A Blog about PP.

Whahaha. I am 12 years old. *snicker*. Actually this IS a post about PP. Presence, and Practice. But for those of you who thought this might be about urinary function and clicked on this anyway well, then, hmmmmm.

Dance requires two things. Presence and Practice. All the other things that are popping in your brain can fall under one of these two categories.

Presence: Being there, being in your skin when you are dancing and not in your head,being PRESENT. I know, it is hard, believe me, not to either A. count, or B. evaluate the various looks you get from your audience, or C. panic. But try to drag yourself back into your center, feel your skin, feel your arms and legs, take the energy that is drag racing around in your brain and re-route the track down to your heart. Makes all the difference.

Practice: Does no good to be present if you haven't practiced. In order for your body to know what to do when you are dancing and being present ( see above), ya gotta drill. Ya gotta dance at home, and pull out the veil that sits in your dance bag only to be brought out once a week for class even though you promise yourself that this week you will make time to practice but then the week flies by and class time rolls around again. My bestest teacher could spot a non-practicer from a mile away, and at the end of every class she'd say in this motherly/sisterly voice....."ladies, you have to practice this at home".
    Furthermore, I do not advise being present when you are dancing if you have not practiced. You will look terrible, like an amateur. ( yay, I got to use the word furthermore. I never get to use that word).

So I am not known for simplifying, but there ya go. That is pretty simple.

But for those of you who just have to GO THERE.....what about being Present when you Practice? Can you just turn off your brain and drill the moves? Should you put in the care and sense and feeling when you practice, that you would when you are dancing?
Got two things to say on that. My bestest teacher said," What you do in class is what you will do when you dance in front of an audience". If you are thinking "this doesn't matter, it is only classtime...." then think again. The body has EXCELLENT memory, and when you don't have the luxury of only thinking about your steps, your brain and nerves are racing, then what you have drilled will come out, sloppy hands and all.

This quote sort of says it all.
                                                " It is not so much the number of exercises,
                                          as the care with which they are done,
                                           That progress and skill depend"
                                                                            - August Bournonville

                                                     and

                                       " Movement without meaning is just exercise".
                                                                           - Marie Brooks



As far as practice goes I used to think in terms of quantity,but now I'd much rather have 15 minutes where I am paying attention, than 45 where I am just trying to cram in a DVD.

PP. Easy to remember.