The Guide To Becoming The Best Dancer
In our current world of instant gratification I, as well as many other dance teachers, are asked by numerous dance parents, “make my child the best.” This line truly makes me laugh, not because I don’t believe the child can do that, but because there is so much work that goes into becoming “the best.” Here is the how to guide to becoming the best dancer:
Take Classes
Get your butt enrolled in regular classes. You are not doing yourself any favors waiting to take class at convention or waiting for the up and coming choreographer with the “it” factor to hold a master class in your city. It is crucial to always be working on your technique and challenging yourself with a solid dance foundation.
2. Private Lessons
Find an instructor(s) to mentor you and fully understand all of your strengths and weaknesses through private training. Having a mentor is so important to have so you can be taught the ropes of the industry and get you on track to achieving your personal goals. Private training is an amazing way to work on yourself and fine tune the details in your style.
3. Master Classes
Go take master classes! It is so important to be versatile and know how to work with other choreographers. Every instructor teaches and explains dance in different ways and it will challenge yourself mentally and physically. TEACHERS! Do yourself a favor and promote this to your students. Do not let your ego get in the way of their training and remember that this doesn’t mean that you are awful at teaching. This is going to make the dancer a better student for YOU to work with. Not to mention it is a good way for the dancer to network for future jobs and other opportunities.
4. Practice
Dance in the UNMASTERED art form, there will ALWAYS be something to work on. Just like anything else in life, you need to practice so you can be exceptional. You can take all the classes and private lessons you want, but if you don’t apply everything that has been taught and practice it on your own, all the tools the instruction that has been given to you will be for nothing.
5. Never Stop
Success is not owned, it is rented and the rent is due every single day. Keep up on your training as much as you can. One of the worst things to hear is when dancers say they are going to take the whole summer off or any other long duration of time, and than return and are upset because other dancers who continued their training are showing major strides and improvements. The body changes so fast, it is crucial to stay on top of your training so you do not fall behind.
6. Confidence
Believe in yourself! This can be so hard, considering how intense the dance world can be. But I love seeing dancers who are confident and show their passion with their movement and performance. We all have our low moments and sometimes feel like giving up, but in those moments are when you have to dig deep and push towards your end goal! Real champions are the ones who believe they are champions and take on any challenge thrown at them.
Dance is always evolving, and at the end of the day there are thousands of other dancers training when you are not. However, putting in the work and truly believing in yourself is the key to becoming the best dancer that YOU can possibly be.
Leave a comment and tell me how you are striving to be the best dancer you can possibly be!
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