One of the most
important things to understand about any form of
dancing is hearing the beat to the music. Each song
has a definite beat that should dictate the speed of
your movements. There are many ways to count music.
Normally the beats are counted in series of 8.
Example: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8- 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Some
people count in series of 4.
Example:1,2,3,4-1,2,3,4.
In dancing varying
the timing will have a big impact on your
appearance.
One of the most
interesting things about freestyle dancing is the
lack of structure.
Ballet, Ballroom
are great ideas of dances with a great deal of
structure. They even have written manuals on
different variations, but freestyle dancing is just
as it is named (freestyle) anything goes. You are
your only limitation.
As a professional
instructor for over 20 years I can tell you that
repetition is the key to your success. The more
repetitions you get the faster you will learn. So to
develop your skills with the music I suggest you
practicing counting music while your are in the car.
Just count it out in which format you want. I prefer
the 8 count method. So try to find the beat to the
music and then count them out thru 8 and repeat it
over and over. Soon you will find the beat to the
music as soon as it starts. Once you have good
timing with the music then developing your
vocabulary of steps will be a breeze.
Use of videos will give you drills to help you develop
your timing and a few different steps that you can
use to become more graceful and confident. As you
get more comfortable you will learn to change the
timings as you feel them.
