Beautiful dancers, there are a lot of things that make perfect sense to long-time students but are confusing to new students.
One of the most ubiquitous ones is "marking." Have you heard this in your classes?
"Let's mark this turn combination."
"Mark it on your own while I find music."
"I was just marking it!"
When you mark something, you do a mini-version of it as a way of figuring it out before you perform it. You might hear "mark it with music," in which case the teacher plays the music they want you to dance to and you follow along. You might trace the path the combination takes along the floor. You might practice the steps to make sure you know what they are. You might only work your arms instead of your legs and feet.
Marking can mean different things to different dancers and in different scenarios. But what everyone agrees is that you don't dance it "full-out," that is, as if you were performing it. There are also many ways to mark:
- with just your feet: you walk through the steps of the combination in a low-key way which can be helpful if you are in the center and the combination is long and travels a good deal (or doesn't!)
- with just your arms: you gesture with your arms as if you were dancing the combination full-out which can be especially useful if you are doing adagio or reminding yourself about where to hold your arms during turns and leaps
- with just your hands: the most common for barre exercises as well as easier center floor combinations
This last one is one of the most efficient ways to mark. Dancers use their hands like feet and map out the combination the teacher is giving them. You will see them move their hands in the air in front of them as if they are doing the steps with their feet.
Marking with your hands is a great way to get the steps in your body. When you move your hands like feet, your brain picks up another way to access the movement. You're instructing it in a way that is separate from the rest of the body which will do the actual steps. It's extremely beneficial to help you learn choreography more quickly.
From a teacher's point of view, when we ask students to mark a combination with or without music, we watch to see how they pick up the choreography. Are they walking through it? Using their arms mostly? Using their hands? What we don't want to see is a student simply standing there doing nothing. Marking is movement with the body not just the eyes! We want to see that you're getting it - or not. When we mark together as a group, a teacher can see if you missed something or if a step is confusing or if the music is too fast or slow. We also want you to hold off on questions until we do it together. Many times marking a combination will answer the questions you have.
Speaking of questions, got any burning ones to ask? Have you heard something in class or seen something done without explanation - and you want an explanation? Just ask! Happy dancing!
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