Drilling Wins

For me, learning a dance move always starts with a moment of "this is so cool!", usually followed by weeks of "How did that go again?"  It's frustrating.  I need to drill.

Awesome art by Hugh MacLeod, gapingvoid.com

In group classes, my instructors will cover something until everyone has basically gotten it, then move on.  That's the most efficient use of the instructor's time, and that's awesome. But it's not enough for me to make the transition from head knowledge to body knowledge.

In private lessons, I definitely want to cover as much as you can, so once I've basically gotten it, we move on.  I do often ask for a bit of review either at the beginning or end of a private lesson, but doing that for the whole lesson is like learning to drive a stick shift in a Ferrari.  You can do it, it's just a shame and a waste.

During practice parties, there's a lot going on - you have to find a partner, your partner may not have learned the move you just learned, you have to worry about floorcraft and traffic management, and if you're lucky you get three or four minutes of whatever dance you learned this week.  For me that's not enough.  I need to do a move probably 20 times in a row for my body to start feeling it.

Every instructor will tell you to practice at home, and I do, but only a little, and not enough.  I'll claim it's because I want to work with a partner, but that's mostly an excuse.  I'm rarely home, and when I am, there are a ton of distractions and diversions.  I love working on my house, and it's old enough that there's always more to do.  Not to mention (and much more common), I still need to get caught up on Mad Men, and there's always Tivo Guilt.

Plus, I really want to work with a partner.  :-/  Different partners if possible.

So I finally bit the bullet and approached several women from my classes about meeting at the studio and drilling.  I also checked with the staff to make sure it was OK if we found a corner of the floor and practiced.  I've had my first session already - we drilled a flair promenade that I learned in Tango, and I definitely feel I have a better handle on it than some of the more basic stuff I haven't drilled.  Fifteen or twenty minutes of repetition made all the difference in me getting it (mostly) out of my head and into my body (somewhat).

So if you're a fellow dance student, set aside some time to drill - I'll be doing so again (and I'm always looking for drill partners - email me!)

20 minutes is the difference between "huh?" and "Yeah, I can do that...."