Beginning dancer at 22 (How to prepare my body for dance?)

by Chris
(Oklahoma City)

I want to begin dancing in two years once I graduate from nursing school. Unfortunately, my nursing program is too time consuming to begin dance lessons now. I will be 24 when I start dance courses but I want to begin some type of preparation in the mean time to prepare my body for dance (i.e. types of stretching, exercises, yoga etc.). What do you recommend that I do to help my body get in shape while I am in school? Thank you.

Comments for Beginning dancer at 22 (How to prepare my body for dance?)

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Aug 08, 2011

Answer from Maria
by: Maria

Dear Chris,

As you already know, practicing yoga in the meantime would be a great way to prepare your body for dance. We have a page about basic yoga that could give you some guidelines for the practice:

Go to the page about basic yoga

A good thing about practicing yoga is that you can do it at home or even at your working place, whenever you have the free time. It is especially good for you as you have such a tight studying schedule.

Other physical practices can be helpful as well, like any type of dancing style, soft gymnastics, pilates and so forth. To have an idea of a variety of techniques that are related to dance, you can browse over our special page about it:

Go to the page about contemporary dance techniques

What is important is that you start progressively, always keeping an eye on the evolution of your body and mind. If you want the process to be more comfortable and pleasant, it is better to practice with a good frequency (once a day for an hour, for example, is ideal). But, as you have little time, just try to keep a rhythm of soft practice and you will feel when your body can handle more and more of it.

I hope this guides you in your start. Don't hesitate to write back if you have more questions. I'll always be glad to help you out.

Warm regards,

Maria

Mar 03, 2015

48 year old who wants to dance!
by: liz

I am 48 and want very much to learn the art of contemporary dance. Is it too late for me? I have never danced before. I am willing to take whatever class or classes to train my body. I'm afraid I will be the oldest in my class. what are your thoughts?

Mar 04, 2015

Maria's reply
by: Maria

Dear Liz,

You can dance contemporary dance at your age, off course, but you have to start with classes for your level (beginner) and age (adult). This is because at your age, the body is more delicate and any new physical process should be executed carefully and slowly.

There are many adult dancers in the U.S. that practice what we call the ‘soft techniques’ or ‘techniques from the somatic paradigm’. I recommend you to start with something like that and search for dance teachers that are oriented towards that type of dancing. You will find names and a description of soft techniques in the following page:

Contemporary Dance Techniques

Highly acrobatic and physically demanding dance is not so suitable for you if you don’t have a dancing experience at your age. But in time, if you strengthen your body correctly, you may be able to do some physically demanding moves. Yet, contemporary dance is about so many other things like expressivity, experience and consciousness, that you should not worry about doing difficult moves or not.

Enjoy your dancing.

Jul 28, 2015

Is taking two classes (from different dance schools) being too ambitious?
by: Coordination Disaster

Hi,

I'm 25 and just started contemporary dancing two months ago. I quite like this dance school and the instructor so I'd like to continue these classes. However, I also happened to come across another dance school that I have recently taken an interest in because I happened to come across some interviews from the second dance school's instructor and he is very inspiring. His company mission also reasonates with me deeply.

If I were to take classes from both schools, would it be too confusing for me as a beginner?

It would be great if you can help me.

Thank you!

Jul 28, 2015

Maria's reply
by: Maria

Hello Coordination Disaster,

It’s o.k. to take the two classes. Just take it easy (mentally and emotionally) and don’t let the amount of information discourage you. It’s normal if you feel a bit overwhelmed because you’ll have more to learn.

; )

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