Ever let yourself down in class??

[fatinah]

I have posted this on bhuz but wanted a reaction from the non-bhuzzers

I had practiced and practiced all week every night since the previous lesson.

I went to my class last night and completely felt rubbish!! I didnt feel like I could do the movements at all and I kept loosing my shimmy and I felt so stiff.

The hubby reckons it could be me over practicing and using moves I might not of been taught (sub conciously)and so I think Im practicing when Im not.

Or...is it confidence in front of your teacher??

Anyone else ever get stuff looking good at home but then just flop in class??

 

[Shanazel]

Oh, lord, let me count the times! If I had a dollar for each one, I'd buy us all new bedlahs. The most recent was when I started to teach an up and down Maia with a figure eight transition a couple of weeks ago. It looked so pretty when I practiced it, but I got to class and my hips went into some kind of snit right in front of God and everybody. Blech. Right frosted my apricots, it did.

This is a well-known phenomenon in everything from dance classes to cello lessons, so don't frash yourself too bad, Fatinah. Mark it up to experience and the mysteries of the universe, and let it go.

 

[lizaj]

I have posted this on bhuz but wanted a reaction from the non-bhuzzers

I had practiced and practiced all week every night since the previous lesson.

I went to my class last night and completely felt rubbish!! I didnt feel like I could do the movements at all and I kept loosing my shimmy and I felt so stiff.

The hubby reckons it could be me over practicing and using moves I might not of been taught (sub conciously)and so I think Im practicing when Im not.

Or...is it confidence in front of your teacher??

Anyone else ever get stuff looking good at home but then just flop in class??

Stop it, love, you're looking very good especially 3 weeks in.Trust me!

As for shimmies..they die at the drop of hip and as for hip drops....

 

[adiemus]

don't talk about hip drops, or 3/4 shimmies or keeping your butt IN and not poking OUT

As the others have said, chill - it will come together in time and you'll wonder what you were worried about. But of course by that time your teacher will say 'Oh did I mention that on top of that figure 8 you've got a shimmy and a chest pop and did I tell you about the shoulder shrug?'

 

[fatinah]

hehe I know Im just a perfectionist and I hate working hard to "not get it" I was the same in uni and in work...anyway Im just going to keep practising really hard.

Today I must of looked a complete nutter in work because I went to the toilet and had a few shimmys...yes my job is so fulfilling...3 yrs of uni and then this...anyway....I thought "Im gonna to try and do a sly little figure of 8 and shimmy",,,well I looked like I was having a seziure haha...its alot of fun trying to shimmy and move!! Amazingly I can shimmy very well when drunk or at least I think I look good but that could just be the Rioja talking!!!

 

[Aniseteph]

Anyone else ever get stuff looking good at home but then just flop in class??

Oh yeah, all the time, that's normal.

Our latest shimmies I cannot do in class or at home at the moment (I was practising in the ladies today, he he he....secret cubicle shimmiers of the world unite! :dance. I am so looking forward to the day when I look back and wondered what the fuss was about....

 

[Reen.Blom]

(I was practising in the ladies today, he he he....secret cubicle shimmiers of the world unite! :dance.

:clap::clap::clap: LOL We got a new secret society!

 

[Aisha Azar]

Letting yourself down

I have posted this on bhuz but wanted a reaction from the non-bhuzzers

I had practiced and practiced all week every night since the previous lesson.

I went to my class last night and completely felt rubbish!! I didnt feel like I could do the movements at all and I kept loosing my shimmy and I felt so stiff.

The hubby reckons it could be me over practicing and using moves I might not of been taught (sub conciously)and so I think Im practicing when Im not.

Or...is it confidence in front of your teacher??

Anyone else ever get stuff looking good at home but then just flop in class??

"




Dear Fatinah,
This happens not only in class, but on stage as well! You can practice your show for weeks or even months, only to find that when you get on stage, it is never as good as when you dance at home. I think we can get pretty close to what we would consider perfect, but not very often. At least that is my take on it. On the few occasions when I do a show that I am truly happy with, I am overjoyed!! It is a seldom reached goal, but so worth it when it does happen. Mostly I do shows that I think are "pretty good", or sometimes even "better than my average", but seldom am I really, truly thrilled by my own performances. You learn to strive for perfection without looking at every less than perfect show as a "failure".
In classes and in workshops, I have been teaching so long that I feel very comfortable in that role, but less so when I am the student. However, I also have adopted the attitude that if I knew it all, I would not be in class! Therefore, off times and mistakes are to be expected. I usually look pretty awful when I am learning.I have told my students for 30 years that I look like a klutz in class, but I guess they are dubious. One time I proved it when I went to a workshop with one of my students and she kept staring at me after the class. I finally asked her what was up and she just looked at me and said "I never, ever would have believed it. You were Terrible in there!!" I am an incredibly slow learner, but once I have learned it, it is learned to its very core. What can I say?
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Farasha Hanem]

Anyone else ever get stuff looking good at home but then just flop in class??

All the time.

I don't know if you've seen the vid of my first performance (the video is only about 14 seconds), but other than my bra strap slipping off my shoulder, I didn't do too bad. :dance: However, when I performed that same dance routine at the OU Ren Faire, I was sooo bad, that I was too embarrassed to post the vid on this forum; I still groan when I watch it. What makes it really bad is that I KNOW that routine like the back of my hand! :redface: However, if it will make you feel any better, I can find that video, if you wish, and post it here, just so you will truly know that we all have our off days (of course, me still being a newbie, I have more "off" days than "on," hehe).



I don't know why, but for some reason that day, I just felt so off-kilter, like I wasn't mentally prepared, although I know the dance by heart. Looking back, I think a lot of it was due to a lack of sleep the night before. I was SO excited about the next day, that I only got 3 hours of sleep that night! The next day, I was so exhausted, but still excited. Newbie enthusiasm---it's a joy, and a killer at the same time. :rolls eyes:

 

[jenc]

When you are in class you concentrate so hard that your muscles are tense. That's how come you can shimmy better when drunk. It is also common to get moves and then lose them again, through being self-conscious, or perhaps by trying to move them up a notch. All the moves you are learning now, you have to be able to do on autopilot - and that takes everyone more than 3 weeks!!!
you may find that

 

[Samira bint Aya]

Fatinah. Thanks for posting this thread!
The same thing happens to me too, and it is a relief to see that I am not the only one “afflicted”!

Personally, I believe it has to do more with psychological reasons rather than physical. I dance better when I am concentrated in the music and aware of my body movements. Stress or preoccupying thoughts interfere with this, and I end up making a mess out of my practice.

 

[sstacy123]

let down

The biggest let down for me is when I let things like not getting it or messing up bother me more than they should...I sometimes have to remind myself I do it because it's fun...and as my teacher said once, there is no timeline that you have to get it in...

 

[fatinah]

Fatinah. Thanks for posting this thread!
The same thing happens to me too, and it is a relief to see that I am not the only one “afflicted”!

Personally, I believe it has to do more with psychological reasons rather than physical. I dance better when I am concentrated in the music and aware of my body movements. Stress or preoccupying thoughts interfere with this, and I end up making a mess out of my practice.

Im sooo glad Im not alone too

 

[Tikvah]

((hugs)) don't worry too much about it. Sometimes our bodies will unlearn movements that we haven't touched for a while (hello vibration shimmies over here!! Where did they go, and why can't I figure out how to do them again??). Some folks it takes years to figure out some moves, and some will pick them up quickly....so don't beat yourself up about it!!

 

[Eve]

Fatinah. Thanks for posting this thread!
The same thing happens to me too, and it is a relief to see that I am not the only one “afflicted”!

Personally, I believe it has to do more with psychological reasons rather than physical. I dance better when I am concentrated in the music and aware of my body movements. Stress or preoccupying thoughts interfere with this, and I end up making a mess out of my practice.

Happens all the time.

Working with your body when it's fatigued is one thing, getting your mind up to speed is another.

& I used to beat myself up over it if I didn't get something right away. The thing is, when I did other stuff M.A/Boxing I never put that expectation on myself and never on my juniors - so why put that pressure on myself with this dance? I find it easier to let go and say, for whatever reason it's not working today (not to be mistaken with quitting or being lazy) it's more knowing yourself, sometimes you need to work through a problem sometimes you need to leave it for an hour or a day before coming back to it.

 

[*leila*]

I think it has alot to do with practicing so much, i do the same, i can do it at home get to class, and i drop my shimmy all the time, last week, everytime i tried to step forward while shimmying, i just coudl not do it, but it was alot of fun trying.

 

[Samira bint Aya]

Working with your body when it's fatigued is one thing, getting your mind up to speed is another.

Yes, I agree, although that is not very clear from my post.

Since you also seem to be into physical exercise, let me share with you an observation that I have made, and you can tell me your opinion. I have found that my good days at the gym, when I am full of energy, strength and stamina, tent to coincide with my bad days at dancing, when the movements come out clumsy, or looking forced. Recently I started yoga, and I am starting to see that my bad yoga days are the same as my bad dancing days.

Interesting that you say, how having a bad dancing day bothers you more than a bad day at the gym… I suspect that most of us here in this forum are motivated to be good dancers. I know I am. I tend to be a perfectionist in general, and I think that I have (subconsciously) invested part of my self worth in being good at what I do. With belly dancing this may be a bit more intense, since the results are displayed for others to see and judge for themselves. And it also has to do with femininity, which is such an important part of many women’s self esteem.

 

[lizaj]

One thing to remember:
as I discovered -your fellow student is usually equally worried she is letting herself down and if she isn't, she's probably a deluded diva!:lol:

 

[fatinah]

haha thats very true!!

 

[ShiroiOji]

Ugh, whenever it comes to spotting in class, I feel like complete rubbish. Keep in mind, I am new, and I will get better. However, when I am at home, I feel as though I am able to focus on certain things in the room. When I look in the mirror, I don't have a focus, and I cannot seem to keep it, thus I end up getting sort of dizzy by the end of eight turns!