Skate ALL THE THINGS!

 Lesson today and I requested that we work on a little bit of everything since we have been focusing a lot on dance (don't get me wrong, I love dance but I don't want my other skills to slide). 

Spinz - We started with spins, particularly camel spins since it's been about a month or so since we looked at them. I have been practicing them so I know they didn't regress, in fact I think they have improved. My suspicions were correct! Christopher says they do look like they've improved since the last time he saw them. I'm able to hold the position better and am much more stable coming out of it into a scratch spin to finish it off. So, we worked on improving that initial push onto the edge from the windup. I'm also still struggling with remembering to lead with my left arm instead of swinging it. When I remember to do all of these things, I'm able to get a nice spin. He briefly mentioned me working on a camel to sit spin and I admitted that since I'm still really sore from that bad fall, I have not been wanting to work on sit spins since there's a pretty good chance I'll end up on my ass (which is now hella bruised. My entire left check and back left thigh is all kinds of colors!). But he suggested working on a back sit so I tried it...and I ended up on my ass. Ugh, it hurt! He suggested going into the coaches room to get some padding and I'm just like "Thanks but maybe we should just not do the thing anymore." It hurt more than I wanted to admit. :( 

Movez - Moving on to moves! He asked me what I wanted to work on and honestly, I couldn't think much beyond the pain so I said it was "coaches choice." He chose Cross Strokes (thank gawd). I'm doing better at holding the free leg back before the cross on the forward strokes so now he would like for me to make them curvier. Cool, I can do that! The backward strokes are fine but he would like to see me get my feet closer together on the cross and also lean on those curves. I can do the lean but the closer feet thing still has me spooked. 

Flipz - My flip jump is a constant work in progress. I think over this past month I've been able to make some more progress but my biggest downfall with this is that I cannot stop forcing it. This causes me to over-rotate every single time and the jump overall looks chaotic. So, he took me waaaay back to basics and had me do a slow and flat 3 turn entry, hold, pick, and then do an almost back pivot into the actual jump. This forced me to think about each part of the jump and not just fling myself in the air as I usually do. I'll keep working on it this way. It clicked for me. 

Dancez - We had some time at the end to look at some dance stuff. I now have the steps and timing memorized for the Swing and the Cha Cha so since we only had time to look at one, we worked on the Swing. We sorta partnered it? Instead of the proper waltz position, we were basically just face-to-face holding hands with some good distance between us (it reminded me of a Catholic School Dance, lol). Anyway, I got all the steps right but my transitions were a little wonky on the end patterns mostly because I've been practicing it by myself so I wasn't sure which side of him to get on with each end pattern. Since he seems confident now that I know the steps, he said we can do it in proper waltz hold next time. Kinda scary. It's going to feel really different and I'm still scared about kicking him or tripping us both. He also said we will look at the Cha Cha next time too. I imagine Fiesta Tango is in my near future. 

So yeah, it was a productive lesson and I think he has seen some improvements from me. I'm glad because although we haven't been looking at some of these things during our lessons lately, I've been working really hard at them in my practices. We didn't look at backward 3 turns but I'm still plugging away at those too. Unfortunately, the improvements cannot be seen with those. Sigh. 

Swinging into the week like Cha Cha Cha

 After my terrible fall on Saturday, I was debating even skating this week. But, I had already paid for the sessions and there are no refunds. Plus I'm stupidly stubborn so I went to the rink as sore as I was. After icing it quite a bit, it feels slightly better. It still really hurts though, so I broke out my padded skate pants that I haven't worn in a while and brought them to wear during this week's sessions. I really don't want to fall on it again and aggravate it further. 

Monday Swing - Christopher started our lesson by asking me if I was disappointed about the test session getting canceled. I admitted I was but was also kind of relieved. At the pain levels I'm experiencing right now, I am not in the mood to test. He said since I would have passed the tests, he would like to move forward and teach me the next set of dances from the Pre-Bronze level. We started with Swing! This introduces a whole new dance hold (waltz position) as well as a change in direction from backward to forward halfway through the pattern. We went through the basic steps first and then he taught me the pattern. His main piece of advice was to have good turnout on my swing rolls so I don't toepick him in the shins (it's happened in the past apparently). I have a feeling that this will be difficult to practice without a partner as I will need to skate backwards for half of it and won't have a way of looking out for other skaters without breaking my posture. It's fun and swingy though so I think I'll like it. 

Tuesday Cha Cha - I spent the whole time before my lesson working on the Swing so that when he got to me I would at least know the steps. I finally got all the steps down so imagine my surprise when our lesson started and he said he was going to teach the Cha Cha. I mean, sure, let's do it! This is a super fun dance and I know it will be one of my favorites once I get all the steps down but man, two new dances in two days. It's a lot. 

I've been practicing at home using the USFSA Dance app so I have the steps to both dances memorized now! Hooray! If he throws the Fiesta Tango at me next time my brain might actually explode. 

Registered! And then not! And then OUCH!

This was a crazy week full of ups and downs, excitements and disappointments, rises and falls. Hold on to your butts.  

Registered! - Last Thursday evening, I registered for all three (yes, all three!) Preliminary Dance Tests! After about 5 weeks of dance training, I did well enough during our last lesson for Christopher to give me his blessing to register for all three dances. Pretty neat, right? I thought so. The day after I registered for the test, I had another lesson and we ran all three dances with the music. He doesn't hand out compliments very often so when he does, I know it's a big deal. He actually said that all three dances are not only passable at the Adult level but they would pass easily at the Standard level as well. Huge deal! I was excited and ready to kick some ass during the test session. 

And then not! - Fast forward to Saturday morning and I get an email from the RMFSC President saying that, due to new COVID restrictions, they had to cancel the December 4th test session. Ugh, super bummer! The whole reason why I rushed to learn these dances was because I was worried that if I waited to take them after the new year, there wouldn't be any test sessions because of COVID. Alas, it happened anyway. Whatever, I'm still going to practice them and make sure they are beautiful for when I do get a chance to test them. It's disappointing because I wanted to end the year on a high note but this just means perhaps I can begin the new year on a high note instead (and I think we will need all the high notes we can get next year). During my practice, I skated all three dances (solo, because I wasn't in a lesson) with the music. I ran each dance twice and they felt good. I think they may have looked good as well. 

And then OUCH! - After I ran all of my dances, I spent the second half of the session working on field moves. Everything was going well until I got the to Eight Step Mohawks. I ran the move once in its entirety and it was the smoothest I've ever done it. It wasn't perfect but for the first time it didn't feel like a struggle. So I bumped it up a notch and started to run it again but this time trying to keep my feet closer together on the outside mohawk as Christopher instructed. Well, mission accomplished because I got my feet so close together that I actually stepped on my blade and went down SUPER hard! I have had plenty of falls while skating but I have to say that this was the worst fall I've ever had! It was so hard and so sudden that it literally knocked the snot out of me (sorry for the TMI but it's reality). I sat on the ice stunned for a few seconds while I went through my rolodex of body parts thinking about whether or not anything was broken. I figured I would only know if I got up so I stood up and my left butt cheek muscle was hella painful! I skate-limped over to the boards to evaluate further but I eventually ended my session early and got off the ice. I got into the locker room and realized that the pain was so bad that I couldn't bend over to untie my skates. I thought about calling my husband to come get me but eventually I managed (through some tears, not gonna lie) to get my skates off and go home. I took some Motrin and iced the hell out of it but ultimately decided against going to the ER. It's sad to admit but I unfortunately know what broken bones feel like as well as a muscle tear. While it hurt pretty badly, nothing seems torn or broken. Don't ever step on your blade while skating. I guarantee you won't like it. :( 

So yeah, it was a roller coaster of a week. Ugh. 

Test Ready!

 I had a lesson yesterday and the goal was to run all three Preliminary Dances with the music to see whether or not I am ready to test all of them or just one or two. 

Dutch Waltzez - Christopher had me run the full pattern by myself with the music before we partnered. I thought it went well. He would like to see a bit more knee bend on the progressives (especially the second set right after the first two swing rolls). But I was able to stay on beat with the music and I knew the steps. We then ran it partnered and it was not so great. I felt very stiff and kinda scared. I think I mentioned before that partnering really isn't my jam and I think it shows a bit. It was okay and that first run through might have been passable but I wasn't happy with it. We ran it again at the end of the lesson and I did much better with the partnering so maybe it was awkward because it was the first dance of our lesson and I wasn't warmed up to partnering just yet. Anyway, he gave me his blessing to register to test this one. I promised I would work more on the progressives to get them bendy-er. 

Canasta Tangoz - Again, he had me run this one by myself first to see how I skate it solo. I did pretty well. His main criticism was to be a bit more sharp with my movements for this particular dance. To put it in musical terms, more staccato. We partnered this and it went well. The first time we ran it, I missed the second swing roll but the second time we ran it, it was pretty good! He gave me his blessing to register to test this one as well. Yay!

Rhythm Bluez - This was the one I wasn't expecting to be ready to test with but I surprised myself when he asked me to skate it solo and I was able to do the whole pattern with the music at speed WITH the cross behind steps! His main criticisms were to not step onto a flat when going into the second inside swing roll and to bend my knees more on the cross behind steps at the end. Also, he would like me to push all of the end steps closer to the boards. Right now I'm placing them from pepperoni dot to pepperoni dot and it should be a bit farther out. We partnered this as well with the music and it was okay. He gave me his blessing to register this one for testing as well so that was a surprise! I still have a bit more work to do to clean it up a bit but I'm feeling pretty good about it overall. 

So yeah, it was a good lesson and on December 4th, I'll be testing all three of my Preliminary Dances! That escalated quickly! Also, before my lesson when I was working on Silver MIF 3 turns, I almost had an LBO turn! It was there for a flash but it was there! This is the first time it actually turned but then I hit my toepick on the glide out and all forward momentum stopped. But...progress! It's a small glimmer of progress but I'll take it. It's not champagne worthy yet but I'm feeling a bit more hopeful about it. 

Sign of the Cross

I really should be better about updating this after every session rather than at the end of the week. There is just too much to remember. I work on a lot and by the end of the week it all gets jumbled. 

Lessonz - We began with the Eight Step Mohawks. I need to slow this down and really work on keeping my feet neat. It's distracting how I'm doing it. We worked a bit on Cross Strokes both forward and backward to try to get me used to holding and extending the free leg behind me longer before crossing over. The cross itself is nice and proper but I really need to extend and hold for much longer than I think I need to so that it looks prettier. We moved on to Power Pulls. The backward pulls need more of a rip and the forward pulls need more stamina as they tend to slow down rather than maintain. One exercise he gave me was to do each side down the length of the rink rather than switching feet at the midway point. The progress I've made on these is pretty minimal but at least they don't feel scary anymore. Finally, 3 turns. Ugh. He broke off the bottom part of the pole harness and had me do all four sets holding the pole so that there is more coordination between my upper and lower halves. This was much harder than just doing the turns on their own but once I put the pole away, the turns were easier to do. I'm sure that's the point in this particularly torturous exercise. I still don't have the LBO 3 turn. I swear, I'm buying a bottle of champagne when I finally get it. It will definitely be worthy of celebration.

Dancez - I actually feel pretty ready to test all three Preliminary Dances. There is a test session coming up on December 4th so that means that I would have to register on November 20th (a week from today). The last time I ran dances with Christopher I was able to do everything at a level where I could pass the test except for the cross behind steps on the Rhythm Blues. However, during my practice yesterday, I spent a lot of time working on just the end pattern on that dance in order to build muscle memory and maybe some confidence. By the end of the session, I was able to run the full Rhythm Blues pattern at speed including the cross behind steps! Woot! So, what I need right now is to run the full patterns with the music with Christopher partnering me. I would feel much better about registering for the test if I had some full run throughs of each of them. Hopefully, the dress I ordered from Brad Griffies will get here in time. If all goes according to schedule, I should be getting the dress about a week and a half ahead of the test so, although I wanted to stone it so I could sparkle on test day, I really don't think I'll have time to do it. I know sparkle isn't necessary for testing but that's where I get my power from, lol.

Grinding

 Just a recap of the past couple of lessons: 

Movez - I haven't really talked about Silver Moves lately but I am still working on them. I definitely feel like some moves are stronger than others but progress is happening. Since I've started learning ice dance, I feel like my forward and backward cross strokes have improved quite a bit as I feel more comfortable with my edges. The outside mohawk on the Eight Step Mohawk sequence is getting a little less scary as well. I need more speed and a more consistent cadence but the move is getting there. Spirals are coming along even though the inside spirals are clearly weaker than the outside ones. Backward power pulls feel great and the forward pulls are slowly getting stronger as well. Finally, let's talk about the 3 turns. I think overall, they are improving. I make sure to dedicate a good portion of each practice to them. However, I was lamenting to Christopher during one of our last lessons that, after a year and a half, I still do not have a LBO 3 turn. He held my hands while I did them to see if that would help but it's not a fear thing. It's a "my left leg doesn't like to do things since I added metal to it" thing. I confessed to him that, by far, this is the most frustrated and defeated I have ever felt with my skating. I'm constantly working on it and it never improves. So, he took me waaaay back to basics and is having me do a CW two-foot backward to forward turn over and over and over again until, eventually, I might be able to pick up the right foot and just do the turn on my left foot without assistance. I'll try anything at this point just to get it to happen. I cannot take the test without this move or I will fail for sure. 

Dancez - During our last lesson, we worked on the Rhythm Blues. First he had me demonstrate each of the individual steps (inside swing rolls, cross behind steps, lilts) and then he had me skate the full pattern by myself without music to see if I knew the steps before we did it together as partners. All went well but I have some hesitation with the cross behind steps at speed (especially while partnering). During our last run through of it, I did manage to get the cross behinds but the anxiety was sky high. Next time, we will run it with the music to see how it all fits together. So, as of now, I know all of the steps to the first three dances and just have some polishing up to do before I think I can pass them. My initial goal was to test them after the New Year but now I'm worried that, with Covid cases rising, we are getting close to another possible lockdown. I asked Christopher if he thinks I would be ready to test at least the first two dances during the December 4th test session and he says it's definitely possible. He would like to do some complete run throughs during our next lesson just to be sure but I feel ready. Oddly, ice dance feels more comfortable than freestyle which is really surprising. I'm picking it up pretty quickly and I feel more secure on my edges when they are in a dance pattern rather than on their own or in a field move. Maybe I was supposed to be a dancer instead of a freeskater? 

Howdy Partner!

So, I did a thing! I bought a dance dress! I think people know by now that I'm a dedicated Brad Griffies girl and probably won't wear any other skating dress unless it's made by him. So, when he got this special burnout velvet fabric in, I immediately started thinking of getting a dress made with it. He has this fabric in grey, dusty rose, black, red, and teal but I could not stop thinking of the grey! I called him up yesterday during his office hours and told him what I wanted. So basically, I'm taking the W01 dress and using the grey burnout velvet fabric on the bodice. The skirt will be the double mesh skirt shown in the picture on his website but in grey and longer for dance length. Since it's a belted dress style, I'm only going to stone the belt but I'm going to use Swarovski Crystal AB of various sizes and sprinkle it with some flat back cream colored pearls. It will be my Diamonds and Pearls dance dress. Perfect for dance and classy AF. 

Dance Lessonz - Before we started our dance lesson, Christopher wanted to discuss partnering. I've been kind of dreading this conversation because I am straight up terrified of skating that close to someone. I have a skating bubble and I try to not let people in it. One of my biggest fears is a collision on ice so I'm always aware of where people are and how close they are to me. Needless to say, skating hip to hip with a partner violates all of my skating bubble rules. I was hoping to do all of my dance stuff solo but Christopher prefers that I partner. He knows best and I trust him so I reluctantly went along with it. After getting over the initial awkwardness of it, it's not so bad. I just...it's my bubble, you know? I'm really scared of tripping him or him tripping me and taking him down too. He explained the benefits and I get it but still, this will take some time to get used to. 

Dutch Waltzez - After discussing the Killian position and doing some progressives in a circle to get used to the hold and timing, we ran a sequence of the DW. I survived and I didn't kill him so that's good news. Also, he said that it was good enough to get a pass from the judges! Woot! He said I had good timing with the counts so I think this might be okay after all. We didn't do it to the music but he was calling out the counts as we skated the pattern. I have to say that partnering allowed me to focus more on my turn out and toe point and less on the placement of the pattern because he was there guiding me. So, yay for partnering, I suppose. 

Canasta Tangoz - This dance just seems like the easiest and most enjoyable out of the three preliminary dances. He explained the Reverse Killian hold and off we went with the pattern. I think I did pretty well. He commented on how nicely I did the end pattern with the cross stroke-swing roll (my favorite part!) so I think this dance might be okay to test in a couple of months. Again, we didn't use music but he called out the counts. I was able to stay on beat so yay!

We didn't make it to the Rhythm Blues because we ran out of time but hopefully we'll look at that next time. My biggest fear with this is the cross behind steps with a partner. Scary. That's where I feel like I might trip him. I asked him if he felt like I could possibly test all three dances after the new year and he seems confident that I'll be ready by then. During our previous lesson, I told him I won't feel like an ice dancer until I've passed my Preliminary Dances. He corrected me and said "You're already an ice dancer. You have to be an ice dancer to pass the tests!" So, yeah, I guess I'm an ice dancer :)