Top 5 Ways to Improve your Hip Hop Dance Skills

Top 5 Ways to Improve your Hip Hop Dance Skills

Hey what’s crackin everybody?

I’m just chillin here at my studio, Ography Dance Studio enjoying my day. A lot of my students have been asking me how they can get better or how long is it going to take them to improve? Well I’ve put together a list of the top 5 things you can do to improve your dance skills and get to your desired goals even faster. So here we go:

1. Take Dance Class- There is no magic pill that you can take before you go to sleep to wake up a great dancer. But one of the best ways to ensure your success is to get into class. The more you take class on a regular consistent schedule, the more results you will see. Your muscle memory, coordination, and confidence will all continually improve each time you come to class. A lot of people have trouble picking up and remembering choreography. The more frequently that you take class, and learn new choreography, the easier picking up the moves becomes. And remember, class is a time to learn. Don’t come to class thinking you have to be good already. This is the time to mess up, ask questions, and develop your skills. As you learn from different teachers you will start to pick up on their style of hip hop. Soon you will be able to execute the movements very similar to them. And it’s not what you are doing, but how you do it that counts.

2. Watch Other Dancers- This is so important when you are wanting to improve your skills. No matter what you are doing in life, if you want to reach the top, look to the ones at the top as your inspiration and learn from them. Buy DVD’s of great dance performances and dance movies and watch them over and over. When I wanted to learn how to pop I used to watch DVD’s of Poppin’ Pete all the time over and over. Ask yourself, what are they doing that makes them look so good? What elements are they adding that make them stand out? Watch music videos and live performances. You will start to pick up on the vibe that the dancers are giving off.

3. Practice your Freestyle- Freestyle dance is an art within itself. It is important to frestyle so that you can learn your body and how it moves. The more you freestyle the more you become comfortable in your own skin. Everybody has their own vibe and being able to freestyle defines your style and your individuality as a hip hop dancer. So I strongly recommend freestyling. Stay tuned for my insiders secrets on how to become an amazing freestyler.

4. Ask Questions From Other Experienced Dancers and Choreographers- It is always good to go straight to the source and asking them how and why they do what they do. Ask questions like who inspired you to dance? When you dance what do you think about etc…. asking question lets you get into the minds of the experts and take you into their world. Dancing has a different meaning for everyone so knowing the reason why someone dances or why they dance a certain way can give you motivation to find your meaning and purpose for wanting to become an amazing hip-hop dancer. It also gives you guidance on what direction you want to go with dance.

5. Last and final tip, Listen to music- I bet you’re saying duhh I already do that. But I don’t just mean listen to music while it playing in the back ground. I mean sitting down and closing you eyes and dissecting each element that makes up the track. Here is where musicality comes into play. The most amazing dancers have great musicality. They hear instruments and sounds in a song that you never knew were there. In turn their movements give the track depth and bring the song to life making the dancer more interesting to watch. By developing your musicality your moves will be far more advanced and more people will love to watch you dance.

I hope you enjoy these tips, and feel free to hit me up with any of your questions or comments!

Leave a Comment