Back in the Saddle and Keeping Up Physical Therapy

This is mostly a personal entry…

It’s been an interesting month here and I’m back working on articles. You’ll see a new set over the near term.

It’s been extra insane around my house. Many of you know I have five kids and I’m probably busier than most, even during my “normal” periods. This last month has been off the charts in terms of external projects.

My oldest son graduated from college. I helped him move a few hours away to his first job. One of my daughters turned sixteen (big party… new back lawn and lots of house fix up for the big day) and my mother-in-law broke her hip, giving my wife hospital duties and me some additional driving duties for my four other kids (mother-in-law is recovering slowly).

While I’ve missed some dance classes, taking classes is about the only thing I did outside of work, home repair, and driving kids around. I didn’t go club dancing, but I’ve made some excellent dance progress overall. Sometimes I think taking a short break from club dancing is an excellent perspective builder, but I’ll detail that in another article.

I learned this technique earlier in life, when I started working out. If you need some of my time that overlaps one of my favorite classes, I may not tell you the explicit nature of my conflict. If you have to know why I can’t make your event, I often say I have “physical therapy” and most people respect that conflict. If they press I tell them, “I’m working on my balance and strength related to some previous activities.” I don’t provide any additional details and it works great.

If I say, “I’m going to a dance class”, they act like that can’t be important, but I disagree. I make it a point to keep a few classes as “appointments for myself” and unless someone is dying, I rarely miss them. A couple days a week I avoid business meetings late in the day so I can make a 5:30pm class that really challenges me. I treat it as personal therapy and it makes me stronger and better at almost everything else I do, and I hate to miss it.

I make my living at the computer (I solve business problems all day) and being physically healthy improves my thinking ability. Not only do I love dancing, but I enjoy the challenge of improving my physical and mental abilities, and good dance classes fit that bill.

Being older than many dancers, I know how tough it can be shoehorning a new passion into your already busy life. Sometimes I laugh to myself when someone says they don’t have time to learn something new.

In my case I use the micro-practice concepts I’ve previously discussed, I practice in my car (head and shoulder isolations), do some mental training, and I still go to a set of classes, even when I’m extremely busy. If someone wants my class time, once I mention the physical therapy conflict, we generally find a different time. It’s not perfect, and occasionally I still miss some classes, but overall it helps me keep some control in an extremely hectic schedule.

Let me know what you do to keep your dance education moving, even when things are crazy.

When choosing between two evils, I always like to take the one I've never tried before.
--Mae West

Finding Instructional Clips Online

Over the last couple of years there has been an explosion of video clips available on the web. I wouldn't be surprised to find my dog and cats are partnering for a new salsa series, and I'll just stumble on them one day. The problem isn't finding salsa (or dance) clips, it's finding out which ones are worth your time and can teach you something interesting.

Recently, I've been exploring a new site called "WonderHowTo.com". As of this writing, they have over 600 "Dance" clips including 70 in the "Latin Dance" subsection. I've found a few clips I doubt I would have found otherwise, and this site is an interesting concept.

At first I was trying to figure out why I shouldn't simply go to YouTube and search for "salsa," but now I get it. All the videos on this site are instructional in nature, and the site rejects performance, promotional or entertaining clips that don't teach something. Everything is focused on the free "How To" concept. That's an interesting nitch, and I suspect this site will grow more popular over time.






All "submitted" clips are hosted elsewhere and this site catalogs them for you. Often you are watching embedded YouTube or Yahoo clips, but they catalog video from many, many sites, so just as often you're sent to sites you'd probably otherwise miss. This casts a much wider net than simply doing a YouTube search when you're in the mood to learn. Users are encouraged to submit URLs to more instructional clips, so it promises to be an ever expanding universe of learning material.

Of course, like all video viewing, this site can also be a huge time sink, but with the focus on learning, at least you're not wasting your time watching dancing birds and young girls fighting.

Check out the "Categories" link to find "Dance" and then start watching. The grading system seems a little questionable to me at this point, but that has great promise as more and more people view clips and grade them.

I like the concept and suspect the site will do very well over time. I haven't explored all the dance clips, but I did find some interesting ones I hadn't seen in the past.

Please let me know what you're doing to find instructional clips and let me know what you think of WonderHowTo.com. If you see my pets dancing, let me know.

We don't know half of one millionth of 1 percent about anything.
--Thomas Edison

Taking Classes Over My Head: Part 2

This is part 2 of a series on Taking Classes Over My Head. Check out the previous article, cleverly named "Taking Classes Over My Head: Part 1."

Imagine an up-and-coming athlete who decides he’s skipping strength training because he “just wants to play the game.” That doesn’t work, because strength is foundational to playing at higher levels in sports. Similarly, if your dance goals include being above average, investing in your foundation while pursuing higher-level classes is an excellent strategy for longer-term growth.

Most people dislike being called a beginner as an adult, even if that's their current status. Many guys prefer struggling in the intermediate or advanced classes rather than be caught dead in the beginner class. For many, it's simply uncool to be at the novice level, and they can't wait to "move on," even if that means skipping some fundamentals. They purchase “advanced” DVDs when they are far from mastering the lower level DVDs from the same instructor.

As someone famous for taking classes over his head, I’ve seen some great progress and been frustrated at points. I highly recommend you attend some classes above your level, even if you sit out part of the class and watch. Being around great dancers can inspire or depress you, depending on your personality and goals; but either way, it’s good to see what you’ll be like in a few years if you put in the effort.

It’s also important to note that I approach solo and partner dancing differently. In individual dancing classes (jazz, hip-hop, samba, salsa footwork, etc.) you should challenge yourself by trying the higher-level classes at regular intervals. If you create a bad habit or try a move and get hurt, that’s far from ideal. But it’s your issue, created by reaching higher, and you can dial it back a little before moving forward again. Being around the stronger dancers can accelerate your growth and inspire you to work harder, although sometimes going back a level is the best strategy for longer-term growth.

In a partnering class, being over your head isn’t always the best idea. You can injure a partner trying to perform a move that is too far beyond your current skill level, not to mention frustrate partners who are also trying to improve. You can also build a set of partners who avoid you at the clubs, knowing you’re not ready for prime time. You need to balance your level with that of the class in partnering situations, and be mindful that your background (or lack of it) affects others.

Sometimes you need another approach and I employ a method I call “backfilling.” If I’m going to take a class that’s over my head, I make sure I’m also filling in the gaps in my experiences. This translates into taking lower level classes at the same time, hiring the instructor for private lessons, or watching instructional DVDs and/or on-line clips that provide foundational information.

I’m also not afraid to abandon a more advanced class and go to a lower level—including beginner—if the moves or techniques are too far over my head. After a while, (weeks or months) I’ll continue the lower level class and ADD the more advanced class to see if I’m ready. I often continue with the lower level classes along with the advanced class for a few months or more after moving up, reinforcing the basics, while also working on more advanced material at the same time.

As I’ve stated, there can be a dark side to going to classes over your head. Without a proper foundation and some backfilling, more advanced classes can frustrate, build a set of bad habits, and in a partner situation, hurt someone. If you do take more advanced classes, stay out of the way when the moves get too complex for your current level.

In a group class, instructors don’t have the time (or desire) to fix you if you’re too far away from the class average. Many teachers focus on the better dancers in the class, especially if they label the class as intermediate or advanced. This means you sink or swim mostly on your own. Sometimes beating your head against the wall when the majority is much further down the road isn’t a good use of your time.

Many classes build on previous knowledge and it’s your responsibility to be sure you can keep up, especially when partnering. When taking classes over my head, I often take some private lessons with the instructor, sit out parts of classes if appropriate, and make sure I practice on my own to get up to speed. The private lesson gives the instructor a chance to slow down the material and explain details that others already know from previous experiences.

Combining private lessons and classes, I learn the right way to do the exercises or can ask for clarification of complex class materials during my next private lesson. The combination creates a multiplier effect. I get more from the classes and grow much faster, sometimes passing people who were beyond my level and have taken the classes for months or years.

As stated, taking advanced classes and challenging yourself to move up is an excellent idea. However, if you take too many shortcuts and ignore the lower level material, you’ll pay a negative price over time. Those who gloss over the fundamentals often end up either being weaker than they should be or going back later to fill in the blanks.

Free lunches rarely exist on or off the dance floor, so be sure to backfill and seek out the fundamentals as you move up the class ladder. Over time, you’ll become an excellent dancer if you continue to seek out instruction, no matter what they label the classes or DVDs.

There's nothing wrong with Southern California that a rise in the ocean
level wouldn't cure.
--Ross MacDonald

Eyes Up! Not Just On The Floor

A master instructor at Millennium named Eric Ellis is famous for saying "Eyes up, use the mirror. The floor isn't telling you anything!" when people are looking down while dancing. (I've also heard him being more direct in private with, "The floor doesn't tell you sh#t!" but I doubt he wants to be quoted on that one.)

It's hard to fix some habits on the dance floor. We have to fix them in life, then it's easy on the floor.

Eric has said "eyes up" to me occasionally, and we discussed it last week because I had one of those "Ah-ha" moments. While he had said it in the past, I was too worried about other aspects of the exercise to pay much attention to that specific comment, assuming it was because of my concentration at the time.

Then I saw someone else in a class looking slightly down during an exercise, and realized "hey, that's me." She wasn't looking at her feet, but she was looking a little below eye level. It wasn’t a great look on an otherwise accomplished dancer. I had never noticed it before, but it was so easy to see why that doesn't work when I saw it on someone else.

After seeing her and becoming aware, I realized I look slightly down when I'm not dancing. It's subtle, and I doubt most people would notice directly, but it doesn't look right while on the floor. Eric said I could fix it by bringing my chin up about a quarter-inch or so, and after reviewing I see he is right. It's not a big change on one hand, but years (decades?) of doing something different make it a tough adjustment while dancing.

Then the obvious thought hit me again. If I walk around 15 hours a day looking slightly down, it would be really tough to fix it while dancing for a few hours. I need to make looking at eye-level part of everything I do, and then doing it while dancing will be easy.

Recently, I started practicing "eyes up" everywhere, including when I'm walking to my office, standing in the kitchen, shopping at Home Depot, taking a shower or brushing my teeth. Rather than focus on this fix when I hit the floor, my goal is to make it part of my overall look all the time, especially outside the dance studio.

This concept applies to posture, balance and many other dance elements. Some things can't be fixed on the floor alone, but instead need to be a part of your day-to-day life if you want them to stick.

It's why strong dancers, gymnasts and many athletes carry themselves with great posture outside of their professional life, because it's tough to be hunch back all day and gracefully elegant while dancing or performing.

Now I am not worried about mastering it on the dance floor, I'll get it right during the day, knowing over time it will be natural during the dances.

Let me know what skills you are practicing in life to upgrade something in your dancing!

Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to
avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.
--Sydney Smith

Micro Practices: Quickies Are OK!

"Two or three minutes? That's not even one song!" he said when I told him I did a series of quick practices over the day. “That doesn’t sound like enough to me.”

He’s missing the point. I call them “micro-practices” (MP) and everybody should integrate them into their daily routines. They could work for partnering, but as a rule they are for upgrading your individual dancing skills like spinning, footwork, Cuban motion, posture, and other body control exercises.

When you’re a pro, you get up each day and can practice for hours, refining your dancing on the way to the next level. You're paid to dance, and practicing is a way of life. However, if you’re working for a living and want to advance your social dancing, sometimes it's hard to carve out chunks of time for practice. That’s where micro-practices (quickies) can be a winner for you. Like your love life, they shouldn't be all you do, but in balance they keep things moving in the right direction.

It may be counter-intuitive, but a set of quickie practices often beats longer sessions, assuming you do enough of them. Often they're gold, where the combined effort of a dozen one to five-minute practices gets you further than one forty-five minute session. Some techniques require longer practices, but the micro-practice beats the heck out of "I didn't practice today because I couldn’t find a twenty or thirty minute block of time”.

There is magic in repeating something over and over, every hour or so, for a couple minutes throughout the day. Time management gurus always say when you’re interrupted from a task, it takes you time to restart. Micro-practices use that principle to your advantage, because the start-up time is reduced if you repeat an action often enough.

The series of little practices gets you to the point where you can hit the move immediately, rather than after 10 minutes of warm up. It’s amazing how much you can advance with micro-practices alone, although you can gain even more when combining them with intermittent longer rehearsals.

Edie the Salsa Freak is famous for learning to spin in the bathroom at work before she turned pro. The floor is tile, there is a great mirror, and she would spin a couple times to the right, a couple times to the left each time she used the restroom. If nobody was around she might sneak in a few extras, but most of those practices lasted 60 seconds or less. With just 10 extra spins per day, she had over 300 spins each month BEFORE doing any extended practicing. Over time, it adds up to thousands of extra spins, giving her the experience she needed to get to the next level.

Most work days I’m at the computer all day, and each time I need a break I practice a shine, a spinning combination and/or a new part of a "pattern in progress." It may be just a tiny fragment, but doing it repeatedly over a couple days (or weeks) makes a huge difference when I get to a block of time for an extended practice.

Before starting work, I often sneak in a two-minute practice before sitting at my desk. Nobody cares if I start two minutes later, and it reinforces the new materials I’m working on. Some days the quickies are the only practice I get; sometimes it’s part of a bigger practice day, where I combine micro-practices with much longer sessions or classes.

I’ve stood in line at Sam’s Club or the bank, doing footwork practice, knowing that may be my only practice for the day. In previous articles I've mentioned I practice head/shoulder exercises in my car. (Shines and partnering are highly discouraged while driving.) When you hit the dance floor, your partners don’t care if you practiced at a dance studio, in your bathroom or in line at the grocery store; they simply notice your improvements.

Some days when I haven’t had much practice, I’ll sneak in a few minutes before bed. It may not be much, but again, it’s my way to move myself forward. It takes about as much time as brushing my teeth, so I have little excuse to skip it. I'd love to practice more some days, but that just isn't my reality at points.

You don’t have to tell anybody you’re sneaking practices around your bathroom breaks. That really falls into the “TMI” category (“too much information”). Keep this little secret between us and they’ll just think you are improving using the traditional extended practices. If you can do regular practices, that's great, but I want to grow even when I’m timed starved (the story of my life).

Try it yourself; sneak in a few micro-practices, multiple times per day, especially on those days when you can’t get to a complete session. You’ll see it makes a substantial difference if you keep it up. Once you're in the habit, you'll find little slivers of time and use them to your advantage, even if it's just working a body roll twice or an extra couple of spins per day.

Let me know how you are getting the most from limited practice time; I’m always looking to accelerate my growth and I’m sure some of you have your own best practices. Please share!

Indecision may or may not be my problem.
-- Jimmy Buffett

I Can't Dance Like Nobody's Watching

Maybe you’ve heard someone say "Dance Like Nobody's Watching," and maybe you’ve already embraced it yourself. But I’ve noticed that most people who spit this mantra at you are already strong dancers. It’s easy to dance like nobody’s watching when everybody likes watching you dance.

I think that’s like the calendar girls who say “the human body is art, and showing it is fine.” It’s easy to be comfortable in a swim suit (or less) when you could be on the cover of Victoria’s Secret. And I’m pretty sure they haven’t seen me without clothes, or they would amend their "body is art" statement.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the process of dancing without care or inhibition. In some venues, I do pretty well with that concept, but it isn’t always the case. In most clubs, there are a set of people dancing and a set of people watching, and I just do my thing, effectively ignoring them and focusing on my partner. In that environment, I know I’m a work in progress, and I’ve learned to deal with the discomfort of others being critical.

Frankly, I realize that most people simply don’t care about me; they’re focused on themselves, on their dancing, on their image. That’s fine with me.

As a musician, I learned a long, long time ago that when performing, someone is always in the audience saying “I could do that better.” In LA, many times there IS a set of stronger musicians in the audience, so I learned to ignore them and think, “Ok, maybe he could do it better, but he’s sitting in the audience. I have my strengths too. These musicians asked me to perform, not him, so I must be doing something right.” The more energy you spend worrying about what others are thinking, the less focused you are on your performance or social dancing.

Over time, I matured, and I suspect the same thing applies to dancing. You have to toughen yourself as you grow, putting yourself in situations that are not always comfortable. Over time, you realize that other people think about you much less than your paranoid ego fears they do, and you have to go through the experiences to get better.

I’ve had a couple times over the years where I’ve thought, “Maybe I should stop going to clubs for X months, and just practice on my own. The next time I show up at the clubs everybody will marvel at my progress.” Then I realize, “Ahhh, that’s not realistic; going to clubs and practicing is what makes me better, so just get over yourself and ignore everybody else while you learn.”

Of course, it’s easy to say that, but sometimes I’m still moderately embarrassed while working through different phases of growth. Being a work in progress means some days will be better than others, but nothing beats the experience of being in the arena rather than sitting and watching others have fun.

Here’s a simple example: Sometimes I’m in my car, and working on head, neck or shoulder isolations while driving or sitting in traffic. Funny thing is, I’ll often stop when I realize someone has noticed me doing exercises, even though I dance in front of hundreds of people per week at the clubs.

The exercise will help my dancing, and the car practice is good time management, as long as I don’t hear breaking glass from impact with those around me. I don’t know these people now, I doubt I’ll ever see them again, they can’t hear my music, and I’m actually making progress with my practice.

Why do I stop? What’s my problem? In that situation, I’m obviously too worried about them thinking I’m crazy or otherwise abnormal. When I take a cold, hard look, it’s obvious I shouldn’t care what they think.

If I actually continue my exercises, possibly entertaining them and giving them a good laugh, I’m making their world more interesting and improving my dancing. In a way, I’m giving them a gift, even though they may be laughing at me rather than with me.

Of course, if I continue and my dancing improves, I’ll have the last laugh. Someday all those car hours of practice will fool people into believing that I’m a naturally gifted dancer, rather than someone who practices good time management.

Think of them telling their friends, “Yeah, I’m sitting in traffic, and this gray-haired guy in his Lexus is grooving to something. I think he was on drugs, or maybe he was having a seizure, I almost called 911, but then I figured out he thought he was dancing and I laughed so hard I had to pull over and wipe the tears from my eyes. This guy is a hoot. Watch for that gray Lexus.”

So I’m on crusade: I’m trying to worry less about others, especially those who don’t know me. I’m thinking about what can I do to truly dance or practice like nobody’s watching, and give myself the mental freedom to occasionally look like an idiot.

How do we toughen ourselves, so we grow to our full potential? We can take different classes where our skills put us in the lower third of the class, then stick with it to become above average. We can read books about mind/body connections and high-pressure performance situations and find situations where growth is required. This may include doing a performance, going to new classes, entering a competition and/or joining a dance team.

In my case, I’m adopting the same dance attitude I have while playing music, plus taking classes and practicing.

We should also look for little things, like practicing shines in the line at the bank, or doing a few spins at the grocery store. The idea is to be bolder than you were in the past, doing little things in places where people will notice, knowing you have to ignore them and focus on refining your techniques.

For example, it would be easier to do our favorite, most rehearsed shine sequence while waiting at the bank, but we should also working on the ones that don’t always work, because the risk of temporary failure makes us stronger. Ninety-nine percent of the people around us can’t do the shines either, so if we “fail” temporarily, refine, and then get it right, it toughens us and makes us stronger dancers.

In some classes I've moved my location from hiding in the back, to being in the front row, someplace close to the instructor. I'm no longer in the middle of the pack on the "across the floor" exercises, instead going close to the front, or sometimes even last, which means almost everybody else in the class is watching.

It’s not always easy for me, but I do it anyway, and you should too.

I’m wondering what others are doing to toughen themselves? Let me know your thoughts and techniques.

I feel like I'm in a rut. Every time I go to bed at night, I find myself getting up again in the morning.
-Brad Stine