Why keeping a dance journal or notebook can help keep you accountable and help push you towards all of your dancing goals!
Keeping a dance notebook and/or journal is something I have innately done throughout my dance journey and was further instilled in me by a Ballet Instructor in college. Journaling is a great way to manifest your desires as a person – but also as a dancer. I encourage my dancers and clients to utilize its benefits and try to express just how much keeping a journal/notebook can help shape their dancing.
Here are just SOME (seven) great uses of a dance journal and the wonderful benefits:
Individual Feedback
As dancers, we know that teachers and mentors often throw a lot of material at us while in class, especially individualized comments or corrections. You can use your dance journal or notebook as a great place to write down the constructive criticism you receive from your teachers during class. We all think that we will likely remember everything that’s said to us during class, but the fastest way to apply corrections consistently is to write them down and go over them before the next rehearsal or class. This will prevent you from making the same mistakes over and over again, and it can be a great tool when looking back to check your progress.
Record All of the Things You Did Well
Celebrating every win, big or small, is an important key to your dancing success! Taking the time to write down even the smallest things you did well is a great way to keep your spirit positive during your training. This is a great space to perhaps mention how you’re lengthening through your extensions or how your musicality has improved. Your dance journal/notebook may also be a great place to record general feedback from the teacher. Often times we don’t retain information when a teacher or choreographer makes a general address to the room, but if they are imparting knowledge or praise to the whole room, that usually means it applies to you as well. WRITE IT DOWN! Whatever it may be, recording your small wins or nuggets of praise and information is incredibly important to your growth.
Goal Setting and Tracking
When we write something down, it gives it a distinct reality. We are letting the Universe know that we are serious about what we want to accomplish. If you write out your long-term and/or short-term dance goals, you are generally more likely to achieve them! Your dance journal is a great place to keep track of weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. You can also track your progress; this way you are keeping yourself accountable and are less likely to get discouraged, distracted, or forget how important your dancing goals are to you.
Reflection
This just might be MY personal favorite section to include in a dance journal! This is where I found I made the most sense of things happening in my career or training. Reflecting on the things that happen in dance can help you come to terms with a choreographer’s choices, or find new perspective on how or why things went they way that they did that day or week during class or in a rehearsal/performance. Sharing my emotions within my journal made them real and helped me to work though them, as well as helped me to find perspective and ask the right questions of myself and my teachers.
Choreography and Formations
This one goes hand in hand with “things that you did well.” Often times we get lost in the hustle of class time or rehearsal, and we cram all of the information into our brains, only to forget details by the end of the class. Writing down vocabulary, formations, counts, directions, and even full combinations can be beneficial to our time, energy, and progress. Much like studying for a test, when you read, hear, and write down the information, you are more likely to remember and apply it – this goes for your dancing as well. I can’t stress enough how important it is to utilize these tools to help strengthen your brain, muscle memory, and growth as a dancer.
Create a Safe Space to Have a Dialogue With Your Instructors
Having a private space to ask questions or share thoughts and feelings with your instructors is so important. Sometimes finding a private moment before or after class is difficult to manage, not to mention the fact that life and schedules can get in the way of finding time to discuss personal corrections, questions, or concerns. Utilizing the sacred space of your dance journal/notebook is a great way to get all of your thoughts, feelings, and questions down on paper and gives your instructors time to think about you as an individual and your growth in your dance journey.
I ask my dancers to hand their journals in to me at least once a month, and I am always happy to answer them in detail. Then, if there needs to be a further discussion, we can both set aside time to talk face-to-face or address corrections in person.
Vision Board
Much like I mentioned earlier about goal setting and tracking, having a vision board can be a powerful tool in your dance journey. Having your vision board in your dance notebook/journal is a perfect way to manifest your desires, because it is with you 90 percent of the time. What an amazing way to utilize its power, am I right?!
The human mind is an amazing, amazing thing. Focusing our energy to create our desires truly helps us to unlock our true potential. Cut out pictures, words, images, etc. of places, people, goals – all of the things you want to accomplish. Thank the Universe for them, believe and act as though you’ve achieved them, and see how much comes to fruition!
Start your dance journal today and let me know in the comments how it’s going and how it’s changing your dance journey!
PROfounDANCE Connections
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