Update 25 May - Tango in prison and the new Destine Dance

​You have probably seen the news that lockdown is being lifted - gradually.

And while many businesses can start to operate, gyms, which I have been using as the best proxy for dance studios, must be outdoors. Therefore, it is still not quite certain when Destine Dance can return. Or indeed what form it will return in.

That's why this week I thought I would first share an interesting dance experience I had some time ago and then tell you more about the formulating plans for when Destine Dance does come back.

TANGO IN PRISON
If you watch the TV series Wentworth, then you might have seen this scene 

​I can give you some interesting background on this. I did the choreography for it and trained the actors.

First thing that I think is of interest is that it was not possible to show just how well they could really dance. One of the actors had injured their back, and a body double was needed. That meant it was hard to have a close up of them dancing many of the more advanced figures they had learned.

And that's a shame because they had all learned to dance really well. There were two reasons I noticed for this:

1. They had excellent memories from remembering lines so they could recall the routine very easily. That meant more effort on technique.
2. They were very comfortable with being watched so they could easily relax and just focus on dancing well. I still recall how they each recorded the other dancing (there were actually 3 actors I taught so there was always one to film the others) and they were very comfortable watching themselves afterward. They do it all the time when acting. They then took any faults in their stride and got better by working on those faults.

It was very interesting to see how these two attributes helped people become great dancers. And it is a great lesson for non-acting dancers. If you get used to being watched (regardless of the context) and keep working on your memory (regardless of the context), then you will learn to dance faster. 

THE NEW DESTINE DANCE
A few weeks back I asked for some ideas on what you would like to see when Destine Dance returns. A number of people got back to me with some ideas - thanks you were one who did. Based on those ideas, I am going to create a survey to bounce some ideas off you and other students. I will use the results of the survey to see which ideas are worth trying first to see what gets traction. The survey will be sent out in next week's update.

Have a great week
Clint