Still Inspired

I wanted to finish my write-ups of Inspiration Weekend with descriptions of the class content. I guess I'm going to wait for the DVD to come in the mail to refresh my memory fully. In the meantime, my observations:

Sean & Tonya were the teachers I took the most classes from, and their content was so very well suited to my skill level. The styling class that Sean taught with Nina has me doing kick-switch, kick on my 7-8, 1-2 at least once in every dance with a partner with good connection. I've been working on the 6-count break with tuck-turn and point-back styling too, though that's not as well-anchored. I'm still working that one out. Andy and Nina's "Relax Your Lindy" class has me leaving the follows out on 7-8, 1-2 and concentrating on dropping my shoulder and making good lines. Perhaps the view of Ben Morris and his rock step has me leaning forward instead of back, with a very slight weight-shift on the rock-step. Sean & Tonya's musicality class has me really listening to the music for styling cues, though I don't have a huge vocabulary to play around with.

Still buzzing from the weekend.

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I come late for the Mini-dip class. Afterwards, Mark remarks about how easy it seems to pick up new choreography now. This friend speaks my mind.

Darren teaches a Westie class which is mostly wasted on me. I remember really concentrating on the walk-walk on 1-2 instead of the rock-step. But that's about it. :-)

Great time social dancing. Again, really giving the follows 4 counts to style, and concentrating on musicality and styling. Jade with the red shoes sticks out as a great follow I really had to make a point to dance with. I got to know Aurelia better during Inspiration Weekend, and make it a point to dance with her. She's a great follow, and I need to get in more dances with her, certainly more than one a night. Perhaps even a Jill and Jack or two? Or three? :-) I need to be less self-conscious about dancing with pretty young girls. I mean, it's just dancing!

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I come to choreography class and we go over the Jump Charleston section of Big John's Special. Mark, Michelle, and I really hammer it after the instruction section is over. Why aren't the other's interested in hammering away at it? :-) Leave feeling very solid about it. We're 90% done with Big John's Special now.

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Darren teaches Charleston Variations, which is has tons of great moves. He also teaches Reverse Swing-Outs class, which I don't remember much of.
Aubri teaches flying footwork, which is a blur. Nothing from any the classes really sticks into my social dancing vocabulary.

Social dancing is awesome again. Dance with Jade of the red shoes again. What an awesome follow. Trish tells me I've made her top 5 favorite leads. I'm flattered, if a bit doubtful of her list or criteria. :-) I make sure to dance with Danie and Amanda; Both of them are so much fun to dance with, and I think I'm slowly getting sure enough with myself to be comfortable dancing with either. Well, I'm totally comfortable dancing with Danie, and getting there with Amanda. Still haven't asked Jenny. Baby steps. Another great dance with Aurelia. Another reason I need to dance with her more often: she'll be gone for the school year, Davis, I think.

I stay until almost 1:30am. Too late if I want to ride in the morning.

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Teams are now part of the class level re-naming. Swing teams are 1-2-3-Pro, not AB-1-2-Pro. We'll get over the change. The newly named Swing 2 team has the following choreography requirements: Jeep Jockey Jump, Big John's Special, and the Shim-Sham. Really? A month before the audition is when you clarify the level requirements? I think that some of the people on other teams are more affected, suddenly seeing choreography moved up and down.

Team Choreography
We do Big John's Special again, from the top. We burn through the first section, including the push-out exit and over-rotation section. Jump Charleston section again, with the Thursday class really making me feel great about the section.

Swing 1 Team
More Swing Rueda. Fun, but not at all the technique necessary for ... well, anything. I'm not sure what the goal of Rueda is, beyond having fun. We're learning a bit, which is nice, but the class doesn't fit the description given at the beginning of the day. Weird.

Swing 2 Team
Boogie Woogie
I've finally pinned down what irritates me about doing this choreography. Jerry's slotted it in as a routine the Swing 3 team learns as part of Swing 3. It's not on the list of choreography needed to get into Swing 2, so doesn't help me get to Swing 2. It isn't on the list of choreography needed to get into Swing 3, so doesn't help me get there either. So we've spent almost 10 hours working on a routine I won't need for two levels. I feel a little like I'm a guinea pig for the Swing 3 and Pro team choreography, while not doing things that help me get to that level.


Lunch with the usual suspects. Mark's kids show up, and I turn the goofing up another notch for their benefit. John the performer.

Help Lilibeth with her Unix homework a bit, and we go back to Atomic. Hey, they're playing Runaround Sue during the Ballroom Dance, so we run out and dance. I heard at least one person say, "Oh, Lindy-Hoppers!" in a good-natured way. Hey, I'm a Lindy-Hopper!