I went to my first roller skating class with Skaterobics at American Dream mall. I was a little scared to go…all things new are a little scary! Plus, I got lost in the mall trying to find the class, but once I found it, it was great!
There were about 15 students broken down into smaller groups that different instructors worked with. When I first arrived, I worked with Carla, who taught me how to properly practice the T stop and do the Stroke and Place. I learned the importance of doing these foundational exercises real slow and to the beat. I tended to hurry the “Place” part of “Stroke and Place.”
Then, I graduated to working with Terrence on pivots. I was with two other students–Shanti and Tori. Again, working slow, I learned how to properly pivot from front to back (on the toes, remember to look back to direct the body) and then from back to front (on the heels, remembering to look over the shoulder to direct the body). By the end of the session, I was able to do pivots (albeit shakily). I got some homework to do to nail these down!
Terrence reviewed the importance of nailing the fundamentals of footwork–maneuvering the heel-toe movements and shifting weight. I began to see where I was getting stuck on Crazy Legs. I was trying to figure out how to shift from rolling the whole foot (with all four wheels on each foot on the ground) to shifting to the toes. More stuff to work on.
All in all, it wasn’t a terrible trek to get to American Dream mall. The Lincoln Tunnel traffic was a terrible mess. Better take the GWB next time!