. . : waltz - detailed technique : :

Today's lesson was awesome! PG said I'm improving in both dances and that he can tell I've been practicing! XD Yayyy~

There you go! Just follow your intuition ...except on that hockey stick.

I like it when you are confused. ::commence evil laugh::

In the waltz, we did more shoulder leads and how to shape the body. It's hard to explain in words but I'll try... But first, more posture: when starting and when in the "compressed" knee position, I'm not supposed to really bend my knees per se. Compress the knees by bringing them together and bending them slightly forward without sticking the butt out at all. The effect will be that I don't really change my height drastically. I don't need to be any shorter hehe...

For 1 2 3 of the natural turn, take a step backwards. Rotate the body and point the foot to the side. Then bring the feet together on 3. Remember the heel lead on 4 of the natural turn. As technique improves, the difference between steps 1 2 3 and steps 4 5 6 will become more clear and apparent. They are not a repetition of a half a turn. As for shaping the body, the torso should never remain straight-on to PG as that would get boring. One shoulder is always "leading" the body, creating a sort of swinging action with the torso. For the change step, the right shoulder is leading backwards. Then switch so that the left shoulder leads on the unnatural turn.

Now for the whisk. When entering into promenade position, lengthen the left side of the body, so that I don't travel backwards. Settle down - not back - into count 3 of the whisk. Remember, head rotates on count 2. Heel lead on count 1 out of the whisk.

On the spin turns, again lengthen the left side of the body, to maintain balance.

For competitions, because the waltz is a moving dance, it's possible that couples will run into each other on the dance floor. I have to be prepared for PG to alter the routine and accomodate for the other couples on the floor. However, this is just simple leading and following and responding to his body movements and hesitations.