How to practice dance at home
How To Practice Dancing | STEEZY Blog
In section 5, we talked about taking dance classes at studios.
But many of us don't live close to any dance studios, or are too busy, or on a tight budget...
Which is why, in this section, we'll talk about other ways to practice dancing that can better fit your lifestyle.
Use online dance tutorials
There are tons of dance tutorials available online.
DanceTutorialsLIVE offers how-to videos in everything from Twerking to the Dougie.
Matt Steffanina teaches choreography on his YouTube channel.
And you can learn from Korea’s choreographers through 1MILLION Dance Tutorial.
And of course, STEEZY Studio has over 600 online classes where you can learn advanced Urban Choreography pieces, grooves, beginner choreography, and more.
Curious to see how it works? This’ll tell you everything: How To Use STEEZY Studio
For different styles –
B-Boy and B-Girl Dojo provides an interactive, immersive Breakin’ program that teaches moves, techniques, battle skills, and more.
VincaniTV also has great tutorials on Breakin' and Hip Hop styles, as does Darren Wong!
You can find YouTube tutorials on basic House steps by Jardy Santiago, too!
How to practice dancing at home
1. Practice a piece you've already learned
A class ends in an hour or two, but you can keep learning from it even after it's over.
Re-teach yourself the piece, drilling specific parts that were difficult the first time.
Get more ideas on how to do this! How You Should Practice After Learning A Piece
2. Drill fundamental exercises and grooves
Hip Hop, Urban Choreo, Popping, Locking, Waacking, House, etc., – whatever style you want to get better in, the key to improvement is all the same – repetition.
We have an entire playlist of FREE drills in House and Popping on our YouTube channel!
Check 'em out:
3. Stretch and strength train your body
Your body is your most important tool! Stretching and strength training your body will keep it healthy, strong, and flexible.
Try these: 7 Stretches To Help You Dance Better (And Stay Injury-Free!)
1. Find dance studios that offer classes later in the evening
Many studios do offer classes that start later, around 9 or 9:30 pm.
If you live in Los Angeles, then this list of The Top 8 Dance Studios In Los Angeles is a great guide.
This means you might even be able to go home after work and nap before class!
2. Create your own dance passion project
Taking class is fun, of course, but if you want to set a more personal standard for “accomplishment,” come up with a passion project!
For example: make a concept video! Or choreograph a piece!
These goals will challenge you to be artistic in more ways than just dance – and you're not relying on anyone else's time to make it happen.
Use this guide on How To Set And Achieve Your Dance Goals
1. Learn pieces from friends
Cost: $0 (as long as you have good friends)
Master classes from super famous/dope dancers are awesome, but learning your friends' pieces can be a great experience for both the teacher and student.
Ask your friend to teach you a piece, or teach them one of yours. It'll help you both learn to teach and learn to learn.
2. Go to open sessions
Cost: $0-10 (depending on the studio)
Some studios also host "open sessions," usually in the last block in their schedule for the night.
It's a great bang for your buck, and a totally new experience than a choreography class that'll stretch your comfort zone.
3. Collaborate to make a piece
Cost: $0 (or your friendship)
Choreographing is a great way to push yourself as a dancer.
And collaborating to make choreography with another person is a whole different challenge.
Ask your friend's who's down to collab, pick a song, and start creating!
Use these tips: How To Collab With Someone To Make A Piece
4. FREEstyle somewhere! A bar, club, your kitchen, bathroom...
Cost: $10-20 (depends on the club)
Many styles of dance started in clubs. So get back to the roots of dance!
For example, House!
Go to a bar or club in your area that plays music that you love. The only money you need to spend is on the admission, if there is a cover cost at all.
For all of these things: Take unlimited classes on STEEZY Studio
- It's FREE for a week! Then, subscribe for $19.99/month or $99.99/year
- You can take it anywhere, anytime you want, at your own pace
- Choose from over 800+ classes in different styles and levels
- Learn from the world's best choreographers and teachers!
STEEZY Studio is the easiest way to learn online.
It's convenient, affordable, and it WORKS.
Sign up now and start learning!
We'll get into freestyling in the next section! Keep it up! Click here to start section 7.
6 Dance Tips for Successfully Practicing at Home
Today is the last day of November. We are heading into the serious winter. The place I live snows a lot, you cannot barely practice outside on the street. Unless you have a friend owning a dance studio, the only way to secure self-practice is at home.
When I first started dancing more than 10 years ago, the practice took place mostly at home. There is certainly good and bad in doing it at home, but it was certainly efficient and cost-effective.
Here I am. In the turn of December, I am going over in my head all the different home practice methods I have devised.
So, this time I will introduce 6 practice methods that you can do at home. Practicing sounds straightforward, but when you get on the floor, it can be frustrating not knowing the first step to take. Please read it as your guideline.
Makeup your weakness and improve your strengths
Before we go on, here is a list of common weaknesses dancers have.
- You are ahead of the music
- You look at the floor
- You cannot move the body as you wish
- You lose balance making a turn
- You become rough once exhaustion hits
Everyone has a different degree of severity. Please read over each point, and apply it to yourself. You will know your weakness, and understand which part to focus on in your practice.
To the contrary, you should honor your strengths. Outstanding skills and techniques are what people remember your dancing by. Find and refine them as if you are competing and making this particular part better than anybody else.
Unlike sports, there are no well-defined practice methods in dancing specifically the street style. On top of that, there is an element of art. You have to establish your own style on the way.
At the end of the day, you will be mainly repeating the choreography and steps. And it cannot be merely copying, but tweaking slightly with your own thinking.
Of course, there is an underlying premise that it is important to accumulate practice every day. Yet, knowing your strength and weakness is the starting point of deliberate practices.
Deliberate practice makes learning faster
The provided below is the guideline to help you see the dance progress. It will help you think and learn faster.
- You will be able to generate dancing in your head - Visualization
- You will gain the necessary physical capability like muscle strength and flexibility - Physical
- You will be able to understand the movement of others - Analytical
Remembering steps and moves are important, but these 3 points are the basics of basics.
It is a practice mindset. Carrying on these points help the practice go smoothly.
For example, you master the choreography, following every step perfectly. But, somehow your dance looks amateur. In one move, you have to turn your neck. But your turn is barely noticeable. That is because you lack the flexibility. You need to focus on the point 2. (See "Reasons why your dancing looks amateur and how to fix it" for more examples)
It shows the need of having the right framework in practicing. In the above scenario, following choreography steps over and over will never get you better. You need more deliberate practice parts by parts.
What is missing from you? If you practice targeting the specific ability, the course of your progress will advance faster.
6 practice methods for purposes
These are the practical methods that overcome the dancers' common weaknesses. It will be effective if you incorporate it after figuring out at this moment what is required the most in your skillset.
The practices are universally applicable to any type of physical exercises. You can also enjoy the long-lasting health impacts.
Practice to understand body anatomy
The most fundamental skills for dancers are a muscular strength, flexibility, musicality, and isolation. But that itself is not sufficient. You have to stitch them together to make it into a nice coherent flow. Otherwise, it will look like random movements.
A good way to understand how our body movement turns into a dance a movement is to analyze poses of other dancers. At home, freeze the dance video of your favorite dancer at the favorite moment, and try imitating that pose. You can take advantage of slow playback and counting along the music to capture the posing moment better.
Copying the every detail of the body perfectly is unexpectedly difficult. It ranges from the toes to head. Doing so helps you see how people are using their bodies to make it look cool, and learn yourself how to do it.
Every dancing has poses. That is the universal truth across all genres. Understanding how one pose transforms into another will help you understand the whole flow of dancing.
Practice to sharpen the movement
There is a concept called sharpness in dancing. It makes use of different speeds and sudden stops. In order to wipe off your amateur look, you want to master good reflexes.
Making poses in conjunction with the music is the best way to train this. In the 8 count song, make a pose at every 4th one, and stop for the next 4 counts. Then make a pose again at the 8th beat. Repeat that process.
1, 2, 3, Pose, 5, 6, 7, Pose, 1, 2, 3, Pose, 5, 6, 7, Pose
(For more on musicality, see "Musicality is trainable: dance beginner's ultimate guideline").
The key is to freeze as quickly and completely as possible. In the beginning, you will wobble a little, but as your body learns which muscle is required to make a full stop, the control will become easier.
If you want to adventure, please increase the stop frequencies. For example, you can pose at 2 and 4. In the meantime, keep your focus on full stop always. It will defeat the purpose of this practice if you end up bouncing all over.
A good side benefit of this practice is it trains a great deal of your creativity. You will realize quickly how repetitive your posing is. Try, but it is understandable you end up repeating your poses. There is no need to stress yourself over this in this exercise. This concern leads to my next point.
Practice to increase your repertoire
Even if your muscle has a perfect capability, your actual dancing quickly becomes boring with a repetitive movement. It happens often in self-taught or club dancer. They have great musicality and groove in them, but the move feels simplistic. You should increase your repertoires of movements.
The best way to achieve is through YouTube. Pick your favorite dance videos, focus on the subset of performance, and repeat it over and over.
It is better to absorb a small section at a time like 8 counts.
You will learn a combination of choreography and techniques you have not thought of before. Even if you want to focus only on your favorite dancer or team, try filtering videos at various time periods. Dance style tends to evolve over time. This way, you will be able to pick up different moves.
Taking a dance class is also effective. You can learn new steps directly from the instructor. One thing to be cautious is if you have been learning from one teacher, the variety of steps taught will be limited. It is recommended to take different drop-in classes from several dancers.
Let's memorize many patterns, and turn them into your own dance by absorbing various combinations of movements from many people.
Practice the balance of your body
Dancing is similar to a song. If it is a fast tempo, a mistake will be covered up and go unnoticed. But if the tempo is slow, your weak points become visible. The audience will clearly see the offset of your body balance.
Having that in mind, you should practice with very slow music to train your balance. Your body will be tuned gradually, and be able to make a stable movement.
It takes advantage of your inner muscle such as the tip of your toes. This is the parts you would never train in a regular gym. Enhance your balance skill and master the body control.
Practice to pull out your full power anywhere
The direction of your practice is towards the mirror. So you can usually dance while confirming yourself with your own eyes.
However, life does not unfold always that way. Going up to the stage, the scenery completely shifts. There is no such thing as mirrors, except 100s of eyes glaring at you. You will be anxious and the movements tend to become small.
You can execute the steps perfectly at usual practice. You should be able to do it on the stage as well.
First, you want to test out what changes in your dancing with videos. Shoot 2 types of videos: one with a mirror and one without.
Look carefully at both. Is your face looking downwards? Are you moving faster than the beats? Etc. This difference is what you need to work on.
Let's practice bringing out your best quality dance regardless of your surrounding environment.
Practice to move in relaxation
In dance session, the more strained your muscle and body are, the faster you become exhausted. You will also lose your sharpness quickly.
Relaxation lying on your bed is easy, but relaxing in combination with bursts of sudden movements is difficult. One part of the muscle is functioning at full power and needs to quickly goes off readying for the next move.
The mechanism comes down to how much muscle memory is in effect with the movement. When you learn a new move, it puts excess stress on your muscle because your brain is constantly sending a signal to move even in the area power is unnecessary. So it is important to let the move sink into only the relevant muscle.
The recommended practice method is to repeat one type of move or step for the entire duration of the song without dropping the quality.
At the end, the movement will come to you like it is your first nature. And at that point, your brain learns how to slack off the unnecessary parts and use it more efficiently thanks to the newly acquired muscle memory.
Purposeful practice is the key to success
Practicing is the only way to get better, but you can still do things in the entirely wrong way.
Repeating steps and choreography in blindfolded will not take your dancing much further. It goes with any type of learning, but in order to make your progress faster, you want to be using your brain and thinking hard.
Home is a perfect place for those who care about maximum time and cost efficiency. You can practice anytime however much you want. That is why self-guidance is necessary since there is no one that simply gives you a list of requirements. The worst is when you spend all day practicing with little outcome.
It is crucial that you understand your weakness and strength, and put these practice methods into action.
If you deliver them deliberately, your skills will certainly improve.
Dance School - Balance Club
November 22, 2015
In today's society, the ability to move is important for both women and men. No one wants to stand on the sidelines at a disco or in a club, just because they are afraid to show themselves badly. In order to be able to move beautifully to the music, it is not necessary to attend special dance schools, just a little work out at home .
First, anyone can learn to dance. Just do not restrain yourself, be able to liberate yourself - then the movements will be smooth and easy. This is a big plus of an individual dance lesson - no one criticizes you, does not observe or evaluate you, you choose the music and the atmosphere yourself, therefore you also have no one to be ashamed of. Remember: dancing should give you joy, only in this case you can overcome all difficulties on the way to success!
Make sure you have enough space in the room so that you are not disturbed.
Record a playlist with songs separately for warm-up, separately for dance lessons. Prepare comfortable clothes that will not restrict you in your movements. It is better to lay a carpet on the place where you are exercising so that your feet are firmly planted on the surface. There should be a computer in sight if you are going to record special video lessons on it that you will learn from.
Dancing, like any sport, should be done regularly - only then you will get a real result. Any lesson should begin with a warm-up. Start by stretching your neck: press your chin to your chest for a couple of seconds, then tilt your head back, and then to the sides and in a circle. After that, proceed to the shoulders: the arms fit snugly to the body, and the shoulders stretch up, then down. Repeat 10 times. Now slowly turn your shoulders and torso from side to side so that the pelvis remains motionless. Next, stretch your back: do a few tilts to the legs, back and to the sides, then in a circle.
After that, you can start stretching your legs: do a few lunges to the side and swing your legs.
Now you just need to choose an online dance training program. If you just want to move smoothly, then aerobics classes are suitable. Women who want to feel even more beautiful and sexy will love oriental dance, as well as strip plastic. One of the most popular types of both male and female dance is hip-hop dance. This energetic and daring dance is suitable for rap lovers, clubs who prefer loose clothes and are not afraid to stand out from the crowd.
Go-Go dance style is suitable for girls, club party lovers and those who want to stand out with their plastic and groovy movements. Latin American dances, although they look very beautiful in a pair, are quite suitable for a single performance. But ballroom dancing of the European standard: tango, waltz, quickstep, foxtrot is better to learn with a partner. Rock and roll is suitable for fans of this style of music, which combines fast tempos, bright costumes, looseness and constant movement, in general, this style is created for energetic people.
If you are looking for calmness and relaxation from classes, then we advise you to do yoga.
Now that you have figured out the type of dance, then choose any video program in this direction. There is no need to drive yourself under the frame: improvise, combine styles, choose music - just love this business, and then the question "how to learn to dance" will no longer be relevant, because you will improve every day. If you realize that you want to move from an amateur to a professional level, you can always enroll in a special dance school or hire a teacher.
How to practice dancing at home? - Dancejam
Dancing is no longer just a hobby; it is also one of the most lucrative professions. Also, dance therapy is very popular these days simply because the dance experience helps a person heal from within. Dance is a form of expression that helps a person understand who they are and what they are passionate about.
Various types of dances and dance styles, common throughout the world, are an indicator of the popularity of this kind of art.
From ancient times to the present day, dance has always been accompanied social or aesthetic overtones. Various types of dances viewed as a fun way to stay in shape, such as zumba and other forms of dance included in the training.
Today the whole world is going through a special time, in which all classes are canceled for an indefinite period, halls and schools are closed. However, dancers need to keep fit so they don't lose the skills and abilities they've acquired over the course of the dance season. Therefore, today we will tell you how to do it and what dancers do when there is no training.
Stretching
Stretching is a complex exercises that develop flexibility and stretching. Injury Rehabilitation Program also includes stretching. Regular stretching helps prevent injuries during sudden movements, increase flexibility and strength, restore muscles after loads, supply them with oxygen and nutrients, contributes to improving coordination and improving the quality of execution of elements.
There are two types of stretching: static and dynamic. Formerly static stretching most often practiced before sporting events or physical activity. This meant that the athlete stretched the body while it was at rest, and the muscles were just stretched. Although static stretching is still widely used both before and and after sports competition, dynamic stretching is more common because it is more effective in preparing muscles for using and stimulating the flow of oxygen to the muscles. Dynamic stretching is performed using soft, warm muscles with the help of swinging movements. This stretch should be done relatively slowly and without jerking to avoid injury.
Stretching is important part of any workout and should be an important part of any regular day. She is promotes increased range of motion and prevents tearing or straining muscles under normal conditions, as well as in case of sudden movement. Stretching promotes the movement of oxygen throughout the body as well as blood flow, and helps the body feel healthier and stronger.
Zumba
Zumba is a form of aerobic exercises that train your entire body from top to bottom, in addition to exercise it includes latin dances to show you what the classes are can be not only challenging, but also fun.
The benefits of Zumba are very different, for example, it improves the cardiovascular system, increases muscle strength, improves coordination. Zumba is great for burning fat thanks to constantly changing its pace and rhythm, which means that your body must adapt to these changes, and for this it will spend a lot energy. Zumba involves working with the rhythm of the music in order to dance, so it teaches you to step and move in time and rhythm. Zumba includes many various movements, postures and dance positions, this keeps you flexible. Another plus you can get from Zumba is that you can practice from the comfort of your own home, because it doesn't take much to train places.
Online training
When you learn to dance, no nothing is better than a lesson that you attend in person with a teacher to make sure you are doing the movements correctly.
