Attendee: Sharron
We had an amazing lesson today. It's beyond words. The power of good dancing is beyond words.
Now that I've had a glance of the essence of dancing, I can't settle for anything less. It is one of the very rare moments in life, that I know so clearly that this is something that I want. To dance with such subtly and content. This is why I wanted to dance in the first place, and why I am addicted to no end.
The two thing we were focusing on today was
1. Feel the extension/shaping coming from the foot, starting from pressing the foot, to knee, hip, one vertebrate at a time to shoulder, finally head. Before doing this though, need to feel vertical, balanced and connected to the floor.
Some people say that they think Standard is boring, not sexy, etc. That is because they have never felt this kind of movement, connection.
2. awareness: on every 10% of weight change, be aware of what is happening, and what I am trying to do. It is the awareness that the teacher is teaching. I already have the ability to do lots of the stuff, it is being aware of when to do what is the harder part. But this can be practiced alone effectively. just check every 10% of weight change, what is it that I should be doing.
3. what distinguishes the good dancers is that they look comfortable on the floor, at ease, relaxed. It's not about the grand shape etc, but that they are at home on the floor.
Then we try to put these into the waltz Natural spin turn.
1. from the prep step to 3 to the first step of natural turn. during the & before the 1, already need to think of move the left knee forward to prepare for the swing/sway of the next step. This way, it is connected to the next step, not separated.
2. from 2 to 3. rise to close the left foot.
3. At the end of the natural turn from 2 to 3 of the next step (spin turn). feel the pressure from the foot to press against the floor, then effect triple up to the knee, hip, body, one vertebrate at a time to move the head in the end.
Exercise to do at home.
1. While dancing alone, try to check where the weight and balance are, whether I am connected to the floor. then think of what to do.
2. stand on the floor, feel the internal pressure going from the bottom up.
Some notes from lesson on 8/26/2010Attendee: Sharron and Daniel
1. How does the follower figure out when and how much turn to do on the second step of the spin turn? Sharron need to monitor where the leader's right hip is.
2. On every right turning figure (such as natural turn), Sharron need the kind of shaping that is like stretching toward the left elbow. And this shaping need to come from the base, not just the shoulder. Try to applying this shaping in Waltz natural turn first, then think of applying it in the feather step of Foxtrot as well.
3. Always move from the base. The moving of the upper body is a consequence of the movement of the base. The base is the driving wheel.
We had an amazing lesson today. It's beyond words. The power of good dancing is beyond words.
Now that I've had a glance of the essence of dancing, I can't settle for anything less. It is one of the very rare moments in life, that I know so clearly that this is something that I want. To dance with such subtly and content. This is why I wanted to dance in the first place, and why I am addicted to no end.
The two thing we were focusing on today was
1. Feel the extension/shaping coming from the foot, starting from pressing the foot, to knee, hip, one vertebrate at a time to shoulder, finally head. Before doing this though, need to feel vertical, balanced and connected to the floor.
Some people say that they think Standard is boring, not sexy, etc. That is because they have never felt this kind of movement, connection.
2. awareness: on every 10% of weight change, be aware of what is happening, and what I am trying to do. It is the awareness that the teacher is teaching. I already have the ability to do lots of the stuff, it is being aware of when to do what is the harder part. But this can be practiced alone effectively. just check every 10% of weight change, what is it that I should be doing.
3. what distinguishes the good dancers is that they look comfortable on the floor, at ease, relaxed. It's not about the grand shape etc, but that they are at home on the floor.
Then we try to put these into the waltz Natural spin turn.
1. from the prep step to 3 to the first step of natural turn. during the & before the 1, already need to think of move the left knee forward to prepare for the swing/sway of the next step. This way, it is connected to the next step, not separated.
2. from 2 to 3. rise to close the left foot.
3. At the end of the natural turn from 2 to 3 of the next step (spin turn). feel the pressure from the foot to press against the floor, then effect triple up to the knee, hip, body, one vertebrate at a time to move the head in the end.
Exercise to do at home.
1. While dancing alone, try to check where the weight and balance are, whether I am connected to the floor. then think of what to do.
2. stand on the floor, feel the internal pressure going from the bottom up.
Some notes from lesson on 8/26/2010Attendee: Sharron and Daniel
1. How does the follower figure out when and how much turn to do on the second step of the spin turn? Sharron need to monitor where the leader's right hip is.
2. On every right turning figure (such as natural turn), Sharron need the kind of shaping that is like stretching toward the left elbow. And this shaping need to come from the base, not just the shoulder. Try to applying this shaping in Waltz natural turn first, then think of applying it in the feather step of Foxtrot as well.
3. Always move from the base. The moving of the upper body is a consequence of the movement of the base. The base is the driving wheel.
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