interspersed with some very nice encouragements ("Your foxtrot is great! your leg action is great!", "I'm really impressed with your tango. I remember when you went to the first group class.. five months ago? And you've come a long way. I especially love the foot drags. You're WRECKING the floor there.", and "I can honestly tell that swing is a favorite for you.") was some constructive criticism, phrased as things that Michael will work on with us and help us continue to develop. Things like posture ("You've made huge improvement since I first got here a few months back."), frame ("I feel like part of your problem is that you put your hand on her back a little too high, putting your frame out of balance and the both of you as well. Keep your hand down HERE on her lower shoulder and that should really help.") and other things (Michael had only recently, only during review reminded me to not cross my legs when I go into promenade. I forgot during checkout, being nervous. This is just one example of some of the minor things to work on. Nothing huge.)
We left feeling... exultant! We'd passed. We'd checked out. We had things to work on and most of these things were things we knew about already, and all of those things were things we could definitely get alot better at in the next nine months or so (approximate time it takes to get through a dance level is nine to ten months.)
So... here we are. :)
I don't remember the exact date we started Bronze I... It was after the wedding, officially.
But as of last night, April 29, 2009, we started Bronze II
So... what do we have to look forward to?
Alot of refinement. That's how Arthur Murray works, in general. They start off with the very basics, which is what we've learned in Newcomers and Bronze I and they build up on that.
Each dance has it's own feel, it's own motions, and it's own.. emotions. Bronze II, in short, will have us working to make each individual dance look... more like that dance should look.
In specific, we'll be adding cuban motion to our Latin dances, which will be, I think, our biggest challenge of Bronze II. We'll be completing our rise and fall action in Waltz, going all the way to our tiptoes, which will be new to us. it looks like we're going to work on control, balance, etc. alot more, and maneuverability, trying to get around a crowded dance floor. And some work on dealing with Tempo and Rhythm.
Oh, and add things to our repertoire as well. I mean, that goes without saying, right? ;)
*looks up* Spammy, ain't I? ;) Well, at least I cut out a big part of it. :D