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.
Help!
Common problems and topics covered when it comes to learning a dance routine, new steps and performing.
Should You Practise Dance Routines With A Mirror?
You will find that practising your dance routines in front of a mirror will help you a lot. Ideally you want a mirror that is big enough so that you can see your whole body and you can move from back to front, left and right and still see yourself.
Though it is not essential to practise with a mirror and it is useful to practise without one sometimes too, a mirror is one of the tools of a dancer.
The reason it helps is because you can see the way the moves look as you're doing them. Therefore if a move doesn't quite look right, you can make some adjustments to make it look better.
When you are a beginner this is very useful because you will have a lot of things you can work on and make better.
Without a mirror you can only see yourself from an above angle by looking down which is not ideal, as you really want to see what it looks like if someone was opposite you or the reflection of that (what a mirror does).
If you don't have a mirror it is fine to practise without one however you should look into getting one to help with your practise.
It also helps consolidate new moves that you have learnt. It gives you a visual memory as you can see yourself as you dance and as you work on getting the moves looking right, you can make sure you are doing what you've learnt in the past correctly and maintain this level.
With a mirror if something is wrong you will be able to tell. It also gets your eyes used to this process and you can become the main person capable of making you a better dancer merely by observing what you do and making changes where appropriate.
This is why all the top dance studios have mirrors installed along the walls. It is an invaluable tool for learning for many reasons. If you use it just a few times, you will see what a difference it makes.