The coach told us to practice all the Basics until the body itself 'remembers' how to move. So I kept doing the Walk. Samba Walk, Rumba Walk, ChaChaCha Walk, each was practiced half an hour. I started to master the hip actions properly a few weeks ago, now I am far from flawless, and the CUP is tomorrow. I know I am not going to win, but I won't allow myself not presenting my best (neither will they, because our personal ranking will affect the team's ranking).
It's so easy to say 'twisting with contraction and release of abdominal, oblique, and back muscles', it took me months before I could consciously initiate the Walk by motivating the hip joints and core muscles. Nevertheless, I agree with KJ or R&Y that constantly studying and practicing the basic figures is very important. Since the Basics defines and describes how the body should move, how the couples should interact with each other, how the flow of body movement should reply the music rhythmically, Basics are the foundation of a dance before the dancers enter an advance level. I completely understand that if I am not doing the Basics well, I won't be able to use the Basics to create my own dance.
Last year, Ale told me that he thought Latin dances were easy. I was jaw dropped. EASY? It is superficial to say it easy. Placing the feet in the correct places could be easy; however, incorporating the weight transferring, footwork, hip movement, styling and musicality into the position of feet could never be easy. It's a very good workout; it's also a very good practice to unite your body and spirit.
Alright, it doesn't matter how the others value my/our dancing. I love dancing and I love to keep on dancing and be one that can impress you! This is the matter!