How to create your own dance style

One of the questions I get the most is,

How to develop my style and build a strong identity as a dancer? 

The first step is identifying as soon as possible what are the dance styles you like the most. Let's say you have three dance styles you enjoy doing. 

The next step is identifying one style that you want to master.

I recommend you focus on one style and then use the other two styles to enrich your main style. 

Remember, the best way to be average is to try to be great at everything.

The moment you start doing this, you will end up being average, and you don't want to be that dancer.  

I recommend that you narrow your focus, work smart, and you will progress much faster.

Now you've identified your style and decided which one you want to focus on. 

The third step is to focus on developing your identity. 

How can you develop your identity? 

In my opinion, there are three levels of learning

• Learning, you learn new information, you gather information, 
• Implement the moment you understand this information
• Customise

But unfortunately, many dancers spend their time at the learning level and implementing level. They spend a lot of time between these two, but they never customise. 

That's unfortunate because customising will make you develop your identity. The good news is you already have a unique style, but you may not know how to develop it yet. Think about it this way. We don't look the same, and we don't walk or talk the same way. 

The same applies to movement. You have your unique way of moving. 

You need to identify it, understand it, and get familiar with it to develop your own identity.

So the best way to show your identity is to start customising what you are learning. 

So every time you are training, ask yourself this question. How to add your flavour to this?

It can be a step, a concept, or an idea. Don't get me wrong, it is important to learn the basics and learn the foundation, but once you get familiar with it, you need to transition to customise what you are learning. The sooner you can start doing this and get in the habit of customising what you are learning, the sooner you will show your real YOU.

You might be asking how to customise what you are learning, and that's a good question. The truth is I don't have the answer to this question because the answer can only come from you. When I learn something new, I don't have someone else to tell me how to customise it. First, I learn it, then I implement it the way I learn it and see how it works for me, and at some point, I will decide to personalise it, customise it to make it my own. 

I can only guide you to start thinking this way because you will benefit from this approach. But the answer is no one has it except YOU.

It might sound simple like this, but it is not necessarily the easiest thing to do, and it will take time to do it. 

But take time to cultivate this idea, which will help you develop a strong identity as a dancer and ultimately, this will help you stand out from the crowd.