Kick Off To The New Year.

A break from dancing showed me how hard work dancing can actually be. I was planning on going to a Salsa party last Friday evening but I simply had to listen to my tired body and skip it. It has been a while since I have been that exhausted: I came home and couldn't do anything else than lie in my bed. When I was dancing every day I never got this feeling, which might not be the best thing. From now on I have to let my body rest better than that.

This year's dancing started with Mr A. on Wednesday. I could really feel the dance break in all of my moves and following. It is scary how fast you can go out of shape! This time we actually concentrated on something and danced mostly Slow Waltz, Cha-cha and Rumba. Since videotaping my zoukking has been a great way of improving I wanted to see how my standard stance and stepping looks like in a video. Fortunately it didn't look that bad, and it didn't even give me that kind of shock I got from my first Zouk video. We ended our practice with pretty intensive Rumba (by this time we had attracted some audience from people coming to a common practice, so of course we had to give them a small show!).

On Thursday evening I wended my way to this year's first ballroom dance party to Otaniemi where some of HOT Dance's dancers had organized a dance floor, sauna, music and some food for the rest of us. It was the perfect timing for this kind of party: the dance classes haven't started yet and many (including me) had this week free from studies and work. It is always a sign of a good party if I end up dancing five hours without noticing the time pass by! It was a good thing that I happened to practice Bugg lately with Mr A., because the playlist was quite concentrated on Bugg, Fusku and fast Foxtrot, and I am finally getting to feel comfortable dancing these dances, yay! Here is some pictures from the party (thanks dad for the new camera by the way!):

I had practices with Michaelo on Friday and Saturday and we did something pretty cool: we made our first own figure! In addition, we went through a figure from Mr Dragon. We have been taking videos in almost every practice now and they show that we both have improved so much lately. After Saturday's practice we headed to HSA's 1st Anniversary party to HSA's dance studio and continued dancing Zouk there. There were some beautiful dance shows in the party and lots of good Salsa dancers, but unfortunately not enough leaders. Somehow I just didn't enjoy the Salsa party that much so I ended up dancing with Michaelo most of the evening (a thing that other zoukkers didn't seem to appreciate; well, I don't blame them, I would have been pissed off too if someone occupied him all the time!).

My first dance week ended to Sunday evening practice with JV. We did some leading/following exercises which I found pretty useful especially after dancing a lot with Michaelo. What I have learned is that it is good to dance with different kind of dancers, so I am lucky to have three practice partners who all have really different styles.

My January is going to be busy busy busy with my new job and university studies so I might not update this blog every week. You know, I would rather spend my time dancing than writing about it if I have to choose between those two!

Last but not least, here is some pictures from my dancer friend's birthday party from Monday. See, we dancers do other things together than just dance (like talk about dancing, watch dance videos and talk about those and... well, that's about it).

Back From The Holiday.

Usually I hate coming back home from my travels. I'm rarely homesick, and the only thing I'm usually glad about coming home is not having to live from my backpack all the time. This time, however, I was happy to come back to Helsinki, not because I was homesick, but because I missed dancing. Fortunately I came home late on Tuesday night which meant multiple dance practices for the rest of the week starting from the very next day. I managed to arrange a dance practice with my new practice partner, Mr. A., already for Wednesday, so I got my dancing back on track right from the beginning.

I couldn't say I got that much new out from yesterday's beginners Waltz lesson, but it is good to go back to basics every now and then. In short, we started with Vienna Waltz and after an hour or so continued to Slow Waltz, the emphasis being on the basic steps and the rotation of upper body. Interestingly, some of the beginners' class leaders, who apparently want to get feedback and guidance from me (and have noticed that I easily give it!), have spotted me and kept coming and asking me to practice with them. Somehow I also unintentionally kept on bumping into one specific leader, which actually turned out to be a good thing in a way that we were able to adjust our dancing into each other's style. In the end off the class we did much better than in the beginning (plus we had much fun dancing together!).

Even though it is good to practice the basic steps, I must admit that I enjoyed my practice with Mr. A. after the HOT-dance class much more than the basic step training. After dancing with beginners it was so comfy to dance with someone who is an excellent leader and knows what he is doing. This was our second practice together, since we practiced once before my trip to Spain, but I felt like we already danced quite well together and were able to find a good connection. What I have noticed is that it is not enough your dance partner is a good dancer or a good leader to be able to dance with him well. I find it really hard to follow some brilliant dancers whose dancing style differs lots from mine even though they definitely know how to lead their partners. Well okay, I'm still just a beginner, but I bet I'm not the only one feeling this way.

I know Mr. A. could teach me lots about dancing, especially about some dances I haven't danced before, but for now I feel like I should stick with the dances I already know when practicing with him. I liked the feeling that we didn't have this teacher-student relationship that I had with Nic and have with JV, but that we both could somehow learn without the other's teaching. If there was something to comment on the other's dance, we did that, but other than that we basically just danced different dances, mostly Slow Fox, Fusku, Tango and Cha-cha. The best way to learn to dance, after all, is to actually dance. Okay, I have to admit that going for new dances with Mr. A. would mean stepping out of my comfort zone, so in a way I'm just taking the path of least resistance. Well, let's see how this partnership develops.

Dance Marathon.

Thursday was an amazing day: I had Tango + Cha-cha + Zouk practice! I don't know if you can get high from dancing but at least I felt like flying in the air after dancing five and half hours in a row. Today my feet were sore but it was so worth it.

What comes to Tango, I feel like I'm finally learning how to follow. This time I was able to keep the body contact better. I was even able to follow the instructor that was really hard for me last week. We practiced dancing without hands again, which is really hard, and even though it's not my favorite thing to do it is really good practice. It s funny that I said I'd try to keep my mouth shout this time, because we also had to give some peer feedback after dancing with different partners. So I finally got some advice about my dancing and it seems like I'm doing pretty good job. Many said that I'm following really well and that it's easy to dance with me. I should try to keep my contact better with my legs and try to avoid leaning my upper body too far away though. So the competition dance stance is not working in Finnish Tango. "Have you been doing competition dance before?" seems to be a comment I get quite often especially if I dance with someone more experienced dancer. What can I say, Nic taught me well!

In the advanced class this week was the last time we had Cha-cha and I already know I'm going to miss these classes. Cha-cha is definitely my favorite ballroom dance at least for now! This time I learned quite important thing about my  dance position: I seem to lean back too much with my upper body which leads to some balance problems in spins. Good thing that I'm a fast learner because I almost got rid of this bad habit already. Couple of more classes and I'd be able to do balanced spins. After the class the Cha-cha instructor (who is, by the way, really funny guy!) asked me dance with him. I felt kind of flattered, and it was so much fun to dance with someone who does crazy and unexpected figures. Great dancing!

As a finale, my new dancing friend gave me a Zouk lesson and I think I'm getting so addicted to this dance. I could have danced all night long with him but at 10:30pm I had to call it a day to be able to wake up early next morning for a court sitting. It is so peasant and easy to dance with him, and I felt like I was absorbing the dance technique pretty well. It is so amazing that someone is willing to teach me even without me asking for it. I might post some pictures of us later if I get the pics one girl who was photographing us during the session. The Finnish Zouk dancers are going to have a big Zouk party in 8th of October and there are going to be some free beginners classes. Definitely a must-go for me!

Tomorrow we're going to have second Spex dance practice with our dancing group. I'm also hoping to find someone to go to one Salsa party with me later the evening. I might be repeating myself but I love love love dancing (still can't stop smiling when I think about yesterday)!

This Buggs Me!

One thing I really miss, is the feedback I used to get after every dance lesson. When I go the the HOT-dance ballroom classes I get almost no feedback, neither good or bad. There are so many people in the classes the instructors won't have time for everyone and all the participants concentrate on the technique we are trying to learn. The times I asked if I was doing some figures right or if I should do something different, the answer was vague and I got a feeling I made my partner awkward. I don't know if the others feel ashamed of giving or getting feedback, but at least I could learn more if my partners would give me tips or correct me if I was doing something completely wrong. I hope I haven't been too straight with my comments since I don't hold back too much. Yesterday one guy said "oh, I remember your criticism from last round!" when it was our turn to dance. I don't mean it in a bad way, I'm just trying to be helpful!

So this week in HOT-dance we had Bugg, Tango and Cha-cha. Yesterday was the first time I danced Bugg and the result was in accordance with that. Maybe it would have been easier if I danced some rock'n'roll dances before, but Jive is the only dance where I could get some support, and we didn't dance that much Jive with Nic. One could say I'm repeating the same pattern with all new dances, if I say I didn't quite get the feeling that this dance was for me, so I'm just blaming my lack of experience.

The first thing I found hard was the bounce you have to do all the time when dancing Bugg. Even though the basic step is really simple the bounce makes it hard. If I tried to concentrate on the bounce, I failed with following. Second challenging thing for me is the right tension of hands. I either keep my hands too tense or too relaxed, argh so annoying! So basically I couldn't do neither my legs or hands right, and thinking both at the same time was just too much. I chose concentrating more on the hands because in that way I was able to follow my partner's lead at least in some level. The bounce I can practice on my own before next week.

After the Bugg class I stayed little later and got some good advice about following. It helps if you dance with someone a bit longer than only one minute or one song. In the end I think I got the basic idea behind Bugg and I can continue from this next time.

Today's first lesson was all about Finnish Tango. I haven't really danced Tango this way because the competition style is so different, so again I was in an unknown territory. What was similar to competition Tango was the strong upper body control. The hardest thing for me was to keep the body contact tight all the time: I tended to separate from my partner especially when he was going backwards. I also have to practice more moving my lower body in sync with my upper body and my partner's body.

I finally returned to my comfort zone with Cha-cha after the Tango class, and immediately I felt more relaxed and confident. It feels great when you don't have to think about the steps, your feet just somehow know what to do. I even got "you are an excellent dancer" comment from one quite experienced dancer which made me really happy. After reviewing the figures we learned last week we were taught some ways you can break the basic cha-cha-cha rhythm. I didn't even know you could change to fast Salsa when dancing Cha-cha, interesting! I also liked the small tricks you can do by "skipping" some steps. I just have to try to get those into my basic movement in Cha-cha.

After today's class I got a great reminder concerning dancing. It is not that serious if I fail to follow someone's lead or make some mistakes. Dancing is all about having fun. Yes, he was absolutey right on that. I shouldn't forget that even for a second.

BTW, the pictures are from last Friday's dancing party and are taken by Jukka Laurila.

HOT Dancing.

Yesterday I took my dance shoes out for a dance after a long break. I found out about these ballroom dancing classes they have in the university's students' association through my uni email just the day before and I decided to check it out. Since the courses are organized by students I can actually afford taking the classes without taking extra shifts in my part-time job, yay! Check out their website here.

Bravely I walked in to the intermediate class wondering if the level was right for me. The place was pretty full of people I've never met, little bit more girls than boys. They were playing Foxtrot in the background and people were changing dancing partners every now and then. Before I knew someone was already asking me for a dance and there I went.

The two hour Foxtrot class was the ultimate learn-how-to-follow-the-lead-challenge for me. When I danced with Nic I knew what figures he would use and what kind of signals he would make before these figures. Now I was on my own. Firstly, there were figures I never used and even the basic steps could vary. Second, I had no idea what kind of signals everybody were using. Third, we were changing partners many times during one song so as soon I was almost getting the other person's rhythm, he was gone. Yes, after getting trod on my feet dozens of times (ouch!), I was already missing the good old times where I could concentrate on the technique or just enjoy the music while dancing effortless. My whole energy went to attempts of trying to read my partners' next moves and I forgot my stance and footwork totally. I felt sorry for my partners trying to control me with bad results, not because of them but mostly because of me. I think I had to apologize hundreds of times.

Other thing I was surprised was the huge difference between Finnish ballroom dancing and competition ballroom dancing. You place yourself a lot closer to your partner in Finnish ballroom style. Also the pose is more relaxed and you don't have to keep your shoulders as stabile as in competition stance. Many times I felt like I needed more space for myself. Don't hug me, hold me firmly in the stance, please! Also the basic step caused me difficulties because I wasn't able to bounce enough.

In the end, I think, I was somehow able to follow different leads and I'm sure next time I'll do even better. The last song was a slow and beautiful Foxtrot where I was finally truly able to enjoy the feeling of ballroom dancing. I liked my partner's style of leading, soft and gliding, and we danced the whole dance until the end, even though the other girls were waiting for their turn.

After two hours of Foxtrot my feet were killing me. I was already going to leave home until I heard my favorite ballroom music playing: the advanced class was about to start with Cha-cha. I couldn't resist the temptation and sneaked back to the room after observing a while. And wow, I felt awesome. All the Salsa dancing during the summer has given me so much confidence for Latin dances and I felt lots more comfortable dancing with strangers than in the previous class. I learned couple of new figures for Cha-cha that still needs more practice though.
Half way of the advanced class I had to give up because my feet simply couldn't take it anymore. I was hardly able to drag myself to the bus stop with my sore feet. 

Maybe this is not the end after all but a new beginning.

No Shaky-Shaky, Bouncy-Bouncy.

Last week I took some back steps again and also our practice didn't go as planned. On Monday Nic had something special in his mind for that time's practice. Unfortunately Nic's special plans were ruined by the Pilates group we met before, and this time it was us who had to give up. I was so pissed off about the situation because our practice was badly interrupted only after 30 minutes of dancing. I had a feeling I really needed to work my body so after being evicted we decided to come back after the Pilates group was finished.

So, what Nic had in his mind was something he called "Hot Dancing". It never became clear to me what this meant but at least we were sweating after practicing exaggerated Samba steps for a while. I tried to catch on the hip movement to Samba steps but I ended up trying too hard too early so Nic ordered me to stop moving my hip and just concentrate on the Bounce Action. 

Also on Wednesday we practiced Samba and I struggled doing cucaracha with my shoes. It was one of those days I felt like I did everything wrong. It is so frustrating when you know exactly how you should move but your body just refuses to do as you wish. I don't know if I was tired or what was wrong but it just wasn't my day.


Yesterday's practice, however, went already much better. We practiced Rumba walk and cucaracha with shoes on and I did at least 100 % better compared to last week. Funny how sometimes everything is so hard and another day you don't have to do that much to do well. I was also glad that I was able to dance almost full two hours with my shoes on without having lots of pain. I guess I am finally getting used to them!


After practicing technique for more than one hour Nic asked me to pick a dance just to have fun with. I picked Cha-cha firstly because it is a dance that simple cheers me up and secondly, we haven't danced that for a long time. I think I have "hated" most of the dances in the beginning but never Cha-cha. I learned a new move called a New Yorker that is a combination of three fast turns. It was so fast I ended up falling to the floor! It doesn't help that our ballroom's floor is super slippery. Well, good point is that it is a good practice for better dance floors.


I am sorry that lately I haven't been updating my blog so frequently! Now that I am only working during the summer I am hoping I will have more time for dancing and writing about it. Maybe this Sunday we will also finally have time to go to the Opera Salsa and see how it is like.

Hessen Tanzt Dance Competition

You can see how big the place was!

This weekend I and Nic went to Frankfurt to see Hessen Tanzt that is the biggest dancing tournament in Europe having 3120 couples attending this year (for more information check www.hessen-tanzt.de). The tournament was held in two places, Eissporthalle and Fabriksporthalle, both of which we visited. This was the first time I ever went to any dancing competition and I must say that I absolutely loved it!

In competition dancing there are five different classes the dancers compete in: D, C, B, A and S (super class). To be able to move up from a lower class you have to attend certain amount of competitions and place certain amount of times to places 1 to 6 (D and C) or 1 to 3 in higher classes (B, A and S). From one competition the couples get as many points as they are able to leave other couples behind them. However, you can get maximum of 20 points from one competition. The higher class it is the more points and placements you have to get. Also, when moving to higher classes the amount of dances increases: in Standards you start with Slow Waltz, Tango and Quick Step followed with Waltz and Slow Fox; in Latin you go first with Rumba, Cha-cha and Jive and continue with Samba and Paso Doble.

So, in Hassen Tanzt the dancers were divided according to their classes and also to their age (juniors, youth, amateurs and seniors). When we arrived to the Eissporthalle around noon they were having the Standard rounds going on. We first headed to see the best classes, of course. I just couldn’t stop watching the dancers as they were flying over the dance floor with their beautiful dresses. The movements, poses, stands and everything else was looking so effortless and easy. The audience gave applauds to their favorite couples when they were passing by to support and cheer them up. I was so fascinated of the dancers I couldn’t take my eyes off from them. Nic was being the perfect gentleman to let me just stand there and absorb the small details from the high-trained professionals. Oh I cannot describe the wonderful feeling I had there! It was like a world I always dreamed of but didn’t know where to find it.

Nic's friend just before competition.

After what felt like a couple of minutes but what really was more than 3 hours we had to move from the Eissporthalle to Fabriksporthalle to support one of Nic’s friend and his dancing partner to compete in Standard D class. I met the friend on Friday so it was nice to see someone who I knew to participate to the tournament. In my opinion they did really well and were one of the best couples in their class. Later he told me their placement was 14 which were more than they were expecting. One thing what I considered funny was that they played Finnish tango music there! I might have been the only one to even realize this even though almost all of the tangos were Finnish ones. Who would have expected that?

It was funny how I was already able to spot the mistakes the lower class couples were doing after observing the high class dancers only for a short time. It was such a great opportunity to learn about the small details that matter so much. Even though I am far from knowing anything about competition dancing, it was quite easy to see if the couples of any class were really enjoying their moments in the dance floor. If a couple were seemingly having fun, their dancing was so enjoyable to follow. Also it was so easy to see if a couple was being confident about themselves. I was actually quite surprised even an amateur like me could see these things so clearly.

After watching Nic’s friend’s dance we headed back to the Eissporthalle to follow the Latin competitions. Before it started at 6 pm we had some time to wander around in some of the shops they had there. I ended up buying one skirt that was just perfect for me. When I tried it on and stepped out from the fitting room I could see from Nic’s face this was the skirt we had been looking for. And I must say I looked like a Latin lady wearing it!

Unfortunately we were able to follow the Latin dances only for 50 minutes because we wanted to meet up with Nic’s friends later that evening, so we could only see Samba and Cha-cha. I can now see why people choose to go with either Standard or Latin because these two categories are so different from each other; atmosphere, movement, rhythm, stance, attitude, you name it. 

Our favorite couple.

During the Latin dances I was mostly trying to concentrate on the ladies hand movement to develop my own. I think I got the hang out of it at least in some level.  I first asked Nic to spot the best dancers but after a while I was able to do it myself. There was one couple in the A class that was extremely good, and they draw everyone’s attention from the moment they started their choreography. I wish I would have taken their Cha-cha into a video but I was so charmed I couldn’t do anything but watch. What I really would have wanted to see was their Rumba but we had to leave before that. Wow, one day I want to be able to give that kind of show they did! It was sexy, flirty, over-the-top and, most importantly, they were having so much fun doing it.

 

I am so happy Nic brought me to Hassen Tanzt and I think I learned so much. I definitely have to go and see dance competitions frequently after this. Maybe one day we might even attend one.

Just dance dance dance.

Even though I felt I was getting a little ill yesterday, I wanted to spend all my afternoon dancing. First I went to two of my gym's Latin dancing classes, and after an hour to our Wednesday's practice. When I finally got home I was so tired I just fell to my bed.

Our advisor in the Latin classes is such a funny lady. I think she comes from a Spanish speaking country since she mixes some Spanish words to her Finnish. The way she explains things (like, "don't hide your body with your hands or you will ruin the whole product") makes everyone laugh which makes the atmosphere relaxed and encouraging . Yesterday we danced Cha-cha and Salsa in her class. The choreographies are quite challenging I must say, especially if you go there for the first times. If I compare Salsa to Cha-cha I can definitely see I have been dancing Salsa more since it is so much more easy to adapt new figures to Salsa than Cha-cha.

When I finally got to the practice I was already quite tired so my concentration was not the best. We continued to practice the proper stance to Slow Waltz. I don't know if Nic tried to make things even harder for me but he put a piece of paper in between our hips and I was supposed to keep it there. After a while I decided just threw the paper away. I think I get the stance right at times but I just need more practice to keep it there.

Today I haven't got any better from yesterday and I am worried I might not heal until tomorrow. I found one cool-sounding Salsa party where I would love to go with Nic but Salsa party means dancing all night and you need to be fit for that. Well, thumps up a good night sleep will make me feel better!

From Student to Teacher and Back to Student.

I taught Nic some snow boarding in Lapland and by doing that I think we both were able to realize some things about teaching and learning. I must say in some things we are so similar. When we went up to the slope for the first time Nic was already asking me to teach him how to turn from side to the other. It gave me a flashback of me asking Nic to teach me the double spin in Salsa far before I was ready for it. I laughed and replied that he should know better how important it is to learn the basic step first!

I don't know if it was because the temporary change of roles but in my opinion we had one of the best practices today. Well, it did not hurt that we both just happened to be in a really good mood when stepping in to our ballroom! I was happy to discover that Nic wanted to teach me some more Foxtrot after trying it shortly in the dance evening in Lapland. Foxtrot is a Standard ballroom dance and it was invented, according to one theory, by Harry Fox in 1914 in the United States. It became extremely popular and kept its strong  standing all the way to the 1940s. Over the time the dance split into slow and quick versions, Quickstep being the faster one (maybe Nic will teach me also that soon!). Since Foxtrot can be danced to a Beat music, it is quite common dance in Finnish dance evenings. I find it quite effortless to dance since I don't have to think of the steps too much. I also enjoyed Nic's music chooses for Foxtrot:

I think I am getting better in Cha-cha since Nic taught me a new step called the Box. It is the first step I have learned this far where you let go your hold of your dancing partner. The Box starts with a basic spin followed by separating out and moving two steps forward passing your partner. You move left with chasse, back with two steps and do right chasse. Returning to the normal dance stance is a bit more tricky: you push yourself towards your partner with one hand and do quick step cross forward four times changing the leg, turn and back to the basic step. Sounds more difficult that it really is.


We also did some spinning practice since I always get dizzy when turning around in Slow Waltz or Foxtrot. I did so well I made Nic speechless! His amazed look was the best feedback I could ever get! I'm definitely getting back the dance fever I had when we first started dancing. Cannot wait for the next practice.

Back to basics.

So we did have practice today after all which I am really happy about. We have had some problems during couple of last practices. Somehow we forgot the most important thing: to have fun and just enjoy learning. Well, we talked about it and today's practice was so much more fun.

Nic taught me a new dance today: jive! It is quite fast but super fun dance that was developed in the 40s. It makes you imagine yourself having a blast wearing a shirt with a big hemline. The basic step is quite easy, girl starting with her right leg back followed with a chasse to right and another chasse to left back where you started. Here is a short video to give you some kind of idea of the dance:

We also danced more cha-cha and I found out that I am able to take advantage of some rumba steps in it. In rumba I learned a step called the Fan. First I was confused about the rhythym but when I got that the step was not that hard. All in all, the practice was really nice and I felt like I was able to learn a lot new things.

One step forward, two steps back.

Phew, today's dance practice was quite a rollercoaster! My mood went up and down from super exited and cheerful to discouraged and hopeless. I wish I wasn't that hard on myself but I just hate when I cannot do things even though I try to do my best. What I hate more is that I cannot control me feeling down when I am not doing well. It might be okay if I could hide it but no, Nic can read me like an open book!

Well, at least my slow waltz is starting to get better. I have a feeling that I might be more like a standard dancer than a latin one (sorry Nic I know latin is your thing!). Then again, I really like salsa, so I might change my mind when I start to get my hip movement right. Good thing that we are practicing this quite lot even

though today I felt like I was going nowhere. I am doing it somehow wrong and it keeps hurting my back and legs. It did not help that my sides were still sore from Friday's salsa clubbing and my abbs were hurting from yesterday's workout in gym. As an result of this I am now banned to go to gym on Sundays!

Today I learned basic steps to a new dance: cha-cha. My first impression was that it is really energetic and fun dance. I think it is nice to learn a dance with faster beat for a change. Starting a new dance is also nice because any dance is easy in the beginning. The more you learn the harder it gets!

Although today I felt like I was sliding two steps back for each step that I took I cannot wait for Wednesday practice!

This is how serious our practice can get!