The Professionals & Cons of Mirrors within the Studio — A Dancer’s Life

CON: don’t develop their very own dance fashion

A pupil’s dance fashion takes some time to excellent because it’s distinctive to them solely. As they develop and achieve expertise within the trade, they study from others and aren’t susceptible to copying one dance fashion (until suggested to when studying a method like Fosse). Though, college students can subconsciously replicate actions which prevents them from creating their very own fashion if that mirror will get in the best way. By encouraging college students to attend workshops and courses run by a myriad of academics, they gained’t simply replicate your fashion, as an alternative it’ll broaden their horizons.

So far as coaching instruments go, mirrors will be a superb support for college kids finding out dance, however similar to all coaching instruments, there will be disadvantages to mirrors in the event that they’re not used carefully. To cut back the potential for college students changing into depending on them, strive splitting your class in two teams to face one another and rehearse. This can problem college students to make use of their muscle reminiscence and really feel prompted by their friends dancing throughout from them. Do not forget that the important thing to a troupe that performs as a collective is how effectively they know one another, so that you’ll be stunned at how confidently a bunch performs with out mirrors after they construct that sense of belief outdoors of dance as effectively. Weeks previous to that dance examination, flip the scholars round to face a wall as an alternative of the mirror. This can help college students in with the ability to memorise the choreography with it embedded of their physique. They’ll then be capable of mechanically differentiate issues like a sickled and pointed foot by the way it feels, not by the way it appears to be like. Along with this, asking college students to right their method can educate them to establish and regulate positions versus getting within the behavior of mirroring them. To counteract the hazards of looking at your self within the mirror, encourage a wholesome perspective on physique picture by being intentional about your language when referring to college students our bodies. Our our bodies are fairly unbelievable, so by inserting emphasis on what they will do and never what they seem like, you may rejoice the distinctiveness of all physique varieties.

Sources:

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: A Dance Teacher’s Perspective

Article by Lara Divitcos

Images by Elly Ford

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