I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something,” quotes Neil Gaman via BrainyQuote.com.

Breaking in the new year gives us a brand new hope, a fresh start, and motivation to change the things we are looking to succeed in. We take the experiences from the previous year pushing our hopes, dreams, and aspirations to a higher level.

As dancers we know all too well what its like to have moments of inspiration flowing at times as well instances where our creativity has hit that wall. At those times where the creativity stalls we begin to seek inspiration and motivation in any way possible, mostly through music and/or other influential artists inspiring our dance.

New Year’s Day. A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery. Today carve out a quiet interlude for yourself in which to dream, pen in hand. Only dreams give birth to change,” quoted Sarah Ban Breathnach.

 

A New Year gives us a kick start to plan, prepare, and execute all the things we want to accomplish. Is it planning new choreography? Is it preparing to travel to events? Is it making the leap to a big city and big dreams? Whatever it may be here are some things to help you prepare, plan, and execute your dance goals in 2015!

Plan-prepare-execute

 

PLAN

Whether you fall more into choreography, freestyle, or like to take in both areas planning out your year can develop some of the same ideas. What’s your ultimate goal for the year? What’s your short-term goals?

Choreography: Choreography definition says,”the art or practice of designing choreographic sequences.” If you are now trying to set short-term goals look at the most important tasks in the first quarter of the year (January-April) and determine what’s within your reach. 

Short-term goals: 

  • Set daily/ every other day sessions or practices by preparing pieces for teaching, exhibition, or competition
  • Teaching or taking class each week as well as promotion of classes
  • Preparation for shooting videos including music research, camera work, and locations 
  • Setting up workshops with studios and/or organizers
  • Research auditions coming for gigs, crews, teams, etc…
  • Eat/Exercise a healthy lifestyle
  • Research/study knowledge of all styles in the dance community
  • Connect everyday with a new dancer or artist in person or via social media. NETWORK 

While there are some early competitions such as Vibe XX, Collaboration, Prelude, and others, if you have not prepared already for these you may want to take this time to develop your choreography for other competitions throughout the year.

 Long-Term:

  • Write out the overall direction of your career (or crew/team’s career) for 2015 (what do you want to accomplish)
  • Collaborations with in-depth video shoots (locations, angles, choreographers, dancers, etc..)
  • Setting up intensives and future workshops with studios and organizers (bring in all different styles)
  • Planning out at least 4 competition/exhibition events for 2015
  • Book at least 4 gigs for 2015 (give yourself a number to reach for) 
  • Network with at least 10 new people/organizations (include speaking with one of your dance heroes)
  • Attend at least 10 events in the dance world (competitions, battles, workshops, etc…)


Freestylers are open to a variety of options when it comes to short-term and long-term goals, though it may seem some of us are a bit scared of structure. We love the ability to use our creative juices freely without having to put too much effort on keeping to the system. Freestyle is “…in which there are few restrictions on the moves or techniques that competitors employ,” according to its definition.

As a freestyler are you looking to enter more jams and battles? Getting out to teach? Trying to book gigs? Travel out of city, state, or country? Whatever it may, those of us freestylers need to really set a plan of what we want and figure out the short/long-term goals.

Short-term goals:

  • Set daily/ every other day sessions or practices
  • Research/schedule jams and battles to attend
  • Study/ research knowledge of all different styles including music of all types.
  • If you teach, planning workshops/classes or reach out to studios/organizers
  • Eat/exercise a healthy lifestyle
  • Plan video shoots to increase your visibility via social media
  • Research for auditions and gigs in your area or outside

Long-term goals:

  • Book at least 4 paying gigs
  • Attend or battle at least 10 events in 2015 (support events where you can)
  • Book at least 4 workshops outside your area (if you teach actively)
  • Collaborate with at least 3 dancers YOU want to shoot a video with
  •  Network with 10 new dancers/organizations for 2015. Listen/ share knowledge
  • Travel internationally at least once in 2015 
  • Research/Plan/Organize 1 dance event for your community