Tag: waltz

Learning to Lead

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I did something different in this past week’s ballroom lesson: I learned to lead! Traditionally, men lead and women follow in the ballroom dances. However, it’s very common outside of the U.S. to see female couples competing in ballroom, especially in younger or more beginner levels, simply because there aren’t enough boys to act as partners. You see my soul sister Fran leading in group classes and on the competition floor in the classic movie Strictly Ballroom.

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Why learn to lead?

First of all, it’s a fun challenge to reverse roles as a ballroom dancer! I’ve always had an interest in learning the leader role of ballroom dances because only learning the follower role meant I was only really learning half of the dance. Learning what your partner needs to do and what they need you to do creates a better understanding of the partnership as a whole, which can only lead to a better connection and more enjoyable dancing together. Understanding how to cue a lead can also help you recognize when someone else is trying to cue you as a follower.

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Dancing in Multiple Directions

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I left the house to go dancing three days this week. It almost felt reminiscent of pre-pandemic life, except the variety of dance here is much greater. It’s a different experience working on different dances through the week instead of continuously building on my ballroom skills. My personal dance world is expanding as I learn and practice different styles. I’m getting to meet different people who all love to dance, but in different ways. It feels a little aimless, but as you’ll find out, I’m feeling better about that aspect.

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A Wintry Waltz

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Reminder: Today is your last chance to register for the Find Your Confidence on the Dance Floor challenge, hosted by The Girl with the Tree Tattoo and Dance Dress Couture! You can sign up here.

While everyone else took their holiday vacations around Christmas and New Year’s, I decided to do my work while the (virtual) office was quiet and take the first week of January off. I must say, it’s been a great week! I got to meet a local dance studio owner while delivering an order of Choreography Journals, I worked on next week’s email challenge, and I got to go to Zumba twice. I also had plenty of time to rest and recharge. I wish every week could feel as balanced!

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Progress Doesn’t Always Go Forward

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I was a little frustrated with my dancing this past week. After a breakthrough the week before and feeling like I was understanding more about why my body hurt while dancing and how to fix it, I went home from Tuesday’s lesson with my back aching in that old trouble spot. We were working on Foxtrot, and I thought I employed the same tweaks as the week before that made my movement in Waltz so much more powerful and less painful. Apparently not, or at least not with the same results. Thursday, we returned to Waltz and while I felt like I made some minor progress, my back was still aching.

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Reflecting on the Year of WTF is Happening

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I had the opportunity to apply some upgraded technique to my Open Waltz routine this week. Well, maybe I should say I learned that I needed to apply less. I have a tendency to do too much because I think I’m not doing enough. This week, I learned I was rotating way too much in a slip pivot, which then put me at the wrong angle for my heel pull, which then threw me off for the steps coming out of the heel pull. All that was corrected beautifully when I just stopped trying to do so much. Less was more.

Life continues to be really weird, so it was nice to have a moment when things actually made sense.

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Dancing Back Into Society: The First Dance Lesson

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Happy Fourth of July, dancers! Does it feel different to anyone else? Well, to be fair, every day of 2020 feels different than the years before. But this Independence Day in particular feels significant because it follows a month of protests and demonstrations over the fact that so many citizens of this country still don’t enjoy the freedoms that this country is so proud of.

The energy has quieted down on my social media feeds as people return to their “regularly scheduled programming” after expressing support or solidarity for social justice for a week or so. And now it’s Independence Day! It feels like a prime opportunity/symbolic transition point to commit long term to evolving into a better country that believes that all are created equal (no qualifier necessary).

For my part, I’m continuing to work to evolve into a better dancer and person overall. As we go through this series, I’ll share different parts of my vision for my future self. Something that the last few months has made me recognize (and I can’t remember if I’ve already shared this with you) is that our ballroom bubble is an illusion.

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A Sunday Morning Waltz

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It’s been two and a half weeks since my last dance lesson, which was also the last time I danced ballroom at all. Being busy with other things, like driving across country, Thanksgiving, blog- and book-related work, and the day job (yes, still working the day job!), has helped keep the withdrawal symptoms tolerable. The Zumba game has helped too; I think it’s going to be my ticket to avoiding too much holiday weight gain in the next month. But finally, this morning, I broke out my ballroom practice shoes.

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