Improvisation is something you cannot be taught. If improvisation is scary or unnatural to you, there are easy ways round it however. And there is certainly ways to improve your improvisation skills. This short blog post will hopefully change your mindset when you are improvising.
1. You won’t be good at it if you don’t enjoy it. I love improvisation and anything that involves choreography. But if you don’t have the passion for it, you simply won’t be good at it. When you get to a certain stage where you can do an Impro to music you’ve never listened to (Not even once!) and you feel comfortable, you will start to enjoy it. And that’s when you’ll see the improvement in the Impro itself. If you’re forever worried or not comfortable throughout your improvisation, it will show out to the audience.
2. Change your mind set! When you’re performing an Impro, if you are thinking about the steps all the time, it won’t look too great. Focus on the beat/the words or the type of music not what move you’re about to do next.
3. Don’t be afraid about looking awful. I often do moves in Impros that have never been done before. If it feels right, go for it. When I make up a dance, I’m not thinking about all the moves I should be including its whatever looks and feels right. There is no success criteria as such in an improvisation or dance.
4. If you still feel uncomfortable when performing Impros, introduce them gradually. Start playing 10 seconds of a random song or tune. Think about what kind of music it is and what style you imagine a dancer would perform it in. Before you think of any moves, just stand where you think it would start. Restart the music and instead of thinking of what moves you’re going to do think of what direction you want to travel in. Then restart it again, go in the exact same direction but instead of walking, glide/skip/ turn to your position. Then, keep thinking about direction and let your body think about the moves. This will allow you to relax and start to enjoy Impro more.
I hope these mini tips were helpful!
Please comment! And feel free to ask any questions.
FH xxx
Five six seven eight... 