We didn't meet May 31 for the Intro to Smooth class because of Memorial Day, but that worked out great for me. My family was in town from all over the east coast for my parents' surprise 25th anniversary party/vow renewal ceremony. I thought I was pretty smooth because I managed to orchestrate a really nice event right under their noses. (I'm usually terrible at keeping secrets, especially from my mom.)
I was pretty eager to get back on the dance floor by June 3 for another private lesson. I was anticipating my family vacation to Disney World the following week, but I knew I was going to miss a lot during the fifth class of the six-week course.
Oh boy, was I right! We covered a lot of ground in an hour.
To start, David reviewed rise and fall for Waltz. The technique really makes the dance look graceful.
Then we moved onto Fox Trot. There's a bouncy rise and fall to it. Since Fox Trot is a three-beat dance, we broke down the beats by even and odd, including two measures (so, we counted up to six).
Beats 1, 3, and 5: knees straight, shift in weight, feet apart. Beats 2 and 4: knees bent, no shift in weight, feet together. Beat 6 is a little different because you do shift your weight to prepare for the next move.
It took me a while, but I got the hang of it. And it definitely helps to practice it; I definitely am a kinesthetic learner.
By the time we moved onto Viennese Waltz, I was feeling good. That mood didn't last long.
I don't know how celebrities on Dancing with the Stars can master this in a week. I think I would need years to really understand the basic steps. Although...I can do a mean hesitation to start off the dance.
After I had all I could stand of the Viennese Waltz, which was about 10 whole minutes, we tried another regular Waltz to see just how much goes into the technique. Between the rise and fall, keeping myself standing up straight, and engaging my core, I was exhausted after one dance. Just a few minutes a day doing a proper Waltz, and I'm convinced we could cut down obesity in this country significantly.
And we weren't even finished with the lesson yet.
We had finished all of the lesson plan for the upcoming Intro to Smooth class that I would miss, so David moved onto another dance that I was pretty excited to learn - Samba.
The professionals make this look effortless. Trust me, it takes a lot of effort. It's very different from the other dances because there's a 16 count. "1e and a 2e and a 3e and a 4e." That would take some getting used to for sure. The basic back and forward weren't bad, but I felt like I was hopping around - not quite what I envisioned for this dance. We moved onto the box and David said that moving to the side in the box is a small step. So really, it's a rectangle instead of a square.
I was so excited for vacation when I left my lesson. I just kept wondering how many stares I would get in Florida if I tried practicing my rise and fall while waiting for the monorail. Or practicing my Samba moves while in line to ride Space Mountain.
