Casey, I'm not much of a spinner yet, but my coach always talks about 'feeding the spin'; you're trying to get the spin to center and to last as long as possible, so you add to it bit by bit. First rotate with the leg up, then cross it over, then bring the arms in, then bring them down.

Sweet singing:

• Back crossovers are much better!!! We were working on maintaining what I have and doing a wider side step into the circle and then cross under.
• Starting to get neater feet into the 5 step mohawk... (We're playing "Make the boots kiss each other" today.)

Ghastly noise:

• Me trying to incorporate my better back crossovers and my neater feet into the appropriate Bronze Moves patterns! AUGH!!! I end up changing the overall pattern. Have to do some adjustments there...

Casey, your spins are looking better!

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Thanks for the advice, guys (or girls as the case may be)! It's not really like I'm trying to rush, but it's hard to hold the leg up for long without losing balance! I have been trying to tilt my head up a bit more, but I'll definitely work on trying to keep the free leg up longer...

Thanks for the compliment - I'm glad the videos are useful. I'm not sure if I'd use them as a reference point though by any means, LOL!

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

I agree, Casey, your spins have greatly improved. Should try for at least 3 revs in "open" position (arms, free leg out) before crossing foot/pulling in. Also you're stepping too far back of the circle out of the crossovers.....I'm not saying that right; someone help me out here? You're stepping back the way you came & out of the circle, instead of stepping more forward into the center. That & not rushing (hold the entry edge longer) will help centering.

Sweet!: Team lesson this morning was not bad at all! We started in Kilian position, which I hate, & which is very difficult for us, but it is making slow painful progress. Today was as good as it's been. Then we did European 3's (waltz hold) in a circle, & those were actually quite good for our first time trying them. After a few adjustments, they were fast, controlled & we were able to do them pretty indefinitely without it all falling apart. Then we did some chasses in waltz hold as well, not too bad.

And THEN (insert drumroll here) we were asked to do the 1st half of the Starlight! Our very first attempt at a dance & I was very surprised it was such a high one. And it really was not bad. We went through it several times & it got better. This was truthfully the first time skating together that made me start to think, "this might just work!" I was very happy.

Nothing Ghastly for this time, I'm looking on the bright side of life (insert Eric Idle singing..... )

Ask Beccapoo - I think she imports them into the USA.


What about Reverse Kilian, which I find much harder?
First time we tried, we nearly fell over. These days we can do them until one or both of us gets dizzy, but clockwise is still tricky.

Lap after lap after lap - start with you going backwards, then at the end of the rink you turn round and he goes backwards, then you swap again at the end of the rink, and maybe do swing rolls.... we are doing endless drills now as we are hoping to test our Level 4 Compulsories which are Swing Dance and Fiesta

Now, that is impressive! Well done. I do hope it works out for you.

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Sweet Singing: Today at adult session, toward the end, since the session had been light, four of us adults lined up and did "spin line", where each person does the spin of their choice, and so on. We did this til end of session and it was great fun. I even got a whim to try a camel sit and it was hilarious. Of course I have no clue how to do it! But it was loads of fun.

Ghastly noise: working on the changes coach made to fit my program in to reduced ice for Holiday Show on Sunday. EEEP! Let's scratch through those toe picky turns with a smile!

Beccapoo-Where can I get them??? They would be awesome to have. I've only seen them once and didn't get a chance to ask the person where they got them before they left the rink.

Ghastly Noises: The Perimeter Pattern---evil, flat, end crossovers! They are just weird! Back inside edges are completely gone again of course it doesn't help that I'm dodging Arabian Dancers and Snowflakes......and my blades are sharpened and I can't spin well....maybe they will work better tomorrow once they are ground down a bit

Sweet Singing: Worked on the new 3-turn pattern for pre-bronze....It's more like a dance pattern than anything. I kind of like it! My homework is to do 3-turns on a hockey circle, then do the back edges with the cross in front and step to the front-both directions

and work on my loop, routine, toe-loop (hate that jump), etc.

Dress rehearsal tomorrow night! However, I will be going to the daytime skate to workout. Haven't skated since Sunday and I was all shaky tonight.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Hey all,

Singing Sweetly: I actually ran through my new program from start to finish for the very first time today! This program has been in the making for a very long time. I chose the music and cut it back in October. However, since I had been focusing my attention on working gold moves, my coaches and I didn't really start working in earnest towards choreographing the new program until a month ago. Then I went away for a week to visit family. When I came back, one of my coaches was sick and the other had gone to Junior Nationals with another one of his students. So I went without lessons for another week and the program was on hold during that time. We JUST finished mapping it out on Tuesday during the last minute and a half of my lesson. lol At the end of the session today I decided I might as well give the new program a try and I was just as shocked as anyone else to actually get through 85% of it and stay on the beat! I finished a bit late because I'm still thinking through the straight-line step that precedes the ending but otherwise not bad for a first try. Here are my elements:

Ghastly Noise: My new program is supposed to be a bit of a character piece. As a result, I'm supposed to put a lot of life into the choreography with facial expressions and there are many trickly (at least tricky for me! ) little transitions and nuances that I'm still not doing yet. I suppose with time that these added touches will become more second nature as I get the program under my feet but right now it's pretty ghastly. lol

Take care all,

Frank

My daughter is having this problem with her exhibition piece....although she can perform beautifully in front of people on stage (acting and opera) when it comes to skating with "expression" she just doesn't get it going. Ah, what to do? Maybe she's a girl that can't pat her head and rub her tummy at the same time...

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Ooh! I can pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time!!

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http://www.yourphotoalbums.co.uk

Wow, sounds like a power-packed program!
Looking forward to seeing it ... NOT looking forward to competing against it!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

lol I can't pat my head and rub my tummy. However, I think the issue with me is that I tend to zero in so much on the technical aspect of what I'm doing that any and all emotive/interpretive thoughts go right out the window. That's been the case with me especially after I've introduced the axel into my programs last year and this year. Hopefully with some practice the expressive part of me will wake up and get with the program...literally!

LOL!!

Well that's always assuming that I can produce all of that consistently. That was my first run-through. Hopefully all that stuff will stay put and not decide to wander on me during competitive skates. If things go well I may add more modifications to some of the spins and hopefully the steps will get crisp. Believe it or not, within all of that I'm actually doing one pattern of the eight-step mohawk sequence from silver MIF!! It actually fits into the music! It just goes to show that moves in the field can come in handy when choreographing freestyle.

Geez, Frank! This is your very FIRST runthru!!! Give yourself a break, man!!!

I look forward to see it when I get over there to Ice House. (That is... if the transit strike over in NYC doesn't cause trouble for me... Shouldn't though... since I'm sticking with LIRR and NJ Transit. )

I have 5 step mohawks in my program. Nuf said!

Ghastly noise:

• The SCREAMING of TONS of middle school kids during my lesson this afternoon!!! AAAAAUGH!!! Needless to say, no moves practice today!!! GRRRRRR!!!
• Me cursing when I tried to do a camel and can't get beyond ONE rev.
• ISI 3 change foot spin. (Primary coach almost suggested a change sit and I was like ) After seeing those change foot spins, it's okay but he decided it was not a great idea for me to try for a change sit today!!! (But soon... I suspect 2006 I'll start on change sit.)

Humming:

• Toe loops, salchow, and waltz! (Oh, my!!!)
• Scratch spin
• Sit spins
• Backspin

Sweet Singing:

• Landed ONE single loop cleanly this afternoon, after fighting for a clean landing on a couple of the loops...
• Landed ONE single flip at the end cleanly!!!

Primary coach ended my very lesson of the year saying it's been a VERY good year skating-wise for me!!! (And indeed, it has been great overall!!!)

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Sweet Singing:
went on the harness today and landed some double salchows. coach was teaching me a flying camel! Axels were really nice today.had a good skate

Ghastly noise:

Dance coach didnt show up because of the weather.back and stomach hurts from doing too many laybacks.

~Cutie

__________________
Skating is suppose to be fun , no PRESSURE at all

~*Courage*~*Confidence*~*Consistance*~

Would love to see this program. Chock full of difficult stuff, and I just know you will get every nuance you need. It IS just the first complete run through!!!! Give yourself a tad of breathing room!

I had to laugh when I read through the rest of your post, as regardless of one's skating skill level, the program tribulations appear to be relative--right down to the "we didn't work on it because we were working on other stuff."

My biggest laugh came at myself when I realized how much I stress over my simple little beginnerish program------I often think "the man on the street" could do my program. Let me say, when I read what you are doing in yours, I was SO grateful to have my easy little ditty!!!!!

Sweet Singing: Show rehearsal actually went well tonight (from my point of view). The party girls were right on the mark and went ok (for the most part). Iced Delites was good, even if I didn't do the arm thing (so what-I'm trying not to fall over on the power-3's). Got lots of complements from my classmates (who are only party girls)-they liked the number and the dress! They want to be an Iced Delite next year!

And, last year we ended the show with no finale, curtain call or anything. This year, we go up to the lobby in our costumes for pictures and to schmooze with the public.

Ghastly Noise: Ok, I do power-3's all the way down the rink, trying not to take out the little candy canes and gingerbreads, and gumdrops that are zinging all around Candyland....So, when I get all the way down to the end, the rest of the girls are 10 feet beyond the mark!!! Ugh! So after we do our pivot line (which came dangerously close to the wall), we were no where near where we needed to be for our back crossover segment (one of the girls was one that almost killed me in a synchro number in the spring by "changing" the routine on a whim-don't know if she is doing the same thing tonight). Other than that, it was good.

So, if I keep working on moves, and get better on my footwork (faster power-3's and such), then next year I can audition to be a snowflake! (yeah, people who know me already think I'm flaky). They have the coolest music, routine, and costumes! It's a 4-5 girl ensemble piece! Hey, I'm moving up, anyway! Last year I was a cupcake and a flower!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Hey jazzpants,

Cool! Hopefully I'll be able to run through it for you and if all goes well I won't go splat. I had another lesson today and we've already changed a couple of sections. lol

I also had a couple of patterns from the 5 step in my bronze program a few years ago. Interesting coincidence! Maybe our coaches were trying to get us to work on them.

Take care,

Frank

Awww, thanks! Hopefully you'll be right and I'll get the hang of all the in-between stuff. For example, my coach today looked me squarely in the eye and said "You must be missing a gene." I said, "Really? Which one is that?" His reply: "The RHYTHM gene! " He's also asked me how I can do axels without a problem and then turn around and stumble out of a mohawk. My response: "Umm...I don't know."

In any case, I think putting a new program together is a similar process for everyone, as you said. Best of luck with your program! Will you be going to AN's? Hopefull I'll be able to see it.

Take care,

Frank

In my best Bugs Bunny voice "Ummmm....COULD be..."

(Especially a couple of years back I originally had a forward power 3 in my artistic program... and at that time I can barely managed a LFO3, never mind at speed! )
"The RHYTHM gene!" MAN!!! The guy *IS* BRUTAL!!!

Edited to add: Okay, I got a good one... my secondary coach was clapping to keep me in rhythm on the 5 step mohawks, b/c she assumed that I had no sense of rhythm. (It's not that. I just don't have any sense of EDGE to do them in rhythm ... but I digress...) I came back to the penalty box where she and this other coach was teaching from. The dialog goes like this:

Secondary Coach: "Haven't you ever taken a music class?"
Me: "Ummm... I have a Bachelors degree in music?"
Secondary Coach: "Well, I can't even imagine what kind of music you play considering you have NO SENSE OF RHYTHM on these 5 step mohawks!!!"

Later on, as I was doing the 5 step again... I can hear her and this other coach joked in time...

Secondary Coach: I - AM - A - MUSIC - MAJOR!
Another coach: WELL WON - DERS - NE -VER - CEASE!

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Casey,

I couldn't help but post a response after watching your spins. You get a nice number of revolutions and can hold your one-foot spins for awhile--great job!

Here are my suggestions for improvement:

1) Use fewer Xovers into the spin with less speed. Sometimes too much speed hinders centering--work on using only one or two deeper Xovers into the spin.

I like the suggestion someone made about stepping into the circle instead of away from it. The way I teach it is that you want to be in a right t-position as you push onto your left foot. If your feet are more in a mohawk position, you're stepping too far outside of the circle.

2) Bend your knee more upon entry, as you step onto your left foot. Your knee should straighten out only when you find yourself in the spin itself.

3) Your free leg should be higher when extended during the initial part of the spin. Hold that position--don't try to pull in--until you feel yourself become centered. When you feel centered, then begin to pull in (see below).

4) Keep arms even with your shoulders, or slightly below. You want your arms to be straight. As mentioned in a previous post, your arms have a tendency to fly around a little--it sometimes looks like you use your arms to maintain your balance. Force your arms to stay completely straight at the shoulder and elbow, and work on centering yourself more before you start picking up speed. Hopefully, you won't need to rely on your arms for balance. They're there for aesthetics, rotation and speed.

5) Pull your feet and arms in in increments to maintain the spin longer and to continue to give you speed throughout the spin. I've heard people suggest to pull your feet in first (3 revs), followed by your arms to a circle in front of you (3 revs), then pull your arms all the way in. Make sure you pull everything in tightly; it looks like you have a tendency to keep everything slightly loose.

6) Upon push-out, check your left arm more and bend onto a deeper right outside edge. Make sure your left shoulder is further in front of you in order to really stop your rotation. The deeper your kneebend, the more control you'll have over your push-out.

Good luck! I hope these suggestions help you out.

Bothcoasts

Your coach's comment was hysterical! So, someone else is missing "skating genes".

No AN's for me. Sectionals are in a place I could go this year, but I can't, so.....

As for my current dramatic program, it's for a showcase event. I know you would be too kind to actually laugh when you saw it, but I can't imagine it would look like anything to someone who can skate!!!!

Evil, EVIL coaches! I wish you could come up to skate at our rink a couple times. We could work on the 5-step, and it would be so fun! It was my absolute worst move, yet one of the best on my test. It's no longer test quality, and of course I don't practice it EVER anymore......but....it would still be fun.

Can't get over the evil coaches. I LOVE the clapping in time part, and the little song.......

Sweet Singing: Sorry to all those who lost your flips....I HAVE THEM! I've been refraining from posting in these threads for a while because I didn't want to jinx my progress. But two of my flips this week were soooooo good! They had great spring, and my coach was really impressed. He hasn't really gushed about my jumps before, so I KNOW these two were good. That was Tuesday, and flips have still been good on Thu and Fri. Concentrating on really checking my arms and pushing strong off my pick has made a big difference.

Spins have also gotten really good! Started working on a sit again after a few months away from it, and it's pretty respectable. It can of course get lower, but I am getting true revolutions on it, and am getting fairly low for not having worked on them very long! Also revisited camel spins, which still aren't great, but are much better than the last time I tried them (back in the summer). I think getting a strong forward spin has really helped improve my re-attempts at the sit and camel.

__________________
~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

Sweet Singing: Last class for two weeks!!! It was test night and I got a few things signed off. We also worked on the power-3's for the show. I learned to pull my arms in on the 3-turn part, then push them out for the crossover part. It seemed to make them faster. I'm still not doing the "over the arms thing" in the show....and that's my final answer! And, we fixed my 1/2 lutz (when she had me do one she asked me "what was that?") Obviously, I wasn't doing a 1/2 lutz! So, now I am.

Ghastly noise: started working on the back 3-turn! Needs tons of work but they sure are interesting!

I'm off to my sewing room...gotta finish one more dress (for a gift and put crystals in the shape of butterflies on it).

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!