Video EviDANCE

 Lesson today and I brought my husband along to take video per Christopher's request. Since Christopher can't record us while we're dancing, it's nice to have someone there to do it. My hubby is super supportive of my skating (and I'm so thankful for that) so he was a willing participant. Watching these videos later was very illuminating. Of course, Christopher has told me to fix certain things but it doesn't really hit home until you see it for yourself. Here is what I witnessed:

Fiesta Tango - Oh hey speed! This looks good in terms of our tempo and our first change of hold looks ok. But man, that second change of hold right before we start the pattern again is a little dicey. It needs more snap and I can clearly see how I'm still shoving Christopher out of the way. There are some timing issues as well where I can see that I'm just slightly behind Christopher. It's making things look sloppy so I gotta fix that. Finally, the swing roll change of edge right before the mohawk looks...not good. My extension right before the mohawk is kind of out to the left slightly instead of behind me. These are all things I can fix (at least I'll try) before test day. The skills are there and so is the speed so I think things just need polish. 

Swing - The main thing I noticed was how far apart we are! It looks like we are awkward teens dancing for the first time at a Middle School dance. It doesn't look bad but it would look better if we were closer. Actually, this is probably the better looking of the three dances. The one thing besides distance I should work on is that little slide chasse I do right before we start the pattern with him going backwards. My leg is slightly bent and it's so subtle that it doesn't even look like a slide chasse. Oh! And pretty much all of my chasses need to be...chasse-ier :)

Cha Cha - Ok, I need to talk about how ugly that cross behind step is on the end pattern right after the swing roll. Christopher's looks great (of course) but my free leg goes up so high that it's looking a little flamingo. Oddly, the one I do during the Fiesta Tango looks lovely but this one is wonky. There were some slight timing issues as well but overall, I think this one looks okay to test. I still have time to clean it up before test day, though!

So, yeah. The videos helped a lot! Again, these are all things that I know need to be improved but seeing it was a huge reality check.