Video Feedback

I got to go into Sister Wadsworth's office today to watch myself on video. She recorded us....sometime last week, and I've been dreading/looking forward to watching it ever since. Video is easily the best way for me to improve. Because as much as I may think I'm doing something right, I definitely know there are things that need fixed and changing, and verbal feedback alone isn't quite enough.

Going through the video basically confirmed what I thought I had been feeling, and what feedback I was given this morning. So we talked about how I still have these bad habits that I've carried over since before I came up here. I remember trying to work on them when I first came up to school here, but then as I learned more about what I never knew, they got pushed to the back burner as I tried to progress through other avenues.

One thing we mentioned was my ankles...I definitely tend to supinate, which is mostly due to the fact that I've sprained each of my ankles at least once. The last time I sprained one was a couple of years ago, and so I was really focused then on regaining strength, and making sure they were in correct alignment. Then, as the pain subsided I decided to move on. Apparently that was a bad idea, as I keep going back to those bad habits. It also doesn't help that I've got Morton short toe...in fact, when I'm in relevé, if my ankles are where they're supposed to be, I'm balancing on the head of just one metatarsal. It makes it slightly difficult. Not impossible. Just difficult. I'll work through it.

The biggest thing we talked about was my hands. I feel like they're so awkward, and I never know how to carry them through movement. Whenever I watch videos of myself dancing, I feel like they're just dead weight that I'm throwing around. Then, from Kelsey's comment earlier, I realized that maybe there's too much tension in them, due to excessive attention. So Sister Wadsworth suggested that I just need to complete my movement. I do tend to cut it off without completely finishing it, and allowing the energy to go through the right pathways.

Oh, and I forgot that we talked about my hips a bit, too. I mentioned how I try to loosen them up through pliés, but my achilles tendon is kind of tight, which limits how deep I want my plié to be, which has limited the freedom I'm trying to get from my hip. But, Sister Wadsworth helped me realize that, even though I can't go super deep in my plié, it's more about the pulsing motion (in a certain combo we do in technique) that will allow for that freedom.

Sometimes it's really difficult and frustrating trying to learn how to work within my own body...but, it is possible, I'm starting to realize. It's kind of liberating, though overwhelming at the same time.