Will be blogging from time to time. This time onwards will be focusing more on my dance learning experience. It's been exactly 2 years I have started learning ballroom properly, through structured classes (this includes the 3 categories: Ballroom Modern. Latin. New Vogue (Aus/NZ)). I did ballet from age 4 till 14 (around 10 years, gave me a sound foundation in dance), with formal music education/ training for nearly 12 years (ABRSM, Yamaha). Realised all of these help in my learning along the way. Will be highlighting 2 points in this post. The importance of visualization and the benefits of being meticulous (more the reason for accountants to do ballroom dancing):p.
1.Creating the final mental picture (art of visualization)
Most of us may have done this subconsciously before, without really realising it. It helps if you keep looking at the best, observing and analyzing them (it takes time to really develop this skill). Even though you may not achieve it so soon, it helps substantially in the process. When I did ballet last time, I often find in the initial stage my dancing was very flat and dull. Most people would say "you gotta feel it from inside, nobody can help you with that"! Really??!! I think there is still a way even if we can't develop it naturally. Easy...art of visualization! I repeatedly watched Swan Lake (Bolshoi Ballet...personally I find them best in technique and artistry) my mum specifically hunted down for us. Their beautiful, extravagant, passionate style still resonates in my mind. There is always the extra mile to go to achieve the ommph! You learn to mimick them, and later I find my dancing improved substantially (in terms of successfully portraying the passion of dance, which is very important to any dance style, Ballroom especially whereby confidence & impression really counts).
2. Being detailed is good for you!
During the days of preparing for music practical exams, when you have to juggle multiple tasks like schoolwork, extra curricular activities etc, there is a secret where you can still do well particularly in the 3 recital pieces section (referring to ABRSM format), by being detailed, going through the music bar by bar in detail. Actually, this applies to everything you do. The more detailed you are, the more likely you can achieve substantially. When applied to ballroom dancing, this is practically a must have trait in order to succeed ! What is the point if you dance aimlessly, tiring yourself out, repeating mistakes over and over again. Might as well you go through in detail, slowly each figure (without music first is the best) until you get it nearly right, then slowly build more /continue from there. The more detailed you are, the better it will be. How do you defined being detailed? It depends on you! Most people in fact dreads being too detailed, because it takes so much time and effort. From my learning dance experience, each moment (not steps bear in mind, your body alignment/weight / posture/ frame) must be taken care of. It is even more complicated when you are doing it with a partner.You have to be very aware of it. After taking Dance 101G (uni elective contemporary dance paper), managed to develop this meticulous approach to dancing, by sensing/ being aware of each moment.
