BEYOND MEDIOCRITY

Today is my first class with Antonio in two weeks, and I am so excited to see him and show him how hard I have been working! I am still flying high from being able to finish my choreography in such a short amount of time, and my confidence right now is stronger than it has ever been. Both Antonio and Maxi believed for me even when I had doubts, and because I pushed all of my fears and anxieties out of my mind and stepped out on faith I exceeded my expectations. If there’s one thing I am learning from Antonio it is how to set goals; before he verbalizes a goal he has already completed five of six steps. As a result my thought processes are changing, instead of giving reasons why something can’t be done- even when it seems hard I immediately jump into the ocean and learn to swim.

Now that I know the routine it is time to polish, so I am coming to rehearsal with a blank slate. I have been pouring over all of my videos and notes in preparation. We start warming up with one of my favorite dances, the East Coast Swing.  After a happy spirited dance we start choreography, and Maxi is here for the class to help us with the transition.  Maxi helps us both to look good and helps to refine certain steps, and because I have put in the extra work through rehearsal time today is going smoother than I thought it would. Antonio tells me he is proud of me as we go through the showcase routine couple of times. Because he doesn’t want me to just have the choreography memorized and wants me to continue to get better we takes extra time to focus on the free turn at the end of the routine. This turn is important because it is right before my final pose and is one of the important moments I need to take advantage of. We keep practicing it over and over and things get intense. I welcome the intensity as I know from working with Antonio he is pulling the best possible work out of me.  

Finally by the end of class the turn isn’t perfect but I have a road map to continue rehearsing in preparation for Monday. Overall I am happy because usually when I reconnect with Antonio when he returns from traveling it takes a couple of lessons to readjust, but today while there were things to work  on it took only a few minutes to get back on track and I couldn’t be happier; it only gets better now.

By: Kamaria George (10/22/2016)