January 2010
26 posts
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“In learning you don’t understand things until you’ve made them your own and...”
– Margaret H’Doubler
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Own it!
Do you often have those “ah-hah!” moments? Do you have them while taking dance classes? Perhaps when you find yourself able to find song’s rhythm for the first time… or transition smoothly from one movement to the next? Or FINALLY truly freestyle to the song without putting any thought into it?
Congratulations!
Whenever it happens make sure you and no one else takes credit for it. You...
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“You are not learning now to do steps. You are learning about control and...”
– Harkarvy
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(Another one of those “little things” you can do to get the most out of your dance learning experience)
After each class, answer this question: ‘what did I learn?’ Answer honestly. But be careful: state facts. Don’t let emotions take over. Example: you’ve found the last exercise in class very challenging and you didn’t do so well. The answer: “Nothing. I suck!” is not what we...
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“To teach also should imply a belief in that which one teaches, and desire to...”
– Margaret H’Doubler, A Way of Thinking
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One more thing in case you’re wondering HOW to push past the point of perceived limitation.
We all have thoughts all the time (well…most of us). It just so happens that whenever we come across a challenge, these thoughts are mostly negative. Try these two approaches:
1. Don’t think at all. Stop over-analyzing. Turn that damn chatter box of a head off! Just go for it. You will think about...
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Point of your perceived limitation
Have you ever heard about a point of our perceived limitation? Even if you never heard about it, you probably experienced it. Just think about how often you tell yourself these four beautiful words: “I can’t do that”…
So here you are in my class and I ask you to do a specific exercise. “You want me to do what?” (you don’t even have to say it out loud,...
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“To teach is to accept the privilege and responsibility of shaping and directing...”
– Margaret H’Doubler, A Way of Thinking
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"Good jobs" part 2
I experimented alright. On one person so far because my other student whose name I won’t mention (JACK!) blew it. You couldn’t just NOT read the blog for 1 day, could you? :) Lucky bastard escaped my experiment…
Alright, so my other student [and these were my Absolute Beginner Private Classes for Adults] is a nice, shy guy who feels very uncomfortable on the dance floor; came to me for help...
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"Good jobs" part 1
Something that has been on my mind after taking a group class yesterday…
The teacher was really generous with “good jobs” (you know: “good job, Tom”, “good job, Maggie” and so on) so I was patiently waiting for him to mention my name as well. When that happened, I started counting HOW MANY TIMES he mentions my name. I got to three - but that’s not...
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“The joy of improvisation is not to go back and remember what you did when you...”
– Ellen Moore in Wilson, et al. Margaret H’Doubler. The Legacy of America’s Dance Education Pioneer
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Let me give you guys little science behind our dance learning process (No - I don’t want to bore you to death, just trying to prove to you that everybody is able to do well on the dance floor. That is my job after all) I’ll make it short, I promise.
Learning how to dance, like learning how to do anything physical, is about strengthening the connections between the neurons in the...
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“Improvisation in dance is the act of creating movement spontaneously. For some,...”
– Nora Ambrosio, Learning About Dance. An Introduction to Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment
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Groove - icing on the cake
When learning anything new, don’t worry that the movements you execute are not “groovy” yet. It’s very hard to find comfort in something your body is not familiar with. Give it a little time. Exaggerate movements in the beginning so that Muscle Movement Memory can come into play (more about that later). When you have the form and proper timing, that’s when you work on adding the groove, making...
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Whether you are a professional dancer or you dance just for fun, I’d like you to know that there’s no dance technique that becomes easy with practice. A specific dance style will not become easy for you just because you’ve been practicing for 10 years. There is always room for improvement – you can ALWAYS learn more, do better.
Personally speaking, as a professional hip-hop dancer I could never...
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“Ballet technique (…) is very difficult. It never becomes easy – it becomes...”
– DeMille
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Breathe to dance better?
Today, my Bikram yoga teacher - Chris made an interesting comment about breathing in class (I’m surprised I even heard it half dead, sweat in my ears). He was talking about how, when doing any strenuous activity we immediately start gasping for air. Right? Isn’t that what you always do in your dance or aerobic class when you feel “out of air”? You think it calms you down but nah, on...
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Speak up!
Dance is about self-expression (you’ve heard that, right?). But are you really expressing yourself by copying somebody else’s choreography, repeating their movements and their interpretation of the song? How much freedom do you actually have there?
Wouldn’t you like to formulate your own movements just as you formulate thoughts into words that are coming out of your mouth? Speaking somebody...
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“Practice does not always make perfect but it does make permanent”
– H. Scheff, et al. in Experiencing Dance from Student to Dance Artist
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Mean it!
To make sure you truly learn the movement, it has to hold meaning for you. Material that you place value on will “go” to your long term memory. With no emotional or meaningful connections, the brain won’t store the information and it will be soon lost.
How often do you find yourself not able to remember movements that you drilled in your last class? The brain was not forced to pay attention to...
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Identifying Individual Motivation
Something I find extremely useful when it comes to teaching dance:
“You cannot use one generic motivational technique to motivate everyone. Rather, you must identify the motivational needs of each of your dancers and work to motivate them accordingly. For example a class that focuses on drilling may motivate those dancers who enjoy developing skills but may alienate those who enjoy dance as a...
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“Frequently the most talented people are those most aware of their own...”
– Lee Strasberg, The Dancer Prepares: Modern Dance for Beginners
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So you just started your classes…
Of course you won’t look graceful right away. When you’re just starting your dance learning experience, there is a lot on your mind! You will feel awfully clumsy, disjointed even, and totally uncoordinated. No wonder! What’s constantly on your mind is how to keep the parts of your body synchronized. That thinking gets in the way of smooth, spontaneous...
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“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your...”
– Unknown
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“Start with something simple. Try touching your forehead with your hand.
Ah, that’s easy, automatic. Nothing to it. But there was a time when you were as far removed from the mastery of that simple skill as a nonpianist is from playing a Beethoven sonata.
First, you had to learn to control the movements of your hands (you were just a baby then) and somehow get them to move where you wanted...