Three Cheers

Hooray! I went out this evening and had a really nice evening. I'll be shattered tomorrow, is the only problem. I won't be able to go to sleep for at least another hour. But I feel like dancing again and I feel much more cheerful about myself and my dancing in several ways.

Something happened that will amuse people who know me. I roused on* someone who had inattentively broken a promise to me. With an exact description of what he had done, lively gestures, and feedback including a loud PING! like they do on game shows when you get the answer right, I induced him to emit the words "I'm sorry," and reasonable relations resumed. We had a nice dance, later.

The nice lady, a stranger, who I had been chatting to a moment before politely paid no attention to this exchange. But at the end of the evening, she approached me, and, referring to it, said:

"That was great. Straight for the jugular - it was beautiful."

I do something well.

*Can you say "rouse on" in American? I've never seen it written on the internet.

Adrian and Amanda Costa - Milonga

I'm trying to get myself back in the mood by watching some videos that make me want to dance. This one is nice for itself, very happy and very musical and full of interesting little details, but it also reminds me of something it took me longer to learn than it should have.



I did a workshop with this couple once, in Spring 2007. It was really good, and I did OK, but I was still a very recent beginner. Watching this clip I remembered that when he wanted to show me something, I wasn't sure what to do with my left hand in relation to his hairstyle. There's just so much of it, thick and glossy. I was standing there thinking "how can I possibly go under, and if I go over, how can I hold on?" Now I would know that it doesn't matter because you don't really use that hand to hold on. It just seems like it. When you're in close embrace you actually get the connection from your left underarm and the top of your torso being in contact with his right shoulder and chest. The hand isn't doing anything, you just drape it somewhere so it's comfortable and doesn't restrict him or put you off balance. I've even known it to be used for gently fending off overexcited competitors for the same piece of floor.

I also really like their tango at the same event, especially the way it starts, with a musical walk almost right round the floor. It's just a great way to start a tango.

Pedro and his Mum

While I'm on my holiday from tango -

Pedro Almodovar helps his mother with her knitting.



Hat-tip to Tanguerita on Tangobaby's blog.

What to work on next

I try to improve my dancing one or two things at a time. It keeps me interested. I decide what they're going to be, based on my experiences dancing, and I change them as I go along. Here's what I'm working on now.

Attitude

This week I am working on my attitude. This is an emergency diversion because I've had a dodgy few weeks. I planned to go out this evening, but just didn't want to. Most of the time, when that happens, I go anyway, and once I'm in the water's lovely. But I've been having this sinking feeling far too much lately. The outer corners of my eyes turn down in a very pitiful way when I'm sad or anxious, and that certainly doesn't help me get dances. So this week I've decided to have a rest, and see if that helps. It has before. It doesn't count towards my two things, but it's a priority because until it gets better I won't be able to fix anything else.

Embrace

It works well for me and adapts to different shapes and sizes. I almost always succeed in getting and keeping a good connection. But I want to improve the way it feels for the leader, and the scope of what it allows me to do. I don't know exactly how to do this, but at the moment I'm trying a mental checklist when I start a dance, to make myself consistent. Then I'll have something to work on.

(Relax the) neck
(Relax the) shoulders
Breathe into the lower ribcage
Right elbow pointing down
Feel the floor
Ready to Go

That takes a few moments, so I'm struggling if the leader is one who just grabs you and zooms off without a moment to get set. It's bound to get faster as I practice it more. I think I should add "find the right position for my head" (it varies because it depends on the height of the man, whether he keeps his head straight, and whether he wears glasses). I'm not sure where it should go - probably at number 3.

Hips/Shoulders/Dissociation

I've got some little exercises for this. I found a book written by a lady who teaches belly dancing, and thought oooooh - these are just what I need, and not a huge bore like exercises usually are. I'm not stiff - but I want more physical freedom and control so I can express myself more. And they help with relaxing the shoulders, too. (No, gentlemen, you do not get to watch.)

Grounding

I feel that there's something I should work on here, but I haven't quite decided what it is yet, so it's in the queue for when my attitude has improved. However, I think the belly-dancing exercises will apply to this as well.

Current self-assessment

I'm easy to lead and comfortable to dance with. I'm competent in quite a range of styles and can deal with almost all of what gets thrown at me in social dancing - including quite a lot of things that most people don't do, and give or take a couple of things I simply, sincerely, don't like. I'm fairly confident I have no serious bad habits. I'm naturally musical and respond well to musicality in the leader, at least when I'm feeling good and not anxious. But I'm not exactly exciting.

Observable Facts

Some good dancers seem to quite like me, they're asking me more often than they used to, and average dancers quite often say I'm really good.

Leandro Palou and Romina Godoy @ Crypt

Quick class review: I went along to this pre-milonga guest-class on Saturday because Leandro and Romina's one on Wednesdays has been recommended to me by several different people.

The class was very large - at least forty people - and of very mixed ability. They managed that well, with presence and management rather than shouting. It began with a warm-up in the form of a simple technique drill, walking forwards and backwards. Then they showed us a sequence which was not especially difficult, but was carefully thought out so that people at very different levels could all get something out of it. They added a bit of extra spice with a gancho, but emphasised that if you were not comfortable with the plain version you should not attempt the gancho; I think this is a good approach to the problem we were discussing here.

They sought questions and both responded to them well, answering the question that the person would have asked, had he or she already understood the answer.

Romina gave lots of time and attention to followers' technique, her advice was clear and useful, and she made sure that everyone got a good view of what she was doing. Her demonstrations with Leandro also included some ornaments that were a little different each time, but were not made into a distraction.

A lot of time was spent on the leader's and the follower's steps seperately. I know some leaders find this very helpful because it makes it easier to understand what is being demonstrated. It's also good for me as a technique and balance drill. But I always worry that this method can be taken the wrong way by some followers, who end up doing the same thing regardless of what is led. However, at different times both Leandro and Romina did spell out that you shouldn't do this. I have no reason to think that anyone did get the wrong idea.

I've heard good things about Leandro and Romina's teaching from many different sources. I thought this class was well pitched, well presented, well put together, and very professional, and I was told that the content and the presentation were typical of their regular classes. I wouldn't hesitate to take their Wednesday class, especially because of the attention to followers' technique. However, all the drills and repeated calesitas made the class quite tiring before a milonga, and I was glad to go home before my last train.

Their website is tangosoul.co.uk and you can see some didactic demos from their regular classes here.

The performance was very enjoyable, and her dress was stupendous. I know someone filmed it, so it may pop up on YouTube in time.

UNIX Hedgehog

I got my employer to send me on a UNIX course this week - three days of finding your way around and two days of shell scripting.

I love this kind of thing - it's as good as a holiday. The last part will only be mildly useful at work, but it's great fun, if your mind likes to work that way. I already know that telling the computer what to do is just an amusing interactive mind-puzzle. The hard part is working out what you want it to do in the first place, as this man explained in 1986. That hasn't changed, and it's not going to, ever.

I shall return to work refreshed.

text gestures

Most of us know how to transmit a hug by text. You just write the person's name (or alias, or initial) with multiple balanced brackets around it. So if you wanted to hug me, but were too far away to do so, you would transmit this to my phone or email, or put it in the Comments:

((((Hedgehog))))

Or if you thought I needed a stronger hug, or you were feeling particularly huggy, you might do this:

((((((((((Hedgehog))))))))))

This gesture-by-text is widely understood, and has the effect of making the person feel hugged, so that one appropriate response is 'thank you'.

I think it's interesting that it has a personal object, not just the recipient as such, as is the case with a smiley, but a particular person specified by name. So, supposing my sister N had lost her phone, but is in the pub with a friend, it would be possible for me to transmit a hug by texting her friend as follows:

Please hand this to N: ((((N))))

which would probably result in the friend handing over the phone. Or if I merely sent this:

((((N))))

the friend might do the same, but would also have the option of physically hugging N on my behalf, although they would probably still show her the phone.

Here's a question: in cultures where it is usual to bow, or to put one's hands together, are there ways of transmitting these gestures textually? How, if so?