Two to Tango? Nah!

It was time to learn another dance today, but more of that in a minute!

In my lesson today, we did:
Perimeter Stroking: Felt like I was getting good knee bend in these. And my "presentation" at the end is beginning to work!
Forward Russian Stroking: Good - I just need to make sure that my FXO's are down in the knees.
MITF Crossovers: As before - FXO's in a figure of 8, turn from front to back and BXO's in a figure of 8. I am now doing all BXO's as "advanced" crossovers, much to my relief, and I need to remember to keep the inside hip and shoulder pushed back so I can guide the circle a little better. But not bad, once I get into the rhythm (and they improved throughout the lesson too). FXO's were okay - I need to remember to point the crossover foot in the direction of travel (I have a habit of turning it out slightly).
Cross-Rolls: I lurve doing these now. I need to pigeon toe my feet a little more when crossing.
Continuous Backward Outside Edges: I really don't lurve these so much! Needed support doing these today, but D pointed out that they were nice even curves, albeit a little tiddly. I just still feel very wobbly doing these for some reason. The swing back is more controlled now though.
Backward Russian Stroking: Have progressed to doing these with "advanced" crossovers too. Gosh, these were working my thighs today - I think mostly because I was doing it on a slopey part of the rink, so on the right hand side I was trying to pull myself sideways uphill!
2 BXO's into sustained outside edge (landing position): She was satisfied with these this week, so passed for SkateUK purposes. And it did feel okay. I would like to get a bit more power into the BXO's (hark at me, never thought I'd say that!) so the landing position has more speed.
2 BXO's into sustained inside edge: Basically, like you're winding up for a spin. Two BXO's and instead of uncrossing your legs, you keep it held crossed behind you and glide on the inside edge. The RBI edge felt not bad at all (and this would be heading for my natural spinning position as well) but the LBI edge felt very odd.
Forward 3-turns: All 3turns now passed. We did best of 3 for each one :) Three out of three on my RFO3's and LFI3's, and two out of three for the LFO3's and RFI3's. Not bad!!! It's amazing to look back at just how frustrated I was with these a few months ago . . .
Mohawks: All passed now. Still need to work on the speed of transfer though.
Lunge / drag: Some guidance here after my confusion. It was down partly to my weight being not far enough forward (thank you to those who advised!), but also partly because my dragging leg was too far behind me and she wants me to uncross it a bit. I also need to push my arch into the ice to get the blade off it.
Novice Foxtrot: D thought this had improved tenfold since last week which was nice :) I found that I was putting more speed and power into it now, and making the pattern bigger. I need to watch out for a few small bits - making sure my bum isn't still sticking out after the swingthrough, and making sure that the swingroll stays on the outside edge (it can creep onto an inside edge on the left ones sometimes)
Canasta Tango: Yay, a new dance! I've only learnt the long axis bit, but D has given me the pattern to look at. The slip chasse felt much more secure than I was expecting it to, which made me happy! I really like this one so far as well - probably because it has more varied steps in it than the Novice Foxtrot. I tend to retain "dances" very well, mostly because during my ballet training, we had to learn a whole new hour long class every week on a Monday - and woe betide you if you had forgotten any of the combinations the next day!

So, a whole week off work next week. I sometimes think it must seem like I'm off work all the time to readers, but in reality, next week is the first full week I've had off all year! I'm hoping its really quiet, so I can work on my dances - D has given me the pattern not just for the Canasta Tango, but also the Dutch Waltz and the Rhythm Blues, and she is quite happy for me to try and work them out if I want to. So looking forward to next week immensely!