When a dancer is learning a new performance, there is a bunch of steps to memorize. You might be familiar with the steps itself from a style or syllabus, or it might be completely new movements you need to remember. Anyhow, I’ll give you a few pointers on how to make the learning process easier. It’s tips that can help you in all parts of life, not only in the ballet-studio;
One thing at the time! Try to break the piece into smaller parts, and learn them separately. This eases the amount of steps to remember at one time, and you can concentrate on what you are doing right now. When you are secure of the part you are rehearsing, go on to the next. Of course, this also depends on the person who’s holding the rehearsals. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?!) it is rarely the dancer that decides what to learn and when to learn it.
Be present! Shut out everything else when you are learning. If your mind wanders off to what to have for dinner, that girl or boy you met last weekend or wherever you go in your head, you are lost. Stay focused! One of the things I love about dancing, is that when I’m dancing, it is the only thing that exists. Try to turn off the world, concentrate, be present!
Do it yourself! To look to your fellow dancers for help is great if you don’t know the steps. But try to do as much as you can yourself. Looking at the others easily becomes a very bad habit, and you get used to relying on them rather than remembering for yourself. This makes the learning process both longer and harder, and it also shows on stage! Believe in yourself, remember? If you are constantly looking at someone else, the audience will look at that somebody as well, not at you!
After you manage these 3 simple steps, the learning process should be a lot easier. But you don’t get away from the most important though: Practice, practice, practice!
I'm practicing a lot, here with a partner for a pas de deux
’till next time!
Ta-Ta
H
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tips! I like your suggestion to be present, in the moment! I have some additional strategies in this article about Remembering Choreography, including writing things down and “singing” the rhythm if anyone wants to take a look. Thanks for sharing your ideas, Henrik!
Hey, that’s a great post!! Writing down stuff I always found too… boring
It just takes a lot of time, and the next day, I don’t understand what I wrote down… “Singing” on the other hand, works great!!! 
Then again, it’s all individual. Thanks for commenting!
they tweet as well
Something that is very interesting about muscle memory is that you learn movement in one area of your brain, but when you have it down, you actually remember it from another area. I learned that in college and thought it was totally fascinating! It makes sense too…once you have the steps “in your head”, as many people like to say…it stays there!
yes, that’s true! It’s fascinating how little effort it takes to “remember” movement, once you learned them…
Ahh! It’s very dangerous to think of something else that dosen’t relate to what your’e doing. Ofcourse it has happend to me, once or twice. And it’s terrible bad.
Good post.
I’m not sure if I understand you here.. I hope you didn’t suffer from any eating disorder. Glad you liked the post – would you care to explain your comment a little? H
Hello again. I comments a couple of days ago on your most recent post.
This photo is outstanding. I like how big it is. A lot of times, ballet photos on the Internet are horribly small with bad resolution. They do not allow the viewer to truly appreciate the dance, costumes and sets in the photo. This photo was large and with great resolution. Bravo!
Whenever I watch Swan Lake, I am in awe of the huge number of steps and movements that Odette / Odile must remember. It is amazing!! I wonder how many months before the performance that a woman must start to practice in order to dance that part?? 1 month? 2 months? 1 year?
For you, what has been the ballet with the most number of steps and movements to remember?? Also, the ballet with the hardest and most complex steps to remember?
HI again, David, and thanks for supporting Tights and Tiaras
It’s a dilemma when posting photos on a page like mine. On one hand, I’d like to post the pictures in their real size, to provide a “real” feeling of the picture. On the other, I have no means to protect them from being used by others, most of the pics on T’n'T are by me, taken by photographers with copyright-rules of use.. This exact one is my own, and you may use it if you like, just let me know. But that is also the reason not all the shots on the blog is this big – copyright…
For soloist, like girls dancing Odette, practicing the role for the first time usually takes a long time, we’re talking several months. When in your repertoire, a good ballerina can get into “swan-mode” in a week or two, as long as the version she will dance isn’t too far from what she originally danced. I’ve seen girls jump in (where main role got injured) on just 2 day-notice, but then you can see it if you know what you’re looking for.
For me, I think dancing Spartacus corps de ballet was some of the hardest I did (yet…). It’s a bunch of soldier- and orgies (!)-dances, a whole bunch of steps right there
I appreciate you reading my blog, glad you find it to some liking. If you feel like helping Tights and Tiaras reach a broader audience, please click the “help out!” section in the navigation bar – it contains free and simple way to spread the word, totally voluntarily! Again, thanks for the support!
H
Can I use this photo on my blog to advertize you? I just Facebook liked your Facebook page.
Yeah, our ballet company has a FB and for some reason they really like to advertize for theballetbag.com. I comment sometimes there as well.
I think that the ballet blogging has exploded to the point where it is hard to decide which ones to read and comment. There are so many hours in the day and if I were to comment at every ballet blog … I would never have time to actually do any ballet. HA HA. I do find it sad that people do not comment at ballet blogs very much. The blog or FB might have 500 – 1000 friends, but it seems that only 1 to 5 people ever leave comments.
Diligently prepare for your ballet recital so that all you have to do is get up on that stage and dance your heart out.
Exactly! If everything is like it should be, the steps are learned, prepped and way forgotten by the time you go on stage. The body does it by itself, and you can focus on the performance. Thank you for your comment
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