Coaching Day - Eddie Simon
Eddie Simon working on use of the standing leg with Gary and Vanda
We’ve been getting back up to speed as the new year has begun unfolding with everyone engage in their projects, from preparations for a video project, to getting ready to hit the floor. Eddie Simon gave us a day of his time and shared tremendous insights on Tuesday. Coaching is an essential part of Pro-Am work for a few reasons:
You can’t see everything yourself as the professional partner so you need outside eyes every so often.
The coach will be someone who has great experience or a unique perspective that can offer both their expertise and a fresh perspective.
With that broader perspective they can often advise shifts in development that make the work you do between coachings more effective.
It gives the students a chance to learn anew because it can often be a burden trying to execute “correctly”. Having an outside authority come in with new ideas about what a dance should look like can serve as a valuable reset on many fronts.
With any bit of dance technique there is a “correct” way or rather there are correct ways. Coaching, especially with a teacher of Eddie’s caliber, opens up new possibilities not so much because the overall concepts are new but because he has the insightful eye that can marry proper technique with subtlety of execution. For instance, one might know what a figure should look like, but because of holding on to one piece of information that is true it’s hard to achieve the overall result. In a reverse turn in Viennese Waltz the footwork should be toe on the 2, but perhaps it’s necessary to think of stepping flat (I know you technique nerds are losing your minds at that). It’s the expert eye that can say, “yes that’s it!” even if every last action doesn’t fit the norm.
We’ve got a number of coaches lined up in the coming months and we’ll keep you posted.
