Last week sucked as far as progress goes. I’ve been sick. It started with a week ago with a sore throat, which turned into the kind of cough that makes you feel you might lose a lung, and now it all seems to be settling into your standard, mild yet irritating cold. I skipped one of my two Thursday night classes because there was no way I could have managed two hours of flamencking, and I skipped Saturday classes because of a prior commitment with the chorale.
Feeling way out of compás, I managed to roll my sick sorry butt out of bed Sunday morning and head over to the studio to get in an hour of much-needed rehearsal time. Does this show dedication? Sure, but I mostly did it because I forgot to cancel my studio reservation ahead of time and they would have charged me for it anyway. But I figured I’d take it easy and just walk through some things, ease back into the groove and prepare myself for a more promising week ahead.
I think it did me good. Sometimes it’s less about intensity or speed and more about precision, or at least aiming for precision. Running through an escobilla or llamada at a snail’s pace is a step toward a precise and hopefully speedier performance later. Every little bit counts, I’ve learned. It could be that 30 seconds of practice you got in on any given day that makes all the difference at show time. You just never know.
Here’s a clip from Sunday. Notice the cough and the look of exhaustion at the end; dancing when congested sucks.
Married to the Dance 