Often, in my NYC classes, I work with dancers who are fixated on being technically correct. It sounds harmless enough until the joy is stolen from moving and the dancer becomes “paralyzed” in the choreography. They are so busy dancing that they are not DANCING! I always joke that technique is not the name of a mountain in China to be climbed. There will never be a moment in a dancers life where they can plant the flag at the top of this mountain and be PERFECT. A life in dance is a life dedicated to process. The process is mindful practice, lots of trust, even more classes and then letting strong technique serve you, not carry you.
If you find yourself just going through the motions…here is some homework on understanding how to DANCE while you dance…
- Give yourself a ballet barre to your favorite music. The goal is to match the accents of the music with your breath, your reach and your line, while completing each exercise. Interpret the exercise instead of exercising the exercise!!
- Listen to a favorite song. Notice and feel how you naturally move, sway, walk, bounce, sing, breathe – whatever - to this music. Where does the movement inherently begin? Does the song make you want to move your shoulders, hips, feet, head, etc.? How do you breathe to the beat? Do you find yourself connecting your breath to the music? I am not asking you to become a choreographer. I am asking that you get in touch with your internal sense of musicality and find the connection between music, emotion and line.
- Now add your ballet barre exercises to this song. Connect the mood, tempo and intention of the song to your movement. You will know if you are faking it or not – you know if something feels natural and looks organic (time to bring out the camera phone again). I have talked to many dancers about how they are not DANCING while dancing and they almost always say “I know”. Again, this is a process. Once you “know”, you can change it. This change doesn't happen automatically for everyone. Try this exercise and then bring what you learn into your classes and rehearsals.
- When you understand this exercise and it starts to make sense to your body, change the song or better yet, change the type of music – choose classical, hip hop, pop, whatever. The idea is to teach your body to respond to all types of music, to teach your heart to trust and to let your movement fit each song. Don’t be so busy doing the dance (choreography) that you are not DANCING to/with the music.
The reason I am suggesting using a ballet vocabulary is that some dancers tend to “freeze up” when executing technique as opposed to more gooey, gestural or personal movement. There is sometimes a definitive change in energy when moving into a turn or jump. You want to dance through technique while staying true to the movement, mood and story of the work.
This exercise is different than improv – which is very important in understanding your natural movement style and to move in the moment without judgment. BUT, here, the goal is to be able to move to anything with ease, interpreting choreography (as opposed to executing choreography) and finding a connection to the music– to be the kind of dancer who can become anything, feel anything, share anything with the audience.
Good luck! See ya in class :-)
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