Taking Off The Training Wheels

Do you remember when you learned to ride a bike? I do. I had a pink and grey Huffy with a banana seat and tassels, and it was so cool. I started with training wheels while I learned how to pedal and steer, and I could ride to the corner store. But I couldn’t keep up with my older sister. She could ride all the way to the park BY HERSELF, because she didn’t have training wheels. Eventually, I had to face that moment when the training wheels came off and I had to balance on my own. I remember how exhilarating that moment was. It was terrifying, but I felt like I was flying.

But what I don’t think about very often was what happened next. When I tried to stop the bike, I stumbled, and almost fell off entirely. That scared me so much that I didn’t want to get back on. But I also didn’t want my sister to leave me behind. So I tried it over and over again. I wobbled a lot. I fell off several more times. But eventually, I got steadier. Riding that bike stopped being so scary and started to feel natural. And we put away the training wheels for good.

When I started Belly Dance Geek® 10 years ago, there were no training wheels for improvisation. Most dancers learned to improvise when our teachers put on some music and said, “okay, now dance!” That actually works, but it’s so terrifying that many students give up. So I decided to reverse-engineer what dancers are actually doing when we improvise, break that down into a set of manageable skills, and then teach those skills step-by-step. That has been the heart of the work we’ve done here at Belly Dance Geek®.

And just like learning to pedal with training wheels, breaking down improv makes learning it much easier and less scary. But eventually, you still have to face that moment when the training wheels come off. And just like me and my bike, you have to face it over and over again. In short, you have to practice.

But the fastest way to get those training wheels off for good is with tiny, frequent practice.

We tend to think of practice as something you do for an hour or even two hours a time, but shorter sessions, even tiny ones, can also be very effective. And when it comes to improv, they can be MORE effective.

Think of it like studying in school. Cramming for a test doesn’t work as well as studying in smaller doses over time. And complex skills like improv “stick” better if you practice them in many shorter sessions.

This is partly because short sessions are more sustainable. In the long-term, you rack up a lot more practice time doing smaller sessions consistently than you do in longer sessions that you are more likely to skip.

Shorter practice sessions also work better because of simple fatigue. When you practice improv, what you’re really practicing is decision-making. You have to analyze what’s happening in the music, decide how to respond, and execute it. That is a lot more tiring for your brain than working on technique (which is primarily about muscle memory) or choreography (which is primarily about memorization). The longer your practice session is, the more likely you are to wear out your brain, stop making fresh decisions, and fall back on the same patterns. But frequent practice also has another benefit: you sleep in between sessions. Sleep is when your brain cements new information that you’ve learned, and physical skills that you are working on. So when you encounter a challenge during a practice session, you literally improve by “sleeping on it” before you tackle it again the next day. So you can make more break-throughs in several tiny practice sessions than in one large one.

So how do you get tiny practice?

Here’s what I recommend: Show up every day (or even just every weekday) and improvise to one song. That’s it.

If you’re having fun (and you have time), you can do more, but there’s no extra credit for that. If you improvise to one song, you have succeeded for the day. (51 of us practiced for just one song per day earlier this month as part of the Daylight Saving Practice Challenge. Not everyone was practicing improv, but we all made progress.)

I do recommend that you do this at the same time every day, and the morning is the most reliable time for most people. Even if you’re not a morning person (and I am SO NOT A MORNING PERSON), you are much more likely to show up than after work or in the evening when you’re depleted from your workday, and more likely to be interrupted. Since it’s only one song (3-5 minutes), it’s easy to squeeze in after your morning coffee or after you brush your teeth. But any time of day is fine, as long as you’re likely to show up reliably.

Warming up first is always a good idea, but if you’re worried about squeezing in the time, you can often skip it or just do the minimum. (Obviously, if you have injuries or other physical concerns, or you’re going to include more demanding elements like backbends or floorwork, definitely warm up.)

How much can you actually achieve in one song?

A lot. Let’s look at the numbers.

Let’s say you improvise for one 5-minute song per day. In fact, let’s say you practice every weekday. (I only practice on weekdays.) And to be realistic, let’s say that you only practice for 48 weeks per year. That’s skipping four whole weeks for vacations, holidays, sick days, and slip-ups.

5 minutes a day, 5 days per week, for 48 weeks is 20 hours of practice by the end of the year. That is a lot. If that doesn’t sound like a lot to you, think of it this way: a full nightclub routine lasts around half an hour. So one song per day is the equivalent of doing 40 nightclub sets.

And that, my friends, is how you earn your chops.

Just be sure to choose your songs wisely.

Do pick a song you love, but not one that you have previously used for choreography. (After working so hard to memorize a choreography, it’s very hard to shut off your muscle memory.)

You should also avoid songs that are not a good fit for your skill level. If the pace, rhythm, or style is a stretch for you, you’ll blow your attention budget trying to keep up and improvise at the same time.

And don’t repeat the same song too frequently. It’s okay to come back to songs you love, but if you use them too many times in a row, you can settle into the same ideas, instead of thinking on your feet. (We call this “defacto choreography”)

All that said, once you get more comfortable with improv, the opposite is true. Challenging yourself to make fresh choices to songs you’ve choreographed or repeated a lot, or improvising to tough music will really stretch your creativity. But save that for later.

Let’s summarize what we’ve discussed.

Here at BDG, we’ve made lots of resources to serve as training wheels to help you learn improv without the terror. But eventually, you have to face riding the improv bike on your own. That is terrifying, and you will fall off, probably several times. The best way to get past it is with tiny, frequent practice. It’s more sustainable than marathon sessions, less likely to BLAH fatigue, and “sleeping on” your challenges between sessions can help you overcome them faster. So try improvising for just one song every day (or every week day). Pick a song that you love, that you’re not too familiar with, and that’s a good fit for your skill level.

Just like riding a bike, it may feel wobbly at first. But you’ll be amazed at how much easier it gets, even after a few weeks.

The biggest roadblock for most people is making time to practice, even when it comes to tiny one-song sessions. If that’s a challenge for you, join us for How to Build a Sustainable Practice Habit. In this 9-week online course, Heather Wayman and I will help you make practice a consistent part of your daily routine. The course starts January 14th, 2019, so check it out now at: https://bellydancegeek.com/practice

We also have a DIY version that’s available year-round at http://bellydancegeek.com/store), but you don’t want to miss out on the group support and personal help from Heather and me.