Tips for Remembering Ballet Combinations! (with practice combo!)

One question we get a lot is how to remember combinations in ballet class! Today, Abby goes through some tips on how to remember combinations, and demonstrates the tips by taking you through a combination while implementing them.
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Music credits:
Divertimento K131 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

[@kellyg4818]

This was helpful for me since I have difficulty with longer combinations. Thanks!

[@BallerinasByNight]

Wonderful! I am so glad!

[@alee3146]

This is one of the more thoughtful video attempts to convey the learning of combinations in a way that you can then recall the sequence. Learning and memorization (or sequential recall) are related BUT DIFFERENT aspects of the cognative and motor-neural task our brains and bodies engage in. Your method is not as efficient as it could be in my estimation. The thing that hardly any teachers do today is to SLOW DOWN THE TEMPO OF THE MUSIC, which is possible nowadays where tracks are digital (not analogue like a record or tape) and the tempo can be slowed down while maintaining the same pitch. (in analogue recordings, the pitch rises or falls as the playback is speeded up or slowed down). The brain and body go through phases of understanding and competency acquisition. The first phase is clearly understanding each the step or unit, the correct mechanics, left or right leg lead. Another phase is building units (quadrants for example) or phrases (of the musical idea underlyinh, the sound track clues to the artostry). Another phase is change of direction or transition, that is weight changes and transfers and emphasis. It works best to accumulate these phases slowly, at a slow tempo and with counts Until Muscle Memory begins to gel. The brain automatizes the linkages, and the counts seem logical and natural. BUT if the early phases are not well understood, we mess up... the brain is overwhelmed and gets lost / cant keep up. SO slow the music to 25, 50 or 75% (youtube allows this) in order to well master the sequence at a speed your brain can accommodate and COUNT. THEN increase the tempo. (In your video, you do a great break down but then you go straight to the full tempo.). Another good way good help their students is THEY MIRROR their movements, whereas you faced the camera, then faced away from the camera during your demos. If you go left facing students going right, then they can follow you as if looking at a mirror. Watching an unmirrored demonstration puts more cognative load on the learner so makes it harder to learn. Facing away is better for learners copying moves, but that is a crutch. Another method is to write out the moves on poster paper so learners can use their visual-reading comprehension in order to learn WHAT they are supposed to do and WHAT COMES NEXT in the sequence, like musicians read the notes printed in paper then transition to replaying without looking at their music, like memorizing actors lines or a speech. Few dance teachers use written cues, so it takes longer to learn (inefficient) and so students have to pay more money to attend more classes to master material. Studio owners need revenue so dont care if inefficient methods are employed. There are ways to accelerate the rate of learning, but teachers are not efficiency-driven or motivated. Once the sequence is committed to memory and can be recalled at full tempo, then artistry and cleaning of technique can be enhanced, as the final phases of the process.

[@paulahills9546]

Just wanted to tell you that I have watched 75 minutes of dance and humour videos (you know what it's like when you go to KZbin to "just watch one" and 2 hours later, there you are!) and I can still remember the whole combination! If only teachers could repeat it as many times as you did, I'd be fine! 😀 😀 😀

[@BallerinasByNight]

That's awesome! I hope it continues to help you moving forward!

[@JoieFoster]

This is an excellent video-- what you're describing is an official technique called "chunking," and why human brains are good at remembering phone numbers broken down as 123-456-7890* vs just a string of numbers! It didn't occur to me that I was automatically doing this, and why I have gotten much better at remembering combinations over time with practice. Thanks for making me self-reflect and realize how and why I do something that I do! Knowing the technique will help me *deliberately* apply it, and therefore do it more effectively. *Other countries besides the US breakdown their phone numbers differently

[@BallerinasByNight]

Yes! Exactly!! That was my process with it too!

[@Jiafei.YeHuanXiang]

Thank you so much! I feel like I’d be so much better at ballet if I could actually remember the combinations

[@alix5704]

Thank you so much for this video. This has been a severe problem for me since I was a kid.

[@BallerinasByNight]

So glad it has helped!

[@K_ballet]

Oh my goodness this was a struggle for me as a teen and now returning in my 40’s! I get mentally stuck. Thanks for the tips!!

[@BallerinasByNight]

So glad it has helped you!

[@ronid8481]

Thanks for this very helpful advice on remembering steps. Could you do more combination step videos so we can practice? I think because I only take 2 classes a week (at night after work when exhausted), I don’t get enough practice (muscle memory).

[@BallerinasByNight]

I will definitely keep that in mind! I am glad this helped you!

[@esstown]

What worked for me was going to lots of different teachers. They all have their own patterns, and getting used to non-familiarity did the trick.

[@BallerinasByNight]

Yes, definitely! I have to have a few classes with a teacher before I get totally comfortable with their style. Some "click" more easily than others!

[@esstown]

Yes! And here's the thing about the ones that don't click: You need to be with THEM to get good at picking up choreography quickly! Once they start to click you need to move on (for this one purpose, lol).

[@sarahemily7460]

Thank you!! I have trials for pointe tomorrow morning this was extremely helpful! 🤍🤍

[@seaofglass77]

It took me a long time to get learning steps down without stressing out. Even modern choreography, stuff that feels random without step names, is easier. But it took ten years! I've used tricks like giving nameless steps (where the teacher just says "here then here" over and over) my own names, like, " side roll, farmer squat, foot brush" to figure it out. I love that ballet goes by in 8s and a good teacher will have a clear pattern, not just random steps.

[@BallerinasByNight]

It takes a while! But feels good once you get there. I really like that about ballet too, but that's also why modern is so good for ballet dancers! We can get too comfortable with our patterns!

[@davidg858]

This is the most useful combination learning video ever! Great job! Could you demonstrate the technique for learning a much longer petite or grand allegro?

[@BallerinasByNight]

Thank you! So glad it helped! Will put that on our list for video ideas!

[@jessieborrell1856]

These are great tips! I have a music background, so it really helps me with counting. I seem to remember combinations pretty well if I'm given it a couple times and can mark it. I took a class a couple months ago that I had a hard time in because the combinations were really long and we didnt mark it at all, so I had a hard time remembering what i was supposed to do and making my feet move the right way LOL

[@BallerinasByNight]

If I don't get to mark, I am done for haha! Music backgrounds are so helpful. I took piano for years, but the counting didn't click with me fully until well into adulthood, and then it made all the difference!

[@donnamarie6840]

This video was so helpful. Thank you !

[@BallerinasByNight]

Yay! I am so glad!

[@starmelodyelizabethb7380]

I tend to have issues forgetting combinations and I go crazy but this was definitely helpful.

[@BallerinasByNight]

It's tough! So glad this helped!

[@susanwilturner2685]

awesome really helpful, right on! Bravo Encore!! :)

[@BallerinasByNight]

So glad! Thank you!

[@isabellerousseau5600]

very helpful!

[@christinak5452]

My favourite part was when you signed out with a very dramatic pose singing "that's aaaall" and then closed with a tiny wave and a whispered "thankyyoubye"!!

[@BallerinasByNight]

Haha I get a little silly filming sometimes!!

[@ritawing1064]

I have come to the conclusion that it's all down to mirror neurons. Some people can translate others' movements to their own bodies immediately - I am still mentally sorting out their left and right and applying it to my right and left when the music starts. 🤣🤣🤣

[@BallerinasByNight]

So true!

[@esstown]

Yes, many people are like this. This is why dance teachers sometimes have 2 different colour shoes, or a leg warmer on one side only. It saves some mental overload with un-mirroring to sort left from right. After a while you may find yourself thinking in terms of croisse and efface, instead of left and right. It's a quicker computation once you make this shift - because now it's the front or the back foot, not the left or the right. Also, it will be equally applicable on both sides, which saves some computation as well. Also, when en face, almost everything begins to the right the first time.

[@guangminghe8020]

Thankfully, really helpful 👍

[@RafaelSantos-xl1ut]

Very helpful. Thanks 😉

[@webweib8271]

What works for me best is not trying to "remember" the steps, but trying to feel them in my body. It is way easier with contemporary or jazz combinations, though. I think it is because they are more fluid. Remembering barre combinations are harder then center combinations for me. That's also because barre is less fluid. What I also found out: If you know your teacher for some time it is wayyyy easier to remember the combinations. Every time I have a new teacher It is harder again. Because every teacher has his/her typical clusters of moves.

[@YasminDan]

Your channels so fantastic! Im a new subscriber! I also have a dance channel but ballet is something I haven't done in ages! Would love to be youtube friends xx

[@BallerinasByNight]

Awesome! Would love to connect more - feel free to message or email us!

[@YasminDan]

@@BallerinasByNight yes that would be amazing! stop by my channel too when you get the chance :)

[@BallerinasByNight]

@@YasminDan Definitely will! I subscribed to you as well! Keep in touch!

[@keithgraymusic]

I need to process it in different ways too.

[@SP-kk5nj]

If my teachers went over things as many times as you do in this video I’d have no trouble remembering! Is it odd that I can remember jazz and tap choreography easily but ballet choreography takes me way longer? I’ve danced 23 years now and it’s still the same :/

[@BallerinasByNight]

I agree with that! I don't think that is odd at all. I can remember ballet combinations much more easily than tap, ballroom, and jazz, which sometimes makes me more reluctant to go take those classes because just the mental side of it is more difficult. I think we all have styles that "click" with us more, but I also think it is good to go into those other styles and push ourselves, too. :-)

[@JGreen-le8xx]

Abby❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😄

[@BallerinasByNight]

Hiiiii!