Getting Started Mark A. Sheldon and Didi von Deck

Some people seem to feel good dancers are born. But all good dancers I have known are taught or trained.  -Fred Astaire

What is training?

v. trained, train·ing, trains

v. tr.

To coach in or accustom to a mode of behavior or performance.

To make proficient with specialized instruction and practice. See Synonyms at teach.

To prepare physically, as with a regimen: train athletes for track-and-field competition.

[...]

v. intr.

To give or undergo a course of training: trained daily for the marathon.

[...]

Training is the process of manipulating our environment and behaviors so that desirable patterns become natural and easy and undesirable patterns become unnatural. Under stress, you will produce the desirable actions.

How do we train?

All living beings learn all the time: they respond and adapt to their environment. It is their nature: you cannot stop learning. Habituated patterns of behavior (including thoughts and emotional states) become automatic, natural, easy. Therefore, repetition is very important. Repetition is very important. Repetition is very important. Mindful repetition, that is.

An amateur practices something until he gets it right. A professional practices it until he can't do it wrong.  -Stephen Hillier

You learn the technique. Then you practice the technique until it becomes a part of you. Then you can forget about the technique and start to create.[approximate]  -Jacque Pepin

The first step in dance training is to realize that competitive dancing is a lifestyle, not something you do every now and again. The changes aren't necessarily difficult or radical, but this perspective is important.

The second step is to take every opportunity to reinforce desirable behaviors and to reduce undesirable behaviors. For example:

• Do not carry a backpack slung over one shoulder: every time you do this, you teach your body that the normal reaction to stress and weight in the arm is to lift up a shoulder. You want to teach your body to respond to weight by keeping the shoulders down.
• Try to maintain good posture always. If you slouch at a keyboard for 6 hours, then that is what your body will do when you relax. An hour or two of dance practice in a week will not overcome this.
• Walk and jog places, take the stairs whenever possible: the body will adapt to be more energetic. The idea that you should save energy for regular practices is completely wrong-headed. Given rest and nutrition, your body will change to support the energy demands placed upon it.

Dedicate some time every day, even if it's 20 minutes in the evening, specifically to dance. Ask yourself every evening “What did I do today to improve my dancing?” Don't go to sleep until you have a good answer.

Inspiration and visualization are very helpful. Watch good dancing as often as possible. Watch video tapes once a week, for example. Go to competitions and competitors' practices where good dancers are.

Training with a plan is better than training without a plan. A plan should include long, medium, and short term goals. Each practice should have one or two key things you'd like to accomplish.

The rest of the workshop is devoted to exercises that you can use both in daily training (which can usually be done without a partner) and as part of a structured dance practice.

Conditioning: Endurance, Flexibility, Strength, Coordination

You should do some of these every day, even twice a day. 15 to 20 minutes morning and evening is good. You can also do some throughout the day. The more you reinforce things, the better. Remember, your body is learning all the time: is it learning something helpful to your dancing or not?

Ballroom does not push the body to extremes of strength, flexibility, or endurance. These must be adequate, but are not ends in themselves. In the end, the most difficult part is coordination.

Endurance: Dance! Dance continuously. Allocate some of every practice to some continuous dancing, and try to do simulated competition rounds once or twice a week (attend a competitors' practice). Dancing 5 2.5 minutes songs in a row is one round. If you cannot dance on a given day, then at least get out of breath and sweat. If you are doing non-dance stamina training, then try to incorporate some dance elements. Inject some dance rhythms, run with a rotation in the upper body (forward and backwards), smile!

As you age, endurance training becomes more important.

Flexibility: Warm up before you stretch. The goal is to have enough flexibility to reduce the risk of injury. We will show you a few dynamic and static stretches.

Strength: Again, we need adequate strength, but we don't want to fixate on strength or do any body building. Do not overdo these exercises. Men: Do not do excessive strengthening exercises for the arms: no weights! Standard and smooth men cannot afford any excess bulk in the upper body.

Before we move on to coordination and kinesthetic awareness, we'll do a little warm up, stretch, and some sample strength exercises:

• Lets warm up with a little jogging.
• Stretch the neck, carefully.
• Hands behind the back, pull down.
• Foot exercises. Stand on a step. Relevé on two feet, each foot separately, eyes closed. Observe balance. Good posture/poise will help. Sway and shape in this position. Separate ankle and knee action. Careful not to injure your feet!
• Abdominals. Strength of the body core is vital! Abdominal exercises can be done every day. Important for standing leg action, posture, and balance. There are two mini crunches per drive (that's 128 crunches in 64 bars of waltz). One can do crunches for lower abs, obliques, upper abs (always in that order). A more coherent program is better. Here is a starting Pilates routine:
  1. The Hundred
  2. Roll-Up
  3. Leg Circles
  4. Rolling Like a Ball
  5. Single-Leg Stretch
  6. Double-Leg Stretch
  7. Spine Stretch
  8. Saw
  9. Side Kick
  10. Seal
• Back. Be careful! Lie on your stomach and pick up one arm and opposite leg, switch. 10 reps. Then pick up torso, hold, and go back down. Be careful not to strain your back, and don't do lots and lots of reps (maybe just 10). After you work on back, stretch your back by kneeling and rolling into a ball with your hips back.
• Arm support. (This is really coordination, but we need it for the next exercise.) Do not use your arm muscles to support your arms. Use lats and pecs. To feel this, stand in a doorway or have your partner hold your arms down by your side. Try to pick your arms up to the side. Do you feel the strain in your arms or your body? Practice this until you feel your body is supporting your arms. Note how much stronger you are this way; you will have much better endurance.
• Arm/body strength (for leaders). Do not over do this, and be sure you have mastered the previous exercise. Put light ankle weights on your left wrist and right wrist and/or elbow. Put on music and keep your arms up for 2 minutes, then rest a minute. Do 5 reps. Jog around the room and do mock quickstep or something to make it harder and more fun. Remember to use your body to hold the arms up.

Coordination/Kinesthetic awareness: We cannot over emphasize this! Pilates, the Alexander Technique, and Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement have all been very helpful tools for helping dancers gain awareness and control of their bodies. Be careful, however, about training in turnout of the hips and legs. Standard is not done with turnout.

There is a general pattern for teaching your body static positions or relationships. The beauty of this technique is that it is something you can do throughout the day.

1. Define the goal position and criterion for success (what you will look for in the mirror or what your partner, friend, or coach will check).
2. Get into position.
3. Check (using the criterion above).
4. Observe how you feel.
5. Relax.
6. Ensure you can't see what you're doing (close your eyes or do it away from a mirror).
7. Get into position.
8. Check.
9. Correct and pay attention to the correction and differences in feeling.
10. Repeat.

Exercises:

• Four blocks of weight lined up: vertical line from front of ear, through middle of shoulders, rib cage, pelvis, front of ankle. Bend at waist and roll up through spine to get into this position.
• Pelvis is vertical, not tucked under or pulled back. Put one hand on public bone, one on coccyx with fingers down. Your hands should not pitch forward or back, even when you swing your legs.
• Rotate blocks of weight independently.
• Arm line (swing dances/tango).
• E.
• E walks. CBMP.
• Rib cage use. Arm/shoulder line vs. ribcage.