keryx | resting and riding bicycles

Yesterday my main physical activity was getting a massage [I currently see Gracie Hardy at ArtWorks, though I'd recommend everyone I've ever seen.] I rarely leave a massage feeling “yay, melty goodness, zzzzz” – more balanced and ready – but it’s still nice to not do a lot physically after. Drink a gallon of water.

Today! Die came over to practice in my room. The tiny space kept us tight and together for ATS (good!) but severely limits the traveling of our Balla Guerra drills (awkward!). We worked for probably 2 hours, mixing dancing and discussion. Die was also pretty excited to share in the “keep your feet seriously, all the time, parallel” discovery. [I share the discovery with you, in case you haven't heard: it's easy to end up in a slight turnout in life, and to continue this into your dancing, if you don't consciously choose to put your feet in parallel. Turning out (naturally; forcing a turnout would likely lead to injury) isn't wrong for bellydance, but everything is much cleaner without it - hips get more crisply vertical. We also noticed more consistency between the two of us.]

We spent a bunch of time paying attention to our lead/follow, stopping to work on vague cues and poorly remembered details of steps we don’t perform often. It took surprisingly little work to feel like we were in fact doing better than we were some months ago; most ATS steps want to stick with you & are so responsive to even a little study. Responsiveness and Stickiness, I think, are part of the anatomy of ATS – little breakthroughs should be easy & steps are supposed to “feel right”. So, much like the proverbial “riding a bicycle” [though I know more than one person who has learned and forgotten that skill], everything feels familiar even after months of disuse.

Later, we’ll take the familiar and the new, and come up with a new kind of bike. First we start with this catch up.

Cross-posted from i'd like four tacos, please.