How to Learn Free Style Dance
The origins of dancing freestyle, a style which knows no rules and is about a dancer finding the beat to the music, began on the disco dance floor. It stepped onto the big screen in the late 1970s in the iconic disco steps of John Travolta in the dance hit sensations Grease, Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive. The freestyle dance craze continued to grow with musical greats such as Footloose, Fame and Dirty Dancing. Moving with the times, freestyle evolved into the urban street dance styles of break-dancing and hip hop, shown in films like Save the Last Dance, Step Up and Stomp the Yard.
As a freestyle dancer, it is essential to know the history of freestyle and be able to learn and borrow from the past, but more importantly to break away from previous dance conventions and develop your own freestyle technique.
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Instructions
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Attend freestyle dance classes to observe other freestyle dancers, learn new dance techniques and to be able to dance in unison within an ensemble. Dance classes offer the opportunity for you to practice your dance moves and help to build confidence in your own freestyle ability under the guidance of a dance coach, who will be able to advise you on how to improve your freestyle technique.
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Observe freestyle dancers at work through watching dance live or in dance movies available in your local record store or online to study dance techniques.
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Practice by copying dance moves made by other freestyle dancers to test your flexibility, coordination and movement skills. By replicating dance moves you test your observational skills, which are essential skills in learning dance routines quickly, especially if working in a dance ensemble. Learn other dance routines to improve muscle memory, which every dancer relies upon when dancing. Muscle memory is your body's ability to retain the memory of repetitive movement so that you can repeat the same physical activity again.
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Develop your own style by practicing your own dance moves. Listen to the music and interpret what you hear through the natural rhythms of your body. Physically and emotionally express how the music makes you feel. Music tells a story, and your dancing needs to convey the story you are interpreting through every movement and gesture you make. Find the beat in the music and follow it with spontaneity and without restraint or inhibition.
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Choreograph your own freestyle routine by concentrating on creating specific dance moves and putting a sequence of moves together to make a more balanced and perfected dance routine.
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Tips & Warnings
Always do warm-up exercises, such as muscle stretches, to avoid an unnecessary injury which could jeopardize your dancing career.
References
- Photo Credit teen dancing on the contest image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
