Maybe it's something in my makeup, I don't see dance as purely social, as a dancer I want to be as good as I can be.
That doesn't mean I'll ever star on Strictly dance fever or be invited to perform privately in front of the queen, I know I have my limits. But I would like to know how to spin properly, how to interpret the music better, how to lead to the best of my ability and make the overall dance experience better for both me and the lady I'm dancing with at the time.
Normal progression just doesn't allow for this. I'll never learn these things simply by attending class nights, going to freestyles and doing workshops (at least not the sort of workshops I've been to in the past).
Competitions make you think about what you're doing. Things you would never usually think of start to come into the process; I know this moves feels OK but what does it LOOK like? I don't want to make mistakes in competition, why does this move go wrong 20% of the time, what am I doing wrong? What is it this guy over there is doing that it makes me want to watch him? Why do I fall over so often?
Most of the answers lie in that I jumped into this thing half cocked and never learnt the basics, or asked myself why I was doing things. I just did as I was shown and developed a multitude of bad habits. Preparing for competition makes me confront a lot of questions which when answered will make me a better dancer, that's why I'm going in for them.
And I want to beat the pants off everyone else of course
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