When I was a child, my dance teacher did something wonderful–she had us reverse combinations. Most of the time she would do this with small jumps, and it really made us think quickly. At first it was very hard, but after a while, I began to understand how to break things down into pieces and do them in reverse.
This helped prepare me for complex combinations later in my career. I was always able to pick things up fairly quickly, and I truly think that this is one of the reasons why.
One caveat–don’t do this with beginning students. They have enough work to do in terms of doing things properly. Reversing combinations is something best left for intermediate and advanced classes.
I wish my dance teacher would have done this more. And I also wish she would of taught us retrograde. When I got to college it was such a challenge for me!
I was really lucky….my first teacher was an amazing lady! Do you do anything like that with the kids you teach?
This is a great way to rehearse your head! 🙂 I know many teachers use it, and Wayne McGregor is famous for using this technique. Like @ashleybouder wrote on Twitter after a rehearsal with him: “Rehearsal with W. McG. Brain exploded” 🙂
It really is a great technique to use. I don’t do it too much because students can also find it frustrating, but it challenges the brain!