Disappointed at my first showcase video

[HoboChilli]

My studio finally released a DVD of our showcase. It is my first one. I've been attending my studio regularly Since January. I only had about 2 and 1/2 month to choreograph and practice our routine with my instructor.

On the video, I noticed I looked very stiff and not as animated and energetic as my instructor. I know when I look at it, I'm comparing it to all the So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars videos. Plus, my instructor have danced her entire life since she was in elementary school. She had also got a dance degree at one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges. I know I should be looking back at the progress I've made since I first started. I just wished I could be as entertaining as my instructor and have just as good technique. I don't know if its because it is my first showcase and the pressure of performing in front of a lot of people caused me not to perform as I hoped.

My instructor is excellent. She motivates me constantly being her cheery self. We spend our usual private lessons on patterns. Will asking her to incorporate some emphasis on technique in each private lesson improve my self faster?

Am I asking for too much from my self? To me, being able to remember a pattern and doing it on the dance store is just half-assing it. I feel I need to be just as good in technique. I don't want to think I know a pattern but in reality having my muscle memory learning bad habits that are hard to break later on.

 

[Corne]

Congrats on your first showcase. Well done.
Since i have never seen a video of myself dancing i would leave the reviewing your video comments to the more experienced.

 

[Terpsichorean Clod]

My studio finally released a DVD of our showcase. It is my first one. I've been attending my studio regularly Since January. I only had about 2 and 1/2 month to choreograph and practice our routine with my instructor.

On the video, I noticed I looked very stiff and not as animated and energetic as my instructor. I know when I look at it, I'm comparing it to all the So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars videos. Plus, my instructor have danced her entire life since she was in elementary school. She had also got a dance degree at one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges. I know I should be looking back at the progress I've made since I first started. I just wished I could be as entertaining as my instructor and have just as good technique. I don't know if its because it is my first showcase and the pressure of performing in front of a lot of people caused me not to perform as I hoped.

Don't be so hard on yourself. You really shouldn't expect yourself to look like someone who's been dancing most of her life. Still, it's good that that is motivating you to try to dance like she. Everyone here on Dance Forums is trying to do that, too. What keeps us sane is remembering that it will take us a lifetime.

By the way, I have only your description to go by, but I think your instructor should have tried harder to dance to your level.

My instructor is excellent. She motivates me constantly being her cheery self. We spend our usual private lessons on patterns. Will asking her to incorporate some emphasis on technique in each private lesson improve my self faster?

Am I asking for too much from my self? To me, being able to remember a pattern and doing it on the dance store is just half-assing it. I feel I need to be just as good in technique. I don't want to think I know a pattern but in reality having my muscle memory learning bad habits that are hard to break later on.

How about taking the most basic figure and telling her, "I want to spend the next month (or longer) trying to dance this one pattern as well as you." Then take the technique you've learned through working on that basic step and apply it to the other figures you know.

It sounds like you're already off to a very good start!

 

[blu]

My studio finally released a DVD of our showcase. It is my first one. I've been attending my studio regularly Since January. I only had about 2 and 1/2 month to choreograph and practice our routine with my instructor.

On the video, I noticed I looked very stiff and not as animated and energetic as my instructor. I know when I look at it, I'm comparing it to all the So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars videos. Plus, my instructor have danced her entire life since she was in elementary school. She had also got a dance degree at one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges. I know I should be looking back at the progress I've made since I first started. I just wished I could be as entertaining as my instructor and have just as good technique. I don't know if its because it is my first showcase and the pressure of performing in front of a lot of people caused me not to perform as I hoped.

My instructor is excellent. She motivates me constantly being her cheery self. We spend our usual private lessons on patterns. Will asking her to incorporate some emphasis on technique in each private lesson improve my self faster?

Am I asking for too much from my self? To me, being able to remember a pattern and doing it on the dance store is just half-assing it. I feel I need to be just as good in technique. I don't want to think I know a pattern but in reality having my muscle memory learning bad habits that are hard to break later on.

Congratulations.

First of all, being able to take private lessons regularly from a seasoned dancer will make you a better dancer quicker than you would think.

Secondly, I think everyone is their own worst critic. You should, instead, be motivated to get better and be proud you accomplished so much in such a short time.

Third, technique is the hardest thing for me, too (and everyone else, I'd imagine). You will get it. Just keep trying!

Practice does make perfect!

 

[White Chacha]

I remember seeing a video of myself after an early showcase. It was devastating. For a week I was sure I'd quit. Four years later, I'm still at it

 

[fascination]

Don't be so hard on yourself. You really shouldn't expect yourself to look like someone who's been dancing most of her life. Still, it's good that that is motivating you to try to dance like she. Everyone here on Dance Forums is trying to do that, too. What keeps us sane is remembering that it will take us a lifetime.

By the way, I have only your description to go by, but I think your instructor should have tried harder to dance to your level.

How about taking the most basic figure and telling her, "I want to spend the next month (or longer) trying to dance this one pattern as well as you." Then take the technique you've learned through working on that basic step and apply it to the other figures you know.

It sounds like you're already off to a very good start!

yes...to all of this sound advice

 

[contracheck]

My studio finally released a DVD of our showcase. It is my first one. I've been attending my studio regularly Since January. I only had about 2 and 1/2 month to choreograph and practice our routine with my instructor.

On the video, I noticed I looked very stiff and not as animated and energetic as my instructor. I know when I look at it, I'm comparing it to all the So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars videos. Plus, my instructor have danced her entire life since she was in elementary school. She had also got a dance degree at one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges. I know I should be looking back at the progress I've made since I first started. I just wished I could be as entertaining as my instructor and have just as good technique. I don't know if its because it is my first showcase and the pressure of performing in front of a lot of people caused me not to perform as I hoped.

Your experience is quite NORMAL. Were you expecting a miracle? You did well. At least your mind did not go blank and did not know where you were on the floor and what your next steps were. Reviewing your own tape with your coach is one of the most powerful lesson because you will not forget about your errors; it will give you the resolve to fix thse errora ta all cost. In this way, we iron out our unsightedly steps and make progresses inch by inch at snail's pace. I asked an active (i.e., not retired) Blackpool Latin finalist the other day to watch my Paso competition showcase tape and coach me how to make my Paso perfect. He even demonstrtaed Paso in Blackpool Congress with Mrs. Fletcher. He looked right into my eyes and said, "I have been dancing for 30 yrs under world's best coaches, but my Paso is still not perfect." I beleive that you may have to perform a thousand showcases to be satisfied with your performance.

 

[sewbusy]

My general rule of thumb for watching myself: unless you are used to seeing yourself on tape, it's always a shock! Watch it at least 3 times. Once you get used to seeing yourself you will feel better. And I did my first showcase after 4, 1/2 hour lessons. It was a Swing. Talk about stiff! But after watching myself on subsequent videos for 2+ years now, the shock has worn off and I can be more objective.
Give yourself time, lots of it. And like Ed told me, let the technique create the dance (story, styling). When he is judging, he said if he is looking at two people with equal technique, he will choose the one who's dancing matches the music. So work hard on technique but let the music move you on the floor. And I'm preachin' to myself here, also!
Good for you! Moving out of your comfort zone to experience dance!

 

[Josh]

We all feel this way. How about asking your coach if she ever felt that way... guess what her response will be..

My advice would be to forget this video. Then, wait until after your next showcase. Watch that video. You will feel disappointed again. Then bring out the old video (your current one), and watch it. You will suddenly feel a little better about yourself and your dancing.

The point is, we are NEVER happy with where we ARE, but if we can compare where we are to where we were, then suddenly we see progress and that motivates us to look and dance even better for the next video/comp/social/whatever.

As for emphasis on technique, that's really what private lessons should be about. Of course, to have some context for study figures are learned, and rightly so. But patterns can be learned in a group class, or even by watching videos. There's nothing spectacular in that. There could be a couple of things happening in your case:

1. Your coach may not be a very good teacher, though she's a good dancer--unlikely if your description of her is accurate, but possible
2. You are actually learning some technique, but that technique has not "set in" yet and has not been identified by your coach as "technique", so you don't recognize it as such--remember that technique at your (beginner) level will only take you to the next level, not allow you to jump 18 levels and be in that place where you want to be in your mind

The technique required for you to be where you want to be (again, you must be realistic here) will come, and your teacher is probably trying to give you enough figures so that you can actually dance a bit and have a context for study. For example, when you first learn a latin dance a teaching emphasis on footwork should be limited to making sure the student steps on the balls of the feet. Then, we talk about turnout. Then, pointing and foot articulation is introduced. These concepts come gradually--I would never even mention ankle articulation or foot strength if a student is still taking even one single heel lead in a latin dance in a whole hour.

The reason for this gradual progression is obvious, but it eludes us sometimes when we want to be good yesterday. The mind can only handle so much conscious thought at a time. Add physical activity to that and it becomes even harder. If I told you to circle your left foot clockwise, wiggle your right toes, open and close your left fist, and make a waving motion with your right hand, you couldn't do it the first time. But do any one of those things on its own, and you can do it with ease. Keep doing that one thing over and over, and eventually it will become muscle memory, and thus you free up conscious thought, and you can work on another physical activity while doing that one. Repeat this process, and soon you can do all four simultaneously without thinking about it--that's the secret of beautiful dancers that eludes many beginners--they're not thinking about it, because their body just moves that way, from constant repetition.

I'm sorry, call me Mr. Tangent. Oye...

 

[waltzgirl]

My advice would be to forget this video. Then, wait until after your next showcase. Watch that video. You will feel disappointed again. Then bring out the old video (your current one), and watch it. You will suddenly feel a little better about yourself and your dancing.

Better yet, watch the old tape first, then the new one won't be so disappointing. You'll see the progress right away and have something to be pleased about. That's what my pro advised me to do and it really helps.

 

[SPratt74]

I think that you are being much to hard on yourself. I only had three months to prepare for my first showcase. I wasn't able to get into the studio as much as I'd like to have done. I did two solos, and probably spent a good six hours on each if that during the whole three months. I could only take the lessons as I could afford them. So, to me, I did really well. The fact that I could even remember the steps to me was amazing!

I would say to think about all that had gone into it first before comparing yourself to the, So You Think You Can Dance dancers. I think that for a first showcase, you should just look at it as a learning tool and keep it to remember how far you have come for your next video. Some of the dancers on the show are professionals anyways, so there is no reason really to compare yourself to them right now. If I did that, then I would probably not be to happy about my dancing. But I for one, will not compare myself to other people dancing, because I know what I've gone through to get this far, and I'm proud of myself for that.

In fact, what I plan on doing with my video is that I'll show it when I have another video of my current dancing. Then they can see the difference in how far I've come. That in itself will be exciting for me!

 

[HoboChilli]

Thanks to everyone for the upbeat motivation. I should be enjoying the process; the journey. The end result happens in an instant; a blink of the eye and its all over. Its the journey that tells the story where I've been and whom I've become.

Thanks again.

 

[waltzgirl]

Even if you're comparing yourself to the "stars" on DWTS, keep in mind that they generally have a *minimum* of training about fours hours a day for at least four weeks before the show starts, or at least 80 hours of training. You'd have to be taking 3-4 lessons a week over 6 months to equal that. If you're not, that comparison is really unfair to you.

 

[danceronice]

I have three weeks to prepare for my first showcase, assuming it'll even be ready for when it's supposed to be ready. (If that pro is reading this, as he well may be: I have total confidence in YOU. It's me I'm worried about.) It's bronze-level Am. rhumba, so it's not like it's rocket science, but still.

As for videos--well, I cannot watch the video of my first comp in February at this point. It makes me want to curl up and die. My poor pro (at the time) is trying--one of the things I admire about him is I have never seen him "dance down" with a student during a comp, he's always giving it everything he has and he was trying to do that with me--but he's basically having to shove me and pull me across the floor. I'm obviously petrified. It DID make watching the video from Manhattan much easier, as by comparison I look SO much better. I'm still not very good, but I'm improving. The next video will hopefully be even easier to watch, and so on.

 

[Josh]

It's bronze-level Am. rhumba, so it's not like it's rocket science, but still.

As for videos--well, I cannot watch the video of my first comp in February at this point. It makes me want to curl up and die.

Well, to be honest, bronze american rumba is essentially no more or less challenging than any other level or style of rumba--in fact, it is often quite more challenging, as this is the level where you (hopefully) pick up your fundamental technique, much of which carries over to other latin dances, and even smooth/standard.

I had to examine some old choreography from a show I did a while back, and it made me cringe--I know the feeling... so vain we are, dancers ;-) (lol, not really--we just want to look good--and who can blame us for that?)