Worked on 3 of the 4 Pre-Gold dances today and really broke them down into segments to try and work on them.
The Killian is so fast. That Chocktaw is pretty scary going as fast as the dance requires.
The Starlight is very tiring for a waltz. There are so many different steps and hold changes.
The Blues requires pretty deep edges and flexibility.
Finally done with the Silver dances. I started these dances in late December of 2022 right after I finished the previous batch of Pre-Silver Dances. It’s been 2 years and 4 months of work.
The judges were fair in my opinion. A sprinkle of compliments and some deserved criticism on areas I struggle with. I love it when they say I did well for 21+ much less 50+ … and I wonder .. do they know I am 65? They should give us a whole new level! Just kidding.
I have no idea what the time frame for the Pre-Gold dances will be. I have learned the basics of the steps of 3 of the 4 of them, but they are really challenging.
30 minute lesson today on the fundamentals of the Blues dance. We did a little in the beginning on my closed mohawk of the Starlight Waltz too.
This dance is hard. There are a lot of deep edges and difficult steps and turns. Just LIFTING MY FREE LEG UP HIGH is a challenge!~
30 minute lesson cut short by some rink drama and subsequent distractions during my lesson. We managed to eke out a little practice. I took the opportunity to jump OFF the ice right after my lesson and skidaddle home!
Great short lesson today. Lots of exercises not on camera and then we worked on the Killian and Starlight Waltz. I’m so tired - very little sleep last night.
All that in 45 minutes!
Last minute decision to test my Rocker Foxtrot today. We had a virtual test session ending tonight .. so I thought I would try and attempt it today. Summer is coming and I will be off ice for most of it until November!
The version of the test is from my camera at the end of the rink. Same skate but not the official video taken for submission to the judges. You can’t see some of the dance on this copy.
After that we worked on learning (teaching ME) the unbelievably difficult steps of the Blues. Ask me again this time next year - I will probably not have changed my mind about that. Deep edges and advance turns with backwards cross rolls and high lifted blusy free legs… yes sir this one is hard.
Before I left the session I put on my free dance music without any rehearsal to see what would happen. I can’t believe I made it to the end of the song. I missed a lot of the choreography and my twizzles were really yucky in sequence .. RBO Twizzle followed by RFI Twizzle 🤮. I lost my edge element .. the spread eagle but threw in a boring unemotional spiral and forgot all my “character steps” on the short axis. Oh and that scratch spin at the end… so not what’s supposed to be there~! And I just learned the the Intermediate Solo Free Dance is now called Pre-Silver.
But a good day all in all. I hope I pass that test - on to nothing but Pre-Gold.
1) Virtual Test 2) Blues 3) Free Dance
We’re thinking this dance may be ready to try and test next week. Not perfect for sure but I want to finish the Silver Dance series of tests - so when I return after summer I will be working on only Pre-Gold.
Did a few runs, then worked for 5 minutes on the Starlight Waltz. After that I stayed on the ice and tried a little solo practice.
Another unexpected lesson. Working on the Rocker Foxtrot - waiting for our music while 2 skaters ran their programs Vitali decided to teach me a few steps of the Blues dance. This one is going to be hard with a CAPITAL H.
The Rocker Foxtrot did not cooperate today but I made a little progress on the Starlight Waltz.
I think I actually like this dance. It has so many different steps in it. The hold change is the big challenge for me as well as the mohawk with the high leg lilt.
Worked on 3 of the 4 Pre-Gold dances today and really broke them down into segments to try and work on them. The Killian is so fast. That...
