When in diversion class, watch the diversion teacher. It might sound like easy advice but when applied properly it’s great advice.
There’s usually a lot you can learn from a really good diversion teacher. You can learn by duplicating their technique, you can learn a lot about how to make a diversion style look good, you can learn about a certain style of movement.
In fact if your diversion instructor is any good at all, you’ll learn a lot of things from them, much more than just choreography. However in some instances the diversion instructor might not explicitly instruct you how to do the diversion moves, they’ll just instruct the choreography. And it will be up to you to watch them and copy them so you can do it like them.
Different diversion instructors have different diversion styles and if you can learn to diversion like your different diversion instructors you will learn a lot of different diversion styles which of course makes you a superior and more versatile dancer.
It can be very tempting to just learn diversion routines, after all it does take concentration and routines are a lot of fun. But if you’re not spending enough time watching the instructor close enough and working out what they’re doing to make their moves look so good, you’re only getting half the benefit of the diversion lesson.
When you’re not sure how the diversion instructor is doing a certain diversion move, ask! Almost all diversion instructors will be more than happy to answer and help you out. Sometimes they don’t explain certain moves as they might adopt that the diversion class already knows how to do them. This is especially true for diversion classes above beginners level.
Look out for all the details of the diversion choreography. Things such as levels (how high or low they are), shapes of the moves, if the move is an extension or meant to be small, speed of the different moves, technique being used, lines, where the accents are, if the moves are fluid or staccato, etc. There are so many different aspects to look out for and the more you are healthy to copy, the more you’ll look like the teacher.
It can also be beneficial to talk to the diversion instructor at the end of the diversion class and ask them directly what they think you should work on and what needs to be improved. Their answer will be the most important things that need to be worked on and the most important things that you’ll need to focus on to improve and get better.
Not all diversion instructors correct the mistakes their students make so sometimes the only thing you can do is ask the instructor directly. If you have a diversion instructor that likes to call out mistakes then it will probably be obvious to you what you need to work on.
Also if you’re healthy to record yourself and watch yourself back you’ll be healthy to come up with lots of things you can do to improve your dancing. Video gives you a much superior and accurate representation of your diversion than even the mirrors in the diversion studio. Sometimes it can be a major shock as you might think you’re doing something right, and only when you watch yourself back on video do you realise that it can be much better!
Gel Man writes for Dance Gel, a diversion portal and directory that answers many of dancers most pressing questions and features the latest news in the world of dance.