Dance Class

[Yo Momma]

Skiing dying down and just returned from ballet in Montreal......... "Swan Lake"......amazing...... except bartender made our drinks too strong after dinner, prior to the show....... omg........drunk ballet! LMAO........ . Motivated me to ask GF (girlfriend - ex ballet & instructor) to teach me adult intro ballet to improve my balance, control and overall proprioception to influence my skiing and kiteboarding. I just wanted to share absolute first lesson....try this.... essentially a simple posture exercise anyone can do: http://www.danceclass.com/dance-posture.html

 

[Chris Walker]

Very cool, thanks for sharing. I'll have to give it a try once skiing dies down here in a couple of months.

 

[cantunamunch]

Most dance centers will offer stretch classes to the public - our local one is about as intense as 4 simultaneous yoga classes, ow.

 

[Chris Walker]

Heh heh yah yoga already makes me feel like a klutz LOL. But I think it's great for mobility and balance in addition to flexibility and I imagine dance would be as well.

 

[cantunamunch]

Heh heh yah yoga already makes me feel like a klutz LOL. But I think it's great for mobility and balance in addition to flexibility and I imagine dance would be as well.

They also do a separate acrobatics and tumbling class

 

[Yo Momma]

Most dance centers will offer stretch classes to the public - our local one is about as intense as 4 simultaneous yoga classes, ow.

Totally agree a la Bikram (insane yoga...... good...... but insane amts of suffering........ wait, kinda like kiteboarding! )....... when I discussed w/ GF I said emphasis on "Adult" ........ otherwise they get crazy w/ it and go all Insane Killer Ballerina on each other to the death...........

 

[cantunamunch]

. otherwise they get crazy w/ it and go all Insane Killer Ballerina on each other to the death...........

There's gotta be a way to market that, next to Jello packs perhaps?

 

[Scrundy]

Yeah well as long as you all are getting in touch we you feminine side, I wear girls undies.

 

[Yo Momma]

 

[Yo Momma]

First dance class today. Wow........ eye opening. Simple movements and mostly finding my "Center", managing posture, breath control, and analysis of my anatomic proficiency and most importantly............. limitations. Lots of incredible post analysis info including I now understand why Tele came so easily to my body and why I, and so many others have transitioned so easily to "rockered" skis to the point whereby they are now the standard w/in the industry.

 

[Yo Momma]

Back to simple yoga today.......... but GF (IBK - Insane Killer Ballerina) was watching and gave many pointers........ OMG game changer adding ballet to the mix.....Hold your Bandhas!!!!!!! ... This was similar to my first experience........ funny article: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-2583/Bandhas-for-Beginners-Intro-to-Yogas-Interior-Locks.html

 

[VickiK]

First dance class today. Wow........ eye opening. Simple movements and mostly finding my "Center", managing posture, breath control, and analysis of my anatomic proficiency and most importantly............. limitations. Lots of incredible post analysis info including I now understand why Tele came so easily to my body and why I, and so many others have transitioned so easily to "rockered" skis to the point whereby they are now the standard w/in the industry.

Do tell.

 

[Philpug]

Paging @Stephen to the white courtesy phone.

 

[Yo Momma]

Do tell.

The Tele part or Rockered part?............ btw back on the 2018 Bonafides yesterday on hardpack......... after practicing "releve" (standing centered on the balls of your feet) and having GF show me how off balance I was initially, and how to balance properly in releve........ WOW the proprioception! Much easier to re-center each foot during micro-movements and pivoting.......... weird and hard to describe but along w/ engaging the posture control muscles "holding the bandhas" made the ski and boot combination feel like an integral part of my musculature, much more so than before.............heading back to the mtn today to practice more..............

Let me know........ Tele or Rockered........ or both @VickiK ?

 

[VickiK]

Lots of incredible post analysis info including I now understand why Tele came so easily to my body and why I, and so many others have transitioned so easily to "rockered" skis to the point whereby they are now the standard w/in the industry.

It's the why that piqued my curiosity. Hope it's not too personal, but why did Tele come so easily to you, and why was the transition to rockered ski easy?

 

[Yo Momma]

It's the why that piqued my curiosity. Hope it's not too personal, but why did Tele come so easily to you, and why was the transition to rockered ski easy?

Not at all. Here is some of what I've found helpful over the years. http://jeanniethoren.com/theory/ As a male, my build is somewhat atypical and small up top (good for being a dentist.... ie; little hands....... LOL) w/ large hips and thighs and I have knock knees. In a nutshell and technique analysis aside, the advent of the "rocker" has the advantage of allowing me to better utilize my power area in the hips and thighs to execute more efficiently while skiing. Also the "rockered" non or semi directional ski allows for more dynamic turn options, including but not limited to flipping right around and doing everything you can do fwd while skiing switch. That's how dynamic/versatile these new ski designs are. My body physics actually help me now. I watched as my GF's skills catapulted in essentially a matter of days after switching from a non-rockered, fully directional ski to her Black Pearls. Her progress after the switch was MIND BLOWING............. I'm still baffled and they were baffled by her time frames at Alf Engen Ski School @ Alta..... once on the correct ski design she became a natural. She went back to her previous skis for 1/2 day after that .......... and said "Never again"........hasn't touched them since! ....... and that was a few years ago...........

As far as Tele, the turn is more dynamic, less fixed, especially w/ rockered skis. My feet turn outward abnormally when my knees are forward. Once I jumped to Tele and released my heel and realized I could pivot from the ball of my inside foot, I noted immediately that my physical disadvantage (since childhood) actually turned into an advantage w/ the myriad of new Tele style turns available due to the rocker revolution. The "John Wayne" turn or "Cowboy Stance" I was introduced to by New England Telemark ( http://www.netelemark.com/ ) and by Allen & Mike's Tele Tips ( https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Really-Telemark-Revised-Better/dp/076274586X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489181566&sr=8-1&keywords=allen+&+mike's+really+cool+telemark+tips ) combined w/ rockered skis, actually freed me and allows a more dynamic turn interpretation that is more open to physical variations. Again, my disadvantages are now strengths that have allowed me to ski in a more dynamic fashion, better suited to my physical limitations..........perhaps a bit too much but my buds who I skied w/ at Stowe.....during my first year of Tele, were taking me into an off map area called "The Bench" that exits to the Notch road. That's the kind of confidence "THEY" had in my skill set by my first midyear. Mentally, I was not ready for the super tight terrain through the woods and the drop offs where some of the landings were turn or die! I just was not that confident in my Tele. Somehow by the grace of God, along w/ my buds patience and instruction, I survived the many incursions and actually was having fun! .......... not dying that is!

 

[VickiK]

Thanks, Yo! How fortunate the new gear works in your favor, and great that new techniques opens up more possibilities.

 

[Yo Momma]

Thanks, Yo! How fortunate the new gear works in your favor, and great that new techniques opens up more possibilities.

No worries! I only hope others have or can benefit as much as I have from this gear revolution............. or evolution............

 

[Stephen]

Paging @Stephen to the white courtesy phone.

I'm not a ballerina

Yoga has definitely helped with my flexibility and fitness but dancing, from what I can tell and have been told, has been what has helped me learn to ski like I have. I haven't been skiing my whole life so I can't
compare my skiing before and after dancing however, I did play baseball before dancing and after dancing 6 years. The improvement was stunning to me.
I often tell my students that I'm so glad I got into skiing for many reasons but one is that it helps me be a beginner again and remember what it's like to learn from a never ever standpoint. It also gives me an immense amount of analogies to use when teaching. The parallels of skiing and dancing are not uncommon.

 

[Tricia]

I'm not a ballerina

Yoga has definitely helped with my flexibility and fitness but dancing, from what I can tell and have been told, has been what has helped me learn to ski like I have. I haven't been skiing my whole life so I can't
compare my skiing before and after dancing however, I did play baseball before dancing and after dancing 6 years. The improvement was stunning to me.
I often tell my students that I'm so glad I got into skiing for many reasons but one is that it helps me be a beginner again and remember what it's like to learn from a never ever standpoint. It also gives me an immense amount of analogies to use when teaching. The parallels of skiing and dancing are not uncommon.

Ballroom vs Ballerina = Both require balance.
I will say this, I've done some bootfitting on ballerina feet. Dang that's a tough fit!

I pick on you and your ballroom feet but really.....you're an easy fit in the bigger picture.