Do you ever find your mind wondering in your dance class? You know you should pay attention, and after you notice that you're not focused you put the effort into concentrating. However, it's not long until all of a sudden you notice that your mind is wondering again. And then not long after that, you notice that you've actually missed something important, and you're just not getting as much out of the class as you could or should be. Chances are that you have noticed this with things other than dance, but dance actually lends itself to this phenomenon more than many other activities. Fortunately, once you understand why this is the case, it is incredibly easy to deal with. In this article I am going to explain why you are more likely to lose concentration in a dance class and what can be done about it.
Willpower
Often, concentration in class comes down to willpower. You obviously enjoy dancing and you like seeing yourself improve. However, at times, when the instructor is explaining something you can feel like Charlie Brown talking to his teacher. You can hear that there is noise coming from their mouth, but it's just noise to you. This is normal. Whenever we need to be still and not active while another talks, our minds naturally wonder. It takes effort to keep this attention, and that means will power.
'So work on your will power' some will say. It's not that easy. An article in the January 2012 edition of New Scientist covered what was currently known about will power. The most interesting thing about it, I thought, is that will power actually uses energy. If you blood sugar levels are low, then we find it hard to maintain our will. This explains why some diets never work. You have little energy from not eating enough food, and this up quickly trying to maintain you will power to not give into the temptation of eating the food you love. Combine this with a diet and exercise regime, and you can see how failure is imminent. This is a slight digression, but it shows that will power (and concentration) very much needs energy.
Willpower and dance
Given that dance can be active it will burn some energy - energy that could be used to aide concentration. Think about when you have your dance lesson. It's probably later in the day. It is likely after work when you have already used up a lot of your energy reserves. So in a sense it is almost like your dance classes have been set up to make it hard for you to maintain the will to keep concentrating on the lesson. When you consider that it is just that, a lesson, then you realise that you might have an issue.
To improve your dance ability you are going to have to concentrate. You have probably already read about how dance is so good for us because it works both the body and the mind. As you now know, this is really going to use up your energy, and rob you of your ability to concentrate.
Maintaining your willpower
So you now know that you need to keep you willpower going if you're going to have effective dance lessons. You also know that the key to will power is energy. So the solution is obvious. You need an energy burst at the start of each lesson. I personally buy a hand full of Chupa Chups every now and then and have one before a lesson. Obviously, any lollipop will do - you just need something that will slowly release the sugar into your system during the class. If you want to be popular with other students or your teacher, then bring enough to share.
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