Dance! - The Road to Heavies: lesson 8. December 16, 2011
Arched toes!
Right before I put on my shoes, I notice something: I can arch my toes better than before. I shall have to do even better, but it is clear that practice is showing results.
All 2 weeks in a row, I'm arching the toes of my right- and left foot, on advice of my teacher.
Everytime I arch, I hold and than I let them go again. By doing those in series of 8, I eventually get to 24 times of arching a day.
It wasn't long before I noticed that left isn't the easy foot. Compared to my right, left takes quite the effort to get it arched. Fortunately, cramps are almost a thing of the past. Holding my toes arched to long or very firmly, was almost a guarantee for cramp.
A new dance: the Single Jig
I'm not having the class I want: after my third sidestep, two hops and two 'over-2-3's' I mess up a couple of times when I have to change legs.
To empty my mind on the Reel I get the first steps of the Single Jig, one of the dances in the list of Jigs and Reels a beginner has to learn before he or she can take the first steps on heavy shoes.
Those steps are unfamiliar at this point and even feel illogical. It doesn't help that I try to do the steps from the Reel at some points. This is familiar for me: I think when doing the steps and so I mess up.
There is also some news about the competition from the school I take classes from. The Kilkenny Feis (pronounce: fesj) has been advanced by a month. Therefore, it's too early for me to compete, according to the teacher. Well, happy joy: I wasn't really looking forward to it, especially because I don't know what to expect at a Feis. Only to see how it all works, I would like to visit one first.
The lumps are calling...
I ask some advice about the lumps filled with fluid on the inside of my feet, right below the ankle.
They don't hurt, but I do like to know if I have to take action.
Turns out I don't have to worry. It's nothing more than a problem with drainage that affects some and doesn't affect others.
The real lump on my leftfoot, the lump from a few weeks ago, does seem to resurface. My foot feels strange. A day later, there is no lump to be seen and the level of pain has also dropped significantly.
There aren't any classes for the next two weeks because of the holidays and school-vacations that accompany them. My feet can take a rest for 3 weeks. I would like to focus on stretching, gaining strengt and stamina. The steps are something for later as far as I'm concerned.