Reading Dance Moves?

Question

I'm interested in knowing how a dancer gets dance moves so quickly. I'm guessing they've grown up with dancing so much that every movement seems like the same thing only with a little twist. Am I right? Is there something else? How could a beginner catch up?

Answer 1

The title of your question is actually right on the mark and then RustSKIPper totally misses it. The reason why well-trained dancers are able to pick up new dance moves so quickly is because they've learned the VOCABULARY of dance. This is why imitating a video over and over will get you nowhere, as it won't help you pick up NEW choreography very quickly.

Good dance training is actually based on drilling TECHNIQUE, not "routines." This means that dancers practice individual steps in order to make a "muscle memory" of the particular move and connect that move with its name. Later, teachers can verbally rattle off a series of moves, called a "combination," and dancers can jump right in and start dancing it. Refinements are then added on top of the basic moves.

Beginners are able to catch up by making sure they receive high-quality training that is technique-based as opposed to programs that focus on things like competitions or team routines. It also helps to have a high level of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, which is the talent that deals with muscle memory. Not all dancers who are graceful and flexible are equally adept at muscle memory, so you can still have dancers with many years of training who struggle in picking up new choreography quickly. However, this is where a talented beginner can make excellent progress with catching up.

The key is to make sure you teach your muscles the CORRECT way to do something early on, as it is very difficult to re-teach your muscles if you've learned a move incorrectly. This is why you MUST have an excellent teacher right from the start. If you do, then you can actually shoot way ahead of other dancers who have had poor training for many years.

Answer 2

Hey Lumpymallows,

Everything would point to you being correct. Practice, Practice, Practice. To catch up, you need to have a great teacher, and lots of practice. Some natural ability would help. If you cannot afford a great teacher, here are some internet sites that you can start with, but there are many more. Check out the videos, play - then imitate - then play again, then imitate again, until you have the routine down. Then practice, then play again. Then repeat, repeat, repeat...

You can find DANCE Videos and DANCE TRAINING ONLINE for yourself, maybe discover some that you really like. The style may be just right for you, but only you will know.

Answer 3

To some degree, you are right. I haven't been dancing all my life, but I've been doing ice skating, ballet, martial arts, acrobatics, gymnastics before I started dancing. I was able to "catch up" very quickly as a dancer. It is called experience. Same as reading books. First you learn the letters, then you learn to put the letters together, then you learn how to spell, then you can read pre-school books, then you can progress to novels. A child can't read a novel right away.

First we learn the basics, and I don't mean steps, I mean how the body can move. That's called technique training. We use exersises and simple dance steps as a learning example, but it really is not about the steps. In this process, we learn how to move (or not to move, in some cases) one part of the body relative to another. I.e. our brain gets used to sending signals to our muscles in a very effective way.

Beyond that - it is all about experience and about learning in the correct way.

For a begginer to catch up: find a good teacher/classes, the ones that are technique-oriented. Then per every hour of instruction you need to put in 4 hours of practice. Note: instructions are insufficient (not hard enough for you) if you feel that you've mastered it all by the end of the 3rd hour. It should feel that you barely got it by the end of 4th hour. Do not attempt to memeorize more steps - that's not the point. The point is to learn how to move your body and how to comtrol your muscles. After that comes choreography training - you can learn more steps that are based on the technique that you arelearning at this point. That's based on plain number of attempts. And just like with reading, you get better the more you do it.

Watch good dance videos. I mean, performances by world top professionals. (None of those "Dirty Dancing" - that's entertainment, not training.) Don't try to repeat what they do, just watch it over and over again and try to recognize the technique that they use and dance elements that they dance. This helps to train your brain to get used to it.

I like what Janine_rs said.

Here are a couple of ballroom resources (since this is what I know)
http://www.dancesport.uk.com
http://www.accessdance.com
http://www.ballroomdancers.com
http://dancevision.com