I have been doing heaps of cool dancing things though. For example, my friend from Northern Finland came to visit Helsinki and we had many great WCS practices. It did really good for me since my technique still sucks. Its way too zouky: I'm too light, can't keep my frame and I dance above the floor. I got some of those 'oh now I think I got it' realizations and now I have many ideas how to improve my technique and styling. If only I had a regular practice partner like him *dreamy sighs*.
Also, I finally went and tried some contact improvisation. I have been having some practices with one of my dancer friends before, but couple of weeks ago I got encouraged and went to my first class and CI jam. Hm, how would I describe it... A good experience definitely; I got good new ideas and had some great moments. I now feel more confident with lifts, giving and receiving weight, and working with the floor. Maybe the biggest obstacle for me, however, is the lack of music. Dancing has always been so music-related thing for me so dancing without music feels strange. I want to live the beat, dance through the melody and interpret the lyrics. In CI the focus is not in the music, but in the contact. For me it even feels somehow strange that everybody call it dancing, but maybe it just takes some time to get used to.
One thing that has been taking a lot of time is the Zouk group choreography that we're doing for the Helsinki Zouk Festival. We have finally got all the pieces together, but it still requires so much work and polishing before we could even dream of climbing to the stage with it. I'm quite afraid that we're going to run out of time soon and I'm not the only one with my concerns. It was as recently as today when I watched my performance from video and realized how much more I need to give. Further, it is not just me who needs to nail it, but there are four couples that need to get all the timings right and synchronized. But we'll get there! Just practice, practice, practice!
Something that has been giving me the needed balance to the dance practices has been Kizomba. Actually its the only dance style I have been social dancing lately; no Zouk nor WCS socials in Helsinki, a fact that I'm not pleased with at all. Don't tell me I need to start dancing Salsa to be able to go to dance parties! Right, there has been some Finnish ballroom dancing parties but, I don't know, somehow I haven't been able to get any dance mood in those. Sucks. One more reason to be waiting eagerly the Zouk festival. Now that we're in the not-so-cool-things-topic, I could go on and complain about my Achilles tendon that has been teasing me for too long time now; some days it is even hard to dance without high heels because of the unpleasant tight and sore feeling. Maybe I need to admit that it is somehow infected and go to physio. Double-sucks.
For not ending the post with nagging, I'll tell you one more thing that has been pretty cool this month: giving dance classes. Last week I gave ladies styling tips in HOT's advanced class and got lots of great feedback from my teaching. I have also been teaching dance technique and body movement to gymnastics groups. And six months ago I thought teaching wasn't for me! Never say never.
So, until the inspiration hits.
Something that has been giving me the needed balance to the dance practices has been Kizomba. Actually its the only dance style I have been social dancing lately; no Zouk nor WCS socials in Helsinki, a fact that I'm not pleased with at all. Don't tell me I need to start dancing Salsa to be able to go to dance parties! Right, there has been some Finnish ballroom dancing parties but, I don't know, somehow I haven't been able to get any dance mood in those. Sucks. One more reason to be waiting eagerly the Zouk festival. Now that we're in the not-so-cool-things-topic, I could go on and complain about my Achilles tendon that has been teasing me for too long time now; some days it is even hard to dance without high heels because of the unpleasant tight and sore feeling. Maybe I need to admit that it is somehow infected and go to physio. Double-sucks.
For not ending the post with nagging, I'll tell you one more thing that has been pretty cool this month: giving dance classes. Last week I gave ladies styling tips in HOT's advanced class and got lots of great feedback from my teaching. I have also been teaching dance technique and body movement to gymnastics groups. And six months ago I thought teaching wasn't for me! Never say never.
So, until the inspiration hits.
