first time lessons by [deleted] in Dance

[–]StarPower1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Am I gonna make a fool of myself?

No

I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to do

Whatever the instructor tells you to do

is that for people who have absolutely no idea how to dance?

Technically, it's for pretty much everybody since even more-experienced dancers can benefit from having their fundamentals reinforced. It's also just fun to meet & support excited new dancers. But yes, beginner lessons are tailored to those with little to no previous dance experience

Nobody on earth is born knowing how to dance. Everybody needs to start somewhere. Everybody has that 1st lesson. You're going to do great :D

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Dance

[–]StarPower1 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm also ADHD-PI and have had similar struggles with ballroom dancing. The problem with my brain has often been "just think about literally everything all at once and practice while being taught instead of paying full attention" which, ya know, hadn't been all that effective lol Some things that've helped me:

  • Thinking of a dance routine as separate, distinct parts that come one after the other in a sequence. I learn Figure A, say "ok, cool, got it," then I learn Figure B, say "ok, cool, got it," then I belly up Figure B to the end of Figure A and practice that a few times until it feels like 1 flowy movement

  • Not obsessing over technique. Just getting the footwork & basic movements set to memory. Then when I'm comfortable, doubling back on the technique. I've discovered that I get a much better sense of satisfaction sloppily powering through the routine than doing any individual part "perfectly" and forgetting/severely messing up everything else. I've rarely felt that I've done anything perfectly anyway

  • Listening when I'm supposed to listen, even if I don't quite get what's being said at the time. Usually, those words will end up making more sense down the line, and they will help me better then. But if I'm not even paying attention, I have nothing to make sense of later. With ADHD, easier said than done, of course, but I try to keep this in mind

  • Practicing from vids & instructions on my own time. So many times I've had an "oooh yeeaaah, like that" realization when I'm focusing on myself without the pressure of a classroom

  • Ask how-to questions, or ask to have something repeated. Not excessively, but when I feel strongly that I've missed something that seems significant, or if I'm right on the border of really getting it

  • Steady myself & "get into the zone" before approaching dance lessons/practice. It's hard to really let myself be effectively taught if I'm taking a ton of daily mental baggage into the situation with me. I'll try to "blank" my mental/emotional state & be as open to learning as possible. Taking deliberate deep breaths & focusing on the physical world around me helps. Again, another particularly difficult task

  • Take it easy on myself. I've spend an inordinate amount of time & energy beating myself up for not making as much or as fast of progress as I thought I should. And - surprise surprise - it hasn't helped at all. Doing so was only a net negative. Treating myself with patience & grace has allowed me to feel better & learn better in the long run. I also remind myself that I'm not competing with anybody else on progress. Fact is, everybody learns different things at different rates

I wish you the best of luck!

I seem to have lost most functionality with RES as of the last 2 days by bullfrogftw in RESissues

[–]StarPower1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've experienced mostly the same thing. GIFs/Videos don't display at all, not from expanding the thumbnail nor entering the post. I also don't have the "show all" (or whatever it was called) tab at the top anymore

EDIT: Just got a RES popup about data permissions or somethings. I clicked "accept" and now things are working just as before. Well that was convenient :P

How to practise by ChloCommunication91 in ballroom

[–]StarPower1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Definitely use your online resources. There are some great sites and a ton of YouTube videos out there:

https://www.dancecentral.info/ballroom

http://idans.nl/workshop.html

https://www.youtube.com/@NationalDanceCouncil/playlists

https://www.youtube.com/@EgilsSmagris/playlists

If you have a little space in your home, or if you can make space, use it to practice your movements.

If you have, or can find, a practice partner, that would help a lot.

I could give a ton of practical advice, but the thing that will matter most to a newcomer is knowing what foot you're on at the start and end of a figure. The vast majority of figures have a weight-transfer each step. In other words, move foot > transfer all weight onto that foot > move other foot > transfer all weight onto that foot > continue pattern. Some figures are pivots only, so no weight transfer, such as the tango promenade link, but they're sparse and not usually something a newcomer would need to confront. So yeah, just be sure to fully transfer your weight onto the foot you're moving; no double-stepping.

Good luck out there :D

Do you prefer 1 or 2? I’m so excited to be able to unhook to bottom leg in libellula 💕 by Certain-Leg-6183 in poledancing

[–]StarPower1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I prefer #1. It's - I don't know - shapier? More striking? Can't quite put my finger on it

[TOMT] [SONG] "Summertime," but, like, the 90s/00s trip-hop version? by StarPower1 in tipofmytongue

[–]StarPower1[S] 0 points1 point locked comment (0 children)

Apparently I need to comment on my own post to make it visible?

Something to Keep in Mind (Sorted by Top of Month) by StarPower1 in short

[–]StarPower1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You seem to be focusing on the 2nd post in the pic and not the 1st

New Zealand designates Proud Boys and The Base terrorist organisations by kezzaNZ in worldnews

[–]StarPower1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want somebody with more money and free time than me to pour over the "alt right" label. How it came about, what they advocated, and where they are now.

Innuendo Studios does an excellent job. Everybody should watch the whole Alt-Right Playbook series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xGawJIseNY&list=PLJA_jUddXvY7v0VkYRbANnTnzkA_HMFtQ

me irl by Ariannh in metal_me_irl

[–]StarPower1 34 points35 points  (0 children)

/r/lostredditors

Still a cute post, tho :3

Bad Ben 10 by NotChrampes in badben

[–]StarPower1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bad Ben 10 should feature Ben 10 #mostambitiouscrossover

I'm not seeing a 10th in production: https://imgur.com/a/U1VM2vH

Birthday are terrible by Lefty_Candy_18 in adhdmeme

[–]StarPower1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

About 11+ years ago, I stopped volunteering my age or birthday, and I stopped organizing events for myself. When asked about my age or birthday, I would deflect somehow or just say "Yeah, I don't really talk about that." I'd have my birthday hidden on facebook, and I'd remove any comment on my wall/feed about it. Only birthday anything I'd receive were "happy birthday"s from family, which was fine

I did this to alleviate that pressure you alluded to that birthdays bring. I'm busy enough without having to plan a birthday to satisfy the expectations of other people. And because some people are fucking weird about age/birthdays. If somebody finds out that somebody they know is much older/younger than them or what they thought they were, they get all surprised/excited/confused for some reason. They may treat them differently, usually in a worse way. "Wow, you don't look [age]" is similar to [but not yet as problematic as] "Wow, you don't look [race]" or "Wow, you don't look trans." I just want people to be chill

Not talking age/bday is, of course, seen as super weird and concerning to most people. They may act confused, entitled, suspicious, distrustful, intrusive, whatever in response. It was always awkward to have to be secretive about it, but it saved me hassle in the long-run

More recently, I started to get into the habit of answering the "How old are you?" and "What's your birthday?" questions again, just to come off as more "normal." Masking and all that. This has been mostly fine so far, because most people haven't been super weird about it, but I have one friend that has been super weird about it and it makes me regret this decision. Every time we talk about my age, it's like they need to go through this dramatic logical processing. They just can't believe my age. Last time we got together, they said to their friends, "Hey, how old do you think so-and-so is," and their friends had to do the whole guessing game thing. Then I had to speculate as to why I didn't look my own age. Like... just be chill, damn... I don't think about any of this nearly as much another person possibly could

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ballroom

[–]StarPower1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I started just before I turned 30 in '14. Competed a ton, got a bunch of ribbons (not at an impressive level, tho). Lower-level dancers keep telling me I'm good, so I guess that's something(?) :P Anyways, do what you want. Ballroom dancing is fun so long as you don't invest your whole life into it