Amanda (was Aziyade)
Well-known member
I'm reposting this here, because I've had other people tell me they enjoyed it and it was helpful, so if it works you for, then yippee!
Dance students sometimes find themselves stumped when trying to put together a practice session. So I'm posting this in the hopes that it might help some of you.
You have to look at your dance practice sessions in a different way than you would, say sports practice.
What do you hope to accomplish during a practice session? (any of the following or more/other)
1. Drill technique on movements that are challenging.
2. Drill technique on movements that AREN'T challenging, but you don't want to start looking sloppy.
3. Learn new choreographies or combinations from videos.
4. Create your own choreographies or combinations
5. Rehearse choreographies you already know.
6. Practice dancing and playing finger cymbals
7. Practice improvisation skills
8. Practice performance skills
9. PLAY with dance -- interpret, emote, improvise, have fun!
etc.
I think a lot of us tend to view belly dance as an activity to be mastered, and we tend to forget to actually have FUN with it. Instead of calling it "practice time" call it instead "studio time." See how that changes the expectations?
If you can allocate an hour every day you will absolutely notice progress faster than if you just do it on weekends, or for an hour here and there.
(Most adult learning research suggests that doing something for a short period of time EVERY day, at the same time of day leads to greater success than "cramming" all your practice into one or two days a week.)
I tell my students the bare minimum is 20 minutes a day EVERY day. That's really not much, and is easy to schedule into the busiest of lives. Depending on what you want to accomplish, 20-90 minutes of daily practice should be your goal.
First figure out your goal -- are you hoping to go pro? If so, 20 minutes a day is not going to cut it. Do you want to be considerd an accomplished soloist? Try 45 minutes a day. Just want to master what you've already learned? You will require less daily practice than the aspiring pro. Be realistic in your goals. Don't forget you have other hobbies and family and work obligations. Don't bite off too much or you'll just depress yourself.
Look at your studio time on a monthly calendar, instead of a daily one. This is a rough approximation, but you basically have four weeks, of seven days each.
So, why not block those 7 days and 4 weeks into different goals.
For instance, you could say on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm going to drill technique for 15 minutes on movements I'm already comfortable with. Just so they don't look sloppy.
On Friday I will practice performance skills or practicing new cymbal patterns for 15 minutes.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'm going to drill technique on challenging movements for 15 minutes, then play for 15 minutes, doing whatever I want, to whatever music I want, just focusing on having fun with dance.
(There, now M,W, and F you have 45 minutes of "syllabus."
On Tuesdays and Thursdays maybe you'll work choreography or combinations, either creating your own or learning someone else's, and practice dancing with zills or props, or whatever. On Saturdays you'll work with one specific video of your choice, practicing it for a month or as long as needed. On Sundays you can rehearse choreographies you already know. For 20 minutes on Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun you can put on music and work on improvisation skills.
The you can figure once a month -- say the first Saturday of the month -- you can do a self-evaluation and decide what needs to be added to or taken away from your MWF drills.
If you work with videos a lot, take one day out of the month, for example, the first Sunday of the month, and review videos you've already mastered.
The idea is if you break up what you want to accomplish into manageable "chunks" you'll see improvement and success faster. And if you can break up the month or the week, (or even the year if you're really ambitious) into scheduled chunks, you might find you get more accomplished than if you just work from day to day.
But don't forget to block time for FUN. Where you go to your "studio" (even if' it's just a corner of your bedroom) and just dance for your own self, not performing, not practicing, just moving to the music -- whatever music you want. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and an uninspiring performer
For more info on adult learning strategies, try the following books (you can adapt their content to suit your needs):
- The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green and Timothy Gallwey
- The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
- Making Music at the Piano: Learning Strategies for Adult Students by Barbara Maris
- Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
Dance students sometimes find themselves stumped when trying to put together a practice session. So I'm posting this in the hopes that it might help some of you.
You have to look at your dance practice sessions in a different way than you would, say sports practice.
What do you hope to accomplish during a practice session? (any of the following or more/other)
1. Drill technique on movements that are challenging.
2. Drill technique on movements that AREN'T challenging, but you don't want to start looking sloppy.
3. Learn new choreographies or combinations from videos.
4. Create your own choreographies or combinations
5. Rehearse choreographies you already know.
6. Practice dancing and playing finger cymbals
7. Practice improvisation skills
8. Practice performance skills
9. PLAY with dance -- interpret, emote, improvise, have fun!
etc.
I think a lot of us tend to view belly dance as an activity to be mastered, and we tend to forget to actually have FUN with it. Instead of calling it "practice time" call it instead "studio time." See how that changes the expectations?
If you can allocate an hour every day you will absolutely notice progress faster than if you just do it on weekends, or for an hour here and there.
(Most adult learning research suggests that doing something for a short period of time EVERY day, at the same time of day leads to greater success than "cramming" all your practice into one or two days a week.)
I tell my students the bare minimum is 20 minutes a day EVERY day. That's really not much, and is easy to schedule into the busiest of lives. Depending on what you want to accomplish, 20-90 minutes of daily practice should be your goal.
First figure out your goal -- are you hoping to go pro? If so, 20 minutes a day is not going to cut it. Do you want to be considerd an accomplished soloist? Try 45 minutes a day. Just want to master what you've already learned? You will require less daily practice than the aspiring pro. Be realistic in your goals. Don't forget you have other hobbies and family and work obligations. Don't bite off too much or you'll just depress yourself.
Look at your studio time on a monthly calendar, instead of a daily one. This is a rough approximation, but you basically have four weeks, of seven days each.
So, why not block those 7 days and 4 weeks into different goals.
For instance, you could say on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm going to drill technique for 15 minutes on movements I'm already comfortable with. Just so they don't look sloppy.
On Friday I will practice performance skills or practicing new cymbal patterns for 15 minutes.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'm going to drill technique on challenging movements for 15 minutes, then play for 15 minutes, doing whatever I want, to whatever music I want, just focusing on having fun with dance.
(There, now M,W, and F you have 45 minutes of "syllabus."
On Tuesdays and Thursdays maybe you'll work choreography or combinations, either creating your own or learning someone else's, and practice dancing with zills or props, or whatever. On Saturdays you'll work with one specific video of your choice, practicing it for a month or as long as needed. On Sundays you can rehearse choreographies you already know. For 20 minutes on Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun you can put on music and work on improvisation skills.
The you can figure once a month -- say the first Saturday of the month -- you can do a self-evaluation and decide what needs to be added to or taken away from your MWF drills.
If you work with videos a lot, take one day out of the month, for example, the first Sunday of the month, and review videos you've already mastered.
The idea is if you break up what you want to accomplish into manageable "chunks" you'll see improvement and success faster. And if you can break up the month or the week, (or even the year if you're really ambitious) into scheduled chunks, you might find you get more accomplished than if you just work from day to day.
But don't forget to block time for FUN. Where you go to your "studio" (even if' it's just a corner of your bedroom) and just dance for your own self, not performing, not practicing, just moving to the music -- whatever music you want. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and an uninspiring performer
For more info on adult learning strategies, try the following books (you can adapt their content to suit your needs):
- The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green and Timothy Gallwey
- The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
- Making Music at the Piano: Learning Strategies for Adult Students by Barbara Maris
- Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
