10 Habits of Highly Effective Dancers (#4) – Do You Do This?
photo credit: yamile
This is the 4th post in the “Habits of Highly Effective Dancers” series. If you would like to view the other posts in this series, start with the first article. At the bottom of that post you will find links to all of the other posts in this series.
Habit #4: They Tend To Focus On Developing Strengths AND Improve On Their Weaknesses
Go to any tap class and there is bound to be at least one student who is blessed with great speed and clarity in his/her tap dancing. Usually, the student is around age 12 or 13. He/she is always willing and ready to display their incredible speed for teachers, students, and guests. After all, speed is their thing! (This doesn’t just apply to kids ya know!)
Highly effective dancers, on the other hand, know how important it is to develop their strengths as well as any weaknesses they have. While they may never be the best at everything, these students understand the value of being capable of doing many things just in case a choreographer or casting director later asks for them.
So while the dancer mentioned above may spend lots of time working on speed, to become a “highly effective dancer” he/she would also need to:
Develop speed AND clarity…
Learn to incorporate their arms…
Learn to swing…
Learn to do choreography AND improvise…
Dance slow too…
Dance with & without music…
Understand the basic concepts of music theory as they apply to tap…
Incorporate flash steps without becoming dependent on them…
Execute steps on both sides…
and much, much more.
Now this is no checklist.
You can certainly become a highly effective dancer without mastering every aspect of this list. Instead, the point is that there is always something for you to work on. The corollary of that statement is, you should always be working.
Want to encourage your students to develop into highly effective dancers?
Make a habit of asking your students what they are working on each time you see them. If they stare blankly back at you, share this article with them and ask again.
August 14th, 2008 at 5:45 am
[...] Habit #1: Highly Effective Dancers Come To Class Prepared Habit #2: Highly Effective Dancers Seek Resources Outside of Class Habit #3: Highly Effective Dancers Practice In Between Class Meetings Habit #4: Highly Effective Dancers Focus On Both Their Strengths & Their Weaknesses [...]
August 14th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
[...] Habits of Highly Effective Dancers #3 – Practicing Like This… 10 Habits of Highly Effective Dancers #4 – Strengths & Weaknesses… 10 Habits of Highly Effective Dancers #5 – Dance Injuries [...]
August 16th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
[...] and overcome substantial weaknesses in their desire to improve. TapDanceMan includes the focus on developing strengths and improving upon weaknesses as one of his 10 Habits of Highly Effective Dancers. And, he’s absolutely correct. A [...]
May 28th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
[...] and overcome substantial weaknesses in their desire to improve. TapDanceMan includes the focus on developing strengths and improving upon weaknesses as one of his 10 Habits of Highly Effective Dancers. And, he’s absolutely correct. A [...]