I have dance team tryouts coming up and the one with that made me so stressed out last year was learing the 3 dances so quickly and then performing them the next day. We learn a pom, jazz and hip hop dance and the hip hop was the hardest for me to remember. Does anyone have and tips for learning and catching onto the dances quicker and better?

Why dont you try bringing a camera if you have one and tap the dances so you can practice and break it down when you get home.

I know how you feel, tryouts are so stressful as it is, then you're trying to stuff routines into your head.

-When you are learning, stay completely focused on the instructor. Try not to goof off with friends, and just really watch the teacher.
-Practice the dance in chunks 1-2 eight counts at a time. This will help you break the dance down more and remember more.

this would be in addititon to what people have said so far.
While you are laying in bed before you go to sleep, go over all the combinations in your head - spefically.dont just run through it.then when you wake up in the morning go through them again. And of course do NOT forget to practice practice practice!calm down, breathe! annnd..HAVE FUN!


luv tiny_dancer1

If you can at all, try to get the music that the dances are to, either by going home and downloading the songs or by asking the coach to burn you a CD. That way you can practice them at home with the music.

Also, try to get together with a friend to practice. That way you guys can pool your knowledge to fill in blank spots you've forgotten.

i had your same problem at my dance company tryouts last year. although i do think you tend to learn to pick up dances quicker over time (i am extremely speedy now), i suggest that you just go over it in your head while kinda marking it with your hands and feet whenever there's a free second. say that they go to restart the music, while she's fiddlingn with the cd player go over what you just learned really quickly...it helps a ton. also, when you get home, WRITE IT DOWN. this might sound time consuming or annoying, but personally it really sticks it in my head because i have to really think and remember...good luck with tryouts!!

I also have this problem. I actually stopped trying out for cheerleading because I couldn't remember the dances fast enough. I have to hold off until next week and then I'll try out for drill team.

I don't know if this will work, but I'm trying it out myself currently so that when I go for practice I'll be somewhat prepared...

Play some memory games on the computer. It might help improve your memory and help you to learn the dance a bit faster than usual.
HIH! (Hope I helped!)

what i do to memorize dances faster is i watch first get the steps into my brain and then i do it with them. after i think i semi know the routine i do it a couple times with my eyes closed and every day i run that routine over and over in my head until its stuck. another thing i do is i ask a team member if they want to come in before tryouts and run it with you a couple times.

You could also try making up names for the moves that are really easy for you to remember. Making up stories works too - there's this one girl on my team who makes up a story for almost every routine we do, just because it helps her remember - like some of our moves are called "happy", "baseball", "parade", ect. So her story goes something like - "I went to a baseball game, and that made me really happy, and then afterwards I went to a parade". It sounds stupid, but it really does help!

Good luck, I hope this helps!
~*EmilyRose*~

The week of tryouts, just keep going over the dances in your head. At night, when you're laying in bed trying to sleep, go over the dances. Any down time you have, go over the dances! Memorization takes practice, practice, and practice. It's definitaly not something you can cheat at.

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone! Unfortunitly we learn the dances on Saturday then Sunday morning is the real tryouts so I don't get very long to get them down. But I am definitly going to try some of the ideas!