Aradia Fitness Instructor Asher is known for her seamless ability to create beautiful choreography pieces – and sometimes in a short matter of time! How exactly does she do it? In this blog piece, Asher will be sharing her tips and tricks with you!
Asher:
First off, let me start by saying that I am no dance professional. I have no experience or background in any form of dance, so when I write this; I’m basing it off of my personal experience and routines for how I create my own choreography and routines!
First thing that I like to do is pick a song. Pick a song and figure out why you like that song. Is it because you like the music? The words? The beat? Second; what kind of theme comes into your head when you hear this song? Is it sexy? Is it emotional? Is it upbeat and fun? When it comes to music, it needs to speak to me in a way that makes me want to dance! If I don’t feel like I want to dance to this music, then it’s no good!
Once you’ve picked a song, turn it on, and just dance! This is my personal secret and best time that I can give someone. Just dance! Turn on your phone and record your freestyle session to your song. Don’t think of what to do, just let your body do the work for you. Feel the music in your body, and the moves will pour out. Don’t worry about what may or may not “look good”. Do what FEELS good to do! I recommend doing this multiple times. Just have the song on repeat. Once you feel you’ve dance enough, take a seat and watch your video. I find that once I go back and watch what I’ve done, there are lots of things I put together that I didn’t even think about before. I see them on my video and decide “yeah, that seems cool,” or “that didn’t really work for me.” Once I’ve seen my video, I try to re-create some of the moves I did unknowingly and polish them up to blend them into pieces that I can add into a routine.
If you are trying to put together a piece in one day, then I recommend this next step: Watch pole videos from fellow polers! There may be something in their videos that you like, that you can make your own! No, this is not copying. There is no such thing in the pole world. When you become intertwined with the pole universe, you become a part of a huge family! And we ALL love to share and be inspired by each other and try out new things! Pole is like a spider web of connectivity. We all get caught in this web, and then we’re watching each other like “OH MY GOD, I NEED TO TRY THIS!” So we try it out, and if we like it, it becomes part of our own practice. So don’t be afraid to try out someone else’s move or technique. Take it and add your flare to it! But hey, it never hurts to give credit where the inspiration came from 😉
(And believe me, the inspirers will be SO humbled that you claimed them as your inspiration!) Naturally n ow try adding in your new learned moves to the freestyle ones you’ve created. Start just putting them together to see if they flow. If they do – great! If not, try again!
Those are the things that I find help most. I also have a couple things for you to keep in mind as you are trying to put your choreography together:
- ALWAYS record what you’re doing! Looking back on what you like and don’t like is important. And NO, you are not obligated to show anyone thins
- REMEMBER: Pole choreography does not just mean POLE. It means floor work, freestanding moves and tricks, and what I call pole prop (moves with the pole that are not just tricks or spins; using the pole as a prop. Example: standing in front of the pole holding on to it and doing body waves)
- HANDS: My god, always do something with your hands! We always have legs going, and hips swaying, and hair flips… but if your hands are hanging there like dead limbs, it’s not going to look nice. I mean, unless you’re doing a zombie type themed piece. Don’t ask my why it’s called this, I created the name I think and I haven’t quite figured out why I say that. All you do is flex your hand and separate your fingers slightly
- CLASSES: Take dance classes for yourself! Other dance classes than pole. You’ll find that some things transfer nicely to pole as well!
These are by far the best things that I have found that worked for me when I try to put pieces together, and I hope that they help you as well. I know I said that I’m not a professional dancer, but that’s the beauty of pole; you don’t have to be to create a piece. We’re all dancers, hence why we started pole in the first place!
-Written by Instructor and Admin Assistant Asher