Baking, dancing, riding, not all at once

I really need a class notepad. Can hardly remember what we did last night. It’s even worse as a follow in a class with good leads; the brain can’t help but switch off and go into lindy auto-pilot.

Level 2

1. Starting with 6-beat triple steps, tuck-turn, catch follow by the arm, back in to a 8-beat swingout. Extra spin on the end for either follow or lead.
2. Little time-filler impro variations for the guys and girls, applejacks and fishtails.
3. Barrel rolls.. at least that’s what I know them as. Start in open, lead brings follow’s arm and shoulder down towards him as he steps away, creating space for follow to come in. Lead raises arm over head to allow follow to turn against his back, both facing away from each other, completes it, end in open.

Level 2 afterthoughts

• I thought adding the extra spin or 2 was always a lead-initiated move. Looks like I have a new thing to play with!
• Don’t know if its me or if leads keep raising my arm too high above my head in the barrel rolls; i feel as though I’m about to take off, keep having to do this one on tippy toes.

Level 3

1. ‘Shouts’ — Swingout into open and into side-by side, rocking back and forth on heel then ball of foot, arms swinging free. Little variations in between such as little frog jumps and and follow or lead-led spins as the arms swing back.
2. Texas Tommy with a bit of a pop at the end in crosshand, pull follow back in for a hop-skip-jump back and a little frog-jump at the end of desired.
3. Side-by-side charleston, variations such as a little hip bump and lead slipping right leg behind follows left for a bit of a lift on 5.

Level 3 afterthoughts

• Kneepads. Want. When one of leads tried to lead me on a spin during the Shouts, I was caught completely off guard and face-planted. Well. Who needs a sense of balance then?
• Apparently need to keep my arms more relaxed if initiating the spin. Another lead suggested that I follow my body instead of paying attention to where the arm’s swinging, which makes sense. Focusing on my arms made it a weapon instead.
• I’m still anticipating anything that involves air-time and placing a little weight on the lead. None of me is convinced that I can rely on my lead to take any of my weight, therefore I either don’t commit to the move or anticipate it. My own cross to bear.
• Doing fast lindy: never done it in my life and it totally bamboozles me. I know the leads need to make footwork adjustments for quicker lindy, but does the follow’s footwork change much? I asked Matt after class and he confirmed this, reckons that follows need to maintain their swivels. Both will take smaller steps and the lead may bring the follow closer in. I remember one lead’s hold on my back getting closer and tighter. Steph confirmed similar. Hmm. Must investigate. And practise.
• This is the first Level 3 class I’ve done since the last one which left me licking my wounds. I know that classes are meant to be where you bear your vulnerabilities and learn, but by the same token, one of the prerequisites of this class is a level of social dance understanding that I hadn’t achieved at that point. And after tonight, I think I’m a few steps closer now.

Social dancing

• Managed, for the first time, to spin on one foot in a turn. Progress! Now for multiples!
• Almost successfully followed ochos, but by sight rather than feel. Frame, darling, frame, maintain it.

Tonight we’re having a lab session at Helen’s, a chance away from classes and the social floor to nut out what we’ve learnt as well as to experiment and improvise. No doubt aided by beer and chips.

I’d like to credit Blues dance for strengthening my general swing skills more than any number of weekly classes ever will.

But perhaps it was really the workshop environment that I should thank, virtual hothouse that it was. Hothouse in a literal sense too, so we all discovered during Blues Before Sunrise over the Queen’s Birthday weekend, all covered in sticky films of exertion. Mmm, sticky films of exertion.

I wore something thick and longer-sleeved on the first day, thinking, “It’s cold, and yeah, blues, it’s all slow-moving, easy stuff. No effort required.”

But by the end of it, I’d focussed so hard on my core and every nuance of movement that I soon trickled to the floor in my own puddle of exertive film.

4.30 pm found both Penny and I crumpled on the ballroom floor at Forever Dance, gawking at each other like two exhausted camels, tongues hanging out, ready to go home for a hosing-down and a bag of feed. And, in my case, quite prepared to take the rest of class in my nudie rudies.

It was, after all, 12 hours of workshops; virtually 8 to 12 weeks of classes condensed into 2 days. Not to mention the 24 hours of social dancing every night, between Friday and Monday, for those who wanted a virtual petri dish to test their new knowledge in.

I’d therefore have reason to worry if I didn’t notice some semblance of improvement in my dancing. Which I did. As did friends who I danced with afterwards.

Some things I took away from the weekend:

• You can dance the same move with 10 different leads, and every one of them has his or her own way of executing it.
• Likewise, you can lead the same move on 10 different follows, and each brings its own results.
• Maintain control of core, and almost everything else will follow: balance, frame etc.
• I have to learn to watch my lead like a hawk. I love watching follows on the social floor who made it look so easy that they were virtually doing it with their eyes closed. Naive me didn’t realise that they were actually switched on 110%, and that a lot of effort went into making it look effortless and playful.
• The technical class before Sunday night’s Viva Cabaret social made the frame-matching penny drop. It taught me that communicating back to my lead that didn’t always stem from physical contact initiated by him. It wasn’t all about just feeling it through the body. I had to remember to watch his body and basically monkey-see, monkey-do. Bloody basic and obvious, come to think of it, but it’s taken this long for the heavens to open and shine the swing light down upon me because I’ve always approached social dancing with terror, which means EYES CLOSED.
• Leads respond a lot better to this mimicking as well. Well, most do. It puts my body in the same position as theirs, and therefore better prepared to follow the next move. Not to mention the cool factor of Dave getting a kick out of me copying his little shimmies and Sai looking delighted that I too was a fan of his ‘Monkey Blues’, low-hanging arms and all.
• Communication, communication, communication. I remember why I love swing so much. I love that it’s just another form of conversation. Sometimes you ask the right questions and the other person’s personality shines forth in their response. And everyone has a different, interesting story to tell; half the fun is extricating that story in a pleasurable manner for the both parties.