Dance Tips – How to become a Standout Dancer

Do you ever find yourself getting lost in an endless loop of Dance videos on Instagram or YouTube? You just keep getting sucked in watching your favorite dancer murder each routine, one after another… What makes you want to stay and watch another video?

I’m sure these dancers that you enjoy watching have years of training and technique under their belt. But just because someone’s a trained dancer doesn’t automatically mean they’re an entertaining dancer.

So what is it then?

It’s something about their Performance! They seem to know how to capture their audience, so much so that the viewers don’t even want to blink at the chance of missing something good.

So how do YOU become that dancer that everyone can’t help but watch?

Definitely, training is a must, but there’s one key thing you can do NOW that will take your performance from “eh” to “holy smokes!”

Your eyes!! 

You must be aware of where you’re looking from start to finish of the routine. But it’s not simply a matter of knowing which way your head should be facing in any given move. That’s just choreography…. It’s really about EMOTING and TELLING A STORY! 

What makes a great performance is connecting through authentic emotion.

If you find that you’re not connecting through your performance, what I want you to do is take a step back and think about the song you’re dancing to and what you’re trying to communicate with the dance. What’s the vibe? Is the routine telling a story?

You have to know WHY you’re doing what you’re doing… Are you portraying a story of frustration because of the ups and downs of a relationship? Or maybe the dance is about being confident and owning who you are… You can even take the same movement, but depending on the story you’re telling and the emotions you’re accessing, it can look like a completely different routine. 

Galen Hooks does a phenomenal job at demonstrating how honing in on different emotions can completely change the experience of a dance as a viewer. Check out this example of her dancing the same routine to Taki Taki – one time with relief driving the movement, the other with anger. But in both, you are captivated! And that’s because she is connected to the story she’s telling, and it’s coming through by way of energy and her eyes.

The eyes are the window the the soul. They are what take your dancing from simply movement in your body and make it art with emotion!

I encourage you; take a video of yourself dancing. Watch it back to see what your eyes are doing throughout the dance. Are they telling a story? Or are they wandering with no intention. If you find that you have moments that you don’t look connected, think about what you’re trying to communicate in that moment. It may also simply be a matter of staying “in it” and not letting yourself get distracted by the choreography. That will come as you continue to work on mindset and staying focused on the story and emotion instead of stressing about getting the choreography down perfect.

The more you focus on connection to the music and the story and less about executing the movement perfectly, the more your audience will be captivated with your performance.

Did you learn anything new from this Blog post? Or do you have any other tips for giving a killer performance? Let us know in the comments!

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