In the children’s book Nothing at All by the noted author Wanda Gág, a little dog aptly named “Nothing-at-all” starts out invisible. Because no one can see him, he gets left behind when his doggy siblings are adopted. So sad! But then he makes himself visible by repeating the phrase:

I’m busy
Getting dizzy
I’m busy
Getting dizzy
I’m busy
Getting dizzy
I’m busy
Getting dizzy

while whirling and twirling and swirling.

My lesson today was full of whirling, twirling, swirling fun. Okay, here’s the list:

• Twizzles from a forward inside edge. I need to work on getting rid of that big first outside edge (rather than doing a three turn into it, turn immediately). I also need to watch out that my hips don’t go back (this is true of most everything I worked on today). And I need to turn the twizzle farther back on my blade.
• That “creeper” exercise (f. outside three turn, change edge, b. outside three, f. inside three, change edge, b. inside three, cross stroke to repeat). I need to use my knee bend and body position to help with better edges and flow. Again, I shouldn’t let my hips go back, but instead use my ankle bend (feel those laces!) and keep my body weight back.
• Inside mohawk into immediate b. inside three, f. inside three. I need to use the momentum of my mohawk to help with the rotation of threes.
• Three-step mohawk with outside mohawks. I need to use the muscles on the back of my leg (not the quads) to bring my free leg around. And I need to get my free hip down after the turn.
• Euro-threes in a circle. The key today was the timing of free arm coming forward. I worked a lot on the inside edge position after the three turn–again, I need to bend my ankle rather than letting my hips go back (do I hear an echo?) And I need to watch the position of my free foot (parallel–both Laurie and Ari stress this) and to make sure that my free leg is not bent. Finally, I must allow my body to stay on a curve rather than using my free side to make the turn happen.

Maybe if I turn enough times and say the magic words I’ll become visible and then some nice children will take me home with them and feed me. Can’t hurt to try.

I’m busy getting dizzy! I’m busy getting dizzy!

I hit the “publish” button by accident so I will end here. Besides, I’m busy getting dizzy.