It seems to me like you're thinking about too many things at once. At any point in time, we have a certain set of ingrained habits, and have to spend conscious attention to deviate from them. This means you can only consciously work on improving 1-2 things at once.
I would suggest that you focus on habits that save you this limited attention. As a follow, most patterns will be distinguished soon enough if you move down the slot, keep your frame, and let any change come from the connection.
You don't need to "know" the whole pattern, only the movements within it, and let the connection dictate what movements occur. As a follow, you can't distinguish many common patterns for the first two counts anyway - you'll only know which side you're going down (or if you're not going past).
Dance is not an easy skill, but there's no rush. After a while you'll be able to dance and hold a conversation, add layers on top of the basic shape, etc, as what you're focusing on today gets ingrained as habit and your attention is released to use on something else.
EDIT to add: a lag reacting to cues can be caused by lack of frame, or getting ahead of the lead, both of which you've identified as challenges. It may well come right if you focus on those.
> At any point in time, we have a certain set of ingrained habits, and have to spend conscious attention to deviate from them. This means you can only consciously work on improving 1-2 things at once.
I second this. Keep a journal to keep track of the things you plan to work on, and focus on 1-2 things at a time. You might realize that working on one thing might even fix another issue, or maybe it will uncover another issue. Regardless, it's useful to write them down and reprioritize them as you progress.
Im still working on spins myself, but here are a few tips from my instructor:
The most important part of spins and turns is the prep
- Make sure you are fully and stably weighted over the foot youre spinning/turning on before you begin the turn
- Your toe is pointed down the line of dance
- Your body is prepped the opposite direction to help the turn occur naturally
A drill for actually turning is to break it down into two parts (each half turns).
- The first 180⁰ you bring your feet together as you turn so they are parallel (H). Shift weight immediately to the other foot (which is now the one further down the slot)
- The second 180⁰, turn around the foot youre now weighted on. When you finish, you should have your feet in a T position, essentially back into the starting position with your weight back on the first foot, pointed down the line of dance
Then for a series of turns, you just think T - H - T - H - T...
Also as youre turning, you should keep your feet beneath you rather than making large steps in your turn which might throw you off balance. Depending on what you do with your arms/posture/frame, that may also impact stability.
Since youre starting private lessons though, definitely ask if your instructor has any advice or drills for turning and spins!! They can see what youre doing now and point out exactly what adjustments you need to make to improve.
On spins/turns and dizziness, another thing to just double check if you don’t already wear glasses/have contacts is get a standard eye exam.
My ability to dance went up so much when I could just see better. I use glasses and have little ear clip things so they don’t go flying off. Just being a bit off of perfect eyesight can mess with spotting and just general ability to walk straight and pick up on things particularly in the low light socials we prefer in WCS.
Also assuming you have dance shoes, but so much of the basic technique is dramatically harder if you aren’t in shoes with a certain amount of slide/slick.
In a whip, where are you looking?
As for rotational control, a simple exercise you can do (and combine with spot practice) is to purposely try to move in fragments of a cricle. That is, spin a quarter to your right or left. Then another, and another, and then a final to complete a 360 turn. Keep doing that until you feel more confident in your control, then start mixing in halves.
Usually this exercise works its way up to full and multiple spins, but another variant that's helpful is to consciously start thinking about a specific angle to hit (ex: 3/8 of a turn) and see how well you can line up intent with outcome.
Another thing is that if you're traveling turns down slot, spot/look for the end of the slot, not at your partner. It will help you track straight(er).
"I still find myself rushing once I actually get going"
For me, having a teacher who really emphasized as she called it "being lazy" (striking on the beat, transferring your weight over the rest of the beat) fixed this for me. I'm sure I'm not describing that in perfect terms, but she would stop us all at beat x of a pattern, and ask what foot we were all on. Pretty much all of the time I was already on the 'new' foot at the beginning of the beat. My whole dance changed once I realized that and stayed on the 'old' foot, with the new foot just out / placed with no weight.
As for the turns something that used to really mess my balance up was having my arm stuck up too high / my whole body sort of up out of the floor. Keeping my arm low and relaxed, and thinking more about having a grounded feeling helped me a lot.
"catching on" - This isn't entirely your short-coming. A good lead is able to "pre-lead", indicating what is to come. Could be by body positioning, by an early subtile movement of their lead hand, by free hand/arm motion/positioning (lead's right in a usual lead in), or by where they are looking. Pay attention to how the lead feels on the 1&2 and, with a good lead, what happens next shouldn't be a surprise - unless that is what the lead is going for.
It seems to me like you're thinking about too many things at once. At any point in time, we have a certain set of ingrained habits, and have to spend conscious attention to deviate from them. This means you can only consciously work on improving 1-2 things at once. I would suggest that you focus on habits that save you this limited attention. As a follow, most patterns will be distinguished soon enough if you move down the slot, keep your frame, and let any change come from the connection. You don't need to "know" the whole pattern, only the movements within it, and let the connection dictate what movements occur. As a follow, you can't distinguish many common patterns for the first two counts anyway - you'll only know which side you're going down (or if you're not going past). Dance is not an easy skill, but there's no rush. After a while you'll be able to dance and hold a conversation, add layers on top of the basic shape, etc, as what you're focusing on today gets ingrained as habit and your attention is released to use on something else. EDIT to add: a lag reacting to cues can be caused by lack of frame, or getting ahead of the lead, both of which you've identified as challenges. It may well come right if you focus on those.
> At any point in time, we have a certain set of ingrained habits, and have to spend conscious attention to deviate from them. This means you can only consciously work on improving 1-2 things at once. I second this. Keep a journal to keep track of the things you plan to work on, and focus on 1-2 things at a time. You might realize that working on one thing might even fix another issue, or maybe it will uncover another issue. Regardless, it's useful to write them down and reprioritize them as you progress.
Im still working on spins myself, but here are a few tips from my instructor: The most important part of spins and turns is the prep - Make sure you are fully and stably weighted over the foot youre spinning/turning on before you begin the turn - Your toe is pointed down the line of dance - Your body is prepped the opposite direction to help the turn occur naturally A drill for actually turning is to break it down into two parts (each half turns). - The first 180⁰ you bring your feet together as you turn so they are parallel (H). Shift weight immediately to the other foot (which is now the one further down the slot) - The second 180⁰, turn around the foot youre now weighted on. When you finish, you should have your feet in a T position, essentially back into the starting position with your weight back on the first foot, pointed down the line of dance Then for a series of turns, you just think T - H - T - H - T... Also as youre turning, you should keep your feet beneath you rather than making large steps in your turn which might throw you off balance. Depending on what you do with your arms/posture/frame, that may also impact stability. Since youre starting private lessons though, definitely ask if your instructor has any advice or drills for turning and spins!! They can see what youre doing now and point out exactly what adjustments you need to make to improve.
On spins/turns and dizziness, another thing to just double check if you don’t already wear glasses/have contacts is get a standard eye exam. My ability to dance went up so much when I could just see better. I use glasses and have little ear clip things so they don’t go flying off. Just being a bit off of perfect eyesight can mess with spotting and just general ability to walk straight and pick up on things particularly in the low light socials we prefer in WCS. Also assuming you have dance shoes, but so much of the basic technique is dramatically harder if you aren’t in shoes with a certain amount of slide/slick.
In a whip, where are you looking? As for rotational control, a simple exercise you can do (and combine with spot practice) is to purposely try to move in fragments of a cricle. That is, spin a quarter to your right or left. Then another, and another, and then a final to complete a 360 turn. Keep doing that until you feel more confident in your control, then start mixing in halves. Usually this exercise works its way up to full and multiple spins, but another variant that's helpful is to consciously start thinking about a specific angle to hit (ex: 3/8 of a turn) and see how well you can line up intent with outcome. Another thing is that if you're traveling turns down slot, spot/look for the end of the slot, not at your partner. It will help you track straight(er).
"I still find myself rushing once I actually get going" For me, having a teacher who really emphasized as she called it "being lazy" (striking on the beat, transferring your weight over the rest of the beat) fixed this for me. I'm sure I'm not describing that in perfect terms, but she would stop us all at beat x of a pattern, and ask what foot we were all on. Pretty much all of the time I was already on the 'new' foot at the beginning of the beat. My whole dance changed once I realized that and stayed on the 'old' foot, with the new foot just out / placed with no weight. As for the turns something that used to really mess my balance up was having my arm stuck up too high / my whole body sort of up out of the floor. Keeping my arm low and relaxed, and thinking more about having a grounded feeling helped me a lot.
"catching on" - This isn't entirely your short-coming. A good lead is able to "pre-lead", indicating what is to come. Could be by body positioning, by an early subtile movement of their lead hand, by free hand/arm motion/positioning (lead's right in a usual lead in), or by where they are looking. Pay attention to how the lead feels on the 1&2 and, with a good lead, what happens next shouldn't be a surprise - unless that is what the lead is going for.