PD 4: A Newbie Dancer`s Source of Inspiration

This post is part of my blog project “Pedagogy Discourses (PDs),” which is a course requirement at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU).

Observational learning has had a huge influence in my learning journey as a dancer. This is because a substantial part of it involves observing closely the model dancer - whether a live one or on video - and attempting to (re)produce their movements. But anyone who has ever attempted to do a choreography will realize that they will not get it completely right in the first round of practice. As such, they need to stay motivated to ensure that they continue practicing towards what some dancers call “high performance level.”

However, such a performance level was difficult for me to reach, because there was a time when I had zero motivation to practice. It started when most of my high school classmates noticed that when dancing in a group, my movements always stood out for being too stiff. I continued getting these comments until they started to become quite discouraging. Over time, I was led to hold these thoughts about my dancing abilities: I wasn’t a good dancer. My movements are often stiff and constrained. I also have trouble following really quick steps and producing difficult choreography. I am therefore not good enough.

What other people said about my abilities did not only affect my self-esteem, but it also influenced my self-efficacy, because I became reluctant to participate in any dancing activity or even join a formal dance class. For the next few years, I tried as much as possible to stay away from dancing and only do it when I have no choice. My negative personal beliefs about my dancing skills thus left a negative impact on my motivation.

But after returning from a Korean academic exposure tour, my childhood friends suddenly encouraged me to join them in a daily dance class at the nearby studio. The classes - 14 sessions worth - were quite cheap if we were to pay the tuition as a group. Our collective reason for joining was because we wanted to try learning the dance choreographs of our favorite and most admired K-pop group SHINee. However, there were no K-pop dance courses available at the time and found it quite difficult to follow the dance versions of their music videos, so my friends thought that any dance type can be a good starting point. Thus, I attended evening modern pop dance classes for two weeks and prepared for the recital at the end.

The road towards the recital was a long one for all of us. Most of us did not have much dancing experience apart from those in school activities, so there was a significant learning curve. However, our two dance instructors - Kelsey and Adam - were quite patient and persistent in ensuring that we got the basic movements correctly. For example, when I struggled how to perform the head and neck isolation technique, they gave me multiple opportunities to try again until I could do the technique. At every opportunity, they kept telling me, “You got it, but let’s try to polish that one movement one more time.” Whenever I had to polish those movements, they were also very specific with what to do with my head and body. And when I finally got the praise that everyone else got, it made me feel good about my own abilities. I felt even better When the recital night came, we were a bit anxious, but we pulled the performance off well.

Therefore, there was no single source of inspiration whom this newbie dancer can give credit to. Thanks to my dance instructors’ guidance and motivation, my friends and classmates’ cooperation, and the overall welcoming yet supportive environment, I became confident and trusting of my own dancing skills. I also became motivated to learn further; in fact, my positive beliefs about my own abilities - self-efficacy - eventually encouraged me to enroll in Dasuri Choi’s K-pop boy group dance classes at the Korean Cultural Center. Throughout the years, I continued practicing even on my own with dance versions of music videos as my models for learning.

May each of us persist in creating inspiring environments for learning!