There is something really special about being BRAND NEW at something.

In this episode, I talk about the joy of being a beginner dancer and how freeing it can actually be to walk into a room where nobody expects you to have it all figured out yet.

Dance gives us this really cool opportunity to play again. To make time in our lives for something that is literally just FUN, meet people who are figuring it out right alongside us, and build confidence simply by being willing to try.

The more we grow, the more we’re going to find ourselves in rooms where we don’t have all the answers. Being a beginner lets us practice that. It lets us ask the question, try the thing, mess around with it, and realize that not knowing what you’re doing isn’t actually as scary as we make it.

We also talk about how being new at dance can pull you into the moment because you HAVE to be there. You’re paying attention to your body, the movement, the music, and what’s happening right now.

This episode is really an invitation to enjoy the part where you don’t know yet. There is plenty of time to get better  and for now, you get to be a beginner.

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

This episode is all about when you feel like you’re doing EVERYTHING, but somehow it feels like you’re doing nothing.

This happens in dance all the time, especially when you’re learning something hard or trying to achieve a new skill. It might look like you don’t have it yet. You didn’t get the move. You didn’t memorize all the choreography. So it feels like nothing happened.

You’re working on SO many things.

You’re getting the building blocks. You’re making corrections. You’re remembering more than you did last time. You’re figuring out what doesn’t work. All of that is progress, it just doesn’t have that satisfying “I DID IT” moment yet because you’re not done.

I talk about how I’ve been feeling this way with a bunch of projects I’m working on too. I sit down to work on something and I don’t finish the whole thing, so I move on feeling like I didn’t really get anything done. But I DID. The project moved forward. There was progress. It’s just harder to see when there isn’t a finished product to show for it yet.

And I talk about finally getting my kip in gymnastics. One day, I finally did it. But I didn’t magically learn a kip that day. I had already been building all of the skills I needed. Every attempt, every correction and every time I didn’t get it was giving me more information until eventually all of those pieces came together and I got it.

Sometimes progress is happening way before you have anything to show for it.

Just because you haven’t gotten to the “I DID IT” part yet doesn’t mean you’re doing nothing.

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

This episode is all about pivoting, gaining control, letting things go, and really asking yourself if you’re able to release something and trust the process.

We have expectations. We think something is going to go a certain way and then when it doesn’t, we immediately want to figure out how to gain control again.

But we aren’t necessarily meant to gain control.

We’re meant to learn how to pivot and adapt ( the more elite skills)

Can you take what’s happening, even if it’s not what you expected, and figure out what to do with it? Can you let go of what you thought it was supposed to be and work with what you actually have?

Dance gives us SO many opportunities to practice this. You forget the choreography. You’re in the wrong spot. Your body isn’t doing what you thought it was going to do that day. Something changes in class. You mess up. You have to figure out what to do next instead of getting stuck on what was supposed to happen. The more you dance, the more you get to practice pivoting, adapting, and continuing anyway.

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

This episode is all about why you should do the easy thing first (contrary to what doing the easy thing first and how doing something easy can actually help you get A LOT more done because it creates momentum.

Especially if you’re feeling stuck with dance or maybe you’re trying to get back into it, do what’s easy first. It could be taking the easier class level. Maybe it’s taking a shorter class. Maybe it’s going to the class you already know you like. Whatever it is, make it easier for yourself to actually DO the thing.

Once you do it you create momentum for yourself and then you do more things with the motivation thats created. 

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

Follow:

Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

In this episode, we’re playing with speed.

Just like I use dimming and exaggerating to change the size of a movement, one of the teaching techniques I use all the time is changing the speed of choreography to change the way you learn it.

Sometimes I slow it WAY down.

Slowing something down gives you more time to think. You can actually see the transitions, figure out where your weight needs to go, understand how you’re getting from one movement to the next, and notice all of those little things that are really easy to miss at full speed.

Then I do the complete opposite.

I make you do it FASTER.

When you speed choreography up, your body has to react faster, your muscles have to work faster, and your brain has to remember what comes next faster. Then when we bring it back down to the actual tempo, suddenly it feels like you have so much more time.

I talk about why I use both of these techniques in my classes and how after teaching dance for so many years, I’ve found them useful. 

Changing the conditions so your brain and body can understand it differently.

Slow it down so you can see more or speeding  it up so you can think faster.

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

Through the many, many dance lessons I’ve taught over the years, I’ve figured out one of the easiest ways to make someone a better dancer in less than five minutes.

Exaggerate the movement.

When dancers are first starting out, they usually don’t realize how much space they actually need to take up. So when I tell someone to make something HUGE, what feels ridiculously big to them usually ends up being just appropriately big.

In this episode, I talk about why exaggerating movement works so quickly and how it helps you understand something else that newer dancers don’t always know how to do yet, which is using all of the muscles you need at the same time.

Exaggeration basically turns a giant flashlight on the movement.

Now you can feel it. You can see it. You know what muscles are working. You start to understand where the movement is supposed to go. And once your body knows what BIG feels like, you have so much more to work with.

Because even when you think you’re being big, chances are you’re probably not as big as you think you are.

But we also talk about the opposite and when you actually need to dim the movement down.

Sometimes making something smaller and lighter gives your body a chance to learn it without trying to do everything at once. Get the movement into your body first. Then you can turn the volume back up.

This episode is about learning how to play with both. Making it bigger when you need more and making it smaller when you need to learn.

And sometimes that one adjustment can change your dancing in less than five minutes.

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

This episode is a little trip down memory lane and about knowing that dance is something that lives within you.

I talk about going back to my old studio for the alumni show, being part of the recital again, and getting to think about all of the people and experiences that helped shape me as a dancer and as a person.

I even got to learn about my former dance teacher and her studio, which made me think about how far back some of these connections go and how cool it is to see where parts of you came from.

Because dance shapes us and then helps us become who we are.

Yes, it's turns and technique and learning how to dance, but it's also friendships, resilience, confidence, showing up, learning, and realizing that you can do things you didn't know you could do.

This episode is an invitation to think about the people who helped shape you, just like going back had me thinking about the teachers and people who shaped me.

And really, what is dance going to look like throughout your life?

Because it doesn't necessarily leave you when you leave the studio. The things you learned, the confidence you built, the people you met, and the experiences you had come with you.

Dance becomes part of your life and then enhances the way you live it.

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

If you’ve taken a break from dance and you’re thinking about coming back to it, this episode is here to remind you that dance is something you can always come back to.

Your body is going to remember a lot more than you think it will.

I talk about going to the gym and doing squats after I hadn’t done them in a really long time. Of course there were some things I needed to relearn, but there were also so many things that I just remembered because I had already taken the time to learn them before.

Dance is like that too.

It can be scary to come back because you haven’t done it in a while. You might feel a little out of place. You might look around the room and start comparing yourself to everyone else. And now you’ve created this opening for all of these negative thoughts to sneak in instead of paying attention to everything you already know.

Maybe you were meant to dance before and then you needed a break. And maybe now you’re meant to dance again.

We come back to things all the time. Look at fashion. Look at technology. Look at phrases we haven’t heard in years that suddenly everyone is saying again. Things come back.

And you can come back to things too.

Taking a break from dance doesn’t mean that part of you went away. You might be surprised by how much is still there when you decide to come back.

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Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio

This episode is all about why dance is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

I talk about how even on some of my worst days, dance is something I can turn to and almost instantly feel better. And I want that for everybody.

I also talk about how I track my mood and how doing that has helped me actually take an audit of my life. What am I doing when I feel good? What am I doing when I don't? What things am I consistently doing that seem to make my life better?

And most importantly, don't wait until you feel unhappy with your life to start doing something about it.

Start when you feel good.

If you're feeling good right now, this is actually the perfect time to start dancing, start moving, start doing more of the things that make you feel good. Because you're building momentum. Then when you do have a bad day, or a bad week, you already have something in your life that you know you can turn to.

Sometimes we wait until something feels wrong to start trying to make ourselves feel better. This episode is about doing the opposite.

Take an audit of your life. Figure out what makes you feel good. And when you find that dance does.. keep dancing!

Filmed this is *June*

Follow:

Krissy: @krissyphillipino

KDFSTUDIO: @kdfstudio