The Dance Routine Corner
Learning to dance? This site will help you with advice on learning dance routines and new choreographies.
With you on your journey to becoming a great dancer.
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Common problems and topics covered when it comes to learning a dance routine, new steps and performing.
Is It A Good Idea To Fake Routines That You Find Difficult?
Sometimes you may be doing a routine in a style of dance that is unfamiliar to you or you may not have very long to learn a routine. Is it a good idea to fake routines in these scenarios?
Well it goes without saying that whenever possible you should aim to be as prepared as possible for whatever you need to learn. But sometimes this may not be feasible.
There is nothing wrong with faking a routine. In fact professional dancers do it all the time.
They may be taught a routine with sections from other styles that they are completely untrained in. Though they will usually be given some instruction it is not possible to learn a dance style thoroughly in a few days.
What you can do though is to learn whatever you need to know for the routine and do that to the best of your ability.
The term 'faking it' is a bit of a vague one. If you do a half decent robot in a club you may get a few cheers.
But in the professional dance arena the aim will be to dance at a much higher level than 'half decent.' And so when professionals fake it they are doing something they aren't necessarily skilled or trained in, but have learnt in a very quick time.
Therefore they will not be able to do as much or as skilfully as someone who does specialize in these styles, but many times dancers need to be very skilled in the main body of the choreography and be skilful enough to adapt to other styles of movement where necessary.
Faking it is not a substitute for learning something properly if you have the time. That is being lazy. You're not trying to skip corners to make it easier for you or so you don't have to work as hard.
You fake it when necessary when perhaps your body is not technically skilled enough to do something, your body is not flexible or strong enough for a movement or when you have constraints such as time placed upon you.
If you get into the habit of faking it when you have no good reason to, you will just become a sloppy dancer. You will never break above average and any skilled dancer will be able to see that.
Take the time to learn new material even if you're not familiar with it, and the other dancers and choreographer will respect you and look upon your application favourably.
So when it comes to faking it, do it as well as you can so others can't tell you're faking it...and do it only when necessary!