How to Learn Choreography
with you. Repetition is the key to memorizing. You'll be surprised at how effective mental rehearsal can be!
Keep It Simple
Know your limits. If you're a less experienced dancer than your classmates, don't expect yourself to learn as quickly as they do. Do what you can, and don't feel bad if you're doing less than they are.
Your instructor may be teaching finger cymbal rhythms to accompany the choreography. If you find that playing the cymbals causes you to lose your focus on the movements, then for now don't play the cymbals.
Similarly, you may find that you can get the move as long as you stick with doing just the feet and hips, but as soon as you add arms you lose it. In that case, don't add arms just yet. Do what you can, and focus on getting that right.
If your classmates seem to be learning it, remember that they may have more experience than you do with memorizing choreography, playing cymbals, or already knowing how to do some of the combinations used in this particular choreography. So don't blame yourself if it's more than you can handle. Concentrate on learning what you're ready for, and accept that it may be less than what your classmates are ready for. There's no shame in knowing your limits and accepting them.
Please don't give up, even if it's difficult. Let's say you're in a 4-hour workshop, and two hours into it you know you can't cram even one more move into your head. In that case, move to the back or side of the room. As the instructor rehearses the group through what she has taught so far, dance the part that you've mastered so far, then step out of the way for the part that you're just not ready to learn.
Remind yourself that the real benefit of learning choreography is to learn new step combinations that you can incorporate into your own personal dance style, combinations that you can build into your own solos.
As the workshop progresses, learn each new step combination. You may discover that your favorite combination from the entire dance is taught near the end of the workshop.
Know Thyself
Education researchers have discovered that different people learn in different ways. Some of us learn best by absorbing information that our eyes collect. Some of us learn best by paying attention to what our ears are hearing. And some of us learn
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