After a serious ass-kicking in dance class (hey let's do the same sidestepping travel hip-lift and twisting drop to the back move for half an hour. Oh yes I feel that this morning in my thighs and my hips) and a shower and a glass of wine I fell into a discussion with S, who has a fiddle lesson this afternoon and who was talking about the difference between practice and performance.

I can't recall which artist said the best way to draw is to memorize the anatomy of your subject, and then forget it.

This makes sense for all things we do or create.

Practice makes perfect.

We talked about how the word choreography means dance written; it's one you record so you remember it, and so that others can read what motions correspond with the phrases of the music. I mentioned my dance instructor rarely uses a choreography, and he said well no, she practices daily and knows every move and she knows the dance and the music so well she's just flirting when she dances. Which is part of what makes her mesmerizing to watch.

Louis Armstrong practiced scales every day, eight hours a day, slides, slurs, chromatics, staccatos, long notes, short notes, grace notes, up the scale, down the scale, again and again and again. When interviewed about his practice compared to his performance, he said, "When I'm up there I just forget all that shit, and blow."