Ex-cuuuuse Me!

Russian word for the day:
iz-ven-eetch-cha -- sorry: as in "Sorry, I forgot the dance step", "Sorry I fell"*, "Sorry I put my foot wrong."

It was a federal holiday, so Dance Coach and I squeezed in a freestyle session to work on the Canasta Tango to music. The CT and I are not friends yet. We're more like mortal enemies forced to fight together to save the earth in a third rate paranormal fantasy novel.  The steps in the CT are a lot quicker in parts (the progressives), but not to be rushed in the other parts (the swing roll and slide chasse). So, yes, I'm too slow in the fast parts, and too fast in the slow parts.

After the second time where I failed to make it around the second pattern. Dance Coach blew past the Disappointed Voice into Full Lecture Mode. "Why you do that? You know the pattern. You just skated the pattern, why can't you skate it twice?"

"Iz-ven-eetch-cha." I say, "I was thinking so hard about the end pattern, I started it too soon."

Speaking Russian to Dance Coach seems to take the edge off the lecture.  "Okey, we do again."

I feel so manipulative.

My problem with the CT is that it requires strong pushes every single step and the progressives have tighter curves than I'm accustomed to, plus I think Dance Coach is secretly pushing up my power. This means that I have to be precise with my upper body and knee action.  For example, in the swing rolls, I really have to time the shoulder action and the knee action together. In the cross roll I have to get deeper in the knee. In anything in this dance, if I look down even for a second, there's no time for a correction. I haven't had the nerve to practice all this alone at my (elderly lady) top power , but I guess I'll just have to force myself to do it from now on, or I'll never get that end pattern without skid. You could hear the skidding on the end pattern in Moscow today.

Third time's a charm. The only skid was in the cross roll. Now that it's going right, Dance Coach's mood lifts. He starts teaching me parts of the swing dance, and then we go to back cross rolls. I make a face. He's in a good mood. "Tizloy!"

At least all my work on posture has paid off. I no longer hear any comments about "Hold yourself like an ice dancer." No comment, that's figure skating coach praise.

*(And yes, I nearly fell, in foxtrot hold doing something I've done a hundred times. I think it's the upped speed. Gotta practice, practice, practice to get better, better, better.)