Late Write-up
It's been such a busy few days, but now I finally have time to sit down and write up the last lesson. Of course, it's been long enough that I've forgotten some things. (Most things?)
What I do remember is the sense of frustration. This time around is being difficult. Tanis is throwing a lot at us, and while some of us are up to it, some of us are getting lost. I find that some of the steps, while certainly not difficult, they go by so fast that I don't have time to figure out what is happening. Actually, the steps are nothing new, and I know how to do them. But I don't have the looseness and the facility to do them quickly yet, nor do I seem to have the ability to hold the sequence in memory long enough to get through it.
Anyway, there is the ending of the Honi Coles Stroll, that I think I have down more or less, but trying to get my legs and feet to just do it, and not think about it, is a challenge. I find I miss something, and then I'm either playing catch-up or waiting for a spot to jump back into it.
But I can still pull off the spinning cramp roll move. That's cool! Cramp rolls are one of those things that's easy to get, but hard to do right. Throwing the spin in seems to even out the heel drops, and it actually sounds pretty even.
One move that's totally new the last couple of weeks, is what I think is called the pass cramp roll, which allows the weight shift so you can switch feet to reverse another move - a sort of transition move.
A cramp roll is a quick toe-toe-heel-heel, left-right-left-right (or right-left-right-left) move, it's done really fast and sounds neat when done right, but to me it always looks awkward, even by the pros. Maybe that's why it's called a cramp roll, as it cramps four sounds into a single beat. With the pass cramp roll, the sequence of heel drops is reversed so the weight can shift. On top of that the first toe step is preceded by a brush.
Much of what trips me up, I think, is the reversal of sequences that can precede or follow a weight shift. Things like the left-right-left-right that suddenly goes left-right-right-left, to turn things around.
The Stroll is done to Take the A-Train, and I think we use the original Duke Ellington recording. Then there's the Astaire dance, and I think Tanis may have adapted it from one of his performances in the movie Shall We Dance, or she may have just borrowed some of the moves and put them together in her own creation. I think the music we're using is the C-Jam Blues (another Ellington hit), which opens with few short burst of piano. It's the piano burst that we dance to; the rests between bursts are rest for us. And again, it comes so fast, that I end up mostly kind of shuffling and hoping my feet sort of end up the same as everyone elses.
I'm certain I could master it all with practice, but there's the rub. Time to practice, and place, are hard to find sometimes. (Sometimes it's just an energy deficit)
For now, I'll keep plugging away, and keep faith that I'll eventually master this stuff. At the moment I plan on repeating Tap 1 when it comes around again next year. Repetition is the key. And I'll hold on to the fact that for all the frustration of it, it's still a heck of a lot of fun, and a great way to meet new people.
What I do remember is the sense of frustration. This time around is being difficult. Tanis is throwing a lot at us, and while some of us are up to it, some of us are getting lost. I find that some of the steps, while certainly not difficult, they go by so fast that I don't have time to figure out what is happening. Actually, the steps are nothing new, and I know how to do them. But I don't have the looseness and the facility to do them quickly yet, nor do I seem to have the ability to hold the sequence in memory long enough to get through it.
Anyway, there is the ending of the Honi Coles Stroll, that I think I have down more or less, but trying to get my legs and feet to just do it, and not think about it, is a challenge. I find I miss something, and then I'm either playing catch-up or waiting for a spot to jump back into it.
But I can still pull off the spinning cramp roll move. That's cool! Cramp rolls are one of those things that's easy to get, but hard to do right. Throwing the spin in seems to even out the heel drops, and it actually sounds pretty even.
One move that's totally new the last couple of weeks, is what I think is called the pass cramp roll, which allows the weight shift so you can switch feet to reverse another move - a sort of transition move.
A cramp roll is a quick toe-toe-heel-heel, left-right-left-right (or right-left-right-left) move, it's done really fast and sounds neat when done right, but to me it always looks awkward, even by the pros. Maybe that's why it's called a cramp roll, as it cramps four sounds into a single beat. With the pass cramp roll, the sequence of heel drops is reversed so the weight can shift. On top of that the first toe step is preceded by a brush.
Much of what trips me up, I think, is the reversal of sequences that can precede or follow a weight shift. Things like the left-right-left-right that suddenly goes left-right-right-left, to turn things around.
The Stroll is done to Take the A-Train, and I think we use the original Duke Ellington recording. Then there's the Astaire dance, and I think Tanis may have adapted it from one of his performances in the movie Shall We Dance, or she may have just borrowed some of the moves and put them together in her own creation. I think the music we're using is the C-Jam Blues (another Ellington hit), which opens with few short burst of piano. It's the piano burst that we dance to; the rests between bursts are rest for us. And again, it comes so fast, that I end up mostly kind of shuffling and hoping my feet sort of end up the same as everyone elses.
I'm certain I could master it all with practice, but there's the rub. Time to practice, and place, are hard to find sometimes. (Sometimes it's just an energy deficit)
For now, I'll keep plugging away, and keep faith that I'll eventually master this stuff. At the moment I plan on repeating Tap 1 when it comes around again next year. Repetition is the key. And I'll hold on to the fact that for all the frustration of it, it's still a heck of a lot of fun, and a great way to meet new people.
posted by Kelly at
5:22 PM
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