Stage Space

The first choreo I did, I was dancing in my living room. At the time, I thought it was a terribly cramped tiny space, because I was unable to take real steps in any direction. After doing this choreo in the ludicrously small cranny of the mudroom, I realized just how much of a luxury being able to take steps, however stunted, really was.

I drilled my new choreo in a large space for the first time tonight, and I had so many problems with stage space usage. I stuck mostly to the middle, was unable to spread out to give the left and right any love, and had a terrible time not crowding the front of the room. It's better now, and I'm glad I had the time and opportunity to fix it before performing it. Tripping over the audience would have been awful.

I also made a few last minute tweaks to the movements. Hopefully I can remember them, and they won't backfire on me or look weird or anything like that. We shall see!

A fit of pique

I performed my very first self-choreographed solo almost a year ago, and still haven't received the video for it yet. In a fit of pique, I wondered if I could create, and perform, a second choreography before I receive the first one. I vaguely felt that maybe it would compel the videographer to "get a move on" and motivate him to get me that video.

While I don't seem to be having a whole lot of luck with the video for my first solo -- he's found the raw vids, and is now working on them, but it's still not done yet -- I did manage to finish a second choreography. Admittedly I've only done two now, but at 2 weeks and change, this is the fastest I've ever finished a choreography. Now I just have to drill, drill, drill until I get all my transitions down pat.

The show is coming up in just 10 days, and I'm all a-jitter with nerves and anticipation. It's a little out of my range of expertise, but I'm hoping I can pull it off and make it work. Tell your friends, and come see me dance!

Basics Seminar

Yesterday was Shobu Aikido Basics Seminar. We did about 5 hours of basic training, with emphasis on feeling the flow of the movements, rather than breaking it down into its component parts. I don't really get how feeling the flow lends itself to basic training though -- I'm an especially nit-picky learner who does best when I'm breaking everything down slowly and grokking things a little bit at a time. Still, it was really a lot of fun, and I do feel like I gained something from it.

We also worked with jo (short staff)! [Translation: I got to play with a stick!] It was super fun, and much easier than the bokken the last week. I have "rigidity" issues where I can't quite grasp the concept that both ends of the jo are equally valid as weapons, and that flipping from one side to the other should be easy, safe, and as natural as breathing. I also got bonked (lightly) on the thumb, but it doesn't hurt too badly, so that's okay. Yay jo!

There was a kyu testing after the seminar, which was very interesting to see, and immediately relevant to me. I got to see what my very next belt test will look like. It's pretty intimidating. Hopefully I'll be ready to test soon! :D

Gasshuku

I've recently taken up Aikido with Gleason-sensei at Shobu Aikido in Union Sq, Somerville. This weekend was Spring Gasshuku, and all told we did something like 10 hours of intensive training over 3 days. I am sore, bruised, and pleased as punch. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. :) The soak in the hot tub afterward helped a lot too!

I dream of Manson

Choreography for this has been really slow -- I started working on it months ago, and it's still not done yet -- but I showed what I had to my current dance instructor and one of the girls in class, and they both seemed to like it. My instructor has threatened motivated me with doing this solo at the upcoming studio recital in mid-June. *laugh* I hope I can finish it, polish it, and groove to it all in the next 6 weeks or so. This is gonna be interesting. :3