As you may have noticed in my activities with Angel Hearts, I love to dance. I am not trained, but I love learning and performing idol dances and ParaPara, and I’ve been doing it for a long time. When I was little I really wanted to become a dancer, but I was never able to take lessons. When I started cosplaying, I fell in love with the character Kitty-N, a pink and white dancing catgirl idol from the game Bust A Move (Bust A Groove in the US). I loved her so much that when I cosplayed her, I was inspired to try learning her dance moves as well. Some of it was too difficult for someone with no dance experience, but I managed to learn a few of her combos and performed them on stage during cosplay Masquerades. Little did I know, that was only the beginning!
In 2000 I started listening to J-pop, and then a friend introduced me to ParaPara, a synchronized club dance in Japan. I started learning every dance I could, both J-pop and ParaPara, and it became a sort of daily workout for me. In fact, even though ParaPara has long gone out of style, I still use my ParaPara Paradise DVDs as my default daily workout (unless I have a show coming up). Remember those 80’s aerobics videos? Ok, maybe I just dated myself, but ParaPara Paradise videos are kind of like a Japanese version of aerobics videos to me. There are seven volumes, each a little under an hour, so it’s a fun way to stay in shape.
My friends used to joke that I was a dancing machine and that my natural state of being was dancing. I’ve gotten pretty quick at learning dances, so I’d like to share some tips for those who are interested in learning idol and ParaPara dances and are just starting out.
*Tips for Learning Dances*
- Find good reference videos. Ok, this is obvious. Some J-pop groups release Dance Shot Versions of their music videos. A lot of K-pop groups take this a step further and release dance studio practice videos. THE IDOLM@STER game has a built-in “Long Camera” that lets you zoom out to view full dances. Sometimes though, you don’t have a choice but to gather as many videos as you can of a routine and piece it together. Don’t forget also that sometimes a close-up version can be helpful for seeing hand gestures and other small movements, like winks! ParaPara videos are already set up as instructional videos, so you’re good to go.
- Reverse your video. For this, I like to use VLC Media Player. You can mirror a video by going to Tools > Effects and Filters (ctrl+E). Click on the Video Effects tab, then the Geometry tab, and then check the box that says “Transform”. In the drop-down box, choose “Flip horizontally”. VLC even remembers this setting so you don’t have to keep resetting it every time you open VLC (because of this, I use VLC for practicing dances and Media Player Classic for watching everything else, so I don’t have to keep changing the settings). Now the video is flipped so you can just copy the moves without having to think too hard which direction you need to move! The only thing that can get confusing for me is circles, since I tend to think of them as “clockwise” or “counterclockwise”, and it will be backwards if you reverse the video. Sometimes I will un-mirror the video just to check that I’m moving in the right direction.
Of course, if you want to use a video editor to permanently mirror your video, that is a good option too. If you’re using videos on YouTube, sometimes people will post mirrored videos, or you can use MirrorTheVideo.com. - Slow it down. Slowing your video down makes it a lot easier to see complicated moves and follow along when you’re just learning. VLC will allow you to change the playback speed to whatever you wish. YouTube now also allows you to slow videos. Typically when I am first learning a song, I will slow it to 67%. If I’m really having trouble with a section, I will slow it to 50%. When I’m feeling confident that I can follow along at 67%, I will gradually increase the speed until I feel I’ve got it down (maybe 80%, then 90%, then 100%).
- Break it into sections. Don’t try to cram everything in at once. It’s a lot easier if you break the song down into sections and learn one part at a time before moving on. Start on the opening, then move on to the verse, or however it makes sense for you to break up the song. Dance moves typically repeat for verses and refrains, so if you learned it well the first time around, adding the second part is easy. After I learn a new section, I start from the beginning of the song and make sure I can do the entire song up to that point before moving to the next section.
- Start on the right and be aware of your spacing. Again, I am not a trained dancer, so I’m not an authority on this, but there are a few things I picked up while learning dances. First of all, dances usually start on the right side – right foot, right arm. Exceptions to this may be when you’re mirroring someone in a group choreography, or if moving left in one section leads into the next section starting on the right side. Another thing with solo dances is that they usually start and end in the same spot. If you find that you’ve drifted to the side, or even forward or back from where you started, you may want to check your stepping to find out where you made a mistake. Sometimes you can get off if you take too big or too small a step, or if you move to one side and forget the other side. Just remember to keep yourself centered. When you’re in a group, keep an eye on the others around you to make sure you maintain proper formations.
- Practice in front of a mirror. You may feel like you’re getting a move right, but then when you see yourself in the mirror, it doesn’t look quite right. Use the mirror to work out the details in your poses and spacing. You may find that you’re not reaching far enough, not bending far enough, that the angle isn’t right, that you’re bending the wrong leg, or that your balance is off. Keep working at it until you look just like the dancers in your reference video! Remember how a move feels when you finally get it to look right. I also recommend practicing in front of the mirror at a slow speed. Clean up your moves while it’s still slow, and once your body is used to those positions, it will be easier to speed it up without getting sloppy. If you don’t have a mirror to practice in front of, you can take videos of yourself or ask someone else to watch you. These are good ideas anyway, as they may help you catch details you missed.
- Remember your posture. Good posture makes any pose look better! I myself have a terrible slouch and have to focus on keeping my back straight and my chin up. Posture exercises and general strength exercises will help your poses look better. Strengthening your muscles will make your moves look cleaner too.
- Listen to the music. Dancing isn’t the same without music, the two go hand in hand. Remember to listen to the songs even when you aren’t practicing to get a good feel for the music. Remembering the music will help you remember the moves if you can associate moves with sounds and imagine the two together. It also helps to look at the lyrics (and translations of lyrics if they’re in a language you don’t understand) because a lot of times dance moves are designed to go with the lyrics. Most of the members of Angel Hearts are not trained dancers, but those with any kind of music background have an easier time dancing because they can follow counts and find downbeats. For those with no dance or music background whatsoever, I find that lyrics are what help them the most.
- Dance like you mean it. Dancing is more than just learning a set of moves to a beat. Be confident and put feeling into your moves! The most important thing when you’re on stage is to smile and look like you’re enjoying yourself. If you’re having fun, the audience will have fun too! Push through mistakes like you meant to do it that way, and the audience may not even notice. Sometimes if you’re dancing to a more serious song, a happy smile may not be the most appropriate, but don’t forget to keep your energy up and dance with confidence! And smile anyway when you’re done!
- REPETITION. There is no substitution for practice. Practice, practice, practice. Repetition is key. If you have a performance coming up, make sure you start practicing early enough and keep at it until it feels like second nature. If you practice enough, you will build muscle memory and you may find yourself going through the routine without having to think much about the next move. When you know a song well, you will naturally become more confident, and that confidence shows in your dancing. It also allows you to focus on the finer details and showing emotion if you’re not having to think about what comes next.
I hope those tips were helpful to some of you! Good luck and let’s have fun dancing!!