Inspiration comes from actions. I will keep repeating it again and again. But sometimes we really feel down, and need to shake things up in order to get back on track with our dance training.

Here are some simple and quick action steps that you can take whenever you feel stuck and frustrated with the general course of your dance journey!

Day 1: Look Within. Close your eyes, smile to your heart. Say to your inner artist that you love, support and cherish her. Forgive past mistakes, failures or shortcomings. Allow yourself the freedom of a fresh start to enter your mind and body, and ask yourself: ‘’What does success in dance mean to me?’’ Not to your teacher, friend or parent. But to YOU.

Day 2: Play Around. Think when you can simply plug your headsets with a playlist during your day. Maybe while you are cooking? Or cleaning, doing dishes, working on costumes? Not for expectations of performing. Not for expectations of choreographing in your mind. But simply for the sake of listening to the music.

Day 3: Feel Like a Queen. It’s very difficult to feel inspired if you don’t like what you see in the mirror. Review your closet and select training outfits that make you feel like a queen right now. Use only those sets for your practice, and maybe order a couple new ones.

Day 4: Reflect Back. Find your very first dance videos or photos, and acknowledge three things that you are proud of achieving. You’ve come a long way. Let’s celebrate it!

Day 5: Create Your Ritual. You can fit training into your daily routine even if you have only 5 minutes and 1 square meter to practice on (and everyone does have these). Start small, but keep it consistent by transforming it into a dance ritual.

Day 6: Get Out of Your Way. Do you have a song that you were postponing dancing to because you felt that your dance skills are not enough to portray all nuances of the melody? Today dare to dance to it. Don’t let your inner fears talk you out of it. Or maybe sit down, and put a draft of your future dance project. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s just a draft. But get out of your way, and finally do the first step.

Day 7: Invest Time in Your Dance. Ok, you can’t afford 2-3 hours of daily practice. That’s ok. Start with 20 minutes, for instance… Hm, but is 20 minutes really enough? Isn’t it too short? To prove that even in 20 minutes you can do a very productive practice, I share a dance tutorial focused of isolation skills: it already includes a basic warm up, drilling of a bunch of fancy movements, a small combo, and improvisation moments. And everything is accompanied by live drumming from Pedro Bonatto.

More drills like this are available at the Iana Dance Club.

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Author: Iana Komarnytska
Photographer: Pedro Bonatto