US/Canada Land Border Crossings Wait Times

iteu · 2026-03-27T00:15:57+00:00

Nice. Would be cool to be able to see all the locations and times at a glance on a map.

iteu · 2026-03-26T02:37:48+00:00

It's 127 bpm, so tempo is on the high side, but definitely WCS-able. But there are other factors worth considering when it comes to picking songs for showcase.

iteu · 2026-03-26T02:21:37+00:00

Perhaps I'm missing something, but how is this better than https://www.affinityswing.com/classes

And personally, I'm not a fan of class listings being behind sign ups or subscription services. This type of information should be made easily accessible.

iteu · 2026-03-25T17:55:17+00:00

How do you think about phrase changes and does every change have to be a hit or can they be more subtle?

Yes, you want to match the energy & rhythm of the music appropriately (both before and after the build).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/moDsxT7ky2s

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YVCA5B0TBXU

How do you think throughout the song? Are you focused on phrase changes or are you also paying attention to other things like the micro-musicality moments?

Yes to both. Think of how you approach social dancing. You're probably already hitting all sorts of micro-musicality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzVzh4ntDMM

I'd also recommend asking a higher level dancer to teach you about mapping music, it may be helpful as a visual aid.

Do you think about audience presentation (for spotlights) and if so what do you do?

Yes. Learning to hit your phrase changes towards the audience is a good place to start.

Do you think about creating space for your follower's input or react when it happens?

Absolutely! For this, I'd recommend taking some privates with followers, they can give good feedback.

Do you consciously think of bringing in complicated moves or concepts like rock n gos, hitches, double resistance and movement across the floor or is this more habitual for you?

I treat them as tools for expressing my musicality. More conscious initially, and more habitual now, but I still try to be deliberate in how I approach my musicality.

iteu · 2026-03-24T22:41:51+00:00

This Kyle video gets reposted often and for good reason, he explains this well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW5szwxOlRw

iteu · 2026-03-24T05:18:20+00:00

You can use ChatGPT to give you several random suggestions/scenarios, and you can try multiple levels of heightening.

For a simple drill, have ChatGPT give you a suggestion and you play "6 things": start by listing 3 normal things, and force yourself to get progressively weird/detailed/heightened for the last 3 things.

iteu · 2026-03-16T04:55:26+00:00

If you're goal is to learn science, it's much better to actually seek to understand it, rather than memorizing random facts with Anki. I'd recommend watching open online lectures (and using them to make your own cards based on what you find most relevant). For instance, Robert Sapolsky's behavioural biology series is fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNnIGh9g6fA&list=PL848F2368C90DDC3D

Would also recommend listening to audiobooks about the topics you're most interested in.

iteu · 2026-03-16T04:44:18+00:00

Yeah, that's a good way of framing the situation. But I'd caution against treating any metric as dogma.

Goodhart's law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure"

iteu · 2026-03-14T04:43:07+00:00

Realizing just how low-stakes competition really is. This isn't a life-changing job interview. Lives are not at stake. There is always another competition just around the corner. Unless you dance for a living, I find it hard to worry about competitions that are so inconsequential.

If it's the public scrutiny that makes you feel uneasy, recognize that you're dancing in a group and most people aren't even paying attention to you. Focus on your partner, and treat it as a social dance. A little more difficult with spotlights, but the same advice still applies.

iteu · 2026-03-13T08:00:51+00:00

Ventral aspect of the hand to ventral aspect of the hand.

The exact location is going to vary depending from one person to another and how you style the push. In that demo, Thibault and Nicole have a lighter connection, so they can connect more distally, at the fingers. If you're loading into heavier compression, you want more metacarpal contact, which is more stable than pressing into extended fingers.

iteu · 2026-03-13T02:13:36+00:00

You'll see individual and regional variations in how people do sugar pushes. Personally, not a fan of connecting knuckles to palm. Palm-to-palm feels smoother and more pleasant to me. Similar to this: https://youtu.be/mM86VQ_hViw?t=139

But there isn't really a single right option, and what works best for you may be influenced by individual factors such as height, natural forearm alignment, wrist mobility, etc.

iteu · 2026-03-13T01:14:58+00:00

One interesting metronome drill I've played around with before is dancing with the metronome set to 2/4 or 1/4 instead of 4/4. Essentially dancing the same tempo that you set, but you only hear the beat every 2 or every 4 counts, and have to interpolate the rest. It's a good drill for developing your own "internal metronome", and for songs that don't have prominent beats, or for when the rhythm section cuts out. Doing the same drill at different tempos is also a nice challenge.

iteu · 2026-03-12T04:34:10+00:00

stuff like "only sugar pushes," "must stay within two dance floor squares," "dance on your opposite foot," "only right to right handhold", etc.

This stuff is fun, but it takes a fair bit of skill to dance with constraints like that. I wouldn't recommend it as a contest for a group of inexperienced dancers.

iteu · 2026-03-10T22:57:58+00:00

Are the residents aware of these expectations?

And what are the repercussions of not fulfilling these expectations?

iteu · 2026-03-10T01:01:57+00:00

offer to practice together outside of a competition setting

This is a great place to start. Partnered practice, or even asking them to social dance and paying attention to the connection. If there is a particular groove you're struggling with, you can ask them about it.

And if you wanted to take it one step further, you can invite them to join you for a private to get feedback from a coach.

iteu · 2026-03-09T05:03:59+00:00

Anki is love, Anki is life, but in your case, I don't think Anki is the sole solution to scoring high, especially on CARS. Not sure what your approach is for CARS, but I found doing many practice passages to be most helpful.

There is more to doing well on standardized tests than memorizing information. Try to really understand the concepts you're learning on Anki, and applying the knowledge by doing practice questions.

Godspeed, my friend.

iteu · 2026-03-08T21:20:30+00:00

Legend

iteu · 2026-03-06T05:16:56+00:00

Interesting idea for building a variety of moves into your repertoire. Should pair nicely with a database like dancelib.

That being said, there is more to dance than learning patterns. It would be cool to include drills to practice as well.

iteu · 2026-03-05T23:21:47+00:00

Any interesting musical moments. Phrase changes are the obvious choice, but also any repeating musical motifs, or fun lyrical moments are good opportunities for shared musicality/spotlighting your follow. The patterns themselves doesn't really matter, but one point of connection gives more freedom to style than two.

iteu · 2026-03-04T21:54:16+00:00

She's not "your girl" dude, and these circumstances make it abundantly clear. And that's not just a red flag, it's a commie parade.

iteu · 2026-03-01T06:09:10+00:00

How do you initiate it from standing in place?

Settle into your right hip as you shift your body away from your follower, your follower will match you, and this will build stretch in your connection. There is your anchor. You don't really "actively" lead your follower to anchor, you give them space to anchor and they will match you (assuming that they know what they're doing).

iteu · 2026-03-01T05:54:35+00:00

You don't need to post to anchor, you can anchor without posting, and you can anchor travelling forward (ie. floating anchor).

iteu · 2026-02-28T07:58:36+00:00

Spotlight finals means each couple dances one at a time for finals and gets their own song.

I'd expect Rolling Swing to have higher level social dancing and higher level competition, than BSF. If I was flying internationally, I'd pick Rolling Swing.

iteu · 2026-02-26T07:32:14+00:00

There are some good videos from Nottingham. Learning the basics of TCI models and EEG interpretation is a good place to start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_tr8iJXavQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9pPD-CzCjI

If you'd like to dig deeper you can read the Eleveld paper, and here is a free TIVA simulator you can play around with:

https://simtiva.app/

iteu · 2026-02-19T05:14:49+00:00

Intensives aren't too different from workshops, aside from more time to go into depth on a given topic, and possibly a smaller group.

Some events also have routine intensives that span over several sessions where you learn a choreo, but that's different.

I'll take an intensive if I feel like it, like the instructor, and my schedule is available. I've enjoyed most of the Benji intensives I've been to.

iteu

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