08/04/2025
Dancers always want to perform at their best. That comes with practice but is also about choreography. So should exercises and dances be very simple or very difficult?
Simplicity can be exquisite. A simple walk, a gesture, using the music beautifully, or just exceptional ex*****on because of the simplicity. This requires control, strength, and awareness of the music. However, something incredibly difficult executed with precision and ease, can be just as breathtaking.
Simplicity is where technique is properly learned. But once it's there, dancers need to be challenged, although it needs to be achievable. Sometimes simplicity is key for elegance and excellence. But as teachers, we CANNOT allow our dancers to feel ‘stuck’. We should always extend them beyond the syllabus, introducing dancers to additional movements which will push them even further in their dancing, while ensuring these are not beyond their grasp.
Really, the best is to do both, as each one has a purpose. Training both aspects and understanding where they are each appropriate. Have choreography that’s more simple and ‘easy’ AND do some that’s more of a challenge, to extend dancers beyond what they thought was possible.
Because, what is our goal? Do we want dancers who only work within their comfort zone and never grow, or do we want artists who keep striving for better dancing – through simplicity and ambition? Dancers who can captivate an audience while doing something ‘simple’. And dancers who successfully and cleanly execute difficult steps. They both amaze audiences because of their remarkable ability and precision. It doesn’t have to be either/or. WE CAN BE BOTH. Let’s go for simplicity AND ambition!
