5 tips guaranteed to help your holiday physie practice!

Read the original post here: Practice makes progress

Practice competition 2020

It has been a long 10 months since I last performed physie. I'd forgotten the feeling on putting on heavy-duty fishnet tights and the fear of accidentally pulling or ripping the mesh.

The showcase was remarkably different from any of my previous physie performances. Usually, dancers would have had at least three opportunities to compete both in informal and judged settings by the end August. 

It was a nice sunny day outside, however, it felt quite chilly to me indoors. I didn't remove my jacket until we had to line up for marching in height order. The practice competition took place in a large sports arena where I'd physied on several occasions. At first, I could hear the lag between the sound bouncing off the walls from the speakers, it was quite boomy. Then, I concentrated on the music. A small audience may have contributed to making the venue 'ring' more as few people were there to absorbed the sound. All the ladies were relieved that we made it to the end of our performance and we felt not so cold anymore.

Well done to all competitors and especially the beginner ladies who have learnt their first set of physie routines through a mixture of online and in-person lessons. Thank you to all the volunteers who made this event happen. I am so grateful to perform physie after this hiatus. 

Getting better at physie during isolation

It has been a while since I wrote my article for the self-improvement blog series, so I thought I'd share some activities I've been doing during isolation to improve physie. I have been doing a bit of cross training in similar disciplines to boost my overall fitness and flexibility. There are so many great video resources by inspiring and qualified teachers. 

Physie: Watch the training videos and other resources from your association and club. Have a look at other girls/ladies outside of your age/category and learn something from them. Are there extra resources/online sessions delivered by your club or association? If so, why not join in?

Ballet: Pointed toes, balancing, lengthening limbs and control are transferable skills to physie. 

Pilates: Core strength and control can help with balances and floor exercises. 

Yoga: Mental wellbeing, breathing, strength and flexibility can help you become a well-rounded physie girl/lady. 

Check out my other self-improvement blogs here.

Labelling physie keepsakes

By this time of year, you may have already accumulated a few medals, certificates and numbers from competitions. At my club's annual competition, we have a march-past where we wear our sashes accessorised with our colourful medals. With similar-looking badges from year to year, it can be hard to pinpoint the exact competition when it was earnt. This is why I label my keepsakes. This is also a good measure to prevent lost badges. In the case that it gets unlatched, you will be able to identify your handwriting.

Medal:

• Date
• Interclub host/ type of competition

Number:

• Date/day
• Interclub host/ type of competition
• Placing (if applicable)
• Age group/ category
  At the moment, I don't label my category but I keep the program booklets to follow what level I'm in.

I keep my certificates, numbers and programs in a display folder. The medals with lanyards are hung up on a bookshelf until it is time to attach them to my sash.

Labelling the back of my number and medal.

My lesson journal: May/June

My recent physie sessions have been filled with innovative, memorable and effective approaches, so I'd like to share some of them with you.

We held beanbags in each hand to feel the 'swing'. The slight weight at the end of our arms enabled for the ebb and flow desired in the swinging routine. Afterwards without the beanbags, we were still able to mimic the heaviness.

Top stands were mastered against a wall to ensure that our back, elbows, shoulders and head were in line with each other. We then applied this activity to the lateral bends with top stand in the 'exercises' routine.

Learning from our peers is one of the most effective ways of realising what works and what doesn't. We partnered up and one lady observed while the other danced. After observing our partner, we gave them some constructive feedback on style and positions.

Different songs with slower tempos were utilised in order for us to deliberately execute positions in warm up. Due to this, we were not able to rely on lyrics/word painting or listening to musical cues.

Earlier this week, I attended my last class before our annual practice competition. The practice competition is a non-competitive event where we dance with our peers and get to watch girls and ladies from all the different age groups present their work. I'm looking forward using my physie smile and remembering all the steps this weekend.

It's getting closer to competition season, here are some stories you may like:

Interview: First practice competition

Practice makes progress

5 words for 5 routines

My lesson journal: April 2018

Last week was my twelfth lesson of the year! Where did all that time go? I have a feeling that it's going to be time to perform these routines very soon.

Lesson journal 30/04/2018

As always, our teacher likes to start the class with marching. Then we then ran through all our routines although we were still missing some moves from 'advanced'.

I know all the steps of the warm-up routine but the transition between the 16-count sequences is still unfamiliar and awkward to me compared to the choreography of the last two years' routines. With exercises, I think that its repetitive nature and regimented positions make it the easiest to learn. Floordrill is also very positions-based but the view from the floor obstructs peripheral vision. Swing and advanced are least familiar to me and sometimes the moves get blurred between the two because of both their swinging, flowing and free-moving nature.

We learnt the remainder of the choreography for advanced. Again, I am having trouble with remembering swing and advanced at home. I can remember small parts but can't remember preceding and subsequent moves.

Then we worked on the techniques of turn-out and lateral bends. My teacher's innovation was to have two dots on her inner thighs near the knee. Laying on the ground, she showed the class how the dots were revealed when the whole of the hips and legs were correctly turned-out. In pairs, we worked on our position of the week the 'lateral bend' checking that our partner's hips were still and their back not caving in.



For more tips and exercises on goal setting, progress tracking, learning routines and inspiration, check out the self-improvement blog series. 

Learning routines

By June or July the whole set of routines will be learnt. While not necessarily memorised or polished, many clubs opt to hold a lollipop/chocolate competition for members to showcase their new moves.

It's April and we're still in the learning phase of the physie season, here are my top tips:

1. Counts of 16. Learn each set of 16 solidly, then join each section up. Use the last few counts of one set to segue into the next, for example [previous set] 13, 14, 15, 16 [current set] 1-16. I think of this as a 'jigsaw puzzle' piece as the ends join together to form a seamless picture.

2. Count out loud - just like how your teacher does in class. Do you find yourself counting in your head or perhaps hearing your teacher's voice?

3 . Repetition or Opposites
Repetition can occur identically - facing the same way, maybe even the melody is the same. Repetition can also alter factors like direction, music (the part of the song) and transitional/ending pose. For the opposite/mirror image, instead of right/left think front/back. This makes it easier when repeating on opposite sides.

4. Just watching and not doing it at the same time. You might pick up on a detail from your teacher/DVD performer. 

5. Word painting - build a story with movement through the music and lyrics. Add some dramatic meaning with facial expressions and gestures. Your nuances make your style unique. 

6. Go with what your body knows - maybe this sequence is a popular one (eg. the grapevine) or the next move comes naturally without deliberately thinking of which foot steps next. 

7. Visually - I have drawn stick figures to remind myself of the moves corresponding to each count. Maybe you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the written syllabus.

8. Resources - Most associations provide their members with training resources such as DVDs and CDs. I'm already practising with BjP's practice music download. It's been very helpful between classes for triggering my memory. 

For more tips and exercises on goal setting, progress tracking, learning routines and inspiration, check out the self-improvement blog series.

My lesson journal: February 2018

It's the end of February and my classes have already been back for a month! Today, I'll share with you what I've learnt in this week's lesson.

26/02/18

Marching
- put band on left ankle, this is the leading foot
- brushing the foot from the ball until the toes flick up to point
- left foot on the down/heavy/prominent beat of music

Warm-up routine
- revised
- added a few extra steps
- isolated the arm movements from the leg movements
- then put together arms/legs

Advanced routine
- learnt the first few counts

Floordrill routine
- we were shown a couple of additional moves
- learnt from peripheral vision as mostly lying down

Exercises routine
- routine uses a lot of mirroring on reverse side
- revised a few times, but didn't learn new counts as lesson was nearly over

Skills learnt:
- multitasking, learning arms/legs/together
- flexibility
- core strength (especially the 'crunch' in floordrill)

To do before my next lesson:
- Visualise: draw a series of stick figures to remind myself of some of the routines.
- Practise the routines that I can remember and won't mislearn eg. exercises.
- Work on interchangeable skills eg. positions, turnout, facial expression
- Train my abdominal muscles - crunches will help me in floordrill.

For more tips and exercises on goal setting, progress tracking, learning routines and inspiration, check out the self-improvement blog series.

Years from now: Goal setting

Having a goal journal means seeing your ambitions listed in black and white. Goal setting is a tool for life!

The physie year is starting soon so it's a great time to write out your goals for 2018 and beyond. Goals that are closer to now should follow the SMART principle which I've written about here in an older post. Also, check out my other posts from the self-improvement blog series.

Long-term goals (5 years and beyond)
I hope I'll maintain my strength, flexibility and stamina ... (and fit in my current leotard).

Mid-term goals (1-5 years)
Achieve seniors (possibly join a class and compete). For non-physie readers, 'seniors' is the syllabus for young ladies. It is more fast paced than the ladies and junior syllabi.

Short-term goals (this year)

• Try learning from DVD
• Hold planks, splits, balances, back bend/impulse
• Learn moves such as fan kicks, half pirouettes and leaps
• Do the best I can with the current ladies syllabus

This month's goals (will ultimately contribute to short/mid/long term goals)

• Continue to stretch achieving both splits
• Increase the time held for balances/planks by a few seconds each month

Let's apply my mid-term goal to the SMART principle:

Specific - Learn a complete seniors' syllabus.
Measurable - When I finish learning, memorise and execute the moves.
Achievable - Yes, I will work very hard.
Realistic - Should be, I'm progressing.
Timely - In a year or two.

It's simple to start your own journal or list of goals. If you already list your goals, good on you, or if you don't, why not start now?

Practise performing

It is important to practise performing in low-stress situations such as practice competitions run by your club (affectionately known as lollipop/chocolate competitions) where you have the opportunity to perform in a familiar environment and with people you know. There are noticeable differences between dancing in lessons, at mock competitions, interclubs, zone and intra-club competitions. I once read that clubs cannot use their normal class venues to host an interclub. This provides a level playing field for all physie girls and ladies as competitors will not have had a chance to regularly dance at the venue. However, girls/ladies may have danced at the venue before for a biennial interclub or participate in other fitness activities at the chosen venue.

What's the difference between class and competition?

• time of day
• audience
• dancing with others (not from your own club) can be off-putting when they perform moves at a slower/faster pace
• expectations
• grooming
• venue and environment
• anxiety
• louder music (I only realised this last week at an interclub)
• the material of the hall floor (I also only just realised the impact of this on foot grip)
• harder to access drinking water & bathroom facilities especially when you're in a leotard

How can we create our own opportunities to mimic a performance/competition?

• wear competition attire to class (leotard, hair)
• perform in front of family and friends
• participate in opportunities given by the club (fete performances, showcases)
• participate in practice competitions
• enter yourself into a [talent] show (especially for girls in school)

For more tips check out Practice Makes Progress.

5 words for 5 routines

Two weeks to go until my first interclub for the year and for me that means only two lessons to go. By now routines are memorised and I do not have to think of what the next count is. With that being said, I still have to make sure that I maintain technique such as posture and pointed toes.

In this self-improvement post, I want to share with you how I will be simplifying my approach, dancing five routines with five memorable words. For several weeks, I asked myself what expression or message I wanted to convey with each routine. Now I have one word to focus on for each routine that will hopefully bring out my best dancing. This simple approach clears your mind so that you can be in the zone to dance. I highly encourage you to try this activity.

Tracking your progress

Here I'll share some tips on tracking your progress as part of the self-improvement blog series. Keeping a record of progress can be hard due to the fact that it is difficult to calculate or measure. Some achievements show quantifiable progress while other developments are not quantifiable. For example, you can measure how high you can kick but you cannot measure how well you dance. That raises the question of, "How do I know if I've improved?"

Sometimes it is frustrating to see little improvement on a week-to-week basis. So here's advice that can help you improve in the long run.

• Remind yourself of the bigger picture, the physie year is around 40 weeks.
• If you are relatively new to physie, look back at how far you've come in a short period of time.
• Listen to praise and feedback from your teacher and peers. Believe it when they tell you that you're doing well (seriously you are) and trust that they will guide your further progress.
• Video yourself so that you can be your own audience and critic (but don't be too harsh on yourself). At the end of the year video yourself again and see the difference.
• Practice diary - Write your thoughts, questions, goals and achievements ... I can now touch my toes ... Tonight I learnt the last 16 counts of swing ... You can even doodle/sketch your routine.

Start now! Competition season is just around the corner.

Practice makes progress

Welcome to my third entry in the self-improvement blog series where I'll be sharing to you practice tips. Coincidentally, BjP's physie blog published a blog entry a few days ago with the same title. I have been drafting this for a while though so what am I to say? Great minds think alike.
Here are 10 tips for physie, dance and for performances in general:

1. Finding your right way to practise - Everybody is different and we each have our unique ways of learning. For some, practising one routine per day in depth can be effective while others may find that they need to go over each routine daily. Be sure that you find your practice style in order to maximise outcomes.
2. Rest and recover - Don't practise when you're tired because your body will not work efficiently. Make sure you have regular breaks and have a few days off before a major competition. 
3. Drawing or writing down your counts - This is like visualisation on a piece of paper. The example shows snippets of three of the ladies' routines. I've written in cues from song lyrics to help with visualisation. 

   

   Visualising a routine on paper
   Top to bottom: Exercises, warm up, swing

4. Observing others - This requires no effort for physical exertion. Watching others is a great way to see how others do it since it's difficult to watch your teacher/other peers when you are dancing.
5. Practise in sets of 8 counts - They say that you eat an elephant one bite at a time. As with any large task, smaller goals have to be attained in order to fit into the bigger picture. 
6. Practise until you can't get it wrong (rather than only practising until you can get it right). 
7. Slow it down - A lot of the routines are performed at a moderate to fast tempo, so slow it down in your personal rehearsal. (I know your physie teacher does this in class too because it works). 
8. Don't always start from the beginning - Going from the beginning every time will probably make your start really good, but remember that the endings are equally as important. 
9. Changing up the songs - Okay so I've taken this tip from my physie teacher. Instead of the 2016 soundtrack she used songs from previous years to test how well we really knew the moves (keeping in mind BjP renditions of songs means that tempo and number of counts are the similar year after year). 
10. Practise at the time of day when you will be competing. This is extremely important as you want to prepare your mind and body to work at that time of day. Knowing that you can do your routines at the scheduled time of day gives you one less thing to think about. I'm glad that the beginner ladies are scheduled at the same time I have my lessons. 

Above all, find something that works for you. If you don't see improvement after a while (it can take 4-6 weeks), then change the way you are practising. Everyone is different.

What's been happening?

Can you believe it? It's already June! So let me update you on my physie progress:

Posture 
I am standing tall, proud to be a physie lady.

Syllabus 
Routines are all learnt and now we are polishing them for upcoming interclubs and zone championships. Watching the DVD has also helped me to practise at home.

Goals 
My goal that I had set in April has been achieved. My next goal is to maintain balance on one leg in sections of the floor drill and swing routines.

Practice competition
I have already participated in a friendly intra-club practice competition to prepare me for the major events later on.

Flexibility
Physie has motivated me to stretch regularly to improve flexibility and prevent injuries. My ankles and shoulders are definitely stronger and have an increased range of motion.