Top 5 Ways to Improve your Hip Hop Dance Skills
Posted on 09. Nov, 2007 by chopper in home
Hey what’s crackin everybody?
I’m just chillin here at my studio, Ography Dance Studio enjoying my day. A lot of my students have been asking me how they can get better or how long is it going to take them to improve? Well I’ve put together a list of the top 5 things you can do to improve your dance skills and get to your desired goals even faster. So here we go:
1) Take Dance Class-there is no magic pill that you can take before you go to sleep to wake up a great dancer. But one of the best ways to ensure your success is to get into class. The more you take class on a regular consistent schedule, the more results you will see. Your muscle memory, coordination, and confidence will all continually improve each time you come to class. A lot of people have trouble picking up and remembering choreography. The more frequently that you take class, and learn new choreography, the easier picking up the moves becomes. And remember, class is a time to learn. Don’t come to class thinking you have to be good already. This is the time to mess up, ask questions, and develop your skills. As you learn from different teachers you will start to pick up on their style of hip hop. Soon you will be able to execute the movements very similar to them. And it’s not what you are doing, but how you do it that counts.
2)Watch Other Dancers- This is so important when you are wanting to improve your skills. No matter what you are doing in life, if you want to reach the top, look to the ones at the top as your inspiration and learn from them. Buy DVD’s of great dance performances and dance movies and watch them over and over. When I wanted to learn how to pop I used to watch DVD’s of Poppin’ Pete all the time over and over. Ask yourself, what are they doing that makes them look so good? What elements are they adding that make them stand out? Watch music videos and live performances. You will start to pick up on the vibe that the dancers are giving off.
3) Practice your Freestyle- Freestyle dance is an art within itself. It is important to frestyle so that you can learn your body and how it moves. The more you freestyle the more you become comfortable in your own skin. Everybody has their own vibe and being able to freestyle defines your style and your individuality as a hip hop dancer. So I strongly recommend freestyling. Stay tuned for my insiders secrets on how to become an amazing freestyler.
4)Ask Questions From Other Experienced Dancers and Choreographers- It is always good to go straight to the source and asking them how and why they do what they do. Ask questions like who inspired you to dance? When you dance what do you think about etc…. asking question lets you get into the minds of the experts and take you into their world. Dancing has a different meaning for everyone so knowing the reason why someone dances or why they dance a certain way can give you motivation to find your meaning and purpose for wanting to become an amazing hip-hop dancer. It also gives you guidance on what direction you want to go with dance.
5)Last and final tip… Listen to music- I bet you’re saying duhh I already do that. But I don’t just mean listen to music while it playing in the back ground. I mean sitting down and closing you eyes and dissecting each element that makes up the track. Here is where musicality comes into play. The most amazing dancers have great musicality. They hear instruments and sounds in a song that you never knew were there. In turn their movements give the track depth and bring the song to life making the dancer more interesting to watch. By developing your musicality your moves will be far more advanced and more people will love to watch you dance.
I hope you enjoy these tips, and feel free to hit me up with any of your questions or comments! Check out my class at my studio Ography Dance Studio in Hollywood www.ographydance.com. See you in class!
4 Responses to “Top 5 Ways to Improve your Hip Hop Dance Skills”
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bill & ruth
26. Jul, 2008
hi chopper,
just found you on you tube. class. in ireland . getting married next june. looking for alternative dance for our first dance and found your routines very helpful. thanks a lot. you make it so easy. well when we ve drink in us anyway. its 2 30 and ruth has me strutting my stuff around the sittingroom floor, not quiet perfected yet but getting there.will take a while more but at least we av until june 09. a great help and you re a cool dude,
thanks again
bill & ruth.
bill & ruth
26. Jul, 2008
ps… let us know if you have a dvd for sale. thanks.
by d way its now 2 44 am and ruth still has me strutting my stuff around the sittingroom!!!
thanks a lot !!!
rooroo
19. Oct, 2008
hey! this is an awsome crakin’ web site! but i have a question for the five ways to improve your danceing what what should we do if we dont know any expireced dancers sounds silly but i dont
jd
19. May, 2009
learn to use the mirror. if you dont like what you see, dont look away. all the more reason to watch yourself and make adjustments.
keep dancing through the entire class. even during the little breaks or while other people are freestyling. the more you repeat a move the more it will stick in muscle memory. its easier when the move is fresh.
every time you learn a move – try to change it up as much as you can. can you mirror the move – switch everything from left to right. can you take the move low, or high. can you spin the move. how many moves can you make out of each step you learn.
when you learn choreography, try to break it down into individul steps and then change up the steps. (see above)
youtube is a giant worldwide cypher. check and learn from funk styles from around the planet. watch competitions, and classes. there are also good tutorials.