Ballroom bliss

Michael and I first met each other through ballroom dancing lessons at university and got to know each other more when we competed against each other in acrobatic rock 'n' roll before we finally became a couple. We don't dance much now but we love watching Strictly Come Dancing and commenting on the performances. Watching this week's show which was in Blackpool was particularly enjoyable - it brought back memories of dancing together in the Tower Ballroom. Plus I particularly enjoyed Kevin and Susanna's paso doble - the paso doble is one of my favourite dances and their dance was just stunning.

Tap exam results

Tap exam results are now in and I am pleased to report that I managed a score of 84 which I’m very happy about. Our new routines involve lots of stamps and drops which have made me realise why tap is considered ‘high impact’ exercise – I had to stop a few minutes before the end of the last class because my ligaments were really starting to ache. The advice I read about stopping at 16 weeks no longer seems so silly – am still planning to continue for a while longer but suspect I will be stopping sooner rather than later.

New tap class

Our tap class has suddenly grown. Before the exam there were just three of us, and now seven ladies from the grade below have now joined our class so there are now ten of us in total which feels like a huge class compared with before. It is nice being part of a bigger group though – feels much more sociable. The new routines so far seem okay – I definitely feel more relaxed knowing that I’m not going to be doing an exam at the end of it all! Not sure how long I’ll keep going, but it’s good for now.

Another exam over

Phew, the tap exam is over and done with. The worst bit is sitting in the waiting room, listening to the tappers who are doing the exam before, waiting for the bell to ring signaling your turn. I have to try really hard to tune out the tap sounds from those doing the grade below as I then start remembering the routines from last time and then those are in my head when I start the exam which confuses me. Fortunately I didn’t start doing the wrong dances, and whilst I did make one or two mistakes, it was ok.

Looming tap exam

Another tap rehearsal and the exam is looming ever closer. I think the routines are pretty much in my head by now, although sometimes I’m not sure whether my brain is actually communicating with my feet or not because even though I know that I know the routines by now, my feet don’t always seem to want to do the steps or my feet and brain decide to get a little out of step with each other! There’s still a couple more lessons to go until the exam so hopefully I will manage to get it right on the day!

Another lesson down...

Having decided that I wasn’t going to miss any more tap lessons between now and the exam, it has just dawned on me that next Tuesday is the mother-in-law’s birthday and we are going out for a meal. Which means that I will be missing another tap class – thank goodness for all the extra ones that have been scheduled – I would really be panicking now otherwise. Tonight’s lesson went well though – apart from the occasional moment where my brain decided to switch off without warning mid-routine, the steps were mostly there and the routines are mostly staying in my head.

Pre-exam rehearsal

Thank goodness that we have got several extra tap lessons arranged for the next three weeks. Tonight was the first of the extra classes – we have managed to get a rehearsal in the dance studio where the exams are held and it was so nice to be dancing on a proper sprung floor again. Since losing our tap studio last year, we now have our classes in the upstairs function room of a social club with a lovely (not!) solid floor which is not pleasant to dance on at all. Although I can’t blame it for my lack of co-ordination.

Tap exam anticipation

The date of the tap exam has now been set and will be on 6 March which less than four weeks away. I’m not entirely sure I feel ready to do my exam so soon, but otherwise we would have to wait until November and so March it is. I can’t make this week’s tap class which makes me even more nervous but am determined that unless I am at a birth and really can’t be there, I won’t be missing any more until the exam. Just got to find time to try and get some extra practicing in now!

Back to tap

Back to tap tonight after a bit of an extended Christmas break – lessons actually started back two weeks ago but I didn’t realise this until last week! After a six week break from classes, it was quite surprising how many steps have actually stayed in my brain – I had a few blank moments but on the whole it wasn’t too bad. Which is just as well really, as it is looking fairly likely that the next tap exam will be sometime in March. There’s still a lot of work needed between now and then but hopefully I will get there!

Tap your troubles away

Back to tap this evening after the summer break – classes started two weeks ago but hadn’t managed to get to a class yet. It was tempting to skip it again tonight and continue with the decorating but I was worried about getting too far behind and besides, decorating is killing my social life at the moment. It took a while to remember the steps again and my fitness levels have clearly slumped over the summer as my legs were really aching by the end of the class. It was good to get out and do something other than decorating though!

Remembering the routines...

Missing too many weeks of tap class is a bad thing. With everything else that’s going on, I’ve missed the last two weeks and will end up missing a few more over the coming weeks. I seem to have an awful lot of catching up to do as a result. It wasn’t so bad on the easier levels but now we’re getting more advanced, we work through the routines so much quicker. It takes about half the lesson before I manage to remember what the routines were – now I just have to get my feet to listen to my brain...

Tap result

Tap classes started back last night after the Christmas break and we are now working on learning the new routines for level 6. As always with a new level, I find myself wondering if I will ever be able to get the steps right and in time but it always seems to come together somehow by the time we get to the exam. And talking of the tap exam, I have got my result and am very pleased to say that I managed to get an A in my level 5 exam and scored 80 which I’m really happy with.

Tap exam

Today was the dreaded tap exam – so I started the morning at a last-minute tap class going over the steps one more time before the exam in the afternoon. Fortunately, it went reasonably well – I had a blank moment in the timestep and forgot how to do a reverse timestep (just as the examiner was looking my way) but fortunately the rest of the routine was ok, and the rest of the exercises and two solo routines (jive at five and the dance) went reasonably well. We won’t get the results until after Christmas – fingers crossed they will be okay.

Pre-tap exam tension

Holidays are great, but you never manage to sleep quite as well in a hotel as you do in your own bed. Having a good night’s sleep is just so lovely, waking up in the morning feeling refreshed, stretching out and then… suddenly getting a really bad leg cramp. Not the best way to wake up and it has left me with a very sore calf muscle all day, which was not so good considering tonight’s tap class is the last before Sunday’s exam. Still, I managed to get through the routines but am starting to feel a little nervous.

Let's face the music and dance

I love dancing. When I was at university, I used to do about ten hours a week of dance, mostly ballroom and latin, although since leaving university, it’s been unusual for me to do more than a couple of hours a week (unless you count show rehearsals as well) and I tend to focus mostly on tap. Michael and I got back into doing ballroom again just before our wedding but hadn’t got round to going back to classes since getting married until tonight. Fortunately the class was quite basic so we could pick it back up again fairly easily.

Triumphs and taps

We seem to be having a bit of a lucky streak in the pub quiz over the last few weeks – winning the quiz again tonight for the third time in four weeks (without a tie-break this time which was even better!) Michael also won £10 in the raffle after the quiz so a good night all in all. It was also tap night - slowly, but surely the routines are coming together which is just as well as we have been told that our exam will be on 22nd November. Hopefully I’ll get to grips with the routines by then!

Feeling more upbeat

Despite it being a rather grey, rainy day, I’ve been feeling a lot more positive than of late. It’s been a good day overall. This evening’s tap lesson went well – the routine I was struggling with is finally beginning to sink in. I know the steps, now I just need to get more familiar with them as I can’t think of them quickly enough for my feet to keep up with the music. We also won the pub quiz for the second week running – it might have been the lowest winning score ever but it was a winning score nonetheless!

Back to ballet

After a bit of a lull from social activities in the summer, it’s back to being busy again. Tonight it was the return of ballet classes after the summer, although I’d been so busy since the beginning of the year that this was probably my first class this year. It was tough. Unbelievably tough. A whole set of new routines that I’ve never done before, but everyone else is familiar with and I’m not exactly very good at ballet at the best of times. I struggled through the routines, looking about as graceful as a duck with a broken leg.

Pressure and perfectionism

I have quite a competitive streak and also tend to be a perfectionist so put a lot of pressure on myself to do well at things. I’d almost rather not do something than do it badly. As a result, I’m finding tap classes very frustrating right now – there is one routine that I just can’t seem to get the knack of. If everyone was struggling, I wouldn’t be so bothered but it just seems to be me. On the plus side, my competitive streak did at least get satisfied this evening after tap class when we won the pub quiz.

Two left feet

Today I had one of those tap lessons where my feet just won’t seem to do what my brain wants them to do! I know most of the routines for our exam class in my head, but just can’t seem to get them right when we go through them which is very frustrating. We’ve started practising facing away from the mirrors now that the exam is becoming more of a reality – turning the routine around 90 degrees really shouldn’t make that much difference as the steps are exactly the same but somehow it suddenly seems to be much more difficult.