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Some
people seem to have a natural gift for learning choreography.
But most of us don't. Fortunately, memorizing choreography is
a skill that can be learned.
The primary keys to learning choreography include:
- Set realistic goals.
- Absorb the music.
- Try not to learn too many things all at once.
- Understand which learning method works best for your
brain, then look for a way to apply it to learning choreography.
- Take notes.
- Practice, practice, practice.
Set Realistic Goals
If you're new to learning choreography, don't put too many
demands on yourself. If you attend a 4-hour seminar taught by
an internationally-famous instructor, remember that many of the
other dancers there will be seasoned professional dancers who
are looking for new challenges. Don't expect to learn as quickly
as them, and don't expect to look as graceful as them. Most of
all, don't expect to retain the full choreography that was taught
over the course of 4 hours. Just expect to come away knowing
something you didn't know before: maybe one or two great new
step combinations, or a few tidbits about the dance's history
or ethnic context.
Be kind to yourself. Pick a goal that matches your level of
dance experience. Even though I've been dancing for over 20 years,
my own personal goal for those 4-hour workshops is to emerge
with one or two great new moves to incorporate into my personal
style. I don't seek to come out with a full choreography to perform,
just selected moves that inspire me for use in my own solo dances.
With this attitude, I can relax and enjoy seminars.
Even if you're learning new choreography in your local weekly
class, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Let's say you've
been dancing for 5 years, but always your own personal improvisation.
Then you start classes with a new teacher, and you discover that
other students who have been dancing only a year are learning
faster than you. That could be discouraging.
But remember, if they started with that teacher in the first
place, and if she taught them at the beginning how to learn choreography,
they have more experience with that particular skill than
you do. They have also previously been exposed to that teacher's
favorite step combinations, which you may be seeing for the first
time. Don't place yourself into the trap of thinking that you
should learn faster than they do just because you've been dancing
longer.
As you adjust your goals & expectations to match what's
realistic for you, you'll put less stress on yourself. It's hard
to learn something new when you're feeling stress. So plan your
goals according to what makes you comfortable. Take that corner
of your brain that was fretting about your fear of failure, and
redirect it to enjoying the class. You'll learn more!
Absorb the Music
Good choreography is chosen to match the music. Of course,
it seems obvious, doesn't it? It's hard to become familiar with
a brand-new piece of music at the same time you're learning brand-new
ways to move your body AND trying to do them in a particular
memorized order. So if you can become very, very familiar with
the music outside of class, then in class you'll already know
what to expect next in the music and you can concentrate just
on the movements.
If possible, get a copy of the music before the workshop.
Or, if you're learning choreography over the course of a weekly
class, find out the first night of class how you can get a copy
of the music and go get it immediately.
Now, listen to it. A lot. Get a portable tape or CD player
with an earphone. Play it in your car or listen to it on the
train when commuting to and from work every day. Listen to it
while you're eating supper, bathing the baby, doing yard work,
or while you're sitting in your doctor's waiting room.
Jot down notes about how the song is structured. Most songs
can be divided into 4 or 5 distinct melody segments. If a song
is in the verse/chorus format, there will frequently be a couple
of different melody segments in the verse, another used for the
chorus, and one more as an instrumental interlude between the
chorus and the beginning of the next verse.
Give each musical segment a name: "Verse 1st half,"
"Verse 2nd half," "Chorus", "Interlude".
Or, "Melody 1," "Melody 2," "Melody
3," "Melody 4," and so on. As you listen to the
song, write down which musical segment you're hearing at that
moment. When done, study what you have written. Listen to the
song, and review its structure. The better you know the music,
the better you'll be able to associate the dance moves of the
choreography with it.
Finally, go over the music and identify which dance move from
the choreography goes with which melody segment. Some choreographers
follow patterns, always using the same move (or a variation of
it) each time a certain melody line appears. Others don't do
that. Study the structure to see if you can spot a pattern in
the choreography for this particular song. For example, in one
dance I choreographed, I used variations of basic Egyptian for
Instrumental 1, variations of point-point-point step for Instrumental
2, some sort of side-to-side move for Vocals 1, and some sort
of "in your own circle" moves for Vocals 2 & 3.
Rehearse in Your Head
This tip won't help you much in making it through a 4-hour
workshop where the choreography is all taught at once, but it
will help you learn choreography that is taught over the
course of several weekly classes.
Now that you've absorbed the music and you know it so well
that you know what's coming next, you're ready to begin mental
rehearsal. The great thing about mental rehearsal is that you
can do it in the car, while doing yard work, etc.
Write down everything you've learned so far in the choreography,
if you haven't already done so. Consult your notes and memorize
the first two moves, in order. Just the first two. You can come
back for the rest later.
Start the music and envision yourself dancing those first
two steps. Then go back to the beginning and repeat. As you do
this mental rehearsal:
- Envision yourself easily making the transition from the first
step into the second.
- Picture what your hands and feet are doing to make the transition.
- Pay attention to what the music is doing. Analyze how the
movement fits with that particular part of the music. Try to
link the music in your head with the movement that goes with
it.
When you feel totally confident that you know how to move
from the first step into the second, add the third move to your
mental rehearsal. Again, keeping rewinding and mentally repeat
the three moves together in order many times, thinking about
how to transition from one to the next.
Continue adding one move at a time to your mental rehearsal.
Take the time to absorb each move and truly understand the transition
into it before you add another.
If you find that you don't know which move comes next, press
"pause" on your tape/CD player and stop to think.
Don't go any further until you remember. Try first to remember
without consulting the notes, but if that doesn't work, go ahead
and consult the written notes. Then go back to the beginning
and try again.
Do this over and over and over in your car, on the commuter
train, while doing yard work, while bathing the baby, and any
other time you can carry your portable tape/CD player with you.
Repetition is the key to memorizing. You'll be surprised at
how effective mental rehearsal can be!
Keep It Simple!
Know your limits. If you're a less experienced dancer than
your classmates, don't expect yourself to learn as quickly as
they do. Do what you can, and don't feel bad if you're doing
less than they are.
Your instructor may be teaching finger cymbal rhythms to accompany
the choreography. If you find that playing the cymbals causes
you to lose your focus on the movements, then for now don't play
the cymbals.
Similarly, you may find that you can get the move as long
as you stick with doing just the feet and hips, but as soon as
you add arms you lose it. In that case, don't add arms just
yet. Do what you can, and focus on getting that right.
If your classmates seem to be learning it, remember that they
may have more experience than you do with memorizing choreography,
playing cymbals, or already knowing how to do some of the combinations
used in this particular choreography. So don't blame yourself
if it's more than you can handle. Concentrate on learning what
you're ready for, and accept that it may be less than what your
classmates are ready for. There's no shame in knowing your limits
and accepting them.
Please don't give up, even if it's difficult. Let's say you're
in a 4-hour workshop, and two hours into it you know you can't
cram even one more move into your head. In that case, move to
the back or side of the room. As the instructor rehearses the
group through what she has taught so far, dance the part that
you've mastered so far, then step out of the way for the part
that you're just not ready to learn.
Remind yourself that the real benefit of learning choreography
is to learn new step combinations that you can incorporate into
your own personal dance style, combinations that you can build
into your own solos.
As the workshop progresses, learn each new step combination.
You may discover that your favorite combination from the entire
dance is taught near the end of the workshop.
Know Thyself!
Education researchers have discovered that different people
learn in different ways. Some of us learn best by absorbing
information that our eyes collect. Some of us learn best by
paying attention to what our ears are hearing. And some of us
learn best by using physical movement. Assess yourself - which
learning style works best for you?
Now that you know which way you learn best, think about how
you can use that knowledge to learn choreography more easily.
For example, I learn best from what I see. I retain what I've
read in a text book much better than I retain what I hear in
a lecture. So if the instructor gives me written notes for the
choreography, I keep them with me and consult them as I learn
it. If she doesn't give me written notes, I write my own.
If you learn best when you hear something spoken, ask the
instructor for permission to use a small cassette player to record
what she says during class. Also focus on listening to what she
says, and listening to what the music is doing as you practice
it.
If you learn best by using physical movement, focus your mind
on how to do the transition from one move to the next. Practice
just the transition, over and over. It may also be helpful to
hand-print your own copy of the written notes two or three times
- that motion of writing down what to do may help imprint the
movement in your memory.
You may have additional ideas on how to draw upon your preferred
learning techniques to memorize choreography. Experiment with
them, and explore what works best for you.
Take Notes
Some instructors will give you written notes. Some won't.
If yours gives you notes, keep them with you while she is teaching,
and consult them to see what words she used to describe each
move that she teaches. Then add your own comments to explain
the move in words that you will understand. Draw stick
figures if necessary.
Don't just passively accept the notes and put them away.
The act of describing the move in your own words will force your
brain to analyze it, and that will help you remember it.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
When you do have time and space to dance, practice the choreography.
Use that mental rehearsal to help you anticipate which move
comes next, and do it. Pay attention to what the music
is doing, and think about how the move matches it.
Practice will transfer the moves from your brain into your
body. It will help you identify transitions where you need special
focus.
If there's a particular step that you always forget, try this:
first, examine how the previous step ends. Analyze what
you need to do with your feet, your hips, and your arms to transition
from the previous step into the one that you always forget.
Now, practice just two steps: the previous step followed by
the one you usually forget. Emphasize in your brain the process
of ending the previous step by then proceeding through the transition,
whatever it is. In your head, revise the ending of the previous
step by adding the transition to it.
Other Ideas
Some people find that inventing memory aids helps. For example,
give every step the name of an animal. You might call an undulating
step a cobra step, or a bouncy step a jackrabbit step. If the
undulation comes after the bouncing, imagine the cobra chasing
the jackrabbit.
Find a classmate to practice with outside of class. Together,
the two of you can help each other remember what is being taught.
If you have a learning disability, consult a professional
educator with expertise in your particular disability to advise
you on techniques that may help you work around it.
If All Fails
First, don't blame yourself. It's possible that this particular
choreography is especially hard to learn. Not all choreographers
create intuitive, easy choreography. One key to easy-to-learn
choreography is repetition. If this one doesn't have much, that
might explain why you're having trouble learning it.
Second, again remind yourself that your classmates may be
more experienced than you at learning choreography, or they may
have in the past learned some of the step combinations that this
particular choreography contains. Learn what you can, and stick
to realistic goals that work for you personally.
Third, if you're learning the choreography over the course
of a weekly class, practice my suggestions for mental rehearsal
and applying your preferred technique for learning (sight, hearing,
movement). With practice, these techniques will become more
intuitive for you, and they'll make it easier to learn future
choreography. |