![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Spying, Spinning, and Succeeding
Oct. 2nd, 2007 10:43 pmToday we went to some dance classes with a new teacher who was highly recommended. First, I will say that she is indeed good and does explain things well enough, including her philosophical differences with others, so that's nice, and we'll keep going.
There were three classes.
1) West coast swing - at this class I felt like an infiltrator, an enemy spy. I learned that the coaster step and the tap step are "no longer done" as a rule, though still often done as an exception. Her preferred partnership style is more like an accordion than like the flying buttresses on the Notre Dame in Paris, which feels less stable and less safe. (By this I mean that she wants to switch back and forth from leaning in towards each other to leaning away from each other instead of always leaning in.)
I'm trying to think of it as another language that I can learn in addition to the west coast swing I know now so that I become bilingual. The same way I can work a Mac and a PC.
2) Country and Western Two-Step - at this class I felt like a spinny top. I cannot turn every other measure for over 20 measures; my noggin is just not built for that. We entered this class at level II, even though we have had only one lesson, and we're struggling big time, but no one is kicking us out and it does not feel totally hopeless. But really, that much spinning by the follower with zero spinning by the leader is just not fair.
3) Country waltz - this is shockingly almost exactly like the waltz I know, though only at the upper levels; they never change weight with their feet together. We learned a step I've learned only once, so this will be all new to us, too. But even though this is also level II, we do belong here.
There were three classes.
1) West coast swing - at this class I felt like an infiltrator, an enemy spy. I learned that the coaster step and the tap step are "no longer done" as a rule, though still often done as an exception. Her preferred partnership style is more like an accordion than like the flying buttresses on the Notre Dame in Paris, which feels less stable and less safe. (By this I mean that she wants to switch back and forth from leaning in towards each other to leaning away from each other instead of always leaning in.)
I'm trying to think of it as another language that I can learn in addition to the west coast swing I know now so that I become bilingual. The same way I can work a Mac and a PC.
2) Country and Western Two-Step - at this class I felt like a spinny top. I cannot turn every other measure for over 20 measures; my noggin is just not built for that. We entered this class at level II, even though we have had only one lesson, and we're struggling big time, but no one is kicking us out and it does not feel totally hopeless. But really, that much spinning by the follower with zero spinning by the leader is just not fair.
3) Country waltz - this is shockingly almost exactly like the waltz I know, though only at the upper levels; they never change weight with their feet together. We learned a step I've learned only once, so this will be all new to us, too. But even though this is also level II, we do belong here.