Lovely day, excellent date, contra, snuggles.
Except that we had perhaps the single worst caller it has ever been my displeasure to dance to. After running out of ideas for n00b-friendly dances, he simply called lame dances. Too many mixers, too many squares, and basically, just undiluted lamesauce.
There was, however, much snuggles afterwards.
Interesting point: The Shoreland is very, very different from Breck. Breck has a very strong lounge culture: anyone who's just hanging around is doing it in the lounge. Moreover, people drink perhaps two nights a week. Maybe.
Shoreland does have a kitchen and a bathroom in each suite, though.
Will elaborate in the morning maybe.
**elaboration**
Oh dear, I am very tired and sore and have two papers to write. Dancing barefoot very much for the lose, but the heel of my left shoe has been damaged and moderately sharp plastic is sticking out, and that's not pleasant, so I danced barefoot and got pwned for it.
I need to go get work done. I think I'm going to take a half-hour nap, because I feel like I'll be more productive afterwards.
Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
a capella smexy
Last night we went to a fucking amazing a capella concert, yo!
Mkay. Highlights include:
Anyway, we went, there were lulz, and snuggles. Woooooo!
Oh dear, so the last contra of the academic year is on Saturday, and I have a list of six people I really want to dance with, and four I absolutely must dance with. (Three of those last are graduating, and one I am dating. There's one more who I must dance with if she comes...mrrrrr.) I'm probably going to end up writing down the whole list and scheduling myself several dances deep. Ahhhhhh!
(I'm totally going to need to count dances done for the lesson.)
Mkay. Highlights include:
- An all-male a capella group singing I Kissed A Girl. Hifuckinglarious.
- I adore Rhythm & Jews, seriously. Of the five girls, one is one of my best friends, one is a good friend, and one is very nearly my fave dance partner evar. (The last was wearing absolutely obscenely painful heels. I saw them. Owowowowowow. And she had to jump in them. Her expression as she landed still makes me cringe in empathy.)
- R&J has a hilarious sense of humor, and it shows, hehehehehe. ("A message from our sponsors," they say, and launch into a brief song-and-dance for Manischewitz matzah.) Lots of other lulz, too...
Anyway, we went, there were lulz, and snuggles. Woooooo!
Oh dear, so the last contra of the academic year is on Saturday, and I have a list of six people I really want to dance with, and four I absolutely must dance with. (Three of those last are graduating, and one I am dating. There's one more who I must dance with if she comes...mrrrrr.) I'm probably going to end up writing down the whole list and scheduling myself several dances deep. Ahhhhhh!
(I'm totally going to need to count dances done for the lesson.)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
theater and excitement
Facts learned (or reestablished) yesterday:
UChicago theater is excellent. In fact, theater in general is excellent. In point of fact, since I started considering the problems involved, the objectives of theater, the particular challenges, and so on, maybe two years ago, my respect for the field has steadily risen. A Breckie dude I massively respect directed one, woo! The plays were...superbly interesting, to an extent nothing less than I would've expected from the UofC.
There's no better way to say this: playing with tied-up people is fun for all parties. 'Nuff said.
I ought to cultivate a few more dance partners willing to lead me, as opposed to the other way around. I do almost exclusively dance with ladies, typically because I empathize so much better with women, so I can, say, pick up on when they're dizzy, when they'd actually rather swing than spin, when they want more momentum, when they're running out of energy. I'm a very aggressive dancer -- I never hold back my energy, I love momentum and speed and spinning and especially moving my partner even faster than myself -- and I've learned, for instance, to always ask just before a dance whether or not my partner gets dizzy. Being able to pick up on a partner's cues is damn useful.
It took me several tries, and at least one person yelling at me, to figure out the headspace for a follower. You have to be much physically looser, ready for another dancer to do any of a variety of things. That's substantially different from leading, where the goal is to make anticipating your own next move easy for your partner, which requires steadiness and a firm grip.
It still takes me at least a minute to change my headspace from leading to following, simply because I have to put my mind in a position where my first reaction to a firm grip is to let it control me. I also haven't learned to control my aggressiveness when I'm following, which -- given how much I like spinning -- tends to result in draining considerably more of my energy in a single dance. My movements are also considerably less smooth as a follower, but that's more an issue of practice than anything else -- that, and the reality that I'm tall enough to make spinning me difficult.
I dance because I love making people happy, and I lead because when I dance with a skilled partner, I can usually succeed in giving them a fast, exhilarating dance, modulo the energy of the band and the song. When I follow, it becomes about how much I'm enjoying myself, rather than about how exhilarated I can make my partner. There's a fair bit to think about here -- I absolutely adore thrilling a good dancer, so clearly as a leader I'm getting something out of it; that much is evident from how much I adore a good partner. When I follow, what is the headspace to appreciate that? To know that my skill, to spin and whirl and bend as fast as they can move me, encourages and excites my partner?
Of the things I need to learn, learning new headspaces is perhaps what I care most about.
UChicago theater is excellent. In fact, theater in general is excellent. In point of fact, since I started considering the problems involved, the objectives of theater, the particular challenges, and so on, maybe two years ago, my respect for the field has steadily risen. A Breckie dude I massively respect directed one, woo! The plays were...superbly interesting, to an extent nothing less than I would've expected from the UofC.
There's no better way to say this: playing with tied-up people is fun for all parties. 'Nuff said.
I ought to cultivate a few more dance partners willing to lead me, as opposed to the other way around. I do almost exclusively dance with ladies, typically because I empathize so much better with women, so I can, say, pick up on when they're dizzy, when they'd actually rather swing than spin, when they want more momentum, when they're running out of energy. I'm a very aggressive dancer -- I never hold back my energy, I love momentum and speed and spinning and especially moving my partner even faster than myself -- and I've learned, for instance, to always ask just before a dance whether or not my partner gets dizzy. Being able to pick up on a partner's cues is damn useful.
It took me several tries, and at least one person yelling at me, to figure out the headspace for a follower. You have to be much physically looser, ready for another dancer to do any of a variety of things. That's substantially different from leading, where the goal is to make anticipating your own next move easy for your partner, which requires steadiness and a firm grip.
It still takes me at least a minute to change my headspace from leading to following, simply because I have to put my mind in a position where my first reaction to a firm grip is to let it control me. I also haven't learned to control my aggressiveness when I'm following, which -- given how much I like spinning -- tends to result in draining considerably more of my energy in a single dance. My movements are also considerably less smooth as a follower, but that's more an issue of practice than anything else -- that, and the reality that I'm tall enough to make spinning me difficult.
I dance because I love making people happy, and I lead because when I dance with a skilled partner, I can usually succeed in giving them a fast, exhilarating dance, modulo the energy of the band and the song. When I follow, it becomes about how much I'm enjoying myself, rather than about how exhilarated I can make my partner. There's a fair bit to think about here -- I absolutely adore thrilling a good dancer, so clearly as a leader I'm getting something out of it; that much is evident from how much I adore a good partner. When I follow, what is the headspace to appreciate that? To know that my skill, to spin and whirl and bend as fast as they can move me, encourages and excites my partner?
Of the things I need to learn, learning new headspaces is perhaps what I care most about.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Human Contact
I was just told, though I cannot obtain confirmation on Google, that certain hormone responses in the human body depend on regular physical contact with other humans, at least once every 2.5 days. I can totally see where this is coming from, in the sense that regular physical contact definitely improves my mood, and at once I'm also aware that I don't get anything like that much regular contact.
In general, single guys tend not to, simply because physical contact, with males or females, is not generally part of socially acceptable behavior for dudes. Casual hugging in particular isn't traditionally in bounds.
Most of my regular physical contact definitely comes from dancing, which is totally legit, for all the sweatiness involved. It's reassuring, exhilarating physical contact, and there are few bonding experiences like embracing one's partner as much to celebrate an excellent dance as to ensure one doesn't fall over. Getting to dance only once a month has probably not done good things for my sanity, and though there's one or two things I do to make up for that, they haven't been working as well as I'd like.
It's definitely a big part of my internal wacky male/female dynamic that it's difficult for men to get regular human contact. That's the most basic thing I've typically blamed my Y chromosome for, for at least several years.
I know it's an unfortunate tendency I have to dramatically oversimplify when analyzing my own personality, but I'm almost inclined to believe this. I'll come back to it later, see what I think then.
In general, single guys tend not to, simply because physical contact, with males or females, is not generally part of socially acceptable behavior for dudes. Casual hugging in particular isn't traditionally in bounds.
Most of my regular physical contact definitely comes from dancing, which is totally legit, for all the sweatiness involved. It's reassuring, exhilarating physical contact, and there are few bonding experiences like embracing one's partner as much to celebrate an excellent dance as to ensure one doesn't fall over. Getting to dance only once a month has probably not done good things for my sanity, and though there's one or two things I do to make up for that, they haven't been working as well as I'd like.
It's definitely a big part of my internal wacky male/female dynamic that it's difficult for men to get regular human contact. That's the most basic thing I've typically blamed my Y chromosome for, for at least several years.
I know it's an unfortunate tendency I have to dramatically oversimplify when analyzing my own personality, but I'm almost inclined to believe this. I'll come back to it later, see what I think then.
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