Why should you teach dance improvisation?

 

If you knew me early on in my dance career, you’d probably be shocked that a big portion of my blog is devoted to teaching and practicing dance improvisation. I was terrified of improvisation as a young dancer, and becoming comfortable with improv took time, persistence, and some really great teachers. Which is why I have worked hard to become the best dance improvisation teacher I can be for my own dance students.

Over my 20+ year career as a dance teacher, it has become essential to teach dance improvisation, and to teach it well. Dancers may be asked to improvise at auditions, as part of a competition, during convention classes, at workshops, during summer intensives, in rehearsals, and even on stage during choreography. It is our job as dance teachers to help our students become comfortable with improvisation so that they are prepared to encounter it throughout their careers. In addition to being a vital career skill, dance improvisation can also help students develop important life skills that will benefit them outside the studio. Dance students learn adaptability, decision making, confidence, self-expression, communication skills, creativity, and more through dance improvisation.

 

What is dance improvisation?

 

Dance improvisation is spontaneously creating movement, without pre-planning any steps or choreography. Dancers move freely, without relying on set movement patterns. In improvisation dancers may aim to create new, original movement, or to use familiar movements in unique ways. Dancers may use improvisation prompts, activities, or exercises; input from the music; their internal feelings; or their relationship with other dancers to guide their movement choices while improvising.

 

What are some examples of dance improvisation?

 

Improvisation is used across a range of dance genres, including in social and concert dance forms. In some dance styles, improvisation is part of the technique and artistry of the form, closely related to its history and development. Other styles use improvisation as a tool for creating choreography. Structured improvisation, based on a score of movement prompts, can be presented as part of a dance performance. Improvised dance can be part of religious rituals, cultural traditions, rites of passage, and social celebrations. Some dance forms that use improvisation include:

• Tap
• Jazz, especially authentic jazz dance
• Lindy Hop, Swing, Blues, and other jazz-rooted social dance forms
• Latin social dances such as salsa, mambo, merengue, rumba, and bachata
• Belly Dance
• Contact improvisation and post-modern dance
• Breaking and other dance forms in the Hip Hop family
• Contemporary

 

What are the benefits of dance improvisation?

 

Dance improvisation is an important skill for dancers of all ages, levels, and dance genres. Dance improvisation can help dance students to:

• Apply dance concepts, steps, and skills in their own ways
• Develop self-awareness
• Improve their understanding of musicality
• Work on performance skills such as embodying a mood, emotion, character, or story through personal movement choices
• Learn how to recover from mistakes, falls, or flubs in performance
• Discover their own style, expression, and perspective as a choreographer
• Experience meaningful self-expression and emotional release
• Develop greater levels of confidence as they become comfortable moving in their own ways
• Become empowered through the process of making movement choices, learning to trust their own instincts as a dancer and performer
• Be freed from the expectation of perfection that is so common in dance training, enabling them to find joy and a greater sense of self through movement

How is dance improvisation taught and practiced?

 

What skills are needed to be successful in dance improvisation?

 

There are a number of skills that can help dancers become successful improvisers, Dance teachers should create improv prompts, activities, and exercises that help students develop these skills.

• Coordination – being able to move parts of the body independently and collectively
• Spatial awareness – understanding how their body moves through and relates to space
• Effort – understanding different energy qualities and how to use them in their movement
• Musicality – tempo, rhythm, dynamics, and interpretation of the music
• Being able to transition intentionally between movements
• Being present in the moment – not pre-planning the next movements
• Listening to and understanding the objective and directions of the prompt, activity, or exercise
• Self-awareness – knowing your personal movement habits
• Growth mindset – being open to challenging your personal movement habits and develop new skills
• Being comfortable dancing individually or with a group, as directed by the activity
• Grit – the ability to persist despite challenges or set backs

Work on you improv skills with the tips in this blog post: Simple Ways to Improve Your Dance Improvisation Skills

 

 What are the challenges of teaching dance improvisation?

 

In my experience, the biggest challenge of teaching dance improvisation is that improv can be difficult for many students, even those with extensive dance experience. Some dancers are uncomfortable making up their own movements, because they are so used to being given combinations and choreography. Other dancers might be comfortable improvising in private, but get nervous at the prospect being watched by a teacher or other dance students.

Inexperienced improvisers might feel silly making up their own movement on the fly. Advanced students might find themselves stuck in their own movement habits, and don’t know how to break them. Other dancers find themselves trying to emulate the teacher’s style in an effort to do what they think is expected of them. Still others simply do not know yet how to move in a way that is unique to them because they haven’t had practice doing so.

For any these reasons and many more, a lot of dancers will end up “improvising” by copying movement they’ve seen before on TV or in performances, or stringing together dance steps and patterns they’ve learned in class. This robs them of the true improvisation experience: moving freely and spontaneously in a way that is unique and authentic to their own bodies.

As educators, it is our job to help our students overcome these anxieties and habits, and expose them to a range of dance improvisation tactics and techniques that can help them find their true movement potential. By following some best practices for teaching dance improvisation, we can provide the support and encouragement our students need to become comfortable and confident improvisers.

 

What are some best practices for teaching dance improvisation?

 

The best way that we can help our students become comfortable and confident improvisers is to be clear and purposeful in our teaching of dance improvisation. Telling dancers to “Just improvise!” or “Just feel the music and move!” or “Just do what you are feeling!” is usually not as helpful or freeing as we think it is. In my experience, when students are given vague directions such as to “feel it,” they usually either freeze up because they are not sure what to do, or resort to mimicking things they’ve seen in popular dance routines or their favorite steps on repeat. Instead, we need to provide clear and specific directions that will help dancers develop the skills they need to improvise.

Here are my best practices for teaching dance improvisation:

1. Use specific dance improvisation prompts and activities. Use specific dance improvisation prompts, activities, and exercises as you teach. It is important to give students a clear task to accomplish through their movement. This can help students discover new ways of moving and break out of their typical dance habits.
2. Have a learning objective or goal in mind for each dance improvisation prompt and activity. When you are designing or planning improv tasks for your classes, consider what you want your students to learn or accomplish. How can this exercise deep their understanding of dance improvisation? How can it help them develop new improv skills? What can they learn about dance technique, artistry, and social-emotional skills through their improvisational experience?
3. Give clear directions for each dance improvisation prompt and activity. By providing clear directions for each improv exercise, you can help students achieve the desired outcomes and reach their full movement potential. Describe the instructions throughly and in an age-appropriate way, using terminology that is familiar to the dancers.
4. Encourage students to be creative, and even a little silly! Students of all ages are often able to let go of some anxiety and fear in an environment that fosters creativity and silliness. Incorporating play into your improvisation lesson plans can be a great way to help your students relax and feel more comfortable. 
5. Use a mix of solo prompts and group activities. Dance improvisation can be both a solo exploration and a collective experience. Solo prompts help students explore their own movement potential and artistry, while group activities can help build communication and teamwork skills.
6. Don’t get stuck in a routine. It can be easy to rely on the same improvisation prompts and activities class after class. But it is important to challenge your students with a variety of exercises that help them explore new improvisation concepts and skills. Just as we don’t want our dancers to fall into the same movement habits, we don’t to find ourselves stuck in the same old teaching habits! Check out the activities below for some improv inspiration and keep your classes fresh!

 

What are some good dance improvisation exercises to use in class?