Have you ever wondered why "practice makes perfect" is such a popular saying? Or how habits are created? Or how you've accidentally gotten faster at tying your shoelaces without intentionally rehearsing it?
Something that I have learned from every single one of my professors at Scottsdale Community College, is that the body gets better at what it does often. So after a full year of hearing this, I said to myself, “What do I want to get better at?” And the answer was improv. I wanted to get better at improvising in dance.
Okay so step one: Ask what do I want to get better at? Done.
Step two: Do it often
I implemented this practice by creating a TikTok account where I started posting a video of me dancing every day. I chose to use video and social media for my process because I knew that if I wanted to get better, I needed to track my progress. It is so easy to make progress and not appreciate it because you forget where you started. So I used my TikTok account as a digital portfolio where I could see where I started, where I ended, and where I was every day in between. On this account I didn’t use hashtags, I didn’t follow anybody, and I didn’t interact with any comments. I simply took the video, captioned it “Day #__” and closed the app and moved on with my day. I was doing this simply for my own benefit, and I didn’t care what anybody else thought.
Today is February 4th, and I am currently on day 129. Since starting this account, I have completely fallen in love with improv and exploring the way that my body wants to move. I have grown a very strong and personalized “style” within my movement, and I have come to love the way that my body moves. I now have a better understanding of my body’s limits and functionality, and instead of letting that hold me back the way I used to think it had to, I embrace it and let it guide me in ways that nobody else would understand. What may seem like a knee injury to everybody else, is a beautiful excuse to investigate arm pathways for me. What may seem like inwardly rotated hips to everyone else, is a strong parallel position and ways to move differently for me. And what may seem like an inability to jump to everyone else, is an exploration of the ground and our connection with the Earth to me.
What's your superpower that other people maybe see as a restraint or excuse? What makes you different and how can you capitalize on it?
Throughout this journey, I have enjoyed dancing in my kitchen, living room, bathroom, backyard, public parks, dance studios, hotel rooms, staircases, camping trips, and so many random places. Not only has it been great to dance every day, but I have accidentally created a digital journal where I get to see where I have been going and what I have been doing for the past 129 days. Through each video, I can see what I was going through each day, which is something that my physical journal will never fully capture in the same way.
You've practiced and mastered how to tie your shoes, what else have you accidentally perfected?
What do you want to get better at and how can you intentionally do it often?
