Ray

Day Two of Ray:

First of all my skill level is much higher in rhythm dances because that is my instructors forte. So my technique is much stronger. Yesterday was rhythm. Tonight was smooth. I have a terrible frame. I know that and admit to it willingly. We worked on heel turns. This requires perfect balance for both people, yet another weakness for me. So I am struggling through the combo he is teaching, there are two heel turns mixed in which a bunch of shaping and directional changes. Then he says, "now I know you girls know this" and walks towards me. It scares the poop out of me to be singled out by Ray because he is so amazing that he intimidates me. (Dan, a former teacher says, "I pray to Ray") He pulls my left hip back to proper frame. This is the first time anyone has ever done that. Physically, put me in the right frame. Allow me to assure you, that my extra vertebrae which is fused on that side did not appreciate the movement. Right as he pulled me into place, it pinched a nerve. I just nodded at his instruction and continued to dance maintaining this frame. Then practiced with Chris for another hour afterwards to make sure I had the heel turns and the weight shifting and the frame down before I left and it went out of my mind. All the while forcing myself to use the perfect frame that Ray had just shown me which puts me in excruciating pain. I am telling myself that eventually my back will get used the position and the muscles surrounding it will get stronger and it will not hurt anymore. But, just in case you were wondering about the physical demands of dancing. I am now laying in bed, having taken four ibuprofen, laying on a heating pad at my back, and with my feet strapped to ice packs. Tomorrow, I will be far far far far far sore-er and will go back for a private lesson and a 3 hour dance party. Crazy? You bet cha! I love it.


FYI: The person who wrote Strictly Ballroom, was a ballet dancer turned ballroom dancer. His innovative steps were repeatedly snubbed by judges because they went too far outside of the cannon. In the 1960's Ray Rivers competed against this man several times. Every time Ray won, the man would say, "This is rigged. I am going to make a movie." Thirty years later, Strictly Ballroom was created.