Here we are again.Let's say you've conquered the correct timing, posture, and footwork for a dance.
WHAT ELSE COULD THERE POSSIBLY BE?!
Well, if you ever want to be more than an average dancer (definition: an adequate social dancer; more talented than a beginner, but less talented than some one who wins), there are many, many things.
Characteristics of the Dance
If you're in a huge heat of dancers, the first three areas of critique are MUY IMPORTANTE. They are necessary. But once you're getting down to quarterfinals and semifinals, I want to see some extras:
Physical Characteristics
body flight in the swing dances (God, no, not like West Coast and Lindy; WALTZ, FOXTROT, AND VIENNESE... because they have swing... and sway)
no body flight in Tango
Latin motion in Rumba
hip swing in (wait for it) Swing
blah blah blah [read: I'm not your teacher {maybe?!}; get thee some learnin']
Performance Characteristics
romantic looks/gestures in Rumba, Bolero
sass in Foxtrot
unadulterated joy in Viennese
blah blah blah [see above]
NOTE: these characteristics have to enhance your already established correct timing, posture, and footwork.
Please do not work the pyramid top to bottom.
Pretty please?
One year ago: LLLL, in which I predict the ownership of books.
- [Monday of last week] Am I in a time warp? Is it an hour earlier than I thought? Or an hour later?
Damn you, DLS.
- What was I just doing? Where's my coffee? Oh, I drank it all? Why does it smell like bread? I'm making bread?
I'm not pregnant, I just sound like I am. I have some serious short-term memory loss going on. Spring fever?
- Are people just now realizing the Nazis stole stuff? Googling my favorite curators, there are 3 full pages of results citing articles containing outrage over "discovering" the Nazis stole art and then HID IT. I know there's that movie with that premise, but REALLY? JUST NOW?
Note: the Nazis were bad.
- Unintended consequence of not eating out for Lent: dirty dishes. OH GOD, THE DISHES. So many dishes. Like, ALL THE TIME.
- Quote of the week:
It is deeply satisfying to win a prize in front of a lot of people.
--- E.B. White "Charlotte's Web"
- Recipes of the week:
Black Bean and Quinoa Enchilada Bake - if you need an overwhelming amount of food and something vegetarian, this would be it. It was very tasty and flavorful on its own, but I'm going to throw some ground beef in it and make 73 burritos instead.
Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken) - crock pot-style, yo. My favorite Indian dish in bulk form. YES. It's spicy, easy to make, and almost tastes like the imcomparable India Palace.
How's your weeK? Isn't it fun to use the "shift" key at the wrong time?
One oftens hears that there are "frame" judges and there are "feet" judges; judges that look up, judges that look down; top or bottom judges, you might say.
Big picture, little picture, I say.
Your frame and posture is evident before you walk on the floor. Your footwork shows me how you move on the floor.
Footwork is a symptom. It's an indicator of leg swing, rise and fall, control of movement, proper use of your joints, flexibility, and interest in DETAILS. As I'm looking at your feet, I'm really measuring how much you learned (and retained) from your education.
As usual, there's a scale on which you can perform footwork:
If you're starting your journey of ballroom dancing, you need to know what part of your foot to use when. Like, verbatim. Doing the proper footwork will help you do other techniques correctly. Once you "get good", footwork just happens. But until then:
knowledge + practice = footwork
One year ago: LLLL, in which I stand up for respectfulness.
- I have always hated the actual post title associated with the LLLL acronym. It's so vomitously cheesy and trite. I did like the alliteration because alliteration, onomatopoeia, and euphemisms are awesome.
- want some CSS code written? I can do that. Want to know how thick 1/8" is? I can't do that.
If you've looked at the ye olde blog on yer mobile, you might have noticed how the post title was all up in the categories' grill. Typepad's customer service got right back to me when I asked about it, instructing me to change my custom CSS to [blah blah blah]. Sadly, I jumped right into my coding pants and wrote that up.
Later, while making crackers, the recipe instructed me to roll the dough out to 1/8". I guessed and boy, did I have some puffy, not crunchy crackers.
- Zoo made her first real joke. We often play a game around mealtimes that goes like this:
Me: I'm Zoo.
Zoo: I'm Mama.
Me: I'm Zoo.
Zoo: No, I'm Zoo.
[ad nauseum]
The other girls sometimes get in on it, as does The G. G often adds impressions. Zoo was not impressed with his impressions, got mad at him, stopped playing the game, and maybe cried a little. Yet, the next morning, she's sitting in bed with me, looks over at G, and says, "Zella has a mustache."
- People have pinned my shit! And said nice things about it! WHAT?!
- Do I really need to take down all the photos that aren't mine? I regularly imagine nightmare scenarios where people aren't nice about it. I've heard the horror stories and sadly, I know too well how litigation works. Copyright infringement. Lawyers - go.
- Portishead is bad ass. If you need more proof, the ad that plays before the might would be it.
- Among other things for Lent, I started doing a project called "40 bags in 40 days", where you give a bag of stuff away each day. It is cathartic and calming to get rid of all the extra.
- That project reminded me of how I want to burn my old journals. The G and some other people expressed disbelief about this, thinking they'd be a memento or piece of posterity to hand down. Let me tell you: I don't want anyone reading them. They're not a lovely reminiscing of my childhood; they are melodramatic rantings.
BURN THEM.
If anyone else is interested in a cleansing ceremony, I'll be having one in Spring. (And by "ceremony", I mean that there will be wine and fire involved.)
- Going through my crafty corner today, I noticed that I really got my money out of my Crochet Today subscription. I am giving away most of my issues because I made everything already.
Zucchini Brownies - I don't know where the zucchini is hiding, because they just taste like brownies
- Quote of the week:
Today, perhaps particularly in the West, there is a widespread tendency to regard suffering as an undesirable, and potentially curable, manifestation of life. [It is] neither undesirable nor avoidable.
(excerpt from Beethoven: His Life and Music by Jeremy Siepmann)
*love*
How are things? Have you seen the harbingers of spring? Are you excited? Have you whipped out your shorts?
I gave you an overview of some basic criteria of ballroom dancing judging and how good timing might be the most important factor to show. I'm still a little surprised that I didn't use posture as the base of the pyramid, but let's face it: if you dance off the music, I'm not marking you.
Now there's posture. Posture is SO CRAZY IMPORTANT. Posture, or carriage, informs basically everything you do. Your frame, your leg action, your head position: all based on posture. It's also the most complex.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you how to stand up from here.
With problems from the common lordosis, to kyphosis and scoliosis (but Joanna Leunis has that, so... what's your excuse?), and muscle underuse or even atrophy, the spine and its surrounding muscles can be quite the puzzle to piece together into a beautiful picture.
Basically everyone needs to strengthen their core and loosen up their spine to be able to move correctly. I'm currently obsessed with the Runner's World workout The New Core Curriculum. It seemed a little weird to find the perfect ballroom dance workout in my fav running mag, but GO DO IT. Do Pilates, yoga, Gyrokinesis, Egoscue, stand against a wall, do some lat pull-downs, crunch a set of sit-ups, DO IT. DO IT EVERYDAY.
Once you've gained some flexibility and muscles, there's always the classic "stand up straight" but what does that mean when you're attached to that nerd across from you? A mere STFU [Stand The F Up] doesn't cover counterbalancing, connection, forward poise, and an actual vertical spine. This is where that whole "learning" thing comes in. Get thee some personalized education, lovelies.
