Practice program for an Am-Am couple preparing for comp?

L

little_mouse

Member
Hello!

I have partnered for the first time with another Amateur and we are focusing on standard. We have a goal to do a small local comp this October.

I would like to prepare in the best possible way for October. We meet 2, sometimes 3 times per week right now to practice.

Sometimes we stand there together and scratch our heads trying to think of what we should work on ("oh, here's some waltz music playing, let's dance some waltz" etc). I guess that's the limitation of not having a teacher with us.

Are there any drills or exercises you would suggest during our practice time? How would you format a 1 hour practice session?

I guess I'm trying to find a cadence for our time together because October will be here before we know it and I want to be as ready the best we can.

We will be dancing bronze standard entries. We will also share the cost of a few lessons with a teacher during the summer/fall.

Thanks for any tips you can give on structuring a practice.
 
A few questions to help situate the advice:
Which of the standard dances are you planning to do? Do you take group classes? How many private lessons can you afford between now and the competition? Do you ever practice alone, or is it always together?
 
Thank you FancyFeet. Here's more info:

We will be dancing W T F Q. We both take a standard group class twice a week (sometimes there's also sliver level smooth). I usually go to social parties when I can on weekends or dance volunteer outreach events (like dancing for seniors at assisted living places, which is strictly lead-follow with unknown partners). We would probably do 8-10 lessons with a teacher before October. I know that's not much but that's probably all we'll get to do. We also just finished a int'l Foxtrot solo routine in a spring showcase, which went well not to mention there being some advanced figures in it that we won't be doing in bronze level comp heats.

Hope this helps.
 
I'd say it's also important to decide on how you'd like to approach the competition. If you decide to have routines, and most do, then schedule some of your lessons sooner rather than later to get the choreography set (or if you have it/made it up already, to check that it respects syllabus rules). Filming them or writing them down can help you remember. In my experience, pros are also happy to discuss a "lead up to competition" plan as part of your lesson. Then I'd space the remaining lessons wider apart for check-ins, technique tips, etc.

To add to the above, I'd say that you'll need to do a bit of playing to figure out how practice should be structured for you - it can be a very personal thing. For example, if I have 2 hours (sorry, I don't have a model for a one-hour practice!), I like: warm-up; 20 or so minutes of drills; 30 or so minutes working slowly through a part of one dance, focussing on just one or two technique elements, then a few run throughs of the part I've been working at speed incorporating the technique fixes I've been working on, then the whole routine for that dance; repeat step 3 for a second dance; cool down and strech. When closer to comp, I'll add run throughs of my other routines I didn't do the slow work on prior to cooling down and streching. We have other dancers at the studio though that work their dances in 10-minute or less chunks, and still others that do almost all run-throughs, stopping to fix as required.

Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with working on the basics during practice - and, really, dancers of all levels do it (and we should probably all do it more :)). For waltz: natural, change step and reverse; FT: Feathers, threes, reverse and natural turns, Tango: simple walks... if these basics are well practiced and beautifully danced they will show on the floor and you'll do great.
 
Thank you for your replies, this will help us a great deal! Unfortunately, we don't trust ourselves enough to do routines (he said if he gets a brain freeze or gets stuck in traffic, what happens to the routine), so we're only doing lead-follow at this comp. Maybe as our confidence grows stronger as a couple that might change.
 
little_mouse said:
Thank you for your replies, this will help us a great deal! Unfortunately, we don't trust ourselves enough to do routines (he said if he gets a brain freeze or gets stuck in traffic, what happens to the routine), so we're only doing lead-follow at this comp. Maybe as our confidence grows stronger as a couple that might change.
Click to expand...

I hope leaders will chime in on this, but I think that having a simple routine helps to prevent "brain freezes", but with the understanding that if he leads something different, you follow what he leads.
 
little_mouse said:
I'm sorry I don't know very much right now, but what's a "back open pp"?
Click to expand...
It's a silver step, which is probably why you're not familiar with it by name. (And yes, pp is promenade here.) There's not really any reason you couldn't learn it for the purpose of exercises if you wanted.
 
RiseNFall said:
I hope leaders will chime in on this, but I think that having a simple routine helps to prevent "brain freezes", but with the understanding that if he leads something different, you follow what he leads.
Click to expand...

Agreed on this. I'm a follow normally, but on the rare occasions that I do lead (though never in competition), having a short routine or amalagamations that I can mix and match help me greatly - the next step or figure flows automatically, and all I have to think about is giving a clear lead, floorcraft (so altering the direction a bit, etc.) and matching my step length for my follow. If I also had to be thinking about what was next the whole time, my head might explode... and there's no way I'd be looking calm and relaxed!
 
Personally I like routines since it's potentially one less thing to be thinking about. But there are dedicated threads on that topic.
 
A short routine may help get the movements into muscle memory. I think of them like training wheels. You've got to take them off at some point. Otherwise you end up like the guy I see at the studio who has to start his routines in a particular corner. If someone gets in the way then he has to go back to to _that_ corner to restart.
 
I don't wish to threadjack, but any tips or specifics on how other rhythm am-am couples practice, I'd love to hear! Right now, my DP and I break routines down, run routines, and do rounds, but a common warm up would be smart, I'm sure. Thanks in advance!
 
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