Everything is bad....

L

lucretia

I have rehearsed and rehearsed the performance. I know the routine. I feel great when I do it alone but everythime I line up with the rest of the girls I feel very bad.

A few motions are quite tricky since we have arranged a pyramideshape line-up. Especially a transport rotation 45 degrees backward from the scene. And it is very crowded - we are 16 persons on the scene.

When we start these rotations/tranportation routines I get worried about bumping into the others. Then I lose concentration and do not fulfil the motions. Bad!

I have thought that these orientation problems will solve with help of excercise. But I'm not there yet...and wounder if I ever will. Since I was sick I (two year sick but since two years well) I do have problems with stressy situations. And this is one.

There are 2.5 weeks left. I have to decide if I should enter the stage or tell the others I quit.

/Luc
 
lucretia said:
I have rehearsed and rehearsed the performance. I know the routine. I feel great when I do it alone but everythime I line up with the rest of the girls I feel very bad.

A few motions are quite tricky since we have arranged a pyramideshape line-up. Especially a transport rotation 45 degrees backward from the scene. And it is very crowded - we are 16 persons on the scene.

When we start these rotations/tranportation routines I get worried about bumping into the others. Then I lose concentration and do not fulfil the motions. Bad!

I have thought that these orientation problems will solve with help of excercise. But I'm not there yet...and wounder if I ever will. Since I was sick I (two year sick but since two years well) I do have problems with stressy situations. And this is one.

There are 2.5 weeks left. I have to decide if I should enter the stage or tell the others I quit.

/Luc
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dont quit..keep working at it and u will do fine. remember, when u quit, u make everyone unhappy in ur dance team no matter how early u tell.they would rather see you working at it than u quitting
 
Stay! You will succeed. You already identified what the problem is so you are 80% of the way to fixing it! And when you have performed it for real you get to post on here and tell us all about it!

Go Lucretia, go lucretia :rocker: :banana: :bouncy:
 
sac said:
dont quit..keep working at it and u will do fine. remember, when u quit, u make everyone unhappy in ur dance team no matter how early u tell.they would rather see you working at it than u quitting
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sweavo said:
Stay! You will succeed. You already identified what the problem is so you are 80% of the way to fixing it! And when you have performed it for real you get to post on here and tell us all about it!
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Thanks!

But sometimes I do belive that my brain hasn't recovered from the damage it got when I was sick. Usually it means that things will take much longer for me to achieve than for others (you should have seen my first year dancing salsa). I guess I have to learn the synapses to cooperate again.

The orientation is one problem....the speed is another. Or - to combine the orientation problem and the speed. BIG problem!

I never started up this class with the intention to perform. I was just going to take that class as ladystyling and to drive my daugher (who is a really good dancer). But the formation of 16 girls needs 16 girls. Of course we could reshape but that probably means that more people have to quit. I guess some of the girls will....

If you miss one or two classes now you're actually out. Not formally but you loose so much. And since there is flue-time a lot of the girls hasn't turned up the last weeks. I was gone last week and rehersed the new parts with help of a videorecorder. But I did loose all the information about how to move the arms, where to look etc. since those parts wasn't so very visible on the recording. (i.e - the ones visible didn't right or wrogn angle). I knew all new steps but with wrong flava.

/Luc
 
Wow, it sounds pretty intense! I can't really know what it's like to go through that loss of mental ease, but as I age I find classes harder and harder to keep up with. Sometimes I think it's because I'm trying to be too detailed and just getting myself uptight. But that doesn't help me to find my comfort zone!

If orientation and speed are a problem, is it possible to go to the director and say this? Maybe you could get moved to the center of the formation so that there is less travelling and you can focus more on the orientation only...? Just a thought.
 
lucretia said:
I have rehearsed and rehearsed the performance. I know the routine. I feel great when I do it alone but everythime I line up with the rest of the girls I feel very bad.

A few motions are quite tricky since we have arranged a pyramideshape line-up. Especially a transport rotation 45 degrees backward from the scene. And it is very crowded - we are 16 persons on the scene.

When we start these rotations/tranportation routines I get worried about bumping into the others. Then I lose concentration and do not fulfil the motions. Bad!

I have thought that these orientation problems will solve with help of excercise. But I'm not there yet...and wounder if I ever will. Since I was sick I (two year sick but since two years well) I do have problems with stressy situations. And this is one.

There are 2.5 weeks left. I have to decide if I should enter the stage or tell the others I quit.

/Luc
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Wow, this sounds like fun! With all the wars, crime, hunger, etc. in the world, I relish these types of diversions. Think of this as fun and not stress. Life is too short to stress over dancing. Whatever happens on stage will make you a better performer and you will be able to look back at this experience and laugh later on.
 
This is going to sound absolutely insane--but the first thing I thought of when reading your post was "Why not practice the worst case scenario"? I'm not advising knocking someone down, but actually have a prearranged mock collision with someone and work on trying to get right back into the routine. I think you'll find that your worst fears about the performance are just that--fears. You've worked hard, and your team is counting on you! I'm sure they'd be upset if you didn't see things through to the final performance. I had to move before I was able to perform with my team, and it's a regret that I'll carry with me for some time. Good luck, and we're rooting for you!
 
naturallove said:
Why not practice the worst case scenario"? I'm not advising knocking someone down, but actually have a prearranged mock collision with someone and work on trying to get right back into the routine. I think you'll find that your worst fears about the performance are just that--fears.
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Great idea!

I will try that out. First in private - arrange 4 chairs making 2x2 meters. I wil surley bumb into some. Then perhaps with my daughter. And then perhaps with the other "old ladies" (we that need some extra training). I'm very quick getting back into the routine when I fail. But I guess it is as you say - the fear stops me.

sweavo said:
If orientation and speed are a problem, is it possible to go to the director and say this? Maybe you could get moved to the center of the formation so that there is less travelling and you can focus more on the orientation only...? Just a thought.
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No I guess I feel better at the side. Then I have the front, my left side and my back free. I rather struggle with a concrete wall than any salsera. I do not travel more than the rest - it is the footwork and handwork when we are supposed to do some shines that troubles me.
 
This may sound too tough but judging from what your saying I would quit while the team is ahead. I am assuming your an amateur team. A team is as good as its weakest link. Sounds like you need to work on yourself a bit longer before you comit to this kind of responsibility. No need to stress over something voluntary. The team will understand and in the end appreciate that you want them to perform to the upmost.
 
IsaacAltman said:
This may sound too tough but judging from what your saying I would quit while the team is ahead. I am assuming your an amateur team. A team is as good as its weakest link. Sounds like you need to work on yourself a bit longer before you comit to this kind of responsibility. No need to stress over something voluntary. The team will understand and in the end appreciate that you want them to perform to the upmost.
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Thats my point too.
Except for the fact that I'm not the weakest link. There are several ones. (I have suggested special training for all of us the following two weekends. Room is already booked)

If everyone that isn't "professional" should quit there wouldn't be more than a handful girls left. So we do have a problem. But we havn't formed to be a "professional" team. We are an open class. A few girls are persuaded to join. The rest are true amateurs. The first performance is a "sell activity" in town. There all of us fit in. The message is "everyone could be dance salsa - small, tall, thin, fat, yound and old ones". But the second performance is different. Then the audience is salsadancers.
 
naturallove said:
This is going to sound absolutely insane--but the first thing I thought of when reading your post was "Why not practice the worst case scenario"? I'm not advising knocking someone down, but actually have a prearranged mock collision with someone and work on trying to get right back into the routine. I think you'll find that your worst fears about the performance are just that--fears.
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Additionally Lucretia, I am a novice myself at this and someone else may be able to refine what I suggest. How about meditation/visualisation exercises? Create a quiet space for yourself, turn down/off the lights, switch on the music you will be dancing to and visualise the routine initially dancing it by yourself and then adding in the other people/faces you can recall and continue visualising that everyone is dancing and it comes off perfectly.

Visualisation is a technique a lot of people use - athletes, winning a particular race, standing on the podium holding the gold medal/1st place ribbon; someone preparing to give a speech etc

Meditation is often suggested/recommended for handling stressful situations. This may be a simplistic solution given your previous illness. As you yourself acknowledged, you have been well now for two years albeit, ill for two years before that.

Congratulations on you for undertaking this, for not giving up! :applause: Considering what you have probably experienced in the past four years sounds like you are doing great, even though it sounds like you want to be even better.

An additional thought - if some in the group are struggling with the footwork, could you and the others ask the teacher perhaps to modify it a bit so that it is in a sort of relay? For example, the girls who can do it well, do that part from start to finish; for those who are stuggling, to do part of it, "strike a pose" and then join back in again? Perhaps others may have some other thoughts?

Once again, congratulations on you and do give yourself a big hug, for undertaking this and everything else that you do. It sounds like you are pushing yourself to be how you remember you were four years ago before you became ill. The body (and brain) needs time to recuperate. Give yourself that time, and... give yourself a big hug!
 
Pacion said:
Additionally Lucretia, I am a novice myself at this and someone else may be able to refine what I suggest. How about meditation/visualisation exercises? Create a quiet space for yourself, turn down/off the lights, switch on the music you will be dancing to and visualise the routine initially dancing it by yourself and then adding in the other people/faces you can recall and continue visualising that everyone is dancing and it comes off perfectly.
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I would support your suggestion of visualising to be successful. But I would suggest to only visualising yourself pulling off the whole routine in a perfect way. Success in performing a show or doing something always begins inside yourself. If you aren't able to picture yourself finishing a certain task successfully, how shall others ever seen that happen?

So currently the upcoming performance is going to create pressure on you and you are unsure about it. This means that the pressure is currently in control and you aren't controlling the pressure. Therefor to start controlling the pressure, it's best to visualise yourself doing to whole routine without any flaw.

I'm not sure if mediation is helpful, but you could give it a try. At least it's been helpful to me to sometimes, ie. when taking in my exams, to just take a just a minute or two off, fix a certain point in the room and start controlling my breathing to let my mind and thoughts calm down.

I'm can understand that you currently have some doubts, but I don't think you need to have them. I'm sure that if you are going to perform, it's going to be a great performance and your're going to look good. And I hope you find the right mindset and decide to put away the troubles and give a great performance.
 
Luc,

What doesnt break you, Make you 10 times stronger, and If you bumped in one of them, lost balance, or even rotated in the wrong direction, IT IS NOT A BIG DEAL.
Nothing is about perfection in this life, in salsa, in dancing in general..I am sure they have their fears too, but they are too weak to admit it, or maybe they dont have the salsa forums peple to talk to.

You're a very sensetive considerate person and I am sure you are such a good dancer. go on and do it
 
If you are not a pro team it really doesn't matter. There are so many performance groups out there who are pro and don't have flawless performances. I have been on two student dance teams, and I probably was the weakest link or close to it - but it was a student team - and in the end it came out fine and built my spine - for me I am a worse dancer on stage then socially because of the nerves. But it improved my dancing and helped my confidence - if I can dance on a stage with great dancers in the audience then I can do my thing on the dance floor anywhere - it is about fun! Even the pros - the ones that are the best are the ones that look like they are having fun.
 
Thanks all for your support! You are so kind!

I will do the visualisations - both the worst case and the excellent one. I havent given up in any way. I know that my stamina usally compensate for my lack of talent (giggling).

Every lunch this week I have been training at a excellent dancefloor at work. It is owned by the "culture school". They have dance & music classes there and I can train in between. For free :)

Todayand yesterday I put a lot of effort in doing that 45 degree transportation spin/rotation. And the quick parts.

I have found out two ways to spot. The one where I focus on the public works best when I'm alone. In that way I can slow up the spin and swing out my left leg facing the audience when I stop. A opening-up to the audience.

The other way is to spot in the direction I go. Then I will not bump into my friends. But this way it is harder to retard the spin and "open up" to the audience.

Any ideas what is best?

This evening me and my daughter went to a studio with mirrors. We hired it for an hour - only 7 pounds. I still looks bad compared to may daughter but the technique works much better. The quick parts is now ok. I guess it is time to work on the artistic part.

But then there is one thing I may never overcome. My ruptured disc minimize my bodywaves. It doesn't hurt at all but I lack a few centiemeters that makes my bodyrolls look pretty minimalistic. But I can live with that.

(I can hear Albert Torres saying - If I perform - "This lady hit the wall 4 years ago and salsa brought her back to life. On top of that she got a ruptured disc and she was dancing two weeks after leaving the hospital". He always tells a lot of sucess stories about how salsa has brough people together and what salsa can do to your life. I must be one of his ideal case :lol: But he will never know.....)

/luc
 
lucretia said:
I have found out two ways to spot. The one where I focus on the public works best when I'm alone. In that way I can slow up the spin and swing out my left leg facing the audience when I stop. A opening-up to the audience.

The other way is to spot in the direction I go. Then I will not bump into my friends. But this way it is harder to retard the spin and "open up" to the audience.

Any ideas what is best?
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My guess would be it will be easier to spot your fellow dancers, because on stage you will not be able to see the audience if it is properly lit. Also you should not have too much problem working out where the front is, it's where all the searing hot lights are!

/edit: if you are in fixed formations, then you should be able to work out your last turn how to get to the front at the right time. You just have to remember what part of the choreo you are at :-)
 
sweavo said:
My guess would be it will be easier to spot your fellow dancers, because on stage you will not be able to see the audience if it is properly lit. Also you should not have too much problem working out where the front is, it's where all the searing hot lights are!

/edit: if you are in fixed formations, then you should be able to work out your last turn how to get to the front at the right time. You just have to remember what part of the choreo you are at :-)
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It will probably work. Or at least it did work to spot in the direction where I'm going today when I practiced alone. After a few attempts I managed change the spot-point facing the audience a microsecond before I open up to the front. I just have to change the spotpoint to manage to retard in a nice way. Or else I stop 90-110 degrees too early.

Tomorrow and on Sunday I have convinced my salsera fellows to join me for extra practice. I will get the chance to test it in formation too.

/Luc
 
lucretia said:
I have rehearsed and rehearsed the performance. I know the routine. I feel great when I do it alone but everythime I line up with the rest of the girls I feel very bad.

A few motions are quite tricky since we have arranged a pyramideshape line-up. Especially a transport rotation 45 degrees backward from the scene. And it is very crowded - we are 16 persons on the scene.

When we start these rotations/tranportation routines I get worried about bumping into the others. Then I lose concentration and do not fulfil the motions. Bad!

I have thought that these orientation problems will solve with help of excercise. But I'm not there yet...and wounder if I ever will. Since I was sick I (two year sick but since two years well) I do have problems with stressy situations. And this is one.

There are 2.5 weeks left. I have to decide if I should enter the stage or tell the others I quit.

/Luc
Click to expand...

I'm with the majority that says stay with it. One thing you can guarentee if you perform enough: Some days you won't be your best. Everybody has nerves, things go wrong on stage, you might be right on but someone else will do something that throws you off... SO WHAT!

All that said, You win big time even if the performance itself isn't your personal best. Sitting and watching is totally different.

You learn about yourself, you gain perspective (being embarressed hasn't killed me yet), and you will be a MUCH stronger dancer when it's over, because having a performance pushes your practice harder than most of us would do on our own and you do learn how to deal with the nerves.

After this is over, check out "Performance Success" by Don Greene. It's an excellent book designed to help with the mental aspects of performing.

He used to coach Olympic divers... who work for at least 4 years and have 10 dives, totalling around 15 seconds. They perform under extreme pressure and success is mostly dependent on where their head is at when they dive.

Again, do it! Decide today that you are going to show your daughter than even when you are uncomfortable, you do your best. Then don't back down and don't look back. Nobody is asking you to do more than your best, and then in a worse case you'll know you didn't quit, and that is something to be proud of and a great example for your daughter.

(I don't want my kids to quit because something is a stretch for them... and I suspect you're the same...)

I have a long held belief that life favors the bold, and you should be proud that you are in the game, instead of watching from the sidelines. If you really want the most bang for the buck, do this performance, then sign up to do another.

That second performance is a different world and the wins are compounded, no matter how the performances go on the actual day. My hats off to you just agreeing to do it, and getting this far in the rehearsals.

(BTW - Audiences are sitting there hoping you do well, and unless you are a pro team, they cut you more slack than you can believe.)

You'll be amazed by the positive you'll get and your daughter will respect that you did your best, just like you tell her to do everyday. That example is worth 100 lectures!
 
UnlikelySalsero, THANKS!
Your post made me breathless. You are so kind and I do really listen to what you have written. Your text is very close to what the feelings I have myself about the performance. And I guess this is my last chance to do this.

I'm aging....I saw big resemblance with my 4 years older sister at last rehearsal with mirror. She has physics as a 15 year old girl but the looks of a 60 years old one. I wouldn’t go on stage the day I look like she do. Time is running out…

Well - I havn't given up. Last project is to "break up" that part of my back that is needed to do a bodyroll. I lay on the floor stockmack pressed to the floor. Arms rasing up my upper body so I can watch TV. I stay there for half an hour. Go up and try to activate those muscles so they can do this motions by itself without help of the floor. It is pretty hard work. (No the ruptured disc likes this kind of training - my physiotherapist told me to do it but by other reasons ;) )

I've arranged two extra rehearsals this weekend with the team. My daughter is impressed only by the fact of my willingness to train. But I also want her to be proud.

Cross your fingers!

/luc
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UnlikelySalsero, I like your blogg. A lot of nice reading. I've shown it to my husband that sometimes mix with the "unaware guys".

/Luc
 
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