I like this essay by Derik Sivers regarding how we regard ourselves and our abilities, and more often than not, overestimate how great we are. AND how much we gain when we come down to earth.
Read it, it's short and sweet.
And it gives us so much more chance to really get better and to grow when we realize how we ain't really all that.
SO. Back to private lessons for the fall season. I am absolutely aware of my averageness, lack of elegance, and need to reset my intentions around that.
The first lesson was hard. The realization that it is still a puzzle for me to have a straight leg. My legs are long, and so when I step back it feels like my leg wants to stretch and then it says, oh no, that would be too big a step, and then it sort of holds back. And so I make it stretch and at the same time take a smaller step....and that is hard for some reason, and I am sure I make it harder than it has to be. Does anyone else have this issue or any advices?
I have had one very elegant teacher threaten to poke me with a sharp stick, another one (famous mean one) actually kick me, and another one (my current beloved teacher), just keep reminding me to have a straight leg. She does it without abuse, and it seems to work better. Hey, we are not in Catholic school any more. I think.
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8 comments:
"Does anyone else have this issue?"
Yes! I've had this problem and so have many of my classmates and students.
It's quite hard to give advice since this is about basic technique when stepping backwards and that's the kind of thing where it's easy to *show* and help you to feel what to do and not so easy to explain it in writing, especially as this problem can have a few different causes.
One exercise you can try (it won't hurt) is to take a yoga block (the softer kind, not the ones made of wood) or some object of similar size and shape. Lay it on its side, so that it is lowest, right behind your free foot. As you extend your leg backwards without weight, and then, as you push off from your front foot and begin travelling backwards, push the yoga block along the floor with your free back foot (you won't need to exert any force or do this consciously). Don't land on it or step on it with your heel. It helps me to get a good extension and to use the leg in a way that is relaxed, but not bent. Your mileage may differ, but it might be worth a shot.
Did you try it?
Ghost says:
"Find someone who can lead well who is smaller than you. Get them to
lead as big a forward step as they can. After about the 10th time a
woman shorter than me had still managed to step on my foot because I
hadn't stepped back fully I started to get the message....
The other thing I found really useful was a confusion about what
"stretch" meant. If you wrap an imaginary version of one of those big
fitness elastic bands so it goes around your knees (or imagine wearing a
knee length skirt made of stretchy material.) Now just lower your body
and let your weight-bearing knee bend, but try to stretch the skirt /
elastic between your legs, both by having your weight-bearing leg's knee
go forward and your non-weight bearing leg stretching backwards (no need
to actually step or weight transfer.) Once that clicks then start adding
in the back step, again keeping the elastic at full stretch as you step
back. Hope that helps.
PS Thanks for the info on Melina's :) "
(This was added by Elizabeth from Ghost's email with his permissions.)
Thanks Terpsichoral,
I tried that, using the yoga block. Seems reallly easy, but does focus the foot motion and imprint it in the mind.
Also thanks Ghost, I will try this.
Both things seem to get at the body awareness. Mostly I just dance and don't worry about it, and my dance life seems great. But I really do believe that good technique helps connection...so thanks.
E
I've not been led enough to talk about it, but when I have been led I suddenly change my whole posture. The lower abdomen pulls in, the upper back straightens and the lower back curves out as the leg reaches back, curves the way the lower backs of children curve, something a decade of school desks destroys. Tango is good for posture.
Did you ever get to meet Muma? You probably know Ampster's summary of her advice on posture, which is here, http://ampstertango.blogspot.com/2009/03/tango-posture-epiphany.html & she teaches, quietly but I imagine very effectively, in Buenos Aires. A good reason for going there again...
Tangocommuter,Yes we have had Muma here, and my partner had a private lesson, and I was there but could not get much from it.
I think I have the ability and the technique, but have to continually remind myself...
E
One more idea occurred to me, which you could try. As an exercise, take some back steps without lifting your heel off the ground at all. You may find that you'll only be able to take rather small steps, though you can lengthen them slightly by pushing laterally off your front foot and then sliding along the floor before transferring weight. Be careful, though, not to bend your front knee a lot (just keep it soft) or go up and down. And make sure you transfer weight onto a soft, not locked knee. This exercise should force you to extend with a more or less straight leg (never lock the knee completely or stiffen the leg), because otherwise, with your heel on the ground, you will scarcely be able to move at all. I'm not suggesting you walk like this while dancing: it's just an exercise. I hope it's helpful.
You are right: better technique will make the dancing more fun for you and your partner and enable you to concentrate more on connection, musicality, etc. when you're actually at the milonga because you'll no longer be worrying about problems like a bent leg. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
If something like this, that you know about, persistently hangs around, there's a good chance it is a direct result of something else that you don't know about. I can only suggest adjusting the angle of your hips (their relation to your upper torso) in a couple of ways and seeing if it makes any difference. It helps me to think of the pelvis as horizontal, to think about that trundling along like a sort of ball on a stick (the stick points upwards and forwards, it's a sort of handle that I give to the leader), and to forget about the legs. I think if we think about the legs too much it can mess up the way our brain deals with balance.
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