Back to SkateUK Syllabus

Another good lesson today, and we spent most of our time going over the Skate UK syllabus, as she wants to get it all signed off, so we can concentrate on the Dance Passport. So of the things I haven't officially passed yet:

LEVEL 7
Backward Crossovers: Passed, passed, passed, passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Forward Inside 3-turns: RFI3's were pretty good, which I was thrilled about as it was only a few weeks ago that I couldn't do them at all. Passed on the right, she wants to see them slightly better on the left. They happen, but are not reliable yet.

Already passed the Continuous Forward Inside and Outside Curves, so I did them as the MITF exercise. Not bad, but I need to keep the leg more controlled as it comes through from back to front. Coach told me to pretend I was pushing it through Marshmallow Spread!

LEVEL 8
Forward Inside Mohawks: Passed on the right, left was not playing today. Well, it happened, but not to D's satisfaction :) I know I can do them though, so will sort this by next week hopefully.
Two BXO's followed by Sustained Backward Outside Curve for a count of 3: Passable but she wants them better. The position is good, but she wants me to look less stressed when I do it and to bring my feet fully together before pushing back into the landing position. But I only did this for the first time last week, so it is going okay.
Two Foot Change of Edge: Passed.
Forward Drag: Didn't do, as my knee was playing up a bit today.

LEVEL 9
Forward Beginner Cross Rolls: Passed. It is a few weeks since I did these, and I was amazed at how much easier these feel now. I guess it's because my FXO's are stronger in both directions now.

Still a few bits we haven't done from Level 9.

LEVEL 10
Backward Crossovers in a Figure 8: Passed, as we did them this way for the Level 7 thing! At last I am feeling slightly more secure on the backward glide between circles.

Few bits we haven't done from Level 10 as well.

We also did:
Advanced Backward Crossovers: These felt good going CW. Yes, I said good!!! It makes more sense now I did some working out on the underpush, and soooo much more secure than beginner BXO's! Still find coordination a bit difficult going CCW, but okay once I get going.
Novice Foxtrot: D said it was looking pretty good considering I have only started it recently, but obviously a few corrections to take away with me. The biggest thing is not to cheat the FXO at the end of the short axis, so I don't end up gliding on two feet for any length of time whatsoever. I know if I increase the depths of my edges along the whole of short axis, it will give me a little more room for manoevure as well. The other thing was to keep my leg straight on the swingthrough, by hitching my hip up temporarily to let it pass through.

D also said at the end that she had been quite nasty to me today. She was more picky, but I expect that to increase, and to get more corrections on the little things. So she was definitely not really horrible! Besides, I had five years of ballet teachers being very nasty (well, some of them) once I was in vocational training, and yes, it could be upsetting, but you soon get a thick skin. The worst thing that happened to me was when a particularly temperamental ballet teacher almost threw a chair at me when I was 12 . . . so I can cope with my coach getting pickier :)