Remembering Dance choreographies & choreography - tips and advice
Belly dancers and dancers in general often have to memorise choreographies, which is sometime frustrating. Below I have listed some tips that have helped me personally, every time I have had to memorise and remember a piece of choreography.
Repetition and practice – this seems obvious, but the more you repeat and practise a piece of choreography, the more you will remember.
Visualisation – in order to commit a piece of choreography to mind, you can also practise it in your head every time you are unable to get up and dance. It helps if you can listen to the music you will be dancing to, while visualising in your head the moves you will be doing and almost feel the imaginary movements in your body.
Know your music – if you listen to the music a lot and know what phrase will come next, this will help you as a cue to remember the movement. Usually every dance movement is suited to a particular phrase, so let the music guide you.
Identify patterns and repetitions – usually, and this applies even more to bellydance, every song has a certain part that is repeated more 
than once throughout the song. This means that some dance patterns will be repeated (the same or with small modifications). If you spot these patterns, it will be easier to remember at least these bits of the choreography.
If you have a video of the dance performed by a teacher, watch it as often as you can.
Last but not least, during the performance enjoy, relax and, if you forget some moves, keep on dancing and smile!Back to Dance Guides page.
