What a stellar day of classes!!
We started the day off with 2 beginning classes, and they were packed! I think there was something like 120 students in each of them. It was incredible. And they all learned something, which was even more incredible. We worked on connecting to your partner from open and closed position, how to change weight across the body, how to lead rock steps from open and close, and how to lead triple steps. There were more nuances in there, but that is a general overview.
The class was very receptive to our humor and that really revved us up. Nothing gets us going more than having a group of enthusiastic students who want to learn, are receptive to the information, and are ready to laugh with us.
We then moved to The Great Hall, and it was just beautiful. And on a side note, the John Hopkins Campus is just divine! There is red brick and green grass and street lights, and little paths leading off yonder.....uh! Just great! Anyways....the Great Hall has a Great Window and a very slick floor. It wasn't as big as the room we were in for the beginner classes, but still sizable. Our third class of the day was Flash & Trash (named after our DVDs), followed by a routines class.
Highlights of the day:
- During the beginner class, while trying to explain what to visualize while leading a triple step, we did the motions and asked the class what it looked like. Normally we get something along the lines of a "W"; however, this time someone shouted out that it looked like a lowercase omega. Kevin and I were so surprised by the brilliance of the answer (notice I didn't say it was right or wrong), that Kevin conceded and then moved on.
- During Flash & Trash, I received more questions that I have ever gotten during a workshop. I took the first couple and then Kevin tried to step in, but the question was for me!!!!! This is huge, because most often the girls don't ask a lot of question, but everything was asked! Footwork review, timing, leading (the leads should have asked about this), was it a variation, how did we know, weight distribution, etc. In hindsight, this leads me to believe that I also must not have taught very well, otherwise these questions wouldn't have been asked. Hmmmm......
- During the routines class, I was showing the girls the timing on a forward swing out with kicks on 7 & 1. I didn't tell Kevin that I wanted to do the next swing out, so he assumed that we were going to stop on 1 like we had been doing. I, however, made the assumption that Kevin would "just know" what I wanted and then I went for it. Because the floor was slippery, I wasn't in sticky shoes, and I didn't inform Kevin about what I was doing, I totally bailed. I was on the floor! It happened so slowly too, but I couldn't stop it. Then I was on the floor, Kevin couldn't help me, and then I started wiggling around in order for me to try and make my fall into something graceful. Needless to say, I tried, but not much else happened. I used this as a lesson to show that the leads should not stop to watch a variation, but continue to lead through to the next move.
After classes we headed home and then took one car to sushi. And it was great sushi too. We ordered so much sushi that a sizable boat arrived with our dinner! I used almost all of the Japanese I remembered in order to get some special service (and impress Dorry and Sommer) and only ONE person responded to my "Sumimasen" yelp. As I later found out, only one person spoke Japanese there. After eating more than necessary, we headed back home, got into our performance clothes and then headed to the dance that night.
Almost minutes after arriving at the dance, Kev and I got ready to do a social performance. We performed live to Sac au Lait, who were just phenomenal, and Dorry sang Dinah with them. We had such a fun time performing with them, even when they sped up the tempo on us. And Dorry's voice was amazing as always!
A few hours later we were ready to head home and get into bed. We could hardly wait for the fun that was in store for us on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment