No Test in April :-(

Bummer.

The mid-winter publics I normally take lessons on have been just too crowded to practice dances consistently. It was so bad we actually quit lesson early during one public. It was just impossible to even stroke around. So I've fallen out of  practice of the complete patterns. There is a slight chance  that next week, he'll decide I'm ready, so cross fingers. My problem is that once I'm into the second pattern,  my mind goes blank. I'll practice The Nasty during evening public because after this lesson, I actually feel I have it coming together in my brain.

So, I know you're all questioning, "How did your edges look after the edge class?" Well, the edges are okay. But it's the posture that I'm now working on. The two have to go together.

The upper body is 'better', but not enough. I look at myself in the glass and the upper body is nice face on, until I turn sideways. Sideways, I still have a little bend forward at the hips. Not as much as last week, when it burned my eyes on video, but apparently, I FAIL THE PERFECTION TEST! Anyway, there was Russian finger poking of my spinal column. "Arch here. Line up all the bones. Skate pretty."

Yeah, that's gonna happen.

In the ever shifting standards of kneebend, what was acceptable last month is no longer acceptable. "I want you deeper in the knee." Dance Coach says. I felt I was practically in sitting position, and it annoyed me that apparently there is no mercy for the elderly on ice. "I am deep in the knee," I whine. "Where do you want me, here?" I sarcastically get my butt down to knee level. "Yes," Dance Coach says equally sarcastically. I show him the back of my hand and wiggle my fingers in an annoying way. He laughs.

Dance Coach and I have learned together, that it takes me three repetitions to fix something in my brain. And one of those repetitions has to be solo. Not at speed. Not pretty. Just alone. I guess because I'm an adult he expects me to hear the correction once, then do it perfectly from then on.

I wish.

This is where the FAIL comes in for the Nasty. I take three reps to get the 'lead the turn' part of the last slide chasse'. Three reps to get the two pattern down in my head. Three reps to get comfortable with the beginning. After that, the lesson is over and Dance Coach has the Frowny Face. He's not happy at the end of the lesson, but I'm beginning to feel that I have the dance together. Another go-round and he might have had the Not Quite So Frowny Face As The Frowny Face Earlier.

On the other hand, there's improvement going on behind the scenes that he doesn't know about. I'm over the skating backward when I'm alone phobia. I'm doing alternating back crossovers, and back chasse's. Not big, but they're happening. Some day, in the far distant future, I may be doing Back 3's!