Here’s the #1 question that consumed me from my first swing dance class onward: Why do some people learn faster than others?
I watched people struggle in my earliest dances classes. What did they find so difficult? And why did I seem to sprint ahead initially?
At first I thought it was “natural talent.” Then I wised up and actually read some research. Now I know “talent” is largely a myth. For example, did you know that elite athletes are more likely to be younger siblings? The researcher suggests sibling rivalry, early sports socialization, and several other mechanisms to explain the difference. Environment, not genetics, is a much stronger predictor of success.
If natural talent is a myth, what past experience will help you learn lindy hop faster?
List Time!!
The following is a list of 15 prior skills and experiences that may give you an advantage. The more you identify with, the faster you will learn.
- You’ve watched a lot of lindy hop or other dancing.
- You have prior dance experience of any kind (every little bit counts).
- You’ve done sports, especially activities with running, jumping, or balancing.
- You have worked out in the past.
- You currently walk a lot or work out regularly.
- You constantly think about, talk about, and/or like to show others what you’re learning.
- You love music.
- You listen to swing music and/or any other kind of jazz.
- You’ve studied music/played a musical instrument.
- You have done other performance arts (e.g. theater, improv, public speaking, stand up).
- You consider yourself a visual, auditory, and/or kinesthetic learner.
- You like working on hard stuff.
- You aren’t afraid of making mistakes, and/or you’re determined to try again when you fail.
- You’ve previously mastered a skill over the course of years.
- You believe education, practice, and determination are far more important than “natural talent.”
Elated? Discouraged? Perhaps, like I did, you still believe the talent myth. Whether you think you have natural talent, or you think you have none, this belief will hold you back.
Let me explain.
The #1 Defining Trait of Success
It’s not genetics. Nope. For every level of dancer, “grit” is the biggest predictor of success that scientists have found so far. Grit means determination, stick-to-it-iveness, and perseverance over the long-term.
So how would I have fared if I’d looked at this list as a newbie?
Numbers 1-12 more or less applied to me when I started dancing. Yay, go me! I would have thought I was so awesome.
However, it’s likely that 12-15 are the most important type of factors in determining how far you’ll go as a dancer. I didn’t know that at the time.
Predictably, I had a few years of early success followed by a long, grinding plateau. I thought talent should keep me moving, and stagnation made me question my ability. Only daydreams and desire kept me trucking along until I got fed up with my slow progress.
I’ve seen students like me fade out of dancing when their early successes ran dry. Is that you? Do you feel your excitement slipping as your progress slows?
Other people have sprinted far ahead of me. I saw other people doing things I wanted to do, getting accolades I wanted, helping people and contributing to the scene in ways I wanted to. (Go you guys!)
Lindy hop was so ingrained in my life, I couldn’t imagine quitting. I also couldn’t stay in the same place, feeling bad about myself.
You Can Change Your Lot
Think you’re bad at dancing?
The cool thing about discarding the talent myth is that now you can change your future. If you’re bummed you don’t have past experience to help you learn faster, guess what? You can do those things now!
Even if you work 60 hours a week, you still have 52 other hours you’re awake. You can listen to music in the mornings when you’re getting ready, or in the evenings when you’re making dinner.
You can start jogging or jump on the elliptical machine during your lunch break. You can park your car further away. You can think about dancing more. You can talk about it. You can read about it.
Perhaps you can make time to practice more.
Even 10 Minutes Makes a Difference
10 minutes of practice, 10 minutes of exercise, or 10 minutes of listening to music. Whatever you can do on a regular basis, it all makes a difference—an important, irrefutable difference.
Now that you know this, the only excuse is “I don’t want to.” But if you’ve read this far, I have to believe that you do.
After struggling to improve for years, I finally decided to get to the bottom of things. When I stripped away everything else, I saw a fork in the road. One said said, “I don’t want to,” and the other said, “Keep working.” Even though some days I feel like I’ve only taken a single step on the “keep working” road, it’s so much better than lying to myself and pretending I don’t want to.
Stagnation comes to your door only when you refuse to do what’s necessary. Or when you pretend you have no ideas. (Don’t lie. You read my blog. You have some ideas of how to improve.)
So, my newbie friends. Let’s not pretend we have no idea what to do. Have faith, and try something. If it fails, try again. Then try something else.
Develop the grittiness to keep going, even when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s there, I promise you. And your friends are here, cheering you on.
What prior skills/experiences have helped YOU learn to dance? Answer in the comments below!
Photo credit: bokeh burger (bicycle)
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Early exposure to partner dancing. As in, from the childhood. Picking up Swing dancing for me was a no brainer because of my years of social dancing.
Also, martial arts training. Most of the good dancers I know, the one that progressed really fast, had martial arts training (me included).
Genetics and “talent” do matter, it’s just that for many things hard work matters more.
Not gonna lie… I used to play Guitar Hero a LOT before I started dancing, and the game has trained my ears to pick up drum beats and the bass a lot better than before. Haha!
Haha, right on! I know some who did a ton of Dance Dance Revolution before learning lindy hop, and he had a lot of initial success.
Hi Rebecca
I agree with many of the points you make, particularly about prior experience with music, dance, or some physical activity that involves moving well from your core, achieving some kind of physical mastery, or, as Claudia points out, martial arts.
I’d like to weigh in on the fact that learning styles are currently very much out of fashion (and considered a myth). Though of course self-belief of learning styles is important too, regardless of whether they actually exist.
http://www.changemag.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/September-October%202010/the-myth-of-learning-full.html
On the other hand, while hard work is obviously necessary to succeed (10000 hours, etc), I doubt it’s sufficient. I think one of the major factors of success is recognizing when you are doing “busy learning”: things that trick you into thinking you’re putting the hours in, when you’re actually “cheating yourself”. One example would be attending a weekly class with teachers who do not have an overall picture which will allow you to progress (you need to get to international workshops). Another is doing countless workshops but with diminishing returns (you need to start practicing or get some privates). The same is also true if you’re not willing/able to put in the work to fix deep seated issues (that, of course goes in with a willingness to be wrong). Basically, if you’re walking north from New York, you’re unlikely to ever reach Seattle, however much effort you put in and however much fun you have.
I’m also deeply suspicious of the Grit/Hours over Talent argument. It lines up waaaay too nicely with the American dream that you can achieve anything if you are willing to work hard for it (to which environmental factors and luck are also added). But Talent could be redefined as the ability to monitor your own progress and make decisions that favor it – and still be innate.
More generally, though, as I’ve argued elsewhere, possibly even on your blog, I don’t think dancing is all that hard (or rather, I think it’s way easier than it’s often made out to be) and accessible to anyone, regardless of talent (at least to a “why yes, I’d love to dance with you” at any major event level). Either way, the news is good for struggling beginners, through persistance and either hard work, letting go of their fears, or both, success is within reach.
I agree with you about learning styles being about of fashion. 2 things:
(1) It’s good to come into a learning situation where skills are being taught by sight/sound/touch and think, “This is exactly how I learn!” Can’t go wrong with that kind of positive attitude.
(2) Sight is the dominant sense, at least according to brain researchers. Moreover, multi-sensory learning tends to be more effective (again, according to brain researchers). Pairing sound and touch with visuals is bound to be better. So I’d like to encourage people to be open to these channels of learning. I just chose the most common way of referencing it so people would be able to see themselves in the list. I look forward to moving away from the learning styles conversation, but so many people are hung up on it, you know?
On genetics vs environment vs hard work: I think of genetics as a door, and environment as being the keymaker. Hard work is what takes you through the door and far beyond.
In “The Art of Learning,” Josh Waitzkin describes his early fascination with chess. Many children who show early proficiency in a skill later lose interest. His parents fully supported him year after year, helping him through every obstacle. Sometimes I think about what fascinated me as a child and wonder where I’d be today if my parents had been able to do that.
Most people are born with a lot of potential doors they can unlock, but not all kids are raised in perfect (or even good) environments. Some have to do a lot more work later. Some of that work might even be in figuring out what kind of work actually works.
BTW, hearing “dancing isn’t all that hard” while I’m trying like hell to learn a new dance is about the most demotivating thing I can think of. (My brain: “Are you effin’ kidding me?? I’m dying out here!! I must be a complete idiot. Forget it.”) Maybe it works for you, though. To each their own!
Cheers!
Rebecca
I played soccer in high school and, of course, there’s a lot of balance, kicking, and stamina training I received from that sport. But the most important thing I got from soccer that pertains to dancing is this: Whenever I would miss the ball, or trip and fall, or foul an opponent, my couch would yell, “That’s ok, Sarah! Shake it off! Shake it off! Play on!”
So, that’s what I think when I’m dancing… whenever I accidentally start back-leading, or botch a spin, or when someone turns me down when I ask them to dance, I think to myself: “Shake it off! Play on!”
That’s a really awesome story. Totally going to repost it!
My fav online radio station to listen to at work (and at home) is bigblueswing.com. It has a great mix of Swing, Jazz and Blues. My feet are always moving in my head if not literally!!!
Being a cadet and learning to keep in step by following the beat of the band helped me. Although highland dancing to said band was my first introduction to dance, and results in me needing constant reminders to have bent knees and an athletic posture when dancing lindy.
Excellent post, Rebecca. When In started dancing, about 5 years ago, I came into it essentially blind, having never really watched any or had much previous interest or related experience. A friend dragged me to a drop-in East Coast Swing class and I was immediately hooked. The learning curve was steep but fun, at least at first.
Gregory makes in the comments between “busy learning” and actual learning. I know that when I hit my first big wall, about 9 months in, I tried to bury myself in the dance to get through it and this wound up mostly being busy learning. Three to four classes a week and as many nights of social dancing for a year just left me more frustrated and I, essentially, walked away from my Lindy for a couple of years, focusing primarily on Balboa instead. Had I understood the idea of “busy learning” I would have backed the class load way off and stuck with periodic private lessons, workshops and regular practice sessions. This is the approach I wound up taking with Balboa and it’s served me incredibly well both for Balboa itself and for Lindy, with which I have fallen back in love over just the last couple of months, after several years of finding it more frustrating than fun.
That is a good point, busy learning vs. actual learning. It totally deserves its own post.
Having a martial arts background has helped me immeasurably in the pursuit of swing dancing. However, I think it had a lot more to do with #14, having previously mastered a skill, than with anything else. Sure, it was helpful that I had been trained for a long time to focus on how my body moves, keep my weight over my feet, and watch my “opponent” (now partner) for cues. But all those things will come with time and practice *while* learning to dance. Having had the experience of working my butt off through tears and sweat and frustration and boredom and pain (at something I had no knack for, no less!), and feeling the thrill of having my work pay off, *before* I started dancing, was invaluable. No matter how frustrated I am, I can say to myself, “I’ve been here before, and I got through it, and here’s how.” The “how” part helps a lot – not only do I know I’m capable of overcoming obstacles, I’ve already learned some of the most effective ways for me, personally, to do so. Is this a place where I need to push through it and persist, or to back off and do something else for a while? So to me, #14 is one of the biggest items on that list. And as for those people for whom dancing will become their first #14, I’m excited for them!
Such a good comment. Reposting on FB. Thank you.
This is something I usually don’t openly advertise, my most useful experience for myself to help me learn how to dance was losing my ability to walk during my last open heart surgery.
Due to being bedridden for the recovery process my legs atrophied. Once I recovered enough to get out of the bed I was allowed to do short walks with assistance from nurses and moved eventually to physical therapy to get the strength back in my legs. It was long time before I had the ability to walk up a flight of stairs without getting completely winded.
I can see where Gregory is coming from, walking is one of those things that feels incredibly easy when you are used to it and it’s hard imaging life without it. However I agree with you on the point though Rebecca that “grit” is an essential skill to get better. Any time I have felt frustrated in a dance class or lost while learning choreography I remember those long night time walks at UCLA and remember that what I am doing is “easy” in comparison to that and it makes me keep pushing forward.
Wow. Thanks, that’s really inspiring. :-)
I was 0 for 9 on the first 9. Then I went 6 for 6 on the remaining questions.
This helps explain to me why I struggled so much as an absolute newbie, and why a few years later I’m not exactly top tier but I’m doing well enough.
14 out of 15, not that bad:-)
The talent myth is something that embarasses me since I don`t know when. I´ve started learning to play guitar when I was 16 and what brought me forward was to keep playing and practising all those years, It was the same when I started to take singing lessons 7 years ago. In the beginning I was really terrible but I worked quite a lot until I got better. My teacher once told me that after the first lesson she doubted that it would make sense for me to take singing lessons but that she held onto me because she could see that I really worked hard on myself and that I got better little by little.
Of course playing instruments and having knowlegde of musical theory helped a lot when I started with lessons in standard dancing (Rumba, Cha Cha, Tango. etc.) at the age of 17. And the experience in standard dancing heldped me when I started dancing LIndy Hop. It`s not a question of how much talent one has (I´ve seen dancers who didn`t have any rhythm at all and they got it finally) but how intense you work on yourself.
Really interesting. I think I tick all the points on the list but I still have a mental block when it comes to ending up on the correct foot. :) I’m quite happy plugging away
I’m interested in your blogging thoughts on what a new dancer can do to make the transition from repeating moves to actually “dancing”.
This is a transition that, after 5 uears of Lindy Hop, I’m only just starting to be able to make now. The thing that’s really helped the most, for me, is dancing solo. Not practicing Jazz steps, nor pretending I’;m doing Lindy with an invisible partner – just putting on some music and bopping around the house to it. It might even help to specifically not use Jazz for this so that you aren’t thinking about Stuff You’ve Learned and actively trying to incorporate it. Just feel the music and let it drive you. Go out dancing at a bar or club and just move with whatever you feel in the music.
As I’ve been told many times, if you can’t dance with yourself, it’s going to be very hard to dance with a partner. So, get used to moving with the music and feeling it run through you without worrying about a partner or moves or patterns or classic steps. Not that you should under no circumstances use the Jazz stuff that you know – just that it may be a hinderance to opening up to the music of you are thinking about specific steps. I think you’ll find that the Jazz movement will creep in on its own.
A partner dance is more than just lead and follow – it’s two people dancing and sharing their dancing with each other – lead and follow just provide some structure for this sharing.