moon_custafer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
moon_custafer) wrote2008-09-23 08:54 pm
moon_custafer) wrote2008-09-23 08:54 pm
Dance Dance Revolution
Had my third bellydance class today, which is going ok. The movements are much like horseback riding, both actually (ie the muscle groups they use), and in that they're counter-intuitive at first, but should become second nature with practice (I used to ride, years ago, so I figure I've got a head start there).
As for rhythm - I can manage the drills ok as long as I don't think too hard and trip myself up, but I freeze when asked to improvise. Mostly I worry about flexibility, which I have very little of. I don't know if a lifelong tendency to walk on my toes has shortened my hamstrings, or if I always had short hamstrings and it caused me to walk on my toes - certainly I was if anything less flexible as a kid (I can sit cross-legged now, which was more than I could do as a six-year-old).
It also occurs to me, though I'm not sure it's worth bringing up in class, that I have proportionately longer arms and legs than the instructor, who is short and muscular, and that even if I were as bendy as she, I might not fit in those positions, any more than an action figure can fold up like a transformer robot toy. However, the more extreme positions don't seem to get used in the actual dancing, so I don't suppose it matters that much that I make Jack Pumpkinhead look like Jackie Chan.
As for rhythm - I can manage the drills ok as long as I don't think too hard and trip myself up, but I freeze when asked to improvise. Mostly I worry about flexibility, which I have very little of. I don't know if a lifelong tendency to walk on my toes has shortened my hamstrings, or if I always had short hamstrings and it caused me to walk on my toes - certainly I was if anything less flexible as a kid (I can sit cross-legged now, which was more than I could do as a six-year-old).
It also occurs to me, though I'm not sure it's worth bringing up in class, that I have proportionately longer arms and legs than the instructor, who is short and muscular, and that even if I were as bendy as she, I might not fit in those positions, any more than an action figure can fold up like a transformer robot toy. However, the more extreme positions don't seem to get used in the actual dancing, so I don't suppose it matters that much that I make Jack Pumpkinhead look like Jackie Chan.