7 February, 2006
I wasn't exactly expecting anything stellar. My initial foray back into the dancing scene had been met with disaster, so I was determined not to let the same thing happen again. All through November and December and part of January and February, I had begun to stretch almost daily, as well as spending a few minutes on a step machine to help gain muscle tone. I saw an improvement in the development of muscle and definitely saw my body limbering back up, but after the first lesson, which was supposed to be on the 1st of February, was cancelled, I had a week to whip myself into enough shape to prevent oozing onto the dance floor yet again.
Still, when I arrived (just before Cait), I was not only nervous, but worried. If I failed again, would that be the end? My mother had been particularly crap at remembering to call for a sports trainer, but I thought I could take care of it myself. I ate and drank before I left, and stretched out on the floor to make sure I was at least warmed up before stretching there (I have to spend much more time stretching than Cait does). When I arrived, my dad asked Cait what her new last name is (she got married last year) and she told them, then unlocked the door and led us inside.
Again, the studio was underconstruction and messy, not nearly as comfortable as it used to be, even with the crappy floor. But they're moving and it hardly matters in the long run what the studio looks like now.
She decided we should start with hardshoe because it would mean less impact on my foot, so I changed and we stretched for a few minutes, cutting things down tremendously (I'm glad I took the time to stretch out before leaving). We started with simple exercises, such as trebles and treble-hop-backs and treble-down-down-treble-hop-backs. I sounded better than I remember being before I quit, but that happened with a few moves. After that, we reviewed the treble jig. The begginer treble jig. I remember hating the most recent one we had learned, so I'm glad we didn't go over that. It didn't take too long to remember the steps, but my shoes felt too big, too sloppy, and that had a negative impact on my dancing (ill-fitting shoes always do that to me).
After several minutes of that, in which my potential asthma began to act up and freak me out, I told Cait that my shoes were really bothering me, that they were hanging off of the heals. So we taped them on my feet (yep) and she found one elastic (I should have brought mine) to help secure them even more. Then we started on the hornpipe. It was one of the most recent steps we had ever learned, but my class had only been taught the first half of the first step in order to perform it in the Dragonfly--a dance they often perform at their shows. So I finally, finally (I had always wanted to) learned the end. Am having trouble with the end. :| We spent a majority of the time on it, actually, and Cait says my dancing is looking much better and she hopes that if we spend forty-five minutes a week on hardshoe, that I'll tone the proper muscles and gain back my stamina and we can start on softshoe and see where I am.
Since many of the dancers who were in my class have either quit or are now in Prizewinner and Prelims (yikes!), I doubt I'll be in their classes unless I really push myself in between lessons, which is exactly what I intend to do. Just think, I'd probably be in Prelims now. I was quite close to qualifying when I quit (I had gotten hardshoe into Prizewinner and placed my second first in one my jigs, so I would no longer have to dance it). Hell, I could have been to the Oireachtas or in Open Champs! That's a startling thought. My hardshoe has never sounded very great solo, but today some of it really did. Surprising? Yep. But I hope that with a bit of effort I can regain what I lost and go farther than I was before. If I keep dancing, I want to try and compete again, just to try and get up there. I'm not sure if they will happen, though, so I'm not counting on it.
One thing is for certain: Cait and I both agreed that I need new hardshoes.
17 February, 2006
Having forgotten about the lesson on Tuesday, Cait scheduled one for Friday, instead. I wasn't too upset that she hadn't shown up because that's just Cait's way and everyone knows.
Anyway, today was freezing. It was 12F when I left the house, with 30MPH gusts that probably made it worse. I bundled up and stuffed my new hardshoes in my bag and left with just a few minutes to spare. New hardshoes? Yep. We ordered them quite recently, actually, and they arrived, along with other practice sneakers I ordered to possibly use instead of regular old Capezio sneakers. But since I got Pacelli Golds, they're a bit tighter than my Super-flexis, so they're taking quite a bit of breaking in to be tolerable while dancing. I worked on them for a while and danced in them a bit. The control was nicer--my old shoes were too big and had started to feel sloppy.
We stretched and warmed up with the slam step. Luckily I had practiced it on my left foot, too, but the stiffness in the shoes and the really damaged floor didn't help make things smooth. Still, though, I know what I have to work on and I'm going to do it as best as I can. After slam step we did some treble reel steps because Cait said that if I really get up to speed, I can be in the Met show in May! Of course, I'd have to start figures again, but the steps she was reviewing were the advanced steps, so at least it doesn't seem like she wants to put me in beginner things (or that damn treble reel step that I never escaped, despite needing to dress change in thirty seconds at the last Met show because of it).
After the treble reels, we decided to do softshoe! Actually, Cait decided to. I wasn't prepared because I didn't have my softshoes, but I put on my Converse sneakers (which are terrible to dance in because they're slightly too big) and got ready. We started with a few reels, which definitely drained my energy. After that, we did slip jigs, which stopped being my favorite when they started to be nearly impossible for me to dance well. I remembered quite a bit of softshoe and had trouble, as expected, with the spots I remember battling before. After that, we cooled down and stretched out and talked for a few minutes because there wasn't a proper class after mine.
They're doing a show at the Opera House in March (one that I actually saw the year that I stopped dancing, but back then it was solely for Kettle Falls dancers). Apparently, every Thursday they have to drive up to Kettle for practice. That's no small feat! It takes at least two hours to get to the studio up there, and I remember the drive to dance camp was very, very long. And the drive to the workshop, which was a little closer in Colville, was no better. So, if I were still dancing without a hiatus, not only would I probably be in prelims (Cait guessed I would since most people in my class are now), I'd probably be spending four hours in a car every single week. Joy of joys! Glad I'm missing that one, but I'm also wondering what the Met show will be like since it seems that the two studios are combing their talents and dancers a bit more than before. First Night, my last real performance, was a good demonstration of some proper integration. Dance camp was definitely the best, though. It would be awesome to have something like that again.
I also asked Cait how everyone is doing and she said what I basically knew; that Becca and Natasha are now in prelims (Natasha just qualified and Becca's first competition in that level was at Emerald City this year), that Andrew is off to Worlds, that most of the little kids are in Prizewinner (and that Shannon has qualified for prelims but Cait doesn't think she's ready, and judging from how she used to dance, just a year and a half ago, I say I have to agree with her--but a lot of things have changed!), that they're doing the Met show in May. Just loads of various news. I'll be needing a new dress for the show, if I dance in it, which is kind of exciting and a little depressing because my old school dress was made for me and partially pieced together by me and my mom, so I'd like to have it back, but. That's doubtful. Oh, well!
21 February, 2006
It rather felt as if I had never left the studio, but that was only because I was there last Friday. So! We started with hardshoe, and it was a real battle to keep my toes alive in the new shoes. They're still very tight, especially with poodle socks, which I was wearing instead of tights. I hope it won't take too much longer to break them in, but my Super Flexis were a lot easier and probably bigger on my feet because I was fourteen and still growing (sort of).
Anyway, we did the hornpipe step first (she's really drilling it). My left foot feels off before the heel drag, but she hasn't picked anything out so I'm going to ignore it and just dance. I feel very sloppy and I know I could be a lot better, but my stamina is pretty weak and my shoes are pretty tight, and I always feel embarrassed dancing alone because hardshoe has never been my strongest area, but I'm getting better. I sound better than I did before I quit, as far as I can remember. I still miss taps and my timing basically sucks, but I'm more consistent than I was before. It's odd, but if my stamina hadn't taken such a miserable hit, I would probably be right back where I was. I mean, I am, I feel like I am, but I haven't got the energy to push myself like I could before. At least, not for forty or more minutes. Barely for one full step twice in a row.
When we finished with the hornpipe, I felt pretty tired and my asthma was acting up. Luckily, Cait had to get a water bottle, so she left to go to the store (it's just a building away) and I dug out my inhaler and fixed that right up. That's when I really felt how tried my legs were. Before I got my inhaler, I used to concentrate on the pain in my chest and any weakness seemed to come from being unable to breathe. But once I could breathe, it was obvious that all of my stamina is basically shot. It's getting far better (especially since the first lesson last November before I stopped for a couple months), and after class I feel less abused each time (the first lesson since November left me feeling as though I had been hit by a bus for the entire day and my muscles the days following were incredibly, incredibly sore), but stamina is going to be my biggest challenge, and I rather figured it would be. I just didn't know it would be such a problem.
The treble reel steps were next. I'm struggling with butterflies (really, I'm just too tired by that point to try) and with rolls on my left foot (we did an exercise that I think Cait came up with after I quit dancing, and that really helped), but other than that, and some tapping issues, the full step sounds good. The a cappella steps sound better, though. I was always pretty good at them, though never where I wanted to be. My biggest issue other than stamina is my turn out, which would really help get me get my clicks and clean up my footwork. But that hasn't changed from before I stopped, either. Nothing new.
After that, we finished hardshoe and moved onto softshoe. During the a cappella steps, the class after mine (the little kids that used to be in the class before mine when I first started, and are not little kids anymore--FRIGHTENING!) began to file in. Shannon was first, as she was before. I know most of them are in prizewinner and novice like I was, and I haven't seen them dance since I quit, so I felt kind of nervous, as by that point my legs had grown really tired and my dancing was pretty weak. But they talked amongst themselves and I really don't think any of them remember me, or maybe they just don't care. But I had to ignore them because I still had softshoe dances to go through. Just reels this time, luckily. And only reviews since I remembered the steps so well (having danced them about a billion times).
Down diddydum was first, then down out in, then hop 123. I struggled with the chop chop step of down diddydum (which is also in down out in) for some reason, but once I got over that mental block, I danced it as well as I did before (though I was really, really, really, really, really tired). I think we would have done slip jigs, but Cait saw that my energy had drained and there was a room filled with chattering tweens, so we stopped. I cooled down but my muscles were unusually cramped so I decided to just sit and watch the girls stretch. Not many of them have improved their flexibility, but Shannon has. I wanted to see them dance, but my dad picked me up before they even did room crossings. I desperately need to practice my softshoe at home more, just to build up my stamina, if nothing else.
28 February, 2006
Not entirely much else to talk about, except that we reversed the order and started with softshoe. We even did a few room crossings, which were enough to make me slightly tired; not a good sign. They had really taken their toll on me the very first time I went back, last autumn. Fortunately, we didn't do them all, and since Cait has realized that she can't give me all of the warm ups that I used to do, it wasn't so bad. We started with the reels, I believe. Down out in and such. I've been feeling a bit too sloppy lately, and I think some of it has to do with my shoes, but they fit. I might dig out my second pair of ghillies; I really liked how they fit.
We then did the slip jigs, but I was already getting worn out (she had me do both reel steps in a row, which I was able to, thankfully). Since learning the advanced slip jig step (okay, it was one of the more advanced ones when I left, but there were harder ones), I've always had trouble holding my leg up on the turn for one solid beat. A lot of people lose their balance there because they're turning and holding and it's just awkward, but I managed to nail it after a few tries. However, I'm battling with the beginning of the dance, where I want to do an extra hop, or basically, extend one of the hops too early. I have to drill that one a lot, though I had never been corrected before now. Maybe she just hadn't noticed before! That's always a possibility, since I'm her only student for an hour every week. I guess she notices everything. That's a good thing, but it makes me a bit too nervous, I think. I tend to mess up more when I'm nervous. At home, I really nail the steps, but... If I can't dance well in front of her, it doesn't matter, does it?
Anyway, after softshoe, we went on to hardshoe. Did the hornpipe, but my legs were really aching, so I had trouble staying on beat. It's taken me ages to get the steps down to music. I tend to rush in the wrong parts and go slow in the wrong parts. Rushing has always been a problem of mine, I think; I want to get the dance over with, but I also want to sound nice and don't to mess up. Oh, well. Must drill that more. We then reviewed the very first treble reel steps, but the younger kids had come in by then, and I was really tired, so the combination led to major sloppiness and an inability to remember steps that I most certainly can. I liked when we had our lesson on a Friday--there were no classes behind mine.
Cait says that she's going to give this another month, then see how I'm holding up and maybe throw me in a figure class (those were two hours long!) and see which dancers she can catch me up with. Hopefully I can get in enough practice to get up to the people I used to dance with, but I'm not holding my breath.
Must. Drill. Clicks.
7 March, 2006
Started with softshoe again, but skipped room-crossings. Actually, Cait didn't even stretch, which was strange. She was busy cleaning things up while I did a bit, then she said she was going to teach me a new reel step. I'm pretty certain that I learned it already, but the very, very end seems new, so they might have altered it or something like that. Anyway, it's pretty easy, but again, my stamina just eats away at my execution, making it really hard to do anything nice more than once. I have got to do more about it. On the bright side, I was more in control of my breathing than before, and didn't need to use the inhaler.
After running through the reel a few times, enough to make me winded (okay, so that's not much), we did the slip jigs. We worked on brush out, which I worked on a bit since the last lesson and could nail pretty well, even enough to get a bit of height and such, which Cait pointed out. I can feel a difference between how I'm dancing now and now I was dancing, so that's good. After brush out, we did that step and hop 123 together. In a row. Somehow, I didn't fall over, and even survived enough to do parts of it again. But after that, it was on to hardshoe.
I reminded Cait what he had been working on, and she decided to move on and do treble jigs, and to teach me the fancy ending of a step I used to compete with. It has machine guns and toe stands and rolls, which I can get on their own, but when you put it all together, I get confused on the beats (especially around machine guns, but I'm working on it). At that point, the younger kids were filing (noisily, as is their way) in. They sat around in the back of the studio and chattered away while I drilled one machine guns and one part of the step that gets me nearly every time because of the timing in getting out of the machine gun. The noise got so loud that Cait shouted at the girls to be quiet, but they didn't get quiet enough, and Cait yelled for them to shut up. The room went silent. I couldn't help laughing a bit. Cait rarely gets angry; she's very passive, especially compared to her mother and sister. But I remember that the students who could make her yell the most were those girls. And despite the fact that they're now all in middle school (or mostly, anyway), it hasn't changed.
So, we did the whole step a few times through, and I could get it (roughly) by the end, so we finished. But at least my stamina is improving slightly, and Cait actually gave me breaks to breathe. Private lessons are probably more strenuous than regular ones, though I never thought about it until having a conversation with one of the moms I used to know, last week. She pointed out how, since it's only me, I don't get breaks and I don't get time to stop and watch other people demonstrate or get the help they need. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that before. My dancing usually gets worse when I'm alone or being judged in any way, so private lessons are a good way to jump back into the whole 'dance class' vibe, since I'll probably be in a class someday and trying to brave the eyes of a dozen other people.
Because St. Patrick's Day is coming up, I looked at the sign up sheets on the walls, something I hadn't done before, and noticed that the only people signed up for the parade were younger kids. Unless I read the date incorrectly, it's this coming weekend, not next, so I find it odd that no older dancers are going to turn up. However, they might have a rehearsal that I don't know about (and it wouldn't surprise me if I didn't). I don't think some of them came for the last parade I was in, either. Oh, well!
Still have to drill clicks and still have to kick my stamina into gear.
21 March, 2006
Excellent class. Unfortunately, I'm going back and writing these entries so late that I barely remember what I did, I just remember that this class was one of the best.
My stamina was much less of a problem than ever before, and we spent a majority of the time going over the fancy ending of the novice treble jig step, and then reviewed a hornpipe step that we had just learned before I stopped dancing. It was actually a lot easier than I remember, but that same gosh darn spot that I had trouble with initially gave me trouble again. It's a very, very simple movement, but it's slightly awkward and everyone has problems with it before something clicks and all goes smoothly.
The new studio (right next door to the current one) is almost finished being renovated, and we're looking to move in around the first of April. I'm really excited! The current floor has been destroyed. You can't dance barefoot or in socks--too many chances for slivers!
24 March, 2006
A great way to end the week: major foot injury! We started with softshoe and had barely begun when Cait told me to do down diddydum and then the new step. So I started with down diddydum and just as I started on the second step, my foot rolled out and I heard something snap and all went numb. It didn't hurt so much as it felt absolutely bizarre, and I could remember feeling that in my left foot once after doing the same thing. Basically, my only worry was that I would inflict the same damage on my right foot that I had done on my left. Not a happy thought.
Deciding to abandon softshoe for something more sturdy, we did forty minutes of hardshoe. I couldn't do toe stands, and doing toe hits was really, really painful, but we went over the fancy ending and the hornpipe and drilled the section of the latter that I cannot seem to get right!
My foot felt fine, actually (aside from the toe stands and hits), until I took off my shoes at the end. Then the pain began to escalate, as if the lack of pressure had moved something out of place. The pain only increased when I got home, and it seemed that not putting pressure on my foot caused it more pain. A lot of pain. I spent a great deal of time icing it and I really hope it heals all right. It's not terribly swollen or bruised (yet), so maybe it will be okay.
28 March, 2006
My foot was still sore, so we decided on just hardshoe. Hornpipe, hornpipe, hornpipe! That tiny little movement is still giving me issues. Major issues. We drilled it over and over and over again. Someday, I will successfully manage it; but that day is not today.
We're moving into the new studio room after spring break. Actually, Cait said they're moving in on the 1st, but that week is a no dance week for everyone, so we'll experience it the week after. I'm really excited. This will, however, be the fourth studio in five years. I think this one is more permanent. (Of course, the current one was supposed to be permanent, too.)
11 April, 2006
The lack of dancing for a week was not kind to me. My stamina was down to new lows. I'm not sure why, either. My chest hurt and not even my inhaler could help it. But the new studio is really, really nice! Andrew was practicing (he dances at Worlds on Saturday), but the new layout of the studio makes it hard to see what he's doing--however, he was doing a lot of hardshoe, so I could hear it, and he sounded great!
But I have to say that the new floor is really, really wonderful. During our year at the Academy of Dance, the director of the school had linoleum put in, as she had in her Valley location (I believe I recall that we wanted to move the floor to the downtown location, we loved it so much). We didn't get much time with it (and definitely barely any time with hardshoe), but I remember really loving it. Well, lino is back! And better than ever! It's a major, major upgrade from the beat up, slightly dangerous floor in the other studio room, and hardshoe sounds great!
Softshoe, however... I knew we really had to work on it because my year-and-a-half of dancing was not kind to my lift and stamina when it comes to softshoe dances. So Cait decided to teach me a new slip jig step, one that I'd need to learn if I was going to be in the show (increasibly doubtful about being in the show). It's very simple, but I struggled with certain parts of it (the leapovers are two beats instead of three, which confused me at first--TOO USED TO THREES!). I could barely breathe, however, and that was causing me major issues.
We ran through reels, too, and I was nervous about dancing them because I had hurt my foot doing it before. However, it seemed that energy was my major issue, and I fumbled my way through everything.
18 April, 2006
We started with softshoe and reviewed the new step over and over. I have problems on my left foot because we have to turn to the right and whip with the left, which throws off the rest of what I want to do. And I struggled with my footing in the turn. It took ages to get it right, but I still kept messing it up! Something was just not clicking.
The lack of brain power got even worse when Cait decided to teach me a new hardshoe treble jig step. Another one that I needed to know. It seemed very simple, just long, but I could not piece it together. Either the lack of energy was making it impossible to think, or I was just not up to speed enough to comprehend the steps, but I'm thinking it was the former. I can barely remember it, even now. But I don't think Cait expects me to retain much.
My dad then asked if I would be in a class soon. I don't seem to care as much as my parents do, but when I heard that the only classes Cait was thinking of putting me in were people below where I was before, and not the performance classes, I was a bit let down. Not entirely, though, because I knew my stamina wasn't improving well enough. But the news had gone from being in two performance classes with people I had danced with since 2001, to being with newer advanced dancers I didn't know. Not that I have an issue with not knowing people, but it was just a bit of a step down from what I thought I was going to be doing. Which makes me really confused about the show.
Everyone had been preparing for the Opera House St. Pat's show when I started. All through February and March they were practicing for that and only that. And then Andrew had to work hard for Worlds, and was gone for a week in April after a week off for everyone. Basically, I'm wondering how much practice even the advanced dancers have gotten in for the show. It doesn't seem like there has been much time to do anything, but then I remember that they're probably at the point where you can give them any dance and they can perform it without practicing. Still, though, Andrew is one of the only older advanced male dancers, and he was probably too busy with Worlds to worry much about the Met.
It wouldn't be a confusing issue at all if the show wasn't on the 12th of May.
I said I would probably join up with a Wednesday evening class, but I really would rather stick with private lessons because I feel I get more attention to detail where I never got in regular classes. Of course, it has been pointed out to me that private lessons are more difficult because you are the only person so you are constantly dancing without breaks (tell me about it), but I need that. I really, really need that.
16 May, 2006
Having been unable to go to three lessons, with Cait sick twice and me too tired to attend the third, I figured that this one would be pure agonizing hell. But missing those three lessons also confirmed that I was not going to be in the show. I have no idea what happened or why Cait lost interest, but I was never put in a class and there was no real follow-through on any side. Doesn't bother me much, though it would have been nice to end my final dancing year (as far as I know) with a bang. I'll write more about the show in a second.
Anyway, despite being rather nervous about my stamina, it actually wasn't so bad at all. We spent the entire time working on that hornpipe step that did not connect in my head at all the first time. This time, it did. Cait had me drilling it over and over until I could smooth out the rough spots, and I'm leaving it to me to make the entire step look right. But at least I know I was just out of it when she first taught it to me and that I'm not unprepared for higher level steps.
Towards the end, a newly-formed blister on my heel tore up and I had to take off my shoes to do a run-through of the other hornpipe step (I suddenly know a lot). It felt very, very strange to be dancing in socks, and that threw me off for some bizarre reason. But by the end I was really too winded to care.
Now, about the show...
Perhaps the real reason I'm not incredibly upset about not being included is that the show was quite poor. I think with Andrew going to Worlds and Cait buying a new house and getting a new studio and dancing at the Opera House in March, they really had no time to get enough rehearsal in. Because it was rough. The only other show that matched the mistakes made at the Met show was an early show that we did at the Davenport. We couldn't have been dancing for more than a year or so, maybe a year and a half, but we forget parts of routines and went in bad directions and seemed to lose a great deal of interest because of the inadequate flooring and all of that. But I can excuse a show like that. I can't excuse the show at the Met.
They had brought a lot of dancers, most of them really young or in higher levels. You would think that, given the fact that the dancers on stage most of all were the 'touring troupe', older, advanced students, there would be limited mistakes because performing is old hat by now. However, you would be wrong! Not only were people slipping, which is excusable because it's never the fault of the dancer (or rarely is, anyway--especially with many people slipping), there were dancers absolutely forgetting their steps. There's a routine that is often done with Cait, Claire and Logan. Hag with the Money. It's a staple and a favorite and everyone recognizes it from the first note of the uilleann pipes. But because Claire and Logan are in New Zealand, they had to replace them with, you guessed it, Tasha and Becca and Andrew. Two sisters for two sisters.
Andrew was fine, though I'm still baffled about his qualification for Worlds (his posture is all over the place even if his sound and stage presence is amazing), but Tasha was having serious problems. Despite the fact that all three of them are in Prelims, they were honestly dancing at a level closer to Novice. Though they could peform the steps, they didn't have the power or even enough ability to make them look polished. Tasha seemed to forget what part of the dance happened when, though it didn't lead to an obvious mistake (at least, to anyone who doesn't know the dance), and she fell near the end after looking like she had lost the motivation to keep dancing at all.
Overall, it was rather disappointing. An Dochas was good, as always, but there were very key elements missing from the dancing. Stage presence, power, proper ability (I'd say that Miranda stole the show for the older dancers, easily--even if Andrew got the most applause), spacing, timing, expression... All off. Although, I did seethe with jealousy to see a routine where some of the advanced girls wore their solo dresses during a 'feis-style' dance. I always wanted to do that, and I was the first person with a wig and a more 'mainstream' dress. (Miranda's dress was really gorgeous, though.)