Dancing in College

There comes a point in your dancing career when you need to decide whether you want to continue dancing in college or not. There is not right choice but your own. I know some people base their college decision on whether the school has a dance studio- but there are other ways to be successful in college.

I personally made the decision to dance in college because I knew deep down I didn't achieve all of my dreams, one of them being the World Championships. I was lucky enough that my school has a great gym, which includes 4 dance studios (I didn't know about this when I chose Bradley, I just got lucky). The staff at Markin has been incredible; they allow me to reserve rooms for practice and they make sure I have access to whatever I may need like a stereo. However, I know people just as successful in the dance world who don't have access to these things. Some girls I know practice in their trainers( gym shoes) in a hardwood gym and use their own stereo like a ReelBoom. When I lived in the dorms, I also bought a couple of Jubilee Tiles so drill my dance bits on, which helped a lot.

My best advice however would be to video tape yourself as much as possible. I noticed I started to get better at dance when I could honestly critique myself. It's important to also look at yourself dancing in a realistic mindset; Yes, there are several dancers out there better than me (I am no Nadine Martin) but each week I would slowly start to see myself improve from my last video. It's easy to watch yourself and pick out everything you do wrong but I think it's important to also point out to yourself things you do well. Clearly, you are in the level that you are in for a reason, so it's important to remember you don't stink. Videotaping myself also helped me understand the comments my teachers gave me more. Before I had a hard time grasping their comments since I didn't have anything to compare myself to.

Another piece of advice I would offer is to block out practice time. I love dance, but I hate practicing and I hate stamina/endurance work (I've never met someone who does) so blocking out time is a must. I like to practice right after my classes because I know if I go home I will keep pushing back practice to later and later and possibly the next day. The problem with this is once you push it back a day you will just keep pushing it back, and before you know it a week has passed. Treat your training as a class; don't cheat yourself or you will only cheat your results.

As Worlds get closer, I will post more about preparation and Scotland. Until Next Time! See you all at the Worlds in a couple months!