Pointless but EXCITED post about the Motown Tango Weekend!!!!

[dance2sk8]

Ok, for all of you attending, I can't wait to meet you all and skate! Its going to be so much fun this weekend. I am picking up my skates (got them sharpened as I was starting to skid a little with my camel spin and edges), buying a couple of practice skirts, and prepping for Saturday!

Oh, and Saturday night...mwahahaha....let the debauchery begin!

Safe travels to all who are coming from other states (or countries). :D

[Skittl1321]

OMG IT IS NOT JUST YOU THAT IS EXCITED!!!

I am SO incredibly excited. I can't explain it. Got my skates sharpened last week, and have skated in them to wear them down a bit (but stops are still meh, spinning pretty well though)

Everyone will have to excuse me for looking frumpy at the Saturday night dinner- but I can't wear cute shoes and skate the next day, the tendonitis generally doesn't allow me to wear heels and then walk, so I'm taking no chances.

I'm STILL working right now (since I freelance- and am taking 4 days off, I got piled on today, and then got distracted) but have mostly packed. Driving out there tomorrow, even though I won't be ice dancing.

I packed a dress, but will probably skate in pants- I don't have a good bra for it, and 4 hours is a lot longer than 10 minutes (MITF test) to not wear one.


EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

[CanadianAdult]

I sewed up the holes in my tights so as to be presentable. :-) I'm excited to meet everyone. Safe driving and see y'all soon!

[dance2sk8]

I sewed up the holes in my tights so as to be presentable. :-)

Awesome!!! LOL! I look forward to meeting you as well! :)

[dance2sk8]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

I do that ALL the time! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! :lol:

[Mel On Ice]

I'll be there too, Saturday only. Rock on.

[LilJen]

I'll be there in spirit only. Eagerly awaiting everyone sharing about their experiences!

[Mel On Ice]

I was only there for the Sat. afternoon freestyle portion, but had a good time. It's been a while since I was on the ice for 4 hours!

Little bit of drama at the start as I checked in and was vacated from the building due to a potential gas leak. This gave us an opportunity for a group shot under the "Mowtown" marquee with the dancers.

Once we were cleared to enter the building again, Jonathan Cassar ran us through a warm up exercise session which was great, but made me feel every inch of a post-baby mom at 39 years old. Big reminder to get a supoprtive exercise bra as the girls were doing dances independent of the rest of my body.

On ice, Ben Woolwine joined Jon. It was fun to be on the ice at an adult clinic, instead of being one of "kids at heart" with the 10 year olds. I was self conscious at first about my abilities since I have felt awkward and clumsy since the c-section, but Ben and Jon placated my ego by telling me my technique was really very good and only offered ways to improve it. We started with connecting moves, with Jon emphasizing the importance of making seamless transitions that make sense in terms of body mechanics, difficulty.

We moved onto jumps, first edge jumps and then toe jumps. Compliments on my salchow and waltz jumps, they didn't look at my loop and we didn't get to the axel. Compliments on my flip and "true" lutz takeoff, just need to figure out how to shorten my entrance. They didn't look at my toe.

I have mixed feelings about the clinic, I didn't get much time with the pros, but the time I did get was awesome. I appreciated a different perspective, as I have suffered from a lack of confidence as of late (losing mad skills due to the baby slapped my ego around a bit), and it was a bit of a relief to get compliments on my skating from outsiders. I was disappointed that for the price there wasn't a t-shirt, water bottle or some sort commemorative swag. I've never skated on DSC ice before, so that was novel too, it was soft and silky. It was nice to see old friends and make a few new ones.

Yeah, adult skaters rock.

[londonicechamp]

Hi Mel on Ice

What is DSC ice? :roll:

londonicechamp

[Mel On Ice]

DSC - Detroit Skate Club. Why the eye roll?

[dance2sk8]

I am SUPER spoiled being a member and skating on DSC ice. It is awesome. Having 3 rinks available to us, along with 2 blade sharpeners (Fred Martin...he does mine, and Mrs. Jones), a skate shop (Mrs. Jones Skate Shop), ballet studio, workout/weight room...its just an amazing facility.

Yep. Spoiled. That be me. :lol:

[LilJen]

Sounds like a good time, Mel! Congrats on you making the trek so soon after giving birth. I just invested in a couple of VERY supportive bras that keep the girls in check (old bras had really had it).

[Skittl1321]

Just got back from Detroit today- and won't be able to post a recap until later, as my fingers are shaking from the vibrations of a 9 hour car ride and I can't type well.

under the "Mowtown" marquee
Haha- I didn't notice that, but just checked a picture, and sure enough...

It was really great to skate with other adults- probably the best part of it all, though I'm sad to say I don't think I was able to meet Mel well enough to put her face to her skating forums name- the comment about her "girls"- however, makes me think I might know who she was, as an adult made a pretty similiar comment about showing the girls off when we were doing presentation work. (Mel- I was the short girl in the bright pink shirt.)

Best ice I've ever skated on, I'm so jealous.

More later...

[Mel On Ice]

I think you have me figured out - white girl with Afro in blue west Michigan adult skaters tee.

[Skittl1321]

Okay- my novel of a recap is complete (five entries!) and on my blog at skittl1321.blogspot.com (it's also on the skating journal linked in the signature line, but there are no pictures there.)

I want to echo the comment that the DSC has the best ice I've ever been on. I had actual noise on the inside edge of my power pulls.

The seminar was without a doubt worth the money, and a well organized, fantastic weekend. I truly hope to return next year.

I really enjoyed the off-ice warm up and the transitions portion of the seminar with Jonathan Cassar. Putting movements together was interesting, and we were doing things I wouldn't do on my own (Bauers). He also showed off his spread eagles, which are just fantastic. I don't feel I got too much from the jump portion of the seminar, I felt that the instructors gravitated towards the better jumpers, or at least the more vocal ones (being probably the lowest jumper, everyone was a better one.) Mel mentioned we didn't get to axel, but it seemed those doing that did it during waltz jump, which was first- so without much warm up. Paul, the organizer, said he is thinking about pulling in someone else for jumps next year, and I think that may be a good idea- however, I do hope they keep Jonathan for "style" (or what he called transitions).

The party was a lot of fun, and the ice dancers were very nice to share their weekend with the freestylers. Though I didn't really get to know many, I danced with several, and enjoyed the evening. The next morning I got up early to watch them dance and it looked like great fun. They did a few "follow alongs" to learn steps (disco slide- I believe) but mostly did called dances. The partners seemed to switch around, so it looked like everyone had a good time.

Spins and Footwork with Amber and Alissa was a real treat and probably where I learned the most here. Alissa was very quiet (but really warmed up near the end, as we were closing and she was imitating someone's footwork that was all about toe steps) and Amber was a fantastic coach. Amber was not the draw for me this year, meeting Alissa was- but next year I will look forward to going back to take a lesson from Amber. I felt we got great instruction on spins, at one point seperating into two smaller groups, which I thought was a very nice idea even though the group was already small with Alissa doing difficult sit and layback variations and Amber doing easy ones. Since we worked on a sit-spin to a Y position, I'm not sure I agree with her idea of easy, but she says it's one of the simplest changes. I guess if you have the flexibility it is. The footwork section was fantastic (the only thing I was surprised we skipped was mohawks.) All our turns were done on circle 8s- which made me connect the idea of counters/rockers a bit better than when I've done them with a line as an axis. I have zero complaints about Sunday.

The organizer asked for suggestions, and I told him lots of adults really would like the opportunity to do figures (this was before Amber/Alissa had us all do our turns on what was essentially patch, and I found out how bad I was at them) and he said someone at DSC has their 8th- so he might try to add 2 hours of those next year....

I think this seminar weekend has a definite chance of becoming a stop on the adult freestyle circuit as well as the dance circuit. Hope those who went to Ice House will report back soon!

[LilJen]

Thanks for the review & blog, Skittl. I'll have to try to make it next year, though my skills are far below yours. . .

[Skittl1321]

Thanks for the review & blog, Skittl. I'll have to try to make it next year, though my skills are far below yours. . .

Oh you should so come next year! Paul said it is the same weekend every year- and next year is the 20th anniversary... so it should be special.

They did a great job of handling all different levels- you'd be just fine!

(Also- I thought of another tidbit. In an explanation of how to get height on spirals, Amber recommended ankle weights off ice, Alissa explained her secret. Want to know what it was? She practiced them. Every session. HAHA! So that's all we need to do! Apparently there was some girl at her rink who had the most beautiful spirals and Alissa wanted spirals that good. I wonder who that girl was...)

[dance2sk8]

Oh you should so come next year! Paul said it is the same weekend every year- and next year is the 20th anniversary... so it should be special.

They did a great job of handling all different levels- you'd be just fine!

(Also- I thought of another tidbit. In an explanation of how to get height on spirals, Amber recommended ankle weights off ice, Alissa explained her secret. Want to know what it was? She practiced them. Every session. HAHA! So that's all we need to do! Apparently there was some girl at her rink who had the most beautiful spirals and Alissa wanted spirals that good. I wonder who that girl was...)

A can definitely attest to the spiral improvement secrets. Mine wasn't anywhere near what it is now...I practice them almost every session. I recently started the ankle weights...I'll do those twice a week and see how it goes. I'll keep you posted! :D