At Crossroads

Things my new dance teacher (Joanne) shouted at me tonight:

• Take your time!
  
• Hop back two three!
  
• Knee, knee, knee!!
  
• Straight legs!
  
• Pull UP! UP!
  
• Cross your feet!
  
• And turn your toes out.
  
• Think about where your weight is. Which leg are you on?
  
• LOOK AT YOUR KNEE!
  
• Slow down!

I need to:

• Stop babying my right ankle and bending my knee when I come down from jumps.
  
• Have some more confidence in my dancing.
  
• But also get over myself and stop thinking I'm hot shit and should grasp steps instantly from divination.
  
• Get used to dancing with distractions.
  
• Practice like a mofo this week.

I am:

• Seriously out of shape.
  
• Lazy with my pointing my toes.
  
• Sore.
  
• Minging.
  
• Exhausted.
  
• Frustrated.
  
• Overly critical of myself.
  
• Inspired.
  
• Happy.

My new dance teacher is tough. I like that about her. Last week she threw me in the mix super quick and had me learn their second slip jig step. And tonight she had me learning the first step and continuing on the second step. Slip jigs are hard (but my favorite) and these steps are especially tricky because she has a different dance style than Colleen and the Coyle school. The hardest thing is her cuts. She hates, and I mean HATES that I open my hip up during cuts. Which is what I thought I was supposed to be doing and so I practiced it wrong all week. It's also how I learned it with Coyle. This is one of the biggest style differences between the two schools and seeing my hip open is tantamount to fingernails on a chalkboard for Joanne. It's going to take a lot of practice and patience to get this right.

Joanne doesn't lead the class like a normal class. Instead we're all broken into groups around the room, each doing our own thing. This is both good (everyone moving and working at their own pace) and bad (very distracting, especially with different music and hard shoe dancing). Joanne meanwhile moves about the room watching dancers and working with them bit by bit. She has eyes on the back of her head though, and half the stuff she yelled at me, she yelled from across the room. I am very encouraged by the other dancers in the class, who all seem very talented and proficient. Some of the girls getting ready for the feis in two weeks were amazing at their treble jigs tonight, and I'm excited for when I get to their level. I also learned that two of Joanne's students are going for their TCRGs, a rigorous process to say the least, and this I also find very inspiring and encouraging about the school.

I got to class early tonight and Joanne and I worked together briefly to go over the first slip jig step. When I didn't do it perfectly after the first time and got frustrated, Joanne berated me slightly, "Well you only learned it 35 seconds ago! Give yourself a break!." It is so much harder this time around, but I can only imagine it will be that much more rewarding.

I have a lot of work ahead of me.