jenc

my dancing to a choreo with the rest of my class is nothing special (to put it mildly). I'm too busy remembering what comes next to concentrate on the music. I have had several nice comments about my dancing in a social setting. Basically I am able to improvise and go for it. I know however, that if it came to deliberately standing up waiting for my music to come on to dance in front of an audience would paralize me. I do want to progress my dancing. Any suggestions.

Kharis

I can only say that if you know the music inside out, and the choreo also, then it will just flow. The music will act as a trigger and your body will respond. Thinking too hard will be the obstacle. Some dancers create a persona, an alter ego, that helps them get through nerves.

Mosaic

I use to have trouble remembering Choreos, but now I just play the music over and over and picture the movements in my mind, I keep doing that until I know the whole dance. I don't beat myself up if I forget something in my mind dance, i just go over it again. I have found that somehow doing that when you are in class and you hear the music your body responds to the "mind cues" you have set into memory. There comes a time when you hear the music and know you know the dance without thinking.
~Mosaic

__________________

gisela

Yes,
Listen to the music ALL the time!
I find choreographies to "orientals" are quite easy to remember because they have short sections of entrance, saidi, maksoum etc so it's like remembering several very short dances instead of one long. At least easier for me than one long song that sounds a bit the same all the way through. Pop songs are hardest i think because they have several verses and refrains and the beat is quite steady so it doesn't give many clues (unless you understand the lyrics).
Also, pay a lot of attention on the transitions between segments or moves. If you know the bridge between, it gives you a clue to "where" you are going.
Sometimes though, the teacher has choreographed in a way that doesn't make sense to me and doesn't fit the music in how I interpret it. Those parts are usually very difficult to remember for me and I just have to force my mind to accept it

indrayu

Jenc, I do sympathise. I read your post when I was about to put up one of my own in a similar vein...

jenc

Actually my heart says that improv is the way to go - and I can do that as long as there are others on the dance floor - even if I try to outdo them all. But - to dance a solo in front of experienced dancers who don't breathe unless it is choreographed - or any audience really!!

Nath

I use the Carol Burnett method of getting over that initial freeze. She told a story once that she would get terrible "stage fright" and would freeze. Humor being her stock and trade, she used it to help. Just before she went on stage she'd look at her audience secretly. She'd then visualize each of them as sitting on the toilet, not their seats. Some of them she'd picture straining. This would invariably set her laughing and relax her enough to get on stage and follow through. I find it works for me and I always start with a big smile too that way.

__________________
Dancing to embarrass my grandchildren!

Anala

Jenc,

I want to be sure I understand your question: are you struggling with stage fright, with remembering the steps, or some combination of both?

If it's stage fright, I'll leave the answer to others, for my only cure was to decide that I was just sick of feeling that way and to ignore the fear. (I found that fear kind of runs away and hides once I decide I am bored of it.)

Now, as to remembering someone else's choreo -- I may be able to help with that. Think about how you learn anything that someone else has tried to teach you: a process at work, a pattern to knit, a particular way the church linens had to be folded. Then, ask yourself how you learned to do that thing that way. Was it by picturing what they showed you (indicating you are a visual learner)? Was it by just learning the "feel" of the movements you had to do (a tactical learner)? Was it by picturing the process or outcome (visionary method)? Or, did you have to tell yourself a story to get it right (an aural learner)?

One of the most powerful things we can do is to learn HOW we learn. We all learn differently, and we learn differently for different tasks. In some cases, for example, I am highly visual in my learning, to the point that I sometimes have to picture the wallpaper in my practice room to remember the number. But, I have learned that if there is a "song" I can sing that tells the moves of the choreo, I will be very successful. Some of my favorite teachers "sing" their choreos to students to "get the song of the dance in their heads" and help them to remember.

For example, one of our troupe choreographies had a song that goes (in part) "pony, pony, step two, Wubbada Wubbada Wubbada Wubbada." Makes no sense, but we KNOW that part because we know the song.

And, I remember part of our saudi number by singing (to myself and to the beat), "To the left, To the left, To the left, To the left, now turn -turn-turn-turn turn to the right."

So, learn HOW you learn, then you can use that method to learn the choreo.

Regards,

Anala

__________________
The Practical Dancer

indrayu

Great advice above

Here's an article that may be of interest to those of us who don't remember other people's choreos easily:

Dyslexia and Dance | Belly Dance News & Events - Gilded Serpent

I also noticed some other things when reviewing videos of my class choreographies in performance:
Sometimes I'm lagging a bit because of being unsure and cueing from someone else, but sometimes it just seems that I'm lagging compared to some others, when I know the choreography. What is happening there is that some are finishing a move on the beat, while I'm starting it on the beat. Each way can be alright: one gives some more dramatic pauses, while the other keeps the movement flowing. It just shows different interpretations of the music. In a class choreography, it should be the teacher's job to clarify and standardise this sort of thing ( in this case, our former teacher was a bit too fascinated with her own reflection to notice...)

Although I'm not, and never will be a particulary good dancer, I love it, love music and can't help moving. I have found that learning to cope with stage fright in order to perform my own choreographies solo is more satisfying on many levels. While developing an awareness of what works in performance terms, there is so much more scope to do what suits you best, and you're not up there beside someone who will make you look bad in comparison

Kharmine

I found the title of this thread interesting -- if you are asking if hypnosis would help to ease stage fright, Jenc, I'd say it could.

I had three hypnosis sessions to enable me to endure the fear of dentistry. Hypnosis didn't take it away completely, but it made it a lot easier. I've also known people who have benefited from hypnosis to stop smoking. One gent told me it worked well as long as the treatment was "fresh," and he had to have a "tune-up" once in a while to keep his resistance up.

The effects of hypnosis are pretty individual, so you won't know for sure until you try it, with a good professional.

__________________
What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?