Monday, March 05, 2007

The Tangocoaster Strikes Again.

Further adventures of the tangocoaster.

I've spent two weeks wondering if I was ever again going to have a tanda that didn't end in me wanting to stab myself in the face. It was never good enough - not the right posture, ankles not close enough, steps not long enough, missed a lead.

Friday I went out, in defiance of all laws of averages and declining returns. I was keeping friends company and had no desire whatsoever to dance; my only hope was to sit quietly all night in pretty shoes and try to learn a little by watching people who could actually dance.

Tangocoaster: 1001.
Me: 0.

The first few hours of the night went pretty much according to plan, until a friend of mine asked me to dance. It's hit or miss with him, and I was absolutely predicting a miss, but it's hard to decline since he's such a sweetie, so off we went.

It was really nice. He's taking lessons or something, because the embrace was solid and the intent was clear, and I even managed to relax enough to throw in a few little embellishments. I never would have thought it would go so well, and two tandas later when I thanked him, I was beaming.

Tangocoaster: 1001.
Me: 6.

I sat for a while longer, and declined a couple of leaders (one of them is a Dancefloor Instructor, and the other is a Shoveler), happy just to watch and know that my one tanda looked really good.

Then I got asked again for a really well-crafted tanda by one of my favorite partners, and it was two songs of glee. Every step was right, his musicality was a cut above, his lead was sure but not shoveling.

Tangocoaster: 301.
Me: 706!

After two tandas, I thanked him and walked back to my chair, where my teacher was waiting.

"You've got to do something about your shoulder," she said.

Tangocoaster: 1006.
Me: 0.








3 comments:

Debbi said...

Ah the tangocoaster... the most fickle of all partners.... some day we will conquer it! And then, look out world! {insert evil laugh}
Keep riding the ride, eventually the scale will always tip in our direction! I am convinced of it...

Danzarin said...

There is always something we can do better... We can always have better posture, step prettier, be more musical, have better balance etc. But don't let that get you down. Just tell me, when you were dancing, did it feel good:) If you felt good, I guarantee that your partners also enjoyed it:)

Anonymous said...

Hey hey, glad it went well! Like Danzarin says, there's always room for improvement in terms of technique. It's hard to not overthink those things when you dance so it's always nice when you dance with someone who's really good, it makes up for all the lousy ones in class.