First Coaching

Well this entry is a little late cause of internet issues. But I had my first coaching session last week. A coach is a professional dancer and/or competition judge that travels around to the different studios and assists the teacher with a student. Giving that outside view and years of experience in a very focused lesson. Bobby Gonzlez joined Adriann and I. Most of the session we spent working on the Foxtrot. I like his teaching style. I started off just showing him where I was at with that dance as he watched. He said that he liked a lot of what he saw so far. First thing we adjusted was my frame and posture. Then he went over the connection points between myself and the woman. My left hand in hers and my right hand on her shoulder blade were standard but he added having me put my wrist of my right hand up so it connects with her tricep. This not only added another connection point for her to feel my direction but made sure my right arm stayed up and level to the ground instead of dropping down to an angle and ruining my frame.
Next we worked on expanding my list of options for moving around the floor. The default move for avoiding corners or other dancers you start with is ‘magic left turn’. And even after you add other options its hard not to just keep using that one move over and over. So we focused on using promenade and another move called Junior walks to move around the floor. Dancing is a social event even in competition you are on the floor with multiple other couples so you need to know the moves but also be aware of your surroundings. To vary your moves to adapt to a small amount of space or a blocked lane.
It was a great session and I learned a lot. Will be able to grow off all the advice he gave me. It was a great confidence builder to hear that he thought I had been at about 25 or 30 lessons instead of the 16 or so private lessons I’ve gone through. I think I pick things up quickly but I know it also takes a lot of practice. Going to as many of the group classes as I can I’m sure have helped me and I've started coming in when there isn't a group class to use the floor and practice on my own. I’m looking forward to how he judges me at the upcoming event Freestyle Showcase in May.