Are you trying to be a cleaner dancer? We can help! While dance is a form of expression and not a military drill, being clean allows others to see and understand your movements better. And having a good understanding of your execution will help you feel free-er and more expressive! Here are some tips that will help you be a cleaner dancer.

Be A Cleaner Dancer By...

1. Developing body awareness

To be a clean dancer, you must develop a sense of awareness so that you are able to mimic the pictures of the choreographers or those around you. At any given time, you should know where each body part is placed, down to your fingertips. It’s always a good idea to take a step back and notice what your body is doing in relation to what you want it to do. Are your toes pointing in or out? Fingers together or spread apart? Shoulders tensed or relaxed? Take a look in the mirror and try to match the choreographer or fine-tune what picture you want to make.

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Practice with: The Ultimate Guide To Body Awareness For Beginner Dancers

2. Knowing your basic angles

There are certain body angles and positions that'll help you to memorize know because they are used often. As you take more classes (especially foundational styles and beginner classes), hitting these angles will become second nature. If you’re newer to dancing, then drill the basic angles into your body so that it won't be something you consciously have to pay attention to all the time. Here are more reasons Why Every Dancer Should Take A Beginner Dance Class

‍For example, 45 and 90 degree angles are always used, so get that into your system ASAP. This will let you to focus on other details that make up the move. And come cleaning time, you won't have to be cleaned as often because you already have a handle on the base of the moves.

Trying to clean a large group? Directors, this is How To Clean Your Dance Team

3. Using your muscles

If your arms or any other body parts are floppy, then you’re going to look messy. So use your muscles! You should think of them as brakes for your movement that’ll let you freeze at a moment’s notice. Tense up at the RIGHT moments to stick your pictures. I’ve done exercises where I go through any pictures in a piece and flex my body at those points to try to develop muscle memory for each picture. The more developed your muscles are, the better you will be at controlling your movement.

‍Not sure how to practice? Use these tips: Wanna Dance With More CONTROL?

4. Defining your path of movement

To be a cleaner dancer, it’s critical that you think about the pathway of the movements. When you look for directions on Google Maps, it’ll show you different ways from getting from point A to point B. Yes, you’ll get to where you want to go in the end, but all these pathways look SUPER different.So when you’re learning choreography and don't feel like you're doing it right, take a look at the path of your moves.

5. Learning to control your speed

Mastering timing will help your cleanliness like crazy. Being able to move slow and take your time AND being able to move crazy fast can only translate well if you're doing it cleanly. And if you can’t do the moves properly at 1/10th of the speed, then there’s no way you can do it right in tempo. So start slow, first. I like to take a piece and go through it a couple times really slowly, so I can really get the pictures right and understand how it feels in my body. Then I speed it up in increments until I can do it in tempo. This is especially helpful before you cast or do groups in class.If you want to take it a step further, then learn some popping animation fundamentals!

Poppers have some of the craziest speed control. Learn to dance on top of the music: How To Train Your Musicality As A Dancer

6. Training for solid footwork

When you’re doing choreography or other hip hop styles, you want to be really grounded in your movements so that you’re not toppling over while you’re dancing. You can’t have a strong tree without strong roots – and your feet and legs are the ones anchoring you to the floor as you’re dancing.If you’re going to be wobbling while you’re trying to move around, then it’s likely that you won’t be able to do any of the other moves 100% correctly.

"Don’t skip leg day," they say – and the same goes for dancing. Stay grounded and balanced to better execute your moves! Read about Why "Staying Light On Your Feet" Is Actually Bad Advice Taking classes on STEEZY Studio is the perfect way to polish your cleanliness. Choreographers not only teach each move in thorough detail, you get to practice each combo or section as many times as you need. Watch this video for more tips on dancing clean!

Sign up today to start for free! Do you have any activities your practice to help with cleanliness? Share them with the community by commenting below!