Remembering Routines and Choreography

[pygmalion]

How do you do it? I was just at another web site where an engineer (it figures!) has formulated his own system of dance notation to aid in remembering dance steps. Interesting. I wonder if anybody's out there using it. Hmm.

That said, every routing I've ever done has involved at least six or seven iterations, because nobody ever remembers exactly what we did last time. Writing it down in words gets you close, but no cookie.

Any tips or pointers? What system do you use, if any?

 

[Chris Stratton]

I generally don't bother too much... it's only been fairly rarely that I've tried to do a fixed block of new material big enough that memorizing it takes substantial effort seperate from simply doing it enough times to make some progress on the technical issues. There's also the relaxing freedom of knowing that if I do space out or forget I will by reflex lead something moderately sensible, and perhaps even legal.

In general though, I do think it's easier to remember things if you can break them into pieces you already know. Instead of 3 to 6 actions, you have a figure name. Or in the context of smooth or open variations, sometimes something that at least resembles a familiar figure - "and now the hover cross thingy"

 

[Vince A]

Memorizing routines comes fairly easily for me . . . I learned how to memorize quickly from being . . . God, I hate to admit it . . . "a line dancer!"

Same thing for doing patterns to a specific dance . . I can usually see someone dancing right next to me . . . they do a cool pattern that I've never done before . . . and immediately, I try it and in most cases . . . can do it right then!

I've also been doing this for quite a few years!

I know a certain Pro who teaches his students by counts . . .
1-2-3-4-5-6, 2-2-3-4-5-6, 3-2-3-4-5-6, 4-2-3-4-5-6, etc . . . and on every count the head, the arms, the eyes, the elbows, the up, the down, the toes pointing, . . . everything, etc has to be executed on that count . . . and that is how you memorize his choreography. YEOW!

 

[Hank]

I've run across lots of people who want to write things down. I can only assume that their brains are wired differently from mine. For me, words in dancing mean very little, and dancing is purely a visual, feeling, and musical experience. I probably know the names of 5% of the patterns that I do. Even in a dance like international standard, where every pattern is laid out in the manual, I know the names of maybe 4 patterns/dance.

Upon first learning choreography, I videotape it, and then watch the video a few times until it's firmly in my mind.

 

[mamboqueen]

When I first started learning to dance (socially), we learned steps. So, for instance, in a one-hour group class, we would learn two (i.e.,) swing steps in one night. They weren't particularly focused on technique (which caused problems for me later on), so it wasn't that hard to learn that way. When I got to my present studio, and they started with routines, it wasn't too difficult to remember the routine because the lower-level stuff was frequently a series of the "steps" I had previously learned.

Now that I am learning latin and (soon) standard, it is different because the technique is different, as are the steps and in some cases, the timing. So, I feel like my brain is ingesting a lot more and I go back and forth between "do I learn the routine, step by step and then focus on the technique"? or, "do I focus on the technique and follow along until I commit the routine to memory?".

 

[Vince A]

Hank,
Thanks for reminding me . . . video taping IS A MUST!

Although sometimes it can prove harmful, most times it definitely helps the memorization processing . . .

How can it be harmful??? I video tape our routines . . . and watched them over and over and over and over and over . . . then replayed them over and over in my head at bedtime . . . then everything is in the mind and muscle memory is the only thing left to train.

Two weeks before the comp, my Pro says . . . "Vince, I sightly changed the routine in this one part, and we need to . . . ." Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Now I panic . . .

 

[Chris Stratton]

Two weeks before the comp, my Pro says . . . "Vince, I sightly changed the routine in this one part, and we need to . . . ." Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Now I panic . . .

Just nod your head and then lead whatever you want when it counts ;-)
Then you'll see who panics!

 

[Laura]

If I'm always practicing with a partner (or dancing with my teacher), then I don't have trouble remembering the routines because I can remember by "feel" and also it's the guy's job to lead so who am I to say if he forgot something or make a mistake or changed it on purpose? However, since my partner is out of commission for two more months and I'm only dancing with my teacher, I need to practice, and the only way I can practice right now is solo. So I have to know my routine completely, and understand the transitions, and timings, etc etc. I write them down...if something has a name I use it, otherwise I give it a name so I can recall what it is. I'll also write down the timing if it's syncopated, and other notes such as "turning to shadow" or "make sure I come out on the left foot" etc etc etc. It helps me a lot when I go to practice, and after I've practiced enough I can do it all from memory and by solo feel. It takes a while though...I'm working through my Pro/Am Smooth routines and although the routines are fairly simple (let's say Silver level), putting it all together isn't since I'm relatively new at Smooth.

 

[cl5814]

During the dance camp i attended recently most of us were part of routines that we performed the last night of the camp. It was interesting how much you can learn in just 4 hours. Our cha-cha routine was a bit chaotic partly because the moves didn't flow naturally for me, the group ended with a short routine of less than a minute. Our tango routine were 1:40 min and things flowed nicely, we repeated part of our routine which helped as well. The instructors had a lot to do with it......... We had our tango routine mostly within the first two hours and the last two hours were spend rehearsing.
We received written notes on our tango routine from our instructor and she even wrote the same words she talked us through in class during the routine. The proverbial names for steps you guys mentioned. Worked wonders.

 

[dancin_feet]

Committing choreography to memory has always been relatively easy for me. I don't know why or how it just sticks in my mind, but it does. We have had situations where something in a routine has been changed to make it work better, and from one week to the next, I am the only one out of the group that remembers it!

I think having a piece of music that means something and isn't repetitive can help a lot. If you choreograph to music that section of the song becomes a particular step and makes it easier to remember. For showcases, the instructors usually write down any choreography at the end of the lesson, to both help them remember what was done (with 8 routines to choreograph, my instructor is going to need some gentle prompting this time around!) and also if anything happens and another instructor has to take over the routine, the basic outline is there for reference. Words don't mean a lot to me, I remember the movement.

Choreographing a routine to be done to any music would be more difficult as you don't have the hints in the music to remind you.

 

[Kitty]

Two weeks before the comp, my Pro says . . . "Vince, I sightly changed the routine in this one part, and we need to . . . ." Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Now I panic . . .

Just nod your head and then lead whatever you want when it counts ;-)
Then you'll see who panics!

 

[Sania]

Whenever I get new choreography, I videotape it. Typically, if I practice soon after the lesson, I'll remember it, but if not, I can refer to the tape. This doesn't typically cause a problem if something changes, because I tend to think of the change as a section that is replacing an old section, if that make sense

Sania

 

[Vince A]

Two weeks before the comp, my Pro says . . . "Vince, I sightly changed the routine in this one part, and we need to . . . ." Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Now I panic . . .

Just nod your head and then lead whatever you want when it counts ;-)
Then you'll see who panics!

Been there, done that whe she forgot the routine . . . L&F all the way through the last minute of the 90 second routine!!! Don't know if she actually hit the panic button, but she did get very pale!

 

[Chris Stratton]

Been there, done that whe she forgot the routine . . . L&F all the way through the last minute of the 90 second routine!!! Don't know if she actually hit the panic button, but she did get very pale!

Okay, now step 2 is to do it a bit differently every time...

 

[fascination]

best approach to learning new choreography

okay guys...I've got 4 open smooth routines, at least sort of (some of it remains in the not done fiddling around with it stages)..but at any rate, it's alot of new stuff...what is some of your learned wisdom about how to approach new choreo particularly open stuff...how much of it would you work on in a day?...do you walk through it first for recall? ...and about how long do you think you need to work new routines before you try them on a comp floor?