Dancers are athletes. Serious dancers are serious athletes. If you don’t believe me dance real hard for two or three hours one afternoon and see if your muscles aren’t sore the next two days. And if you’re using muscles you don’t normally use – like in powwow dancing – you’re going to be really sore!
Dancers, like all athletes, must train & practice, practice & train. In this process not only are the dancers learning the necessary skills, they are establishing “muscle memory”. Muscle Memory is where the various muscle groups in the body have been through the same movement/motion time and time again – so many times that when the motion is required the movement happens automatically. Like catching the ball at First Base and throwing the runner out at Home. It’s all happening so fast there isn’t time to think. The muscles/movements need to be well practiced so that the required actions happen as a reaction to the situation; in split-second timing.
This is very true for actions on the dance floor; there isn’t time to think. The body just has to do what the body has been trained to do – and that is DANCE! I can see when a dancer is thinking “what should I do now?!?”, just as I can see when a trained and practiced dancer is simply moving to the music. Which dancer do you think is going to make it to the Top Ten, dancing on the stage at NOAC?
There is NO substitute for PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!! None. Today is the time for training. Teach your muscles what they need to know so that your movements and choreography will be as smooth and confident as possible. Then, when you’re on the dance floor during the next competition, you‘ll be able to do your very best and enjoy the event.
How do I know this, you might ask? I competed at the 1977 NOAC and won first place. It took some very serious dedication on my part and lots of preparation to accomplish this feat. I got as much help as I could possibly find and I worked hard at being the best I could possibly be. I learned the music – being able to stop on the last beat – every time, I practiced my dance moves and worked on my dance clothes. Keep in mind this is before the tremendous resource of digitally recorded music and video, the Internet, YouTube, etc., etc.
And I’m not finished with the world of dance. These days I’m studying Argentine tango – talk about challenging! This is social dancing, not the showy ‘ballroom’ stuff. I have 6 hours of class/lessons with as many hours of practice – EVERY week! My muscles are sore most of the time. I listen to the music constantly, because in tango, just like in powwow dancing, you have to be able to stop on the last beat. Added to learning how to move my own body, I have to learn how to contend with ‘leading’ my partner – who is pressed up against me and is supposed to be following my movements. In this dance if you’re not any good, the good ladies won’t dance with you! Plain and simple.
(Here’s a peak at my current goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ND2ByUxpfU&feature=related )
So, fellow athletes, let’s continue to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!
It’s bound to make us better!
Tim Caster
