Vanessa & Duncan's blog
August 01, 2008 by Duncan
It’s the end of lesson four and Vanessa and I now have a firm grasp of our routine. We know where to be, when to be there and which direction to head. Now it’s just the small matter of making it look like a waltz rather than the current hop skip and jump. I can feel that more and more progress is being made and the whole thing is becoming even more enjoyable now.
We now have a wait of two weeks until our next lesson and we have made a promise to each other that we will practise wherever and whenever we can. There is a real danger of forgetting the routine and then wasting precious ‘finesse’ time by having to learn the whole routine again. Time is even more precious for us now.
We only have two more lessons as a couple, followed by a group session before the big day itself, and there is a mixture of excitement and nerves now beginning to develop. I would love to know how the other couples are getting on (Kele and Ralf give nothing away!) but I have a sneaky suspicion that Arianne and Andy ‘snake hips’ Taylor must be considered front runners. I saw it for myself on the group session – that boy can dance!
July 17, 2008 by Duncan
We have had a long gap between our first and second lessons and at the start of todays session (Thursday 17th July) I’m afraid it showed a little through my dancing. Not so much the legs which didn’t work but more the memory. Left became right, right became left, simple 1-2-3 steps didn’t look simple anymore and I felt a little re-introduction to the drawing board looming.
After an hour this had all changed. Don’t get me wrong, we are absolutely nowhere near 4th September standard but at least our routine was starting to take shape, and with the music, things were making even more sense. A few more pointers from Ralf (superb coach) and it was time to learn new parts of the routine. Oh dear.
Many people know that I normally have no problem moving weight around my body. I eat, weight is added and everybody is happy. Not today. A simple movement involving weight from left foot to right foot and back again became trickier than it really should have been. Frustration and doubt set in again. This dancing world has a habit of bringing you straight back down after an amazing ‘cracked it’ feeling!
Once again, my partner was a pleasure to dance with. I feel that Vanessa and I have the right balance of humour and determination and I’m sure that the next few intense weeks of practice will reap dividends of excellent movement be it feet, arms, hands or heads. (so much to remember).
After this lesson I felt a lot more aches and pains than previous ones. I’m not sure if that means we worked harder or if I’ve just had to call on muscles which have been AWOL over previous years. I’m guessing the latter.
Until next time then….1-2-3….1-2-3 (repeat to fade)
July 02, 2008 by Vanessa
So reality finally hits and a few weeks after a light hearted 'yes I'd love to take part' I'm in a ballroom on the 2nd floor of The Polish Hearth Club (I'm not sure either!) for a 3hour lesson and to discover whether Duncan and I are more suited to Ballroom or Latin.
Kele & Ralf, who will be our long suffering tutors, line us up and start with the basics of a Cha Cha, and suddenly I'm learning steps and terminology I never new existed!
It might not look much like hard work on the telly but add in the concentration and it's exhausting as we shuffle, shimmy and giggle our way through waltz, samba, jive and ballroom tango – you'll never believe how hard it is to walk backwards, let alone with style and poise!
I'm not sure if Kele & Ralf have based their decision on ability or entertainment value I'd like to think it was the former but there was a glint in their eyes as they announce that Duncan and I are doing the Waltz.
For our last hour a real treat for a Strictly come Dancing fan (like me) we get taught by Camilla & Ian, they a brilliant and unbelievably patient after quick demo of basic ballroom steps, that makes it look so effortless, they get down to teaching the 3 ballroom couples their basic steps.
Well so far so good, we can dance our waltz square, learnt to go round corners – not always well, frequently getting the wrong foot (me) but in the end we did it, a circuit of the room, it wasn't necessarily pretty but it did earn us a high five from Camilla which for day 1 I'll take as high praise, it may also be as good as it gets!
So a rest for my aching limbs 'til next weeks lesson, I'm looking forward to it hugely , we'll learn some new steps and you never know might even progress to dancing to music!
July 02, 2008 by Duncan
Monday mornings are usually full of internal meetings, endless coffees and the obligatory conversation about the weekend. There is an air of familiarity about Monday mornings. Not so, the morning of Monday 23rd June. This was our first Strictly Come Dancing lesson meaning that this Monday morning had a very unfamiliar tone of cha cha cha, jive and tango.
We were greeted by our instructors Kele and Ralf and even had a Medic on hand (what did they know that we didn't?). Then with formalities over it was on to the floor to begin proceedings. There was a huge sigh of relief as people realised that this studio did not have wall length mirrors, and before you could say 'I'm in the mood' we were dancing. Well, moving our limbs around a little.
The purpose of this first lesson was to get to know partners, instructors and above all, dance styles. We all took part in about six differing dance styles (some hard, and others not easy) with the instructors checking us for basic rhythm, fluidity, posture and the ability to stand up on a shiny floor. After two hours of rhythm, fluidity, posture and slipping around on a shiny floor, we were then assigned our different dances.
After midday, the experts were sent in to bring a little class to proceedings. Four dancers (Camilla, Lilia, Ian, Darren) from the TV show had turned up to offer their advice, guidance and shoulders to cry on. They floated in, danced like angels and then floated out again. The advice they gave was spot on, and even better, they were good people, and made the end of the session very enjoyable.
Vanessa and I did have to stop a few times due to getting the giggles, which I'm hoping is a good sign of things to come and after this first session my thoughts on the event have moved from sheer panic to mild terror. That's it for the group sessions as we now have to tackle our own individual dances, so bring it on!
