"Unlearning" a dance?

[ShyDancer]

Here is my dilemma...

I just came back from my first lesson for my new vogue medal, I thought I knew one dance well........ Sure I did, the SOCIAL way! :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Now I have to forget the 123 tap that I have been dancing for a solid 9 months and remember heel toe, toe heel, heel swivel ....even though the steps remain the same , its just rise and fall really.
Talk about confusing!

So my question is : How do you unlearn or re-train yourself to do the same dance ?!?!?

Of course Im going to practice practice practice, but surely one of you clever people has a few helpful gems o knowledege for me :D

[dancin_feet]

Practice practice practice is the only way to relearn or "fix" something. I had to do this with Cha Cha as my previously learned technique was nowhere near what it now has to be. But make sure it is correct practice, though or you will just waste your time. It is a lot harder to relearn something, you slip back into the old ways from time to time, but with repetition, it soon becomes muscle memory and you no longer have to concentrate so hard on getting it right.

Good luck!

[Pacion]

Like Dancin_Feet said, practice, particularly in the mirror, if you can, so that you can physically see what your feet are doing, and then again, without the mirror. Do as many repetitions as you can, focusing on what you are doing. The more you do it, the more "natural"/instinctive it will be come.

I believe someone said here that it takes about [6] weeks for an action to become subconcious/natural? I know, [6] weeks can seem like a long time, if I am remembering it correctly. However, the original poster did not say how many times a week you had to practice first :wink:

[dancin_feet]

It's supposed to take 21 days to form a habit. Don't know if that's the same for generating muscle memory ......

[Pacion]

Okay, I think it might be about the same for muscle memory. Hopefully someone will be able to set me straight, and out of my misery -- trying to remember -- :lol:

[jen88]

Hey all -

This is my first reply on the dance forum Whoo hoo!
I too have recently had the same experience. I started taking dance through a course offered by a community college. BIG MISTAKE. I spent at least 8 months dancing with NO technique. After taking private lessons I am experiencing the same problems. How do you get past the frustration?

[pygmalion]

Hi jen88. Welcome. :D

[SDsalsaguy]

Welcome to the Forums jen88! :D

I had a simillar experience myself... after two years on a ballroom formation team I realized that I was missing fundamental techniques and that my dancing was actually suffereing! :shock:

Needless to say I didn't come back to the team the next year, started taking private lessons when I could, and my dancing got much better.

I'll try and ponder any tips I may have to ease the "unlearning" process and will post back if anything comes to mind...

[twodance]

It takes five weeks to produce a muscle memory. When you start learning to dance go out and buy book on dancing such as the ISTD on ballroom or latin dancing (about $12.00). This gives you the breakdown on the technique of dancing. Then you can check and see if your teacher is teaching you the right stuff. The same thing happened to me when I started dancing. But after a few weeks of practice and a bottle of gin things do get better. :cheers:

[pygmalion]

:lol: :lol: Gin?

[twodance]

Gin, Scotch, Beer what ever it takes to wash the bad steps out. :wink:

[SDsalsaguy]

So that's what I've been doing wrong... :doh:

[jen88]

Thanks guys!

I am glad I am not alone. I know a lot of it is being a perfectionist .....it takes time to relearn and I keep expecting myself to fix it in one lesson. Being a musician, I of all people should know that isn't possible. Any tips would be helpful....the gin might do the trick! :o)[/img]

[SDsalsaguy]

Hmmm, one thing that comes to mind is to try building from the ground up. Don't try and do what you already know how to do, just differently, but, instead, try and learn what you need to *do* as if from the start.

(Does that make sense?)

[jen88]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Actually, it is working out exactly as you described. Everything is so different when you do it correctly that it feels as though you are starting from scratch. I really notice the difference in the Tango....body contact being the biggest difference. :lol: Hadn't quite done it like that before...ha ha ha

[learningtodancewell]

My instructor is a pro and is teaching me with the aim of pro-am competition. I realize how fortunate I am that she is cutting me no slack and not letting mistakes get by.
This is easy to take because she is a fabulous dancer who really, really knows what she is doing
We even started on the Paso Doble on my request yesterday. I love it!

I have finally gotten the message that PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE is the key to dance the way you feel. I so enjoy dancing with the ladies I had found it hard to get started with practicing by myself.

Now that I started practicing by myself, though, I can't wait to try what I THINK I am now doing well... with my instructor. And find out if I am getting it correct.

[jen88]

My instructor is a pro and is teaching me with the aim of pro-am competition. I realize how fortunate I am that she is cutting me no slack and not letting mistakes get by.
This is easy to take because she is a fabulous dancer who really, really knows what she is doing
We even started on the Paso Doble on my request yesterday. I love it!

I have finally gotten the message that PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE is the key to dance the way you feel. I so enjoy dancing with the ladies I had found it hard to get started with practicing by myself.

Now that I started practicing by myself, though, I can't wait to try what I THINK I am now doing well... with my instructor. And find out if I am getting it correct.

What all do you practice by yourself? Besides cuban motion, pivots etc?? I too am going for the pro-am competition thing and am VERY grateful that my instructor is not cutting me any slack as well.

[learningtodancewell]

:D Well, this is the first time I have practiced alone seriously since we started about a month and a half ago. I have practiced a couple of hours, overall since our lesson Saturday afternoon. Next lesson Monday evening. :D :D

She asked me to practice the cha-cha lock step backwards and forwards and a new step in the waltz for me... I pretty much stand there, going left and right while she underarm turns 4, 5 times. Can't think of the name.
Just to get myself going I have focused on the cha cha lock step exclusively.

BTW I am REALLY looking forward to the 5-10 minutes a lesson she promised to dedicate to Paso Doble. I love that stuff.
I'm not sure how I'll practice that in my 2nd floor apartment... I am looking for a new place to live. Dancing is A LOT more interesting to me than house hunting.

Is your instructor teaching you all these different steps? I have all these steps in my head now for waltz, tango, foxtrot, cha-cha, mambo, samba, rumba, hustle, meringue... and probably a couple more that I can't remember. (Smooth and Latin steps) I love it all, though. My problem is pulling up the right step in my brain.
Like someone above said about a habit and 21 days, some of those early steps are now locked in and I actually feel like I'm dancing a fair amount of the time in the lesson.
I hope you are enjoying yourself as much as I am! 8)

[dancingdragon]

I am glad I am not alone. I know a lot of it is being a perfectionist .....it takes time to relearn and I keep expecting myself to fix it in one lesson.

I have to agree with you there jen88. I get frustrated with my teacher because she chooses to teach the steps first, and lets you carry on with them for ages until they become a habit, and then she decides she's going to blitz the technique and it's only then that you find out you've been doing things wrong all this time. :x It's really hard to break the old habits and I think it's a bit of a self-defeating approach, but I just keep telling myself that I wasn't supposed to know this already and I'm not expected to get it right first time - we're not superheroes, right?!

I'm interested about this "5 weeks to build muscle memory" theory. I might monitor that next time I have to relearn something. Wow, I'm learning so much from you guys, it's great! :D

[jen88]

I am having a BLAST dancing! I am completely obsessed with it. If I am not doing it, I am thinking about it, or on DF! :D So much so that my students are expecting their tests back tomorrow graded... :shock: NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
I have been introduced to most of the dances, but east/west coast, rhumba, cha cha, tango, and waltz have risen to the top. I think I am going to take a east coast and hustle class to give me a jump start so I don't have to waste time in the lesson figuring out where my feet go. Then I can focus on technique.

I wish I had a better place to practice.....I think I am wearing a rut in the floor. :D I have done a little Paso Doble too! Personally I like the stomp! he he I only decided about 3 weeks ago to compete. I attended the St. Louis Star Ball and came home with a Latin costume....I knew I was hooked!!!! My first comp will be in August. I am really excited...and nervous. I am a musician, so I have performed before. This time I will be glad to have someone out there with me! I just wish I could take lessons every day. I wish could quit my jobs and just dance.....wouldn't that be great? Alas, the rent has to be paid.

Good luck house hunting!

[learningtodancewell]

Alas, my job NOW SEEMS A LOT LESS INTERESTING than dancing... I, too, had work I had intended to do before 8:00 am Monday morning. It's not 8:00am Monday morning yet. :?

I just go forward on faith that such joy in my life is not an accident.

What could be more joyous than dancing soul to beautiful soul? :together:

That's how I feel about most of my partners, too. Not just my instructor, who is absolutely thrilling to dance with. The co-owner of the studio, whom I also love to dance with, said I will not get to sit down much at the group lessons! This because I am a male who is starting to dance well and the ladies seem to be noticing that, as predicted by the owner. :friend:
I am taking a ton of private lessons also. That's why my brain is full of all these steps.

I, too, am captivated by dancing. I have not had this much fun since I was 17 and spent the summer learning trampoline at a friend's home. What a blast that was! 8) I'm 49 and I'm trying to figure out how I can get bouncin' on a trampoline again.
I roller-bladed to work 2 weeks ago. (I'm not middle aged crazy, either. I just have ended up in a situation where all of this is feasible as far as career, family, etc. I'm footloose and fancy free.) My Nextel shaped bruise has healed very nicely. :oops: I will be skating to work again soon.

We are planning (I think) to compete May 29 in Naples, FL. The studio owner says all his amateurs sign up for 5 events in their first competition and then compete and say "I wish I signed up for 10!" Maybe we'll sign up for 10. :D :o :car:
BTW My instructor and I work in the same building and we gave an impromptu dance demonstration with no music. What fun that was! :D 8)
We did just a few steps from waltz, tango, mambo... maybe a few other steps. After the demonstration I gave a tango lesson to another employee until (about 2 minutes) her boyfriend came in to pick her up for lunch. :oops: :D That was no problem however.
I can't wait to give another demonstration for the folks who weren't there the last time. :D

It sure is fun sharing this with people who have the same excitement about dancing. I enjoyed the dance demonstration because we could show people we worked with how much fun we were having dancing.