Train In Performance Mode with Jemma
Tuesday Tips with Jemma
Name: Jemma
Instructs at: PhysiPole Studios Carlton
Time Instructing:1.5 years
Expertise: Dance and bringing the sass
Favourite Trick: Allegra Dragon (sorry ribs!)
Tip:
Train in Performance Mode
I think that we can all agree that getting up on stage for a performance (although AMAZING and fun) can cause our brain to do silly things or blank out all together. When we perform, what we bring to the stage all comes back to the way we trained it over and over. Here’s some examples:
Facials – Train Your Face
When you are practicing your solo or class routine, start practicing your facial expressions early!! When you are exhausted and stressed on the day it is REALLY challenging to maintain your performance face for a whole routine – if you always train your dancing in “performance mode” it becomes second nature and you won’t have to think on the day! Watch other people performing and you will realise what a crucial part of a pole performance facial expression is!
Muscle Memory
“Once I’m good at this move then I can focus on pointing my toes” – My biggest tip, especially for new polers, would be to eliminate this phrase from your vocab. When you learn a new move, by the time it becomes easier or achievable you have already developed muscle memory. Learning a move with bad technique is a one way ticket to being in pre-elite and still flexing your feet in a shoulder mount. We do NOT want to teach our body that flexed feet are part of helping us up in a difficult trick because you will find it extremely difficult to eliminate this habit later and you will find yourself falling back into this muscle memory under the stress of a performance!
Be Ready for Stuff Ups
Sometimes no matter how hard we train our brain lets us down on the day. Being ready for that can save your performance. As you rehearse you will have stuff ups – instead of stopping the music and getting upset, KEEP GOING. Rehearse what you will do if you forget your spot or don’t get that trick – what is your face doing?? Did you stop moving or are you doing some freestyle to cover it up? Practice keeping your cool and finding a way back into your choreo after a hiccup. If you don’t let on, chances are nobody in the audience (or judging panel) is going to know any different.