How to Memorise Ballet Exercises! My TOP TIPS!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 พ.ย. 2023
- Hello Everyone!
I know a lot of you struggle with picking up combinations. I thought this through a lot and really processed how I did this myself quite easily. A lot of what I do is chunking steps together rather than trying to process step after step after step. Much like a variation, there's a beginning middle and end! Let's discuss and I hope this is helpful for you :-)
Enjoy! Like and subscribe!
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I have a funny tip -- learn a bit French. I previously struggled with associating the French words with the movement (like confusing en dehor and en dedan, which one is open?) So when the teacher gives the combo verbally I am lost. I find learning just enough French helps a lot as I can practice learning combo by either listening or watching.
This is really very useful! Because the french terms describe the movements very well. Like fondue-to melt, allongé- to lengthen, etc. etc.
The faster the teacher gives the combo, the easier it is for me, the music will tell me tempo and accent, I just need the sequence. It's like I can't hold onto the whole thing if it's given 'in time' or more slowly. Also, when it's given quickly, I can see the patterns/stacks more clearly. That's why I keep blanking out in Sunday beginners 🤣
Same here. I noticed my teacher is giving the exercises slower than the music will require. My brain picks up his tempo and when the music is playing and my memorised tempo wont line up, brain gets confused (if its a new exercise). Would love my teacher would show them in the same tempo as we are supposed to to them. I am also a beginner, maybe that will change later.
I am an adult beginner and this was super helpful. Thank you❤
I,m a classical musician and started ballet as an adult.I notice that the more classes I do, the better I remember combinations and if I take time off, I,m useless at remembering again.I also personally like using muscle memory and marking the exercises but also noticing patterns as I go.Thanks for the videos Isabella and I hope to join one of your courses sometime.❤
I use the chunk of cards method as well, but sometimes I find myself building a little play or character. I'll make up a sort of script and story in my mind that I can relate to each section of the combo or even specific movements, and that way artistry just comes naturally. I find movements flow much much better when there's a meaning behind them, even if I just made it up for myself. I guess I approach ballet class like the theater acting classes I grew up with; there's a story and a why behind everything on stage, thus there's a story and a why behind every movement in ballet. Try taking that idea to class, perchance, who knows what you may achieve!
I find it easier to memorize parts when I have a little "character" as well!
can I ask you to give us an example?
When i take class (advanced recreational class, ages 18-40), i do really well with verbal instructions, which translates into a song (steps = lyrics) in my head. This captures accents and rhythm, too. I find it harder to pick up from a teacher who only demonstrates and counts out loud. I don't need the counts (those are obvious), i need the steps. in that case it takes more time because i have to "write my own song". But i'm quite an analytical person and i have good memory. I tend to have very little mistakes and find that people often look at me once they are lost.
Another thing that helps: i have studied a lot of Vaganova technique theory so i know that many poses are a combination of legs, arm, posture, direction, head. I need just one word to remember that. Other students with less theory need to remember this as 5 separate things which is obviously much harder. Our teacher likes to get very creative and often break up these classical standard poses so that the students cannot make a memory bank of the default poses and always have to break a single pose into 5 separate bits of info.
Then another thing: i am really bad at knowing left and right. Ask me what my right hand is, i need to think about that for 5 seconds. In ballet i remember every exercise not with "i am standing on the right leg" or "i'm turning to the left" but always "I am standing croisé / effacé" or "i am turning en dedans / en dehors". That way it is very easy to translate an exercise from right side to left side. Other people focus too much on which exact leg they're standing on that they have to put a lot of energy into translating it to the left side. To me, left side of the exercise is the same as right, only mirrored. I don't really need to study it again, maybe only double check the directions.
So: verbal instructions and a big "knowlegde base" is what works for me in classical ballet. It is also why I struggle a lot more when taking contemporary - where many steps don't have names and it takes a lot more time to analyse. I don't have enough theoretical knowledge and exercises are often much more creative and unpredictable.
I also teach (recreational dancers, including pointe beginners & intermediate. ages 15-40). And I notice the difference between my students. I have brought up this subject with them, and told them about the different ways people's brains work when remembering combo's. I've said that they need to find out what works for them, be aware of it, and that they may always ask for a different kind of explanation from me. You prefer that I demonstrate, with or without music, you prefer to mark or watch, you want me to count or to say the steps, just let me know. Usually they are too shy to actually ask that. I try to give two different explanations often. Sometimes i give the actual French name of the step, sometimes i use my own language to translate it. I talk often about those standard poses, so that they become easier to remember. First time we do an exercise it's just for memorisation. I give corrections on which steps they need to preform. Often only the second time i gave technical corrections, unless they're actually doing dangerous stuff like sickling while performing coupé. Haha, we go slow. Sometimes it's hard to have the patience for this.
If you think I can do more as a teacher to help my students remember things better, I'd love to know.
I'm too an adult beginner, glad I have come across this video.
Strategy: stack by stack - thanks a million
Thank you for this video. I have dropped out of ballet classes several times as an adult because of my inability to remember the combinations. There never seemed to be any help for it, so I just figured maybe I had a memory problem and ballet just wasn't for me. This impression got more intense when my nieces took up Irish dance decades back and never had any problem repeating their teachers' directions on a second's notice.
I am also a figure skater (heading toward Solo Dance). The steps in figure skating tend to be broad and cover lots of musical beats and real estate. I figured that was the reason I seldom have a problem remembering a combination out on the ice, but this video made me realize that I was already "chunking" in figure skating and that was helping. So maybe now I can go back to ballet class and "chunk" there too. Thanks again.
If only I had known this decades ago when I restarted ballet at age 23. Very helpful . (Love the cat who appears at 10:05) 🐈♥️😉
Thank you so much I’m definitely saving this!
You're so welcome!
I struggle with this SO MUCH it’s stifling. I can’t wait to try the chunking method.
You’ve got this!
Great advice! Thanks! ❤
I found out that the way that works best for me is to mark with “bad” technique. I would just go through combinations with flex feet or with the arms full out to remember. It’s best for me to have gone through the motions once to feel familiar with it before I have to do the combination.
I am an adult beginner. At first remembering anything produced sweat. Now it's a lot easier, at least at the barre, because in the center I still get stunned and confused at times. Exercises have patterns and I figured out for myself a way to note the exercise down in my head in shortcuts, similar to how journalists are writing down fast in their unique code. There always is the smallest originak chunk that is repeatedly applied in different versions/directions. So it goes chunk, what separates/joins chunks, order of them, number of them, tempo of them etc. But when I am learning for the first time I usually do a small messy version with my legs in hope that some paths will be paved. Other times, when I feel confident that the combination is fairly easy, I will jus nod my head to the rythm as I watch the teacher very intently. I learn better by watching than hearing, just hearing would be a problem.
Great video! Thank you! I’ve always struggled with memorizing combos but especially with reversing the combination. Any tips for that?
For Choreography, I remember with the music. All Visually.🥰
Super important video! Thank you 🙏🏻
Do you think that also professional dancers have this issue?
Wait so its kind of like listening to a song and putting yourself in an imagined music video then...? Because that's how I subconsiously memorize songs very quickly I think.... veryyyyy interesting I'm gonna try it!!
I never used to struggle with combinations until I started going to a studio where everyone marks with their feet along with the teacher. I feel pressured to do it too and then immediately forget what I’m doing!
Kinesthetic intelligence is a form of intelligence just like mathmatical or musical intelligence. Some folks just have a head start. But we can all challenge ourselves to get there.
What is coda?
My problem is getting from section to section. I get through one section and forget what comes next.
My Silly Phone. Visually is also a good way for me.