Become a Contemporary Dancer Without Lessons
Many people would love to have the opportunity to dance, not everyone has the time or money to take classes. This article will help anyone to start learning to dance and go on to become a contemporary dancer - whatever their natural ability or talent. Get started at step number one below.
Contents
Steps
- Find a space in your house where you will be able to practice contemporary dance frequently. Maybe your bedroom has enough space, maybe you have a big room in your basement or maybe you can practice in your garden, everyone has a different practice place. Don't chose somewhere where other members of your family often are, such as the main family room as your family members may get annoyed if you are always dancing in front of the television.
- Learn moves and stretches to help you become a contemporary dancer. A perfect place for finding instruction is YouTube. Start by watching videos on how to do pirouette turns or any other moves you think look nice. Of course, without proper lessons it will be hard to know whether you are doing the moves correctly but the first thing to do is to master some good turns or tricky positions.
- Try to choreograph a dance to a piece of music on your phone or laptop once you've learnt some good moves. Practice at home with your dance and you will be learning more and more. Try to create good facial expressions to match the mood of your dance.
- Look up online classes on YouTube. These will often show you the correct foot and arm positions for turns or ballet steps. Be sure to use these tips and perform the correct positions in all of your moves. This will make your dancing more impressive to watch.
- If you want to be serious about dancing, you need to be stretching about three times a day to gain and maintain your flexibility. Below are stretches that will help you.
- Stand with your legs shoulder width apart. Slowly stretch down as far as you can go. This stretch should finish with your palms on the ground, head looking back through your legs. Hold it for five seconds, gradually moving up to thirty. Repeat this exercise with your legs together. Instead of palms on the ground your hands should be comfortably resting on your feet.
- Complete the next stretch. It is much like the first two except many people find it harder and you are sat down with your legs straight in front of you. Stretch over and attempt to grab your toes. Once you can do this, see how far past you feet you can go.
- If you want your dances to look more impressive, then gymnastics can be incorporated into the choreography. Flexibility is essential to a gymnast, which is why you need to be stretching daily.
- Know how to do a good handstand lumber. This looks impressive. You simply do a handstand, arch into a bridge and stand up. It is obviously a lot harder than it sounds but it looks impressive if pulled off correctly. Practice with a friend spotting you, doing handstands against your sofa. When you are good, arch you feet until they are on the sofa. Then, kick over until your feet are on the ground. Once mastered, try this without the sofa. The last part of this move is the recovering when you need to stand up which is hard. But try, try to try again and eventually you will succeed! Only do these if you are with someone who can do them and knows what they are doing!
- Learn how to do the splits. The splits also make a routine look good, so practice the splits each time you stretch and you will gradually improve. Do not push yourself too far otherwise you could pull or even tear a muscle.
- Practice at school or work. If you really want to get good at dance try practicing at lunchtimes with a good friend who also wants to dance. Some schools or work placed have dance rooms and most have empty rooms you can use at lunch times. Be sure to ask about them.
- Consider joining a school dance group, if you are still in school. Most schools have free dance groups and joining them will give you extra dance training and also maybe the opportunity to perform at events with the school.
- If you feel you really want to dance, then maybe you need to devote some time to it. You could leave that other club that is on the same night as dance, or leave a club you don't particularly like and use the money to pay for your dance lessons instead.
Tips
- Stretch everyday before you try dancing or gymnastics moves.
- When practicing at home, don't annoy other family members or pester them to help you practice 24/7 because it means they will be less keen to help you more often.
Warnings
- You will not be able to become a professional contemporary dancer following these steps.
Related Articles
- Do a Handstand Pirouette
