Hyperreal

JJ’s tonight…

I arrived just as the “into freestyle” on the beginners’ class was happening. (Thought I would have missed it completely.) The first freestyle though was very short – 3 or 4 tracks, then on to the intermediate class.

• Side-to-side step across block variation. Block on shoulder and ease to a gentle stop, then back out…
• Tea-pot comb push-spin. This was basically the same move we did last week, though it had been altered a little for the guy to stay on the spot. This worked out much better. One less thing to worry about! This move was combined with the first one by leading the girl straight into the tea-pot from the stepped-across position. Worked quite well.
• Figure of eight. Turn the girl ACW, turn yourself ACW.
• Sway flip-flop. One the second flip-flop, allow the girl to walk straight out into the couple beside you. This allows going back into the side-to-side and re-aligning during the tea-pot.

I don’t do many “side-to-side”s, but I do similar blocks… Tea-pots I don’t do much of, but I tried out some more “girl walks around me”-type moves tonight. I do some figure-of-eight kind-of things, and sways of course. I’ve been known to do a few flip-flops, and many of my partners have been known not to follow my lead for them well…

Onto the main freestyle… During the first freestyle I only got one dance, and while it wasn’t bad, I kept messing up. This continued through some of the class. And something in my mood or mind meant that it continued into the rest of the evening. I had my best dances with the best dancers there, and I didn’t have any really awful dances, but I just wasn’t fully in the zone.

Many of my best dances were off the dance-floor, up on the side where the revision class is taken. And I think this might have been a crucial factor. This space was more-or-less empty, while the main dance-floor was crowded almost all night. Especially when you’re with a dancer who isn’t always where you think she is, dancing on a crowded floor can be very stressful.

I’m not yet ready to say that this is the refugees from the GUU making a difference – it could still have been something in myself.

Had some fun dances though tonight. Had some more fun competing for the lead with my best dance-pal. Less all-out wrestling though – we’ve found ways and places where lead can be switched without a fight… My following is still pitiful, but at least I can do a convincing double spin on the spot.

Also got coerced into doing a bit of double trouble (again on the other floor) and had a lot of fun making it all up as I went along… Remembered a few moves from workshops, but they alone wouldn’t have been enough to get through the full dance… While it was fun, I’m not going to be asking any pairs of girls up onto the dance-floor soon.

One other fun aspect of my dancing recently (really only noticed it on Saturday though) is that I’m doing more dips and drops. Still very basic ones, but I’m getting more confident in the timing of these moves, and that I won’t drop my partner on the floor. It’s a shame I can’t make the Dips & Drops workshop in Glasgow next month…

So not a bad night, but not one for the history books… Could have been much worse when our DJ & Teacher’s laptop battery ran out, but there were backup systems ready to go and a heroic lady also went to fetch her power supply allowing the night to finish as planned…

Well… Maybe not as planned – it was a bit scrappy during the switch over to the house DJ as they prepared for the “JaX-Factor 2006″ competition starting that night. That could have been smoother, but I reckon there was a deliberate attempt to clear us out and clear the dance-floor. It almost worked…

Think that’s all there is to say. Cheers everyone!