Things That Went Through My Mind When She Was Carried Out

(You've got to understand that I deal with things through inappropriate humor.  Well I guess you don't need to understand it.  Just know that it happens.)

And that's why I don't do pure bal.
And that's why I don't dance shag.
And that's why I lead forward on one.
And that's why I don't go upstairs.
And that's why I take small steps.

And that's why I dance so much: I never know which song might be my last.

A dance friend of mine had to be taken to the ER last night.  She's on my mind.

Vincent Cassel

Saw Black Swan on New Year's Eve, 2010.  My immediate reaction?

Best insane, self-injury, lesbian, ballet movie ever!

Black Swan Trailer



Yeah, a pretty intense movie.  One that I'll have to think about a bit.  But more important than all the Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis sexuality was the reminder of how big my man-crush on Vincent Cassel is.

Vincent Cassel Capoeira training scene



That dude is awesome.

Danceathon!

Friends, a quick note to ask you for some help.  I'm participating in the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-A-Thon again this year!  From 11am March 13th to noon March 14th, someone on my team will be continuously on the floor, dancing (relay-style). In the past few years, you all have been so generous in helping me reach my goal of raising money for the City of Hope.  Can I ask for your support again?

I don't need much from any single person (one Friend donated the $4.75 he got from his month's recycling).  Every bit helps, and to emphasize the point, the money goes to fund cancer research at the City of Hope.

The event has raised over $400,000 since it was started in 2005, not including the $80,000 we've already raised this year.  And that money comes in, one $4.75 donation at a time.  Well, it can be more, but you get the picture. *grin*

You can donate at my link here.  If you prefer to send a check, you can make it out to "24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon" (put "John White" in the memo field so they know I raised the money) and send it to:

24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon
17961 Skypark Circle Suite C
Irvine CA 92614

If you can help me out, thanks!  If not, we'll still be friends with a whole year 'til we raise money together for the 2011 Dance-A-Thon!

Memories Steam Bath

At Memories to meet up with SS (sorry for flaking last week).  Walked in the door at about 10:30 to find that there was no air conditioning, bringing on jungle conditions.  I don't know if I'm sweating this much or it's condensation.  Thought about changing my shirt but I sweated through the first one on the first song I danced.  No one will tell me if this is normal now or if its a one time thing.  Lots of shrugs.

RT says she's saving money by dancing here instead of @ Atomic Tuesdays.  I never thought I'd dream of Atomic air conditioning...  Worth $4 extra?  Hell yeah!

Dancing Lows

I've been told today that my dancing is carefully devoid of styling to the point of being sterile, and I make people cry by correcting them on the social floor.

And I'm really tired.

Food Run

Quick trip to Little Tokyo for Orochon Ramen (I think we should try Daikokuya one of these days; It's open 'til 1am). Miso #4.  The bowl is giant.  Can't finish it.  After time I realize I'm not a fan of the green peppers or the mass of bean sprouts.  Remember to say that next time.  Adding the chasu gets a single giant slice of pork yumminess.

Naturally, the next step would be to find a place to go to dessert.  Naturally, Diddy Riese in Westwood.  Chocolate chip with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  Wow.

Atomic Ballroom at 1am for swing dancing.  Dance 'til close.  But not with Trisha because she never comes out. :-P

Home.  Either sleep or work out?  Not sure yet.

Dancing Highs

Had a fun dance with a follow I hadn't seen in a few months on Friday.  Later on, she told me it was the best dance she'd had in months.  "You've become an amazing dancer!"

Aw shucks!

A Conversation

[Author's note:  I have numerous advisers, mentors, and even peers I bounce ideas off of.  I also have a dance mentor who lives inside my head.  The advice he gives is a synthesis of all the advice I've gotten from real conversations, arguments, and "ah ha!" moments.  This is one of those discussions.  If you recognize your words, that's because I probably absorbed your lesson.]

"So what is it that you want out of Lindy Hop," he asked me.

"I want to be an advanced dancer," I replied.

"Where are you now?"

"I think I'm solidly intermediate."

"And what does becoming an advanced dancer mean to you?"

"That's tough to say.  I'm not worried about flash. Or performing.  Or competing.  But I am worried about making a dance fun for my partner.  I'd like to be able to dance with a beginner or a visiting pro and have that person walk away thinking, 'Now that was a fun dance.'"

"That's a good goal.  What do you think you need to do to achieve it?"

"Well, I feel like I'm solid in what I can do now.  But that I need more moves, more vocabulary..."  I stopped as he shook his head.

"No.  What you need is basics."

"I'm ... not sure what you mean 'you need basics,'" I replied, trying not to be offended.  I mean, I knew my basics.

"Well, you said you needed more vocabulary, right?  You chose that metaphor, and one of the old tropes you hear instructors use feeds right into it: 'Dancing is a conversation.'"

"Sure,

"Well, have you ever read a technical journal outside of your field?  Or 'The Canterbury Tales' in their original Old English?  Have you ever thought to yourself, 'I need to learn some of this vocabulary so I can have better conversations with my friends!'  Of course not.  You have better conversations by mastering your basic vocabulary then using it to maximum effect.  Ever seen a poetry slam?  Or a 'spoken word' showcase?  Or an actor doing a one person show show with multiple characters, accents, and points of view?  Or a great stand-up comedian with the audience in the palm of his hand?  Or a an effective political orator swaying the feelings of an audience?  Those people don't use words you don't know.  They have mastery of basic vocabulary."

"That can't be all they have."

"Of course not.  They've also mastered the artistic use of their words, the effective timing, the ability to read a crowd.  The way they _use_ vocabulary might be different from yours."

"But I see advanced dancers doing moves I don't know all the time."

"You're forgetting that this is about having a conversation.  Can you conceive a thought, begin it, and complete it with clarity and directness?   Can you construct a thesis statement and supporting points?"

"The first step is working on your basics.  Variations and new moves come after that.  I'm sure you can probably think of local dancers who have tons of moves, but they don't seem ... quite right.  Or lots of people will complain after dancing with them.  About clarity.  Or harshness.  Or injuries."

"Yeah, I can, now that you mention it.  So you're saying I need to learn how to express my feelings..."

"Feelings?!  No, not your feelings.  I'm saying you should learn how to have the Lindy Hop equivalent of a polite, clear, superficial, conversation with no nuance.  Feelings?!  Feelings are a whole other conversation!!!"

Are there any conversations or observations that you can remember which changed your dancing?   What is the metaphor for dancing that you use most often to express basic concepts?  Has anyone ever told you that you needed more work on your basics when you felt they were already very good?  How did you take it?

Vindictive Bastard

While I'm thinking of it, I should give a direct answer to the question you asked me while we were dancing on Tuesday.  Yes, to be honest I was mad.

You hassle me fairly gently but fairly regularly about not asking you to dance.  And as I repeatedly explain, it makes me feel -really- uncomfortable to feel like I'm interrupting what looks like a private moment on the public dance floor.  You've repeatedly assured me that nothing of the sort is going on and strongly encouraged me to ask you to dance, even if you've been dancing with the same guy for several songs in a row.

Well, it took a lot for me to overcome my discomfort, but I did ask in exactly that situation.  And you turned me down, because it was a private moment on the public dance floor.

I never thought you owed me an explanation, a dance, or your attention at all, for that matter.

But I do think we all, as a community, owe each other courtesy.  And in this situation, I think the bare minimum of courtesy would have meant not hassling me for not asking you to dance.  If you don't want to be asked, it seems ... mind boggling that you'd go out of your way to encourage me to ask you.

Fair?

And that doesn't even begin to take into account the fact that I'm a vindictive bastard.

Danceathon

I'm participating in the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-A-Thon again this year.

[EDIT]
The 2009 Dance-A-Thon is from 2 p.m. Saturday March 14th to 2 p.m. Sunday March 15th.

The goal is to raise money to donate to the City of Hope. If you have a few extra dollars rolling around that you'd like help out with it would be much appreciated:

Sponsor John-with-an-H!

The deal is, someone from the team will be dancing on the floor for every minute of the Dance-a-thon.

And as with last year, I'm not one to beg for money, but it's all going to an amazing cause (The City of Hope), so I'd certainly appreciate it if you could pitch in and sponsor me, even for $5 or $10. I believe $50 gets you a visitor's pass to the event to watch. Donate from my page, and I'll throw in 45 minutes of swing dance lessons from me for you and a partner for every $20.

Anyone have one of those vibrating foot massagers I could borrow?

We're Going on a Cruise!

Don't quite remember how I got talked into going on this seven day swing dancing cruise, but here I am, and glad of it.

Friday night was a bit frantic, I staged some packing in the morning, worked during the day, then packed in earnest during the evening.  Dropped by my mother's place for lucky new year's noodles, then went to do some last minute shopping at Target (more cargo shorts) and Kohls (open 'til midnight tonight?!  Phew!  Sport coat for the formal dinner and some camp shirts).

Dropped by Atomic to dance for about 90 minutes (goodbye Atomic peeps, I'll miss you for a week!), then headed home for an all-nighter of list making and packing.  And still managed to forget to pack a swim suit.  Oh well.

Rode with Mareike and Nancy to LAX, checked in with the group, made security (easily and quickly), waited, boarded, and flew to Houston almost painlessly.  Well, I did pack everything into two bags which I carried on.  That's hurting a tiny bit.  Jean Veloz is really pretty, by the way.

We ended up being too hungry to wait for the 5pm dinner, we went to eat almost immediately.  My thing was to find a place which had good Gulf seafood (eat local!) and we ended up at Fish Tails.  I had a decent fried shrimp sandwich, but nothing spectacular.  The Blue Bell ice cream was nice, though.

We were originally booked in the Holiday Inn, but due to overbooking, were upgraded to the San Luis Resort and Spa next door.  Very nice.  Amber and Jofflyn were nice enough to let me crash in their room, which was on the penthouse level (hellooo instructor upgrade!).  There was a welcome dance at the B. Jigger bar at the Holiday Inn (which I told Amber smelled faintly of smoke and vaguely of failure).  Unfortunately the floor was tiny and sticky.  I did get in some good dances early on though.  First dance was with Rusty Frank, who I don't think I'd ever met before (Danceathon?  Seen briefly, but not met).  Also met a blizard of new faces and familiar ones.  The Swiss (?) instructors were very cool, as was Jerry Jordan's old business partner.  Figured out that the actually allow smoking right in the bar, which was making me feel ill.  Partially due to sleep deprivation?  Sure, I'll go along with that. Had to actually leave some clothes outside for a few hours to rid them of the smoke smell.

Quick grocery store trip for water, bug repellant, and sunscreen (don't forget the sunscreen).  Back to the hotel for snacking and sleeping. 

And now, up early for breakfast and blogging.  Embarkation in 4 hours!!!

Dancing Notes

Post private lesson notes from Jofflyn and Amber:

• Look towards my partner, not down at her.
  I have a tendency to roll my shoulders forward into the minutest slouch, and looking down into my partner's eyes feeds that bad habit.
• Complete the thought of the lead.
  I have a tendency to not return to a fully squared off position.  Or "in the slot."  "On the diving board."
• I don't have to rock-step on 1-2.
  Especially in two closed to closed circles in a row, why break up the flow of the circle with a rock-step?
  Kick-ball-change
  Anything else
• Use entire right hand on follow's back for connection.
  I'm spreading my fingers, but hyper-extending them so that only my palm is making contact.
• Watch the rhythm of my free spins.
  Tending to put enough energy for multiple spins but not following through (enough for three but only doing two).
  The energy in the spins needs to match the rhythm that I want out of the spin.
• If I mean to travel in a straight line, make sure I move in a straight line.
  Tuck-turn example:  be firm enough in the lead to keep the follow going in the intended direction of the TT.
• Step out of my box on a break.
  I always do the same rhythm steps or jockeys.  Drag back.  Walk back.  Do something different.
• Establish my rhythm early
  I'm taking this to mean choosing which part of the music to dance to early, and sticking with it.
  I'll have to ask about instrumental solos and such.
• Widen my base.
  I'm not keeping my feet at shoulder width apart and my balance suffers as a result.
• Consistent energy from swing-out to swing-out
  Doing bouncy footwork variations then switching back to vanilla swing-outs is visually jarring.
  

Movement Swing Student Teacher

I spent the weekend of September 20-21 in Berkeley, CA helping Jofflyn and Amber teach a workshop for thw swing subgroup of "The [M]ovement".  Berkeley has an active on-campus swing scene, which [M]ovement Swing is a part of.  So, Trisha flew up while I rode with Charles on Friday night.

The three of us acted as fill-ins and roving coaches for the closed session.  It was a bit of a change from my experience acting as a "peer" coach, suggesting a change to a fellow troupe or team member as I've done as a member of the Atomic Jitterbombs or Bobbysox Brigade.  I've had quite a bit of experience in the more informal mentoring role, using a critical eye on a fellow dancer's dancing.  It's quite different to be in this mode in a more permanent basis, constantly scanning a group, constantly looking for flaws to correct.  The three of us know what Jofflyn and Amber are looking for when they're teaching basic technique and the group was pretty large, around 15 couples.  I think having a few extra people keeping eyes on the students to correct basic technique helped to accellerate the learning process.

In discussing the experience aftwards with Amber and Jofflyn, I came away with a couple things: 

1. I have a good ability to see what fundamental problems a dancer is having
2. It's a different skill to see the problems of a group as opposed to a specific couple or dancer
   
3. It's a skill to be able to say the same thing in multiple ways until you figure out the way that the student understands
4. I really enjoy teaching and mentoring swing dancing.

During the open-to-the-public class, Charles and I essentially spent our time giving a private lesson to a guy who was brand new to swing dancing.  We took him from knowing nothing to have a solid basic swing-out.  Getting him up to speed on a rotating East-Coast basic helped the beginning of his swing-out from closed.  Then we really blew his mind by giving him "changing places," and a six count circle.  But the vast majority of the time was spent on the swing-out.

As a result, Charles and I missed most of the "moves" class.  But that was O.K.  It was interesting to teach him, and he'd have been lost in the other class.

On day two, Charles, Trish, and I led the review of basic technique.  I got to be the booming voice, Trish had lots of cool follow insight, and Charles got to expound on the importance of frame.  We'd gone over the lesson plan with Jofflyn the night before, but it helped to have all of us there to remember it:

1. assessment (warm-up)
   
2. visual leading, visual contact (no touching exercise)
3. frame
4. connection notes (C grip, gun grip)
   
5. momentum (center-to-center motion, stepping beneath oneself, consistent rotation speed, lead's choice exercise)
   

I totally forgot the frame exercise, and Charles brought us back to it.  He also had great additional frame exercises (starting from two hands and rotating, then lead-and-follow directional walking), and emphasized that good frame on the catch of the swing-out made the follow feel comfortable.  I countered that it was easier, which spoke to my lazy side.  That got a chuckle.

All in all, it was an incredibly positive experience for me.

Feedback from Amber:  Don't talk too much between repetitions of the exercise, or they tune out no matter how critical the advice you're giving.  Give a nugget, do a rep.  Give another, do another rep.  "It's a lesson I learned the hard way."

To a certain degree, I think we need reps in leading that kind of class to get fully comfortable, but we're very close.  "Apprenticing" under Amber and Jofflyn's guidance was a heady experience.

On the drive back, Charles and I talked dancing inspiration, musicality, and especially about the subtleties of connection and frame.  From the lead's perspective, we need strong left side connection to begin the swing-out but essentially nothing after that.  There's something there about a totally relaxed arm, as Laura Keat taught me, but not as relaxed initially.  Firm when it needs to be (1, or 1-2), relaxed when it's not needed, then firm when it needs to slow/stop the follow.  Have to talk that over with Jofflyn.

Still buzzing, days later.  The group was amazing to work with, and I'm looking forward to seeing their showcase and performing for them.

Bobbysox Brigade

I heard some muttering about a potential future upheaval of the Atomic Swing Teams.  I'd been worried about how things had been stagnating for a while, and as a result, I decided to look around.  The other high profile team local to me is the OC Swing Team.  I'd asked Sky about it once, but he gave me a look and told me it was invite only.  OK...  Another potential option was the Bobbysox Brigade, headed up by Jofflyn Valencia and Amber Villa. So I asked Jofflyn about attending a practice to get a feel for their style and philosophies.  They'd been teaching at Atomic since April or so (I know I mentioned their interesting teaching methods before, in Excitement), but hadn't ever mentioned that they have a team.

Let me back up for a bit.  The consensus on Atomic teams for a while had been that Jerry was distracted and unfocused.  Later on, we found out that the family had been considering moving to Texas for about a year.  So eventually, I found out the upheaval in question was a sale of the studio to Shesha and Nikki Marvin, who head up the OC Swing Team.  I talked about that transisition before in Dancing Transition.  Ultimately, I decided that the refactored Atomic Team wasn't for me.  I liked the idea of access to different instructors, different choreographers, different styling.  But the philosophy of running the team was different enough that I wasn't up for waiting out the transition.  But I still needed to figure out if I should fully commit to the Brigade.

I actually took the time to reach out to people who's dancing I liked watching, who had left the Brigade.  One high profile dancer actually told me he had a very positive experience, but hadn't left with a lot of skills that he still used.  Meh.  Other people had really positive things to say about the troupe.

My experience in the audition process was really interesting.  They threw a lot of choreography at us which I didn't know (Big Apple, Dean Collins Shim-Sham).  They told us we should just try to come along for the ride, and that they were looking for those who didn't give up.  Fair enough.  Fake it 'til you make it.  They told us up front that they were looking for people who enjoyed themselves, who could learn, and who could fit in with the existing personalities.

Ultimately, they offered me a spot on the troupe, and I decided to join based on a few factors:  Jofflyn and Amber are amazingly personable people.  They're the type of people who want to have troupe members who they also socialize with.  That's hard to resist.  They're amazing teachers.  And their philosophy of stripping away all styling to get to basics is very compelling.  It's easier to add styling to basic moves.

I miss the old Atomic dynamic that I had.  I loved the team socializing we did.  I miss it enough to have gone to Atomic last Saturday to eat lunch with whoever was willing to go. But joining The Bobbysox Brigade didn't mean I was choosing to leave my friends or my socializing, just my instructors. 

Things were going to change, regardless of what happened.  So far, I'm really happy with the choice I've made.

Bobby McGee's

Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five played Bobby McGee's this afternoon with no admission fee.  Wow.  I'd always heard the old-school Bal dancers did Bobby McGee's every other Sunday, but hadn't made it over.  D'oh!  It's 100 meters away from my apartment, has a free fruit and appitizer buffet, and pretty cool dancing.  I was told the crowd turned out because of the live band, but it's tough to go wrong with free food and dancing. :-)

After a couple hours, I ran home to grab my vitamin supplements and came back to see the jam session.  I recognized Nick Williams, Tip West, Jacob Wigger... ah geez, I wish I brought my camera to video everything.  Tracy tried to bully me into jumping out onto the jam.  Screw that!  I need some performance stuff before I'm willing to let it all hang out like that.  Introduced myself to Shaheed Qassim, who I chatted on the phone with a few months ago.  Really nice guy.  Watch him dance a bit too.  He has a lot of dynamism, which I'd really like to add to my dancing.  A lot.

The evening was a lot of fun as the pace of the music, the atmosphere, and the crowded floor pressured me to do mostly Balboa.  Now I'm far from an expert, but I think I've gotten a lot more solid lately.  Last Friday at Atomic, I was doing Bal with MichelleM, when I realized I didn't quite know what kind of footwork I was doing.  It wasn't standard Bal footwork, but some kind of sideways flaring of my feet.  It was in rhythm, but I couldn't figure it out.  Sometime after the fact (last night?  Today, even?), I realized I was doing a "fall off the log" without really putting any lean or motion into it.  Works just fine.  Dancing with MichelleM again, she remarks on it and I explain.  I try to put more motion into it, which works a bit better.  In retrospect, I see I can do a "fall onto the log" as well in this situation.  In fact, that was part of the choreography in the Bal/Shag routine.  Well, we never did that routine enough for me to anchor any of it into my social dancing.

What else am I doing?  Oh, sometimes out of cross-breaks, I'd throw in a tuck turn, then be at a loss as to how I could work that back to Bal.  Sometime in the last couple of weeks, I started doing the tuck-turn with Bal footwork, with a down-hold on four.  Now I'm confused as this make the 6 count tuck-turn into an 8 count move.  Oh, I'm making the 7-8 a spike-out.  Then the return is a Sioux into a come-around back to Bal.

Was going to go to Atomic for Swing and Soul Sunday, but just ran out of gas.  Food with some friends at Islands, than retreated to the Fortress of Solitude.

Dancing Transition

So, Atomic Ballroom was sold by Jerry & Katie Jordan to Nikki & Shesha Marvin. As a dancing patron, I welcome the changes. As a team member, I'm concerned.

Social dancing is improved, I think, by some simple additions and subtractions. The old, broken-down couches are gone, replaced with a couple high bar tables and stools. More people can sit at the entrance area and fewer human traffic jams occur at the dance-floor to lobby transition area. All the rafter-fans have been replaced and powered by wall-switches instead of remote controls, making things cooler on the dance floor. They're no longer asking people to clear the ballroom and file back in, which was never that big a deal for me, but was for others.

As a team member, there are a few core issues that concern me. Ditching introductory routines for the "seed" team is a big one. They aren't performance routines, but serve to give people a great foundation of socially leadable moves, and get from beginner to high beginner or low intermediate level. Shesha responded that he'd like to bring in new routines to serve the same function. Fair enough.

I'm concerned about the phrase/attitude, "You've been doing this the wrong way. Here's the right way." Just saying, "Do it this way now," is sufficient. Shesha explained that there are some philosophical differences he might have with Jerry's teaching which he's very passionate about, but seemed to agree that the confrontational attitude wasn't productive.

Finally, I'm worried about culture. I've had very little success in getting to know people on the "inside" of the OC Swing dance club. That might mean team members, but extends to just the social core. I've had conversations with Warren, and exchanged pleasantries with others, but that's about it. I don't expect us to be one big happy family all at once, but we should be making an effort to get to know each other in some way. Somehow.

My Friend Jeremy Is a Huge Dork

I've got nothin' but love for ya!

Excitement

I've been fighting through a few months of stagnant feelings in my dancing, but have been re-energized recently with some conversations and classes.

The first shock was my private lesson with Laura Keat... sort of. Let me be clear in saying it was an awesome, mind-blowing lesson that focused on a new connection paradigm. But in some ways, it's forced me to regress and focus on all my basic moves. As a result, my dancing doesn't feel as interesting. That's a bit frustrating, though I imagine if I took more private lessons, I would make faster progress.

Next was the series on smooth Lindy that Augie Freeman taught at Atomic Ballroom in April (2008). His swing-out basic involved a constant rotation on counts 3-6, giving the swing-out an extremely smooth, rotational feel. Very cool.

Next was a conversation with Jofflyn Valencia and Amber Villa. They filled-in as teachers for a class in April, and it was the most like taking a class with Jerry Jordan that I've ever had. That is, they were able to break down the footwork of their moves with extremely insightful technique observations. This month, they started teaching a level 1 and level 2 series on Tuesdays, as well as DJ'ing regularly on Tuesday nights. They mentioned in passing that all their technique and dancing was revolutionized by badgering (my word) competition judges for notes. Then they compiled their notes into a theory behind their dancing.

So after I heard all this, I contacted Jofflyn and told him I'd like to hear about his theory. We finally chatted this past Friday night and I got the brief version. They view dancing as broken down to movement, momentum, and rhythm. That's it, stripped bare. They re-emphasized the swing-out that Augie taught as what a basic swing-out should be, stripped of all styling. To this point, they view the slotted swing-out as a styling, theorizing that it was developed for movie formation work (single camera, no camera moves). Very interesting. The theory behind this is the idea of continuous movement: taking out as many of the places in which dancers come to a complete stop. I danced with Amber a bit and she had me strengthen my right elbow and smooth out my rotation (I was still accelerating through counts 5-6). Oh, she also wanted me to look her in the eye as much as possible. That felt creepy. :-)

Amber and Jofflyn also had me work on my Balboa basic. They tell me that I shouldn't gather, then step on 3-4 and 7-8. Rather, move my foot directly from where it was to where it's going. Again, as a basic, stripped of all styling. Much smoother. Very cool feeling. I know I've learned this before, but it's gotten lost in the mists of ... trying to learn moves. :-)

May's series with Augie starts out with us working on Balboa, and this same feeling carries across to his class. We start out working on our basic, doing a box step instead of a linear basic. We slightly change 2 and 6 to slightly sideways steps. Then we add the "lilt," leaning forward in the first half of the basic, then tilting back in the last half. Tweaked connection by focusing on leaning in and against each other and having leads connect to follows with the right forearm, relaxing the hand completely.

This week focused on spike-outs. And though this was a level 3 class, I was shocked how much I've learned. The first revelation for me was that I wasn't making "catching" contact early enough. If I contact on 7, the natural motion of the return rolls the follow back into my forearm. If I contact on 8, the follow gets so far away that my arm extends and she jerks to a stop. This dovetails with Amber and Jofflyn's continuous motion theory. My spike-out is so much better from this one class. We add a spike-out variation where the leads face away on 5, with the left arm wrapped around us clock-wise just below shoulder level. We need to have our right hand ready to catch on 7 again. Also continuous spike-outs: We do another spike-out instead of a come-around to end it.

Finally, we worked on improv steps. We're repeating certain counts. Last week was repeatedly shuffling 5-6 until we felt the need to go on. This week, we do paddles, something which I've never learned successfully. Augie makes it easy. :-) Initially, we prep our 1-3 like a transition step, down on 3 rotating to the left. Hold 4. Repeat 5-6 (right, left) either rotationally or in-line. Similar action with feet reversed on 1-2 (after down on 7, hold 8). Fall-onto/off-the-log are the final move, starting with either a left foot kick on 4 or a right foot kick on 8. Just realized we can do either the on or off version by leading the weight shift.

Anyway, this smoother style of basic is awesome. Application, there's a heavier follow who comes regularly to Atomic. Well, there are lots, but this one dances extremely heavy. Before, I had to really dig in on 3-4 and 7-8 in order to keep from getting overbalanced. I dance with her every night, so I specifically remember this happening last week. Last night with this continuous motion swing-out, it was effortless on 3-6. Even 7-8 was better with a more circular feel.

Danced with Caitlin of the Bobbysox Brigade (Amber and Jofflyn's troupe) last night. Amazing.

The Conversation In Which

.... I don't get the best lines.

Exterior. Irvine, California. Outside of Atomic Ballroom. S and I are part of a group cooling down and taking a break from late-night dancing. C & D exit Atomic and head towards the parking lot and C's new car.

C&D: [as they pass the group] Good night everyone!
Group: Good night!
S: [after a pause] Have fun in the car! [not quite under her breath] Driving, I mean.
Me: What?! [breaks into laughter]
S: Oh no! Internal dialog! Internal!
Me: This is totally going in my blog..
S: What?! Why do I show up in your blog again?
D: He writes about me too! [pouts] Though not recently. Do I have to shake my butt again? [shakes her butt] You missed it.
Me: [muttering] Oh no I didn't.

Fearless

I don't want to call them out, but it's necessary.

Mormon friends who have come swing dancing, since I invited them:
4

Ex-Mormon, Quaker, college friends, and siblings who have come:
ZERO

That's right, I've had journeygal, madwoman, and P join me at Atomic. madwoman stayed and social danced for hours and hours too. journeygal says she'll be back for that part. P has totally gone off the deep end with swing dancing.

That's just math.