9 Valuable Tips to help you improve your dance technique.
1. Don't relay today on yesterday's body!
If your technique yesterday was on point, today might not be the same. And that's ok. Today your body might feel stiff in certain parts, sore, tired, dehydrated and maybe you need to warm up longer or stretch better.
Today isn't yesterday and you need to listen to your body's needs, today!
2. Practice imaginary.
Try to envision the movement you're practicing. How does it look like outside of you, how does it feel like, how is supposed to feel and look like? Try to see each movement without separating yourself from the image. Try to become that image on all levels of experience. Closing your eyes and seeing the step in front of you before executing it, can help you calm down, gain more control, awareness and perspective.
3. Alignment is KEY!
You might perform strengthening exercises for specific muscle groups or body areas but still something doesn't work. Be mindful of your body placement and correct alignment. If you perform strengthening exercises on a misalignment you're only strengthening the misalignment and your technique won't improve. During strengthening exercises if you loose natural spine, balance or control, stop an re-organize your body each and every time before continuing.
4. Dance with joy!
Instead of focusing on anxiety and negative, sabotaging self talk, try to dance yourself up into the movement. Dance the balance and focus on the reason why you're dancing and why you're trying to better yourself. Use empowering and supportive self talk before performing any difficult step. It's good to be your hardest critic to know where to improve but you also gotta be your biggest cheerleader and supporter, otherwise you lose balance! ;)
Performing a difficult step or movement each and every time on anxious thoughts, you program your body to be afraid, unsure and unsecure. Change your tactics!
5. Use rhythm
Try to see and feel where each step and movement falls onto the music. Be receptive. Music leads you. It shows you the way!
Music teaches us to listen and to adapt. Learn from music!
6. Maintain a calm center and conscious control!
To attain fast progress, dancers sometimes become tense and stressed over certain steps and they lose center within themselves.
Find a still center and allow the dance to unfold around it.
Remain grounded and keep a calm center, even when speed starts to increase.
It's challenging and it needs practice and conscious awareness but the payoff is improved technique!
7. Feel the movement!
When you learn new steps and choreographies don't just stay with what you see, turn the outer visual impression into your own physical sensation and experience. Feel the step traveling through your body and breath. Feel the dancing!
8. Focus on Goals not problems!
Focusing on the problem is the greatest stumbling block!
It's important to know what's wrong but is more important to understand and know what to do to get it better in a safe manner and approach!
Many coaches use discouraging and harmful speech and critics, sometimes even in front of the whole class, which can lead a dancer to lose confidence, curiosity, courage or desire to improve because it might feel inadequate, ashamed and uncomfortable to do anything towards progress.
Students learn best when they know they are accepted with their momentary challenges and difficulties. Learn to give constructive criticism as well as appreciation when deserved!
9. Safety over aesthetics!
Healthy dance technique will help you achieve your goals faster and maintain a longer career. Be mindful of your execution and training. Never compromise quality in favor of fast results and quantity. Know when less is more!
Your steps should be controlled, conscious and clear. Going back to basics from time to time helps as well, for example a Floor Barre Workout.
Higher Grand battement with poor alignment and incorrect body placement won't bring you better results nor improved technique. You will teach your body and muscle memory to perform incorrect movements on misalignment, that will trigger then down to your legs, for the sake of aesthetics? That's a 1st class ticket to Injuryland!
Same with pirouettes. Only advance the number of your turns when you know you have it under control.
XOXO,
IG <3