Went downstairs after my morning coffee to practice the backwards spin in my rumba routine. I have not been able to do it yet with Minas. So I decided to practice by myself. I found it helpful if I slow everything down and try to understand how to adjust my weight as the body moves. If what Diana said is true, and I believe her, nobody is born with good balance. It’s gained by practice, practice and practice. So I did.
And it worked. I did improve. Not by much, but a little has been gained. The one leg swipe that starts the spin is a hard one to grasp. My body starts twisted the wrong way and the leg helps to give it momentum to start spinning backwards CCW. I treid half spin first. It was kind of, just kind of easy. But when I tried to increase to a full spin, I always lose my balance to the outside.
Finally, after my leg was getting tired, I decided to use the bar edge to imitate Minas’s hand support. Surprisingly, it helped a lot. I was able to feel the need to raise my center of gravity up with that swiping leg drawing upwards at the end and stay up a bit longer. I still haven’t got it down yet. I would achieve a good one, once in a great while. As I did it correctly the last time, I stopped practicing. I wanted to end it with a good note and let my body remembers that correct movement. No guaratee it will reproduce it on demands but the more correct one I do, the better I’ll be.
As with any profession, there are skills/knowledge within each one. It takes time to learn the tricks and there are lots of trials and errors and frustrations. But the sweet taste of momentary success cheers you on to finally master the skill or obtain the knowledge.
The weather is very mild today in the 50’s. I took Benny for a longer walk around the other side of stonewater and came back by the park. It feels so good to be able to take a deep breath and ahh the air is not freezing cold. Even though is overcast, it’s the best temperature we have in a long while. I love it and even had the urge to go for a hike. Nah, I’m not really a hiking enthusiast, but it gives you that unrealistic desire when the weather gets warmer.
Thursdays and Fridays are my off days from dancing. I feel free cause I can do anything I like and there is no schedule to adhere to. If I decide to take a longer walk with Benny, I can. If I want to indulge in knitting or web surfing, I can. It’s wonderful.