Want to Move like your favorite dancer? Here’s how!
As dancers, all of us have been inspired by someone before us.
This is true of any kind of creative, athletic, or artistic pursuit, really. At some point, we saw someone else doing it, and it blew us away. Dancing inspiration can come from many different sources, and learning to dance like your favorite dancers is a great way to keep your motivation strong and alive. It provides a clear, tangible example of progress that you can look at and feel proud of.
The problem is, it can also be daunting. More often than not, the people who inspired us did so because their skill level was so high, and their abilities so impressive. If you’re just starting out, it can feel impossible to ever reach that level.
Luckily, learning to take a few pages out of your favorite dancer’s book isn’t as hard as you might think. After all, like we discussed in our most recent video, all good dance movement ultimately comes back to the same fundamentals. If you can learn how your favorite dancers use those fundamentals, you can start your path towards learning to move like them.
So, how does a beginner learn to Dance like a pro?
First thing’s first. Who do you want to dance like? What person makes you point at the screen and say, “I want to move like that“? Are you inspired by musicians, like the King of Pop Michael Jackson, JLo, or tWitch? Or maybe famous actors like John Travolta, or Zendaya? Or even the famous dancers of the past, like Fred Astaire?
Once you’ve got an idea of who your biggest inspirations are, the next step is simple; watch them dance. Find as many videos of them moving as you can, and watch how they do it. But it’s not enough to just watch. After all, we’re studying now. Pay attention to *how* they move. This takes us back to those fundamentals we talked about in our video. Focus on their foundations and texture. Where are they moving from? Are they anchored around their heels, or on the balls of their feet? Are they popping and locking? Or are their movements more flowing? Do they pivot from the hips? The knees? What about their upper body?
These are all questions to be asking as you watch how they dance. The thing we’re looking for is how our favorite dancers apply those fundamentals to their movement. How do those fundamentals, and the way they’re used, add to the way that this person dances? After all, it’s that combination of foundation and texture that gives each dancer their unique vibe, and it’s that vibe that draws people in.
once we know what they’re doing, we can apply it ourselves.
So pick a dancer that inspires you, watch some videos of them, and pay attention to how they’re moving. If you think about the fundamentals, you’ll be able to spot how they use those, and how they lend themselves to that dancing you love so much. And that’s the first step to learning how to move and groove like your dance idols.
