A Dancer’s Biggest Challenge: Bad Habits

As a dance instructor with a decade of experience, I have seen countless dancers struggle with improving their skills, and the biggest culprit behind this challenge is…. their bad habits.

These habits, ingrained in your muscle memory, can be major obstacles that hinder your progress but unfortunately, too many instructors overlook the importance of addressing these habits with their students. So today, let’s talk about how to overcome this hurdle and improve your dance skills.

👉Firstly, what is a bad habit?
If you’ve ever found yourself consistently struggling with certain moves or receiving the same feedback from your instructor, it’s likely that you’ve developed a bad habit in your muscle memory that is causing the same mistake again & again..!

And yes, anybody can develop one or many in the way they dance or move.

👉Now that we know what’s the problem, how do we overcome it?
My GODLEN RULE about solving these bad habits is to understand the root cause of these bad habits, and NOT just identify the issue.

In other words, it’s important to find out ‘why’ it is happening, not just ‘what’ the habit is.

Example:

❌WHAT happened:⁣ Bad footwork timing⁣

⁣✔️WHY it happened:⁣ Either because your footwork is too big, or your weight is too much on the heels instead of the balls of your feet.⁣

By understanding the underlying cause of your bad habit, you can take targeted steps to address it and improve your technique.

In my early years of dancing, I faced countless struggles because I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting better. It wasn’t until I learned the importance of understanding the root of my bad habits that I was able to overcome them and make progress. 🥲

So if you’re feeling stagnant or unable to improve, focus on finding solutions to address the technical root of your issues, instead of just identifying the problems.

By doing so, you can overcome the biggest challenge for dancers to improve and reach new heights in your dance journey. ❤️

Brenda Liew