Dance Better Now

Do you see similarities or differences in dancing?

People sometimes see similarities and sometimes they see differences. We all have our tendencies and each has its advantages and disadvantages.

By understanding what your tendencies are you can better work out if they are helping you or working against you. Then you can put effort into how you think about dance figures so that you can dance better.

People who see similarities

Are you a person who always sees patterns and how things are related to each other?

If you are, then you will find that once you learn one dance learning another is easier. This can make progress faster. However, you will also sometimes find that when you’re trying to do a figure you might do another similar one. You might even find that you will do figures from another style. For example you might find that you start doing a salsa when you do samba. You might also start doing waltz when you should be doing the foxtrot.

People who see differences

Are you a person who finds that every time you are given a new piece of information it requires a new place for it to ‘put’ in your memory?

If that is the case, then you sometimes feel that dance can be overwhelming. You might have chosen to learn only one style, and other styles seem like a whole new world. And while it might take a while to learn all the figures, you know them all perfectly. You do not mix them up. If you decide a figure to do, then you know that is the one that you will do.

People who see similarities, but note the differences

Does everything in the world seem basically the same only different?

If it does then others reading this will assume that you have the best of both worlds. You can use the similarities to learn figures faster, but you note the differences so that you don’t mix them up. This is true at times. However, you will sometimes see too many similarities so that you do mix them and still feel overwhelmed at how much there is to learn.

What to do

Fortunately, no matter your tendency the solution is the same.

Understand the figure that you are doing. Break it down into element. Note the elements that you already know and the elements that are unique. This is a bit like have a tendency to see the similarities and noticing the differences, but you are putting an effort into making sure you know what is similar and what is not.

That’s the basics.

If you are person who sees the similarities, then put a little more effort into noting what is unique to each figure and style.

If you see differences, then try to find the similarities so that you can leverage them for faster learning and understanding of dance.

If you’re in the middle then make sure that you do actually know what is similar and what is different.

Working with your teacher

An experienced dance teacher will know what is similar and what is different so they can help you. Say something like:

•  ‘I am mixing these two up: what should I know that is different between the two?’
• ‘Is this completely new or is it like something else I have done?’
• ‘This seems like the other figure it different in this way: is that right?’

This will get your teacher thinking more like the way you do, and they can then help you more.

Of course they have their own tendencies too. If they are the same, then it would make sense for them to know where you have been and they can help you find another way to digest what you need to learn. If they are different, then ask questions like those above will help them work out what you need so that you can move forward.

Letting your teacher know your tendency can by explicitly stating it can help too.

An experienced teacher will have probably developed an intuition for the different ways people see the world and can accommodate. However, there’s nothing wrong with having the conversation to make it clear. 

What to do when you have a series of bad dance lessons?

Have you ever had a number of dance lessons in a row where you just didn’t seem to get better? It was almost like each lesson was just failure after failure.

We all have those.

For some people it can be just one lesson that goes poorly and they start to think that they are not a good dancer and that they should quit to do something else.

For others it take a few more, but we would all have our limit. That point when we decide that we are wasting our time or our money or both on dance.

I am not going to tell you that you should dance not matter what. I think you should, but I am not going to tell you to.

However, before you do decide to quit, I will suggest that you consider a few things first.

Were you just tired?

Maybe it was just a bad day where you had been busy, didn’t get much sleep or fighting off a mild cold. These things can take away your energy and make it harder to learn something new or even just do what you normally can do properly. It might have even been a day or two prior that you were not eating well.

Are you actually getting better?

Sometimes as you improve, the part if your brain that takes control when dancing changes. During this change you can experience hiccups with your performance. It’s worth considering this possibility.

Are you thinking about your dance the right way?

It might be that you are now learning more advanced figures or that you are learning a new aspect. Perhaps you are ok with the basic foot placement, but now your teacher wants you to improve your top-line, your musicality, your integration with other figures or your leading/following. These new aspects might now require that you think differently. Before you just needed to remember foot placement, but maybe now you need to be aware of your partner, plan three figures ahead or note the music at the same time. None of these is like memory – it is a new part of your brain. If you try to remember your way out of this one, then you’re not likely to succeed.

You will need to change the way you think about dancing.

Do you just need it explained in a different manner?

Sometimes some messages just don’t get through when they come from your teacher. It might be that you simply need to have another person explain it or show it to you or take you through it. If it’s an issue with a figure, then try looking it up on the web – youtube is great for learning figures. If it’s how to move your body, then try reading different books or forums that have advice on the figure. If it’s about leading and following, then try going social dancing or just practicing with other students – you might notice something when dancing with a person who has a different style or they might raise an issue in a way that makes sense to you.

When you have those periods of dance lessons that don’t seem to be going well, it’s best to think about what you can do to continue your improvement before you decide anything drastic like moving on to another (most likely inferior) pastime.

 

Do you need to know a lot of figures to be a good social dancer?

Something that bothers many social dancers is how many figures you need to know to be a good dancer.

Do you need to buy those DVDs with the extra salsa moves on them; do you need to do the next medal in modern or Latin so that you have more figures under your belt; should you go to that special workshop by that swing dance couple to learn those extra figures?

If you lead, then you worry that your partner will get bored. If you follow, then you worry that you might be led into something you do not know.

How many figures is enough?

Before I answer this, I want to relay three stories.

I recall being told explicitly that I did not have enough figures by a salsa dancer that I had been dancing with on and off for some time. We were talking about this topic – how many figures one needed to know. I had said, with some confidence, that I thought that I had enough to keep things interesting for anyone that I was dancing with.

 It became very apparent to me, very quickly, that at least one person thought that my contention was incorrect.

This led me to think that I needed to learn many more figures.

However, another story relates to one of the most interesting dancers I have ever encountered.

This was a dancer from South America who I encountered when I was living in China. This guy would do nothing but the salsa basic. However, whenever you watched him dance, you could see that he really felt the music. He looked like his entire like was in balance and satisfied when he danced. He was the epitome of contentedness: All from doing nothing but the basic.

He never had any troubles finding a partner to dance with. The women he danced with seemed to be able to pick up on his vibe, and get the same pleasure from dance that he was experiencing.

So then it looked like a large number of figures was not needed.

But there is one last story I want to share.

I danced with another woman where I tried to use a balance of moves and dance in sync with the music and express the music. Sometimes I dance simple figures, but really feeling the music. Other times, I danced a collection of figures in what I thought was a well-executed mini routine. And you know what she said to me? “I like it when you spin me.” All she really liked was being spun form one side to the other. It didn’t seem to matter too much whether I was expressing the music or putting together a nice collection of figure. She just liked to spin. However, she didn’t just want to spin on the spot; that would be silly. The spins needed to move and flow from one to the other.

So what can be extracted from these stories about the figures you need to learn?

Well it doesn’t hurt to know a few figures and how to put them together. It can be handy to know variations too so that you can mix it up a bit. That’s if you’re a lead. If you’re a follow, then it helps to know a few so that you can be led into what may come.

However, you probably can’t just rely on knowing figures. You need that musicality to really bring it to life.

And then, there might be times when the key is not a lot of figures or musicality, but focusing on a certain characteristics (maybe spins, but maybe not) while not being overt. For that you need to be able to link the right figures together and maintain flow.

That means that there are three things you have here:

1. Figures – the more the better
2. Expression – doing them with the music
3. Flow – knowing how to go from one to the other

If you think you’re fine with numbers 2 and 3, then look into more figures. However, if you have learned a lot, then make sure that you are OK with expression and flow. If you are not, then maybe look at the one(s) that need work before learning more figures.

Many of us fall into the trap of thinking we simply need more figures. There’s certainly nothing more with knowing many, but don’t go thinking that’s the silver bullet to better dance.

When’s the last time you simply spoke with a truly experienced dancer?

There’s a lot of them around, people who have been dancing for more than half their lives, probably been dancing for more than 80% of their lives. They started dancing around 10 or so and they are around 50 now. These are people who have danced many dances, seen different scenes and fashions in dance come and go, and now have picked up on the essence of it.

I don’t just mean people who have danced for a long time and done basically the same thing.

I mean people who have been in the thick of it; they have been teachers, judges, studio owners, competitors. And they have probably done it in a number of styles and been so captivated by dance that they read up on it too.

If you ever get a chance to talk to one of these people, then ask them some questions like these (along with ‘and why?’) and then just sit back and listen:

• Which dance do you think is the hardest?
• Do you think all judges dance the same?
• Do you think dance sport is the best type of dance?
• Do you think people dance better now than in the past?
• Where do you think the best dancers come from?

If you can do this as part of a normal conversation then this dancer will simply let their ideas flow. They will start telling you things that they would not think to tell you if they really had to stop think about it. They will probably get animated too and start demonstrating things – most dancers (especially experienced ones) can’t help but move when thinking about dance.

As long as you’re relaxed and just going with the flow and you are engaged, then you will automatically pick up the important points. They will say something like the ‘The hardest thing about dance X is that you need to…’, and you will then have the insight that you needed. There would have been something abnout a certain dance going on in the back of your mind. And once it hears talking about that dance, that part of your mind will pull that piece of information in. All of a sudden you will understand something that has untill now been troubling you, and that part of your dance will then make sense. You will see it everywhere and you will understand dance at new and deeper level.

I can’t say it will be the aspect of dance that is troubling you the most or the one that you are thinking about. I can say, based on experience, that as long as the conversation is simply flowing, then you will get something that you need – whether you knew you needed it or not.

How to pick the best dance school

Are you sure that you are at the best dance school?

If I think back I can recall a number of times when people talked about how their school was the best or how they moved from one to the other for a higher standard.

In the past I have said that my focus has been mostly on the student and the teacher. I don’t really think that there is such thing as a bad teacher or student. Instead, I think that there are good and bad teacher-student combinations. Or perhaps more accurately, there are good and bad student-teacher relationships.

I still think that this is the majority of what makes for a good learning experience. However, you can’t ignore the influence of the school.

This was driven home to me a few days back when I was at a dance event held by another dance studio. I noticed that the routines of students going for their medals were more complicated than those that were done at my school. However, I also noticed that there seemed to be less connection between the two people dancing.

Upon reflection, this made sense.

My school does have competitions, it adheres to the standards of the respective national body and I know that they have a collection of publication from the Imperial Society of the Teachers of Dance. However, they do encourage socialisation amongst the students and there is a sense of dance as a social activity. The other school was run by a highly regarded dance sport dancer and had a number students who were also in dance sport.

So which school is best?

One of my friends who started at the same school as me migrated to the other one I have mentioned here. I am still happy with mine. He does dance sport and I prefer social dancing.

That is likely your answer there.

The best dance school is the one that suits you and what you want out of dance.

This is actually similar to the issue with choosing “the best” university. In most parts of the world, universities have a ranking system to let you know which is best. However, at least I have been told, the Germans do it a bit differently. Instead of trying to make a list of universities in order of standard, they provide a profile that covers things such as teacher student ratio, faculty profile, research outputs and so on. A student then chooses one that aligns with the qualification they want and what they want from that qualification.

You can do the same when it comes to choosing a dance school/studio. You likely have one now, but if you ever need to choose another one or if you think you are in the wrong place, then think about what you want from dance at that time and how each school would align with that.

I know students who have left dancing simply because they had chosen the wrong school and didn’t look for another that might be more suited to them. Enjoy dance as much as you can - choose a school that is best for you. think about the type of dance you're interested in and the type of enviornment you might like, then choose the dance school.

Improving balance for dance

Do you ever have troubles maintaining balance while dancing? Do you get dizzy sometimes, and feel that reduces your dance ability?

If you do, then take a look at this. It has a whole section dedicated to improving balance and removing dizziness.

 

 

---- A letter from a fellow dancer ----

Hello (Clint),

How does one develop strong balance for standard dances?   Are there any specific exercises? 

 

Thanks,

 

Rebecca

 

---- Response ----

Hi Rebecca,

Thank you for the email. A lot of people have issues with balance and dizziness while dancing, and want to know what they can do about it quickly.  So this is definitely a good question to discuss.

Fortunately, balance is just like fitness, flexibility and mental ability. If you exercise it, then it gets better. Obviously the question is: what kind of exercises?

Much of balance comes from the feet so anything to strengthen them will help. You can also subject yourself to lots of spinning or vigorous movement that normally makes you dizzy. You will eventually get over this and be more balanced. It's a bit like sailors getting their sea legs.

Probably the easiest way I have found is using Franklin balls.

http://franklinmethod.wordpress.com/media/balls-and-bands/

When I want to improve my balance I just stand on them for 10 or so minutes each night while watching TV. Once that's easy, try standing on one foot or moving more while standing on them. People normally notice an improvement within a couple of weeks, but we're all different.