5 Dance Tips To Learn Choreography Fast
Whether you’re taking class in person or online, picking up intricate choreography fast can be a struggle for even the most advanced dancer. Learning sequencing quickly is a valuable skillset that is possible to train and improve at. Apply these 5 tips to your learning process and over time, you’ll begin to see progress in your ability to pick up choreography faster!
1. See the bigger picture!
Try not to immediately stress over the intricate details. Get a sense of the overall picture and concentrate on simple sequencing, direction changes, and larger limb pathways. While you’re learning the phrase, practice the steps as full out as possible to really absorb the quality of movement and gain an understanding of how the timing feels in your body.
2. Watch as much as you ‘do’.
We’ve all been guilty of when falling behind in the choreography, getting caught up going over previous moves when the choreographer has already moved on. Doing this will only get you further behind, so try not to get too inward. Stay present and follow along with the choreographer so you don’t miss finer details. The only thing to be weary of is becoming reliant on the choreographer demonstrating. When it’s your turn to run the phrase without the teacher, mess up then keep going! It’s okay to make mistakes, just keep moving forward and don’t get discouraged.
3. Break it up!
Break up lengthy phrase work by memorizing key moves in smaller chunks. Concentrate on nailing the order of bigger movements (think: a high leg, jump, then turn). Once you have those reference points locked down in your mind, then retrace and focus on everything else that goes between.
4. Sound (or sing) it out!
Create verbal associations with each movement. Use sound effects, sing the order of the steps, or simply talk it out for yourself. If you’re in the studio, you can either say it in your head or mouth it quietly. This will strengthen your mind/body connection and can help speed along the muscle memory process. Search for musical cues, as well! You don’t need to solely use the musical cues your choreographer points out. Find other nuances in the music for yourself to develop a more intimate relationship between the steps and the sound.
5. Hype yourself up!
One of the biggest obstacles that can hold you back in keeping up with the class is, you guessed it, yourself! Stop getting in your own way and tearing yourself down with negative self-talk. Even if you do happen to fall behind in the steps, hyper-focusing on that isn’t going to help you at all. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT give up on yourself! The only way to improve is to be challenged. Shake it off and don’t check out mentally. It’s important to keep the perspective of, “I’m here to better myself”. Don’t get caught up in focusing on how everyone else is doing. It’s important to observe your peers, but not to negatively compare yourself to them. And don’t be afraid to ask questions! Chances are, at least one other dancer in the room has the same questions as you. You got this!