Does a Different Place Disorient You?

[contracheck]

I practiced my showcase in my studio very hard, then had a showcase in a hotel ballroom which had a completely different shape (square vs retangular). I was completely disoriented and didn't know where I was in my dance sequence. My partner ket on telling me to face the audience and not the podium, which added more confusion under pressure. I had a similar experience in a competition which had different floor shape from the one I practiced on. Is this a common problem or a one that is limited to me. How can I solve this problem for future performance.

 

[mamboqueen]

It's limited to you.

Just kidding. I think as a leader, you have it tougher. I don't have that problem at all, but he's "driving the car".

 

[fascination]

actually, I don't have the problem at all in rhythym or latin, but I suspect this is more common to standard and smooth...ie...if you don't practice in a variety of ways, you tend to think of where you are in the routine based upon where you are on a long or short wall etc....I have a few routines that I am horrible with this ...my intl foxtrot has some similarites on the long and short wall...and (if I'm not letting him lead) I am just as likely to do the long wall choreography on the short...I think its a good idea to break up your choreography and the corner in which you start when you practice and also to run it in your head etc....so that you can cut down on it...I empathize...but the main thing is...as long as no one panics or at least one person is oriented in the moment, it doesn't have to be a big deal...but that out of control feeling sure makes it hard not to

 

[Anna]

I have that problem too (even as a follower), I can practice and practice and do a routine perfectly in one room, but as soon as I try to do it somewhere else I get confused. Sometimes I get confused even we start in a different corner of a room we've been practicing a lot in, so we try to rotate where we start.

In addition to practicing a ton, I'd recommend practicing in as many different rooms as possible and starting the routine in different parts of the room so you don't end up relying on visual cues to prompt you to do certain steps in certain parts of the room. I wonder if it would work to practice sometimes with your eyes closed?

 

[mamboqueen]

Yeah...I guess it's easier for latin/rythym folks.

 

[fascination]

exactly...practice it backwards, practice it somewhere else, practice it one wall at a time on the same wall...practice it angry, practice it in different shoes than usual...don't make any constant your deal breaker

 

[fascination]

Yeah...I guess it's easier for latin/rythym folks.

maybe not easier but definately not as likely to be learned and integrated with a particular spatial frame of reference in mind

 

[Anna]

Do you really practice your routines backwards?? Wow.

I also have the problem that I almost always screw up my routines at the first round of the first competition with new routines. Usually we've practiced the new routines very much, screw up in the first round, and do fine in the next rounds and at all the later competitions with the same routines (even if they're just a week or two later). So I guess ideally before competing you would go somewhere you've never been before to run through the new routines...

And I do better at remembering new routines at competitions where I've competed on the same floor before, even with completely different routines!

 

[caityrosey]

I do this all the time when learning a new routine. I often associate certain parts of my routine with a certain part of the room. Little things like the chairs in one corner of the room will remind me to do my develope, etc... and then when I am in another room I spend a little time confused until I am able to purge all of those geographical reminders.

 

[fascination]

Do you really practice your routines backwards?? Wow.

I also have the problem that I almost always screw up my routines at the first round of the first competition with new routines. Usually we've practiced the new routines very much, screw up in the first round, and do fine in the next rounds and at all the later competitions with the same routines (even if they're just a week or two later). So I guess ideally before competing you would go somewhere you've never been before to run through the new routines...

And I do better at remembering new routines at competitions where I've competed on the same floor before, even with completely different routines!

yes on all counts

 

[tanya_the_dancer]

I have that problem too (even as a follower), I can practice and practice and do a routine perfectly in one room, but as soon as I try to do it somewhere else I get confused. Sometimes I get confused even we start in a different corner of a room we've been practicing a lot in, so we try to rotate where we start.

In addition to practicing a ton, I'd recommend practicing in as many different rooms as possible and starting the routine in different parts of the room so you don't end up relying on visual cues to prompt you to do certain steps in certain parts of the room. I wonder if it would work to practice sometimes with your eyes closed?

Somehow I don't have this problem as a follower. I realized, though, that I have a tendency to close my eyes a bit to block out some visual distraction, especially when I am doing turns. Maybe that prevents me from tying my routine to the specific room.

 

[contracheck]

Yeah...I guess it's easier for latin/rythym folks.

Not quite, not quite. My biggest problem arose when we did around the world in a latin. I had not paid any attention to orientation but somehow I faced the podium backing the main body of audience. My partner raised hell that the only things the audience saw were my arse and her crotch, and this is very objectionable in dancing. My partner said that I should have faced the audience instead, and the audience should have seen my front and her nice circling around the world in lay back form. This orientation was difficult in a new dance hall for me and I was in a total tailspin. Until then, I never worried about orientation but this is something I have to keep in mind from now on. It never ends.

 

[delamusica]

For standard, practice your routine starting from different corners in the room. For latin, practice with different sides of the room as "front."

Even in the same room, if I start my standard routines too often from the same corner, I get disoriented starting from anywhere else. I need to start mixing it up almost as soon as I learn the routines to avoid mentally labeling the sides of the room 1 2 3 and 4.

For latin, it's an issue of figuring out where we need to position ourselves relative to the "front" at the beginning of each routine so that most of our moves face the audience near us.

So no, not just you.

 

[latingal]

I do this all the time when learning a new routine. I often associate certain parts of my routine with a certain part of the room. Little things like the chairs in one corner of the room will remind me to do my develope, etc... and then when I am in another room I spend a little time confused until I am able to purge all of those geographical reminders.

To avoid this problem (and therefore the dependence on a certain room) I always use my own body and my partner's body as my spatial reference. Yes, I still use the wall, but only as a point of reference, therefore it doesn't matter what wall I'm using.

 

[caityrosey]

To avoid this problem (and therefore the dependence on a certain room) I always use my own body and my partner's body as my spatial reference. Yes, I still use the wall, but only as a point of reference, therefore it doesn't matter what wall I'm using.

Certainly not something I would ever try to do. Just happens, and I don't even know I've done it until we're in a different room.