How many times a week do I hear “I am bored with my dance!” or “Is my dance boring?” from a dancer? We all suffer from the habit of going back to our first few moves when under stress (a difficult partner, not enough space, a song we don’t know well) so how can we avoid that situation and keep dancing a more fluid, variable dance?
I have recently talked about following the follower, dancing like fluid dynamics and other ideas. I personally try to stay away from thinking about moves when I dance BUT to get to that point, we need to practice combinations enough times that our body does them without our conscious thought abandoning connection, our partner and musicality. How can we both practice methodically AND expand our repertoire?
Three card draw
To celebrate the holidays and reward dancers who showed up for group class, I passed out sets of flashcards and markers to help folks get started with this game. The main idea is to pick three moves and try to make a combination with as few steps in between as possible; and then practice that combo.
What should I put on the cards?
For you to find new combinations, you need to do two things: include moves that you don’t know as well; and be very specific so that the cards ask for move combos that aren’t your go-to five moves. For example, perhaps you always turn left. YOU need to include a card that says “turn right/CW” in your batch of cards. For someone who never uses crossed system except for back ochos, that person needs to delineate specific crossed system moves (walk to the X in Xed system; walk on the closed side of the embrace in crossed system; walk OUT of the X in Xed system, etc.). For someone who wants to learn sacadas, I would add the following cards:
leader front sacada through follower open step of turn
leader front sacada through follower forward step
leader side sacada through follower side step
leader back sacada through follower side step
follower front sacada through leader forward step
linear sacada line of dance in Xed system
and you could specify whether the sacada was circular/through a turn or linear; or in the right or left turn; you get the idea.
The more specific you can be, the better the game will work (“leader front sacada through follower front step in the left giro” is specific enough). Vague cards allow you to just use your usual steps.
Make a list
Draw your three cards, try the pattern several times, and if you like the pattern, WRITE IT DOWN! Practice the pattern until it feels normal and part of your dance. Then, pick a new pattern and do it again. If you make a list of the combos you liked and the combos you did not like (or that your partner hated), you can start to build possibilities into your dance. You will also see what you tend to avoid, and work on those moves until you feel more confident.
Strategies for incorporating your new combos when dancing
DO NOT bring the list to the milonga and try to fulfil it! The last thing you need is a NEW list of five steps. Hopefully, drilling the new ideas will help wire more pathways in your brain from one move to another, so when you are dancing, your body can go somewhere a little new without much conscious thought.
You will find that you get into new ruts and are only dancing the new set of combinations. Whenever I teach a chunk of material, I end up dancing it too often. When I am bored with my dance, I try to vary the ending of my dances; or add one move back in that I have ignored for a while; or replace one comfortable combo with one new combo—something small that shakes up my routine.
Remember: ALL of us have these habits. You are not a bad dancer because you only remember a few moves at a time. A good leader has good floorcraft, protects the follower, leads clearly, listens to the music, and only after all that do the moves matter. They are the least important piece of the dance. Repeat after me: I am a good dancer!