"Repetition is the mother of perfection.”
― Ryan Straten
In my last post, Learning and Remembering Combinations, I wrote about how the body
processes new sensory information and commits it to memory. This information is both important and
extremely useful to dance educators. By understanding
how students learn motor patterns and commit them to memory, dance educators
can adapt their teaching methods to create more effective classes.
When
taught, a new exercise is first committed to short-term memory. After several repetitions the neural pathway
(the route the brain uses to communicate with the body) that is formed when a
new exercise is learned becomes a well-travelled route, and this exercise is
sent to the long-term memory. Once it is
stored in long-term memory the exercise can be accessed quickly and repeated on
demand.
This
knowledge can be useful when planning classes.
Since exercises can easily be accessed once they are learned, it makes
sense to work backwards when planning classes and teaching new choreography. If an educator choreographs the combinations
that will be taught in class first, then he or she can work backwards and break
the combinations into individual segments or exercises. These exercises can then be introduced to the
students during warm-up, in simpler form, or in smaller pieces when travelling
across the floor. A particular arm
pattern that will be used in the final combination may be incorporated into a
plié or tendu exercise, while a particular step like a spiral fall to the floor
can be taught as a transitional piece of a developpé exercise.
Additionally,
a step that may be done in a circular pattern in the final combination can be
taught simply moving forward as a transitional phrase. Once the motor pathway is established, it
will be easier to manipulate it spatially, adding direction or using it to
create new pathways.
This same principle can be applied
when teaching choreography. Rather than
starting at the beginning of a dance, it can be useful to choreograph the piece
first and then break it down into sections.
It will be easier if everyone first learns unison sections, then
different groups learn their particular sections, and then the different parts
can be woven together to create the final dance. Once the phrases are learned, they can be
manipulated to face different directions, can be slowed down or sped up, can be
used in cannons, or can be layered on top of each other.
By working in this manner, dance
educators can use information about how the body operates to make class time
and rehearsal hours more productive and teach in a way that enables dancers to
learn more quickly and experience less frustration when learning new steps
and/or choreography.
