How to remember dance routines
- Jo McDonald
- Feb 26, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 23
If you've ever walked out of a dance class and can't remember a single thing, you are not alone.
As an adult dancer, struggling to remember dance sequences is frustrating, and very common. You spend so much energy on remembering what comes next, instead of enjoying it. Even worse, it stops your progress. Your mind is taken up with following, instead of developing expression, dynamics, musicality, and technique. When dancers can perform sequences without following someone else, they will flourish, which is why it's so important to improve your memory for dance.
I remember what it is like to be a beginner. I started Flamenco dance several years ago. As a lifelong dancer, I expected it would be easy for me. It was a challenge.
One of the things I found most challenging about Flamenco was the Spanish terminology. Even though the class was in English, I didn’t recognise the words.
But that was only part of it. I was also learning a different movement vocabulary and approach to rhythm and timing, and trying to piece everything together into sequences. It gave me a much deeper appreciation of what it must feel like for my adult dancers, especially those learning ballet with French terminology. At the start, I couldn’t remember a single thing once I’d left the room, and had so many questions I couldn’t even formulate one.
Memory is key
Flexing your memory muscle is power. When you can remember choreography during class, and recall it in the next class, it unlocks your mind. Your mind and body know what to do, and you have the bandwidth to focus on how you do it (technique, expression, dynamics), when you do it (rhythm and timing), and where you do it (spatial awareness).
For this reason, I invite you to think of working out your memory to be as vital as working on physical aspects like fitness, strength, and flexibility.
When you can’t remember a sequence:
You are unable to practice between classes
Your focus stays on following, so your technique suffers and your dance lacks expression
You enjoy it less because you struggle to keep up
Progress slows and you can start to fall behind.
Ten tips to remember dance routines
1. Repetition
A vital part of remembering dance is repetition. This is how you build 'muscle memory', essentially reshaping and strengthening neural pathways. It is how your brain creates a mental map. Once you have that map, you don't need to work so hard to remember, and can shift your focus to other aspects of your movement.
Hopefully, your teacher will give you plenty of opportunities to repeat things in class so you can build encode it into your memory. If they ask whether anyone wants to repeat it, and you do, say so. Too often, one person wants to move on, and others don’t want to rock the boat, so they stay quiet.
When there are breaks in class, use that time to practice or run through it in your mind (mental rehearsal). If the teacher breaks you into groups, mark through the movements while watching ('marking' is doing a simplified version). Repetition, also known as rehearsal, allows information to be encoded so you can retrieve it later, whether that's next week in class or at home.
2. Record the sequence
Recording the sequence could mean filming it (as mentioned above), or it could mean, writing notes, or even audio recording. I was teaching a jazz isolation to a group and one of my students asked if she could record me talking through the sequence. This can be really helpful if you are an auditory learner.
Not everyone learns the same way. Some people need to see it, some need to hear it, and some need to feel it. So filming, writing notes, recording audio, or simply doing the movement repeatedly can all help in different ways.
If you prefer to take notes, keep a dance diary where you jot down what you want to remember at the end of class. When you’re new, it can all feel like a blur, so you might start by writing the name of the sequence, how it begins, or anything you can recall. Over time, you’ll develop your own shorthand, stick figures, or arrows. Whatever works for you.
3. Go through the sequence in your mind
Going through a sequence in your mind is called mental rehearsal, which has been found to be almost as effective as physically rehearsing. Do this between classes, and again before you try it. You may not remember everything, but even recalling parts is progress.
4. Go through the sequence with a class mate
If you have a friend in class, arrange to catch up with them (maybe five minutes before or after class) to go through it together. You might be able to remember some parts, and they might remember other parts, and together you might be able to remember all, or most, of it. The process of working through it together will stick in your mind more than simply following the teacher in class.
5. Make sure you know the first movement
Take a moment before you start to think about the first movement. You can do this while waiting for the music to start or during the introduction. It’s surprising how often dancers stand ready to move but haven’t actually thought about what the first movement is. Then the music starts, there's a small panic moment, and you struggle to catch up. Once that happens, you're playing catch up the whole way through. But when you know the start, it often triggers the next step, and then the next. Even if it doesn't, if you remember a little bit more each time, then celebrate that as progress.
6. Learn the rhythm
Knowing the rhythm of movement is like giving yourself a frame on which to hang the sequence. It may mean counting, saying steps in a rhythmic chant, clapping, or even using nonsense syllables (it could be just da da da da, or nonsense words, like ‘ti-cky ta-ta-ta’).
7. Set yourself a practice schedule
Do you ever get to class and suddenly remember you wanted to practice during the week, but completely forgot? I know I have.
It helps to set a simple practice schedule and put it in writing. Practice sessions don't have to be long. More frequent, shorter sessions are more effective than fewer long sessions. Try practicing soon after class (while it's fresh), once mid-week, and again before your next class. Set yourself a phone reminder, add it to your diary or calendar, or put a note on the fridge.
8. Look for patterns
Dance is often built on patterns of repetition or variation. For example, a common patter in ballet is to do things en croix, which means to the front, side, back, and side. Some of these patterns you'll become very familiar with, which means instead of remembering several things, you only have to remember the pattern. In ballet variations (ballet solos) there is often three sections. Each section is made up of a short sequence repeated several times.
In jazz or tap, you might find that there is a simple and repetitive rhythm. If you can hook into that, it makes the task of remembering easier. In contemporary, it might be something that is performed in parallel and again in turnout.
This is called ‘chunking’, grouping small pieces of information into larger units. It’s like remembering a phone number: you don’t remember ten digits individually, you remember them in chunks.
9. Tell a story
Instead of thinking of movements as a random string, think about how they tell a story. This gives it meaning, and therefore makes it easier to remember. For example, you may imagine that you are communicating or interacting with an unseen individual. I do this a lot in jazz in particular, because you might imagine things like pushing someone out of the way with your hip, or turning away from someone, or reaching out to someone. You can also tell a story about how you interact with the audience. I tend to do this a lot in ballet. For example, using different head angles in conjunction with arm positions. You might imagine you are opening your arms to the audience, or peeking under your arm at them, or looking away, or finishing with a flourish as if to say ‘see what I just did’.
10. Learn the terminology
Different dance styles use different terminology, so it’s important to know what the words mean. Ballet is a good example, as everything is in French. Once you know the words, it becomes much easier to remember sequences.
In ballet, a simple step may have multiple parts. A chasse for example, consists of a demi-plie, a slide, a transfer of weight, and a close. So if you can remember what chasse means, you automatically only need to think of one thing instead of four. There are also common combinations of steps linked together, such as ‘glissade, jete, pas de bourree’ or ‘coupe, chasse, pas de bourree, pirouette en dehor, to land in a lunge’. Imagine how much you’d have to remember if you had to think of all the movements that go into making up these three enchaînment (chains of steps). In tap, a timestep may be made up of ‘stomp, hop, step, flat, ball change’ (there are all sorts of variations on the time step).
Knowing the names of the steps means you can say them to yourself in a rhythmic chant which will also be helpful (see above in Learn the Rhythm).
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To get started improving your dance memory, start with one or two of these techniques, and see what an impact it can have on your experience of dance.
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