So cool that you have started your own topic, Lena! I will only change the title a tiny little bit so that it will be easier to find it later when someone is having a similar question.
TakeItEasy wrote:
Please, can you tell me again, how exactly you had moved, your shoulders, your hip? I have no ideas...
Perhaps I could. However, there are some problems with that. First, no matter in how much detail I would describe my movement, it still wouldn't be possible for you to reproduce it exactly. This is simply because we are two different people, so our movement will always differ from each others'. Second, a lot of my movement happens without me being aware of it, so no matter how many pages of text I would write, it is still possible that what I think makes Pan react in fact isn't what he is using at all. But even if I managed to give you a perfect description and you could perfectly reproduce my cue, that still wouldn't help you in the next situation, for example when you are trying to ask for the travers, because then again you would not know how to ask for it. Therefore, I would like you to learn the correct movements not from me but directly from Pan.
My suggestion is this: Simply try to ask him for the shoulder-in in some way, no matter how. For example, this could be by first walking forwards with him, and then when he is next to you, turning your upper body to the inside of the circle (away from him). Or you could simply pretend to prepare for a curve but then walk straight ahead with your body still turned to push his shoulder away with your hip - the way I explained it to Angela, remember?
Most likely, his reaction will not be what you were hoping for. But that is good! Now look carefully at what he is doing and ask yourself what is still missing. For example, it could be that he is not bending but simply doing a sidepass away from you. Thus, you have to ask yourself what you would have to change in your own movement to make him change that aspect in his. In the case of the unwanted sidepass, this could be that you reduce the speed of your own movement and increase the degree to which your own body is rotated. But it could also be anything else. So just try it, observe how he is reacting (and reward!
), and then experiment with the effects that a variation in your movement is having on his. Actually that is exactly what we have been practising over the last four weeks (or at least that's what I thought we were doing
). Your teacher is right there, and all you have to do is look at him and adjust your movements to what he is doing.
TakeItEasy wrote:
And the turn on the forehand (to me) doesn't work too altough I moved my leg and hip likes you (I think at least...).
Same situation as for the shoulder-in: Please don't try to move like I did. Instead, all you have to do is move in whatever way, observe Pan's reaction, and then change your movement according to what you see him doing. I know that this is difficult for you and that you are used to fixed exercises and step-by-step instructions. But I would really love to help you learn to communicate instead of teaching you a couple of tricks.
We can also do it together next time, if you want, and I will try to make extra sure to be a bit more understandable this time and show you exactly what to look for in Pan's behaviour.
TakeItEasy wrote:
So it's a little bit difficult for me to employ him without him boring. Have you any other ideas? (I'm sure you have...
)
Yes, many.
If you want to work on specific exercises, you can look into the
Exercises subforum where there are lots of explanations on how to train all kinds of exercises. If you want a quick overview of some possible exercises, you can find it here:
Overview of your exercises for inspiration. And then of course there is the possibility of freely combining all kinds of movements or working on more abstract things than a particular exercise - for example on his reactivity to your speed changes or his ability to vary the energy of his movements, or on his flexibility in changing direction, and many other things. But I guess that's easier to explain when we are training together next time.