CHOREOGRAPHY OVERLOAD

Unfortunately, we have all seen it, and it is not pretty.  The problem: choreography that is way over the dancer's head. Whether it be with the style or the technical elements, pushing a dancer too far beyond their reach for a performance is never a good idea. There is a time and place for giving students opportunities to master new challenges, but competition performance pieces are not the proper avenue for this learning to take place. Before putting a competitive piece onstage to be critiqued by a panel of adjudicators, make sure that the dancers have successfully achieved all that is required of them to score well. This is good advice for any level of competition.  Whether that be recreational (even though I personally loathe that word) to highly competitive, it is critical to nail the number before performing it in front of an audience.

I have found that often times dancers, parents, and unfortunately, sometimes even the studio owner or teacher, try to get the dancers from A to D without mastering B and C first. Style requires practice and training just like technique. Transitions require training too. Some people may be under the impression that just because an outside choreographer's students or work looks a certain way on some dancers that it will look the same on their dancers. This could not be further from the truth. Dancers must put in the hours of hard work in their training as well as energy and focus on style well before the choreography lesson begins. (To read more on this, visit my blog post "Trust the Process".)

When setting a piece for dance competitions, keep in mind that the dance can only be scored on what the dancers do, not on what they don't do. What I mean by this, for example, is points cannot be deducted on turns in second if they are not in the piece, but if they are included and executed poorly, many points will be deducted. They same goes for style. Certain styles look good on some dancers, and certain styles do not look so hot. If a style doesn't work for a dancer, or a group of dancers, keep working in class until it comes together. Just because students aren't ready for a particular type of dance now doesn't mean you stop working towards that goal. You just compete a different type of dance until the goals are achieved in the learning environment first.

Unfortunately, an exorbitant amount of pressure can be placed on outside choreographers to give dancers technical elements they are not yet ready for or a style that really doesn't suit them the best. Sometimes, parents and dancers can also place this pressure on guest artists and/or their weekly teachers. This never ever is a good idea and will never work out in your favor. When the choreography is well above the level of the dancer(s), no one wins. The dancers don't thrive or shine. The studio doesn't stand out in a positive light. The choreographer doesn't fare so well either. When hiring a guest artist, the best thing to do is not give tell them what you are hoping the dancers will be able to do, but rather their actual skill level. Just be completely honest about their abilities with flexibility, footwork, style, transitions, and technique. Everyone will be much happier in the long run. If a guest artist or a dancer's regular teacher, is pressured to do a job a certain way, more often than not, they will do the job as requested but the outcome probably won't turn out the way one would want.

Moral of the story....Train and work to perfect technique and style in class before attempting it in choreography. Everyone will be happier in the long run! The dancers will be better. The competition results will be more favorable. The overall appearance of the studio, studio owner, teachers, dancers, and even the choreographer will be more appealing. Everything takes time, dedication, and hard work. Dance isn't easy. YOU earn every bit of what you do. Enjoy the process, then savor your success.

Dance hard. Dance smart.

Meredith

To read more from Meredith on this topic, visit thecompetitiveedgebymeredith.blogspot.com, and look for "Trust the Process". 

FOLLOW MEREDITH ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

Instagram: competitiveedgebymeredith
Facebook:Meredith Pennington
Facebook: The Competitive Edge by Meredith

Twitter: @the_comp_edge