Tonight, Magda, a teacher at my studio who specializes in standard ballroom — the only one there who does I think — thankfully offered to help with my foxtrot routine! So, she and Luis re-thought some of the parts that didn’t make a lot of sense in terms of the music (some lifts and kicks didn’t correspond that well to the rises in the music) and she put in some more traveling steps like promenade runs (which are really pretty) and traveling grapevines, so that the dance moves about the floor more, like foxtrot should. She also put in some nice lunges and dips since there’s a lot of “up” in the routine and not a lot of “down.” I like her sense of making the dance well-rounded 🙂 We didn’t finish, which I think everyone knows is making me really nervous, so, sweet thing, she’s listening to the music and watching my DVD of Tharp’s Sinatra Suite to find a couple of nice lifts to fit into the music, so we’ll be ready to finish up next lesson. Then we’ll have a couple of weeks to go over it. And that’ll be that!
So, it’s back to watching the video over and over until I’ve got it! Magda’s such a graceful dancer… and so nice!
When I got home, I found this in my mailslot! It’s a flier advertising the website I was talking about a couple of posts ago, devoted to showing audiences the making of NYCB’s upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet, which Kristin Sloan has helped to film and broadcast on the internet!
I didn’t get home until 8:35 tonight so missed the first half hour of Dancing With the Stars. I can’t help but like Heather. I just really like her personality. Same with Joey. I’m just a personality-drawn person, I guess… How goofy was that stint in the Chippendale’s place with Ian?! I’m sure the producers tell them to do such things. And Karina with the horse-back riding… I’m not sure what she was talking about regarding Argentine tango. I don’t know the origins of Standard International Tango, which is what they dance in the competitions and what most of the contestants on the show are dancing. Argentine tango, which is danced socially in Argentina, originated out of brothels. And the faces are completely the opposite of Standard tango, where you don’t look at each other but are looking off to the side. In social Argentine you’re practically kissing each other you’re so close, and are definitely face to face, cheek to cheek — which is what I think makes it a bit uncomfortable for Americans. In my first studio, where I learned Argentine, the teachers originally were all American. They didn’t have us dancing so face to face. Then, for some reason there was an exodus of the American teachers and the studio owner brought in a bunch of dancers he knew in Argentina. They were shocked at how afraid of each other we were! “It’s another human being. What is with you people!” I remember my teacher, Beatrice, crying out in horror.
Anyway, I’m off on a tangent as usual… It’ll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow night…
