Unlike regular practice that might utilize mindless repetitions, intentional practice is focused and systematic with specific goals in mind. With intentional practice, you can maximize your potential to do anything, including dance. Genetics and talent can only take you so far. True masters of any discipline are only able to reach a high level through intentional practice.
The key part of intentional practice is focus. The more that we repeat something, the more it becomes automatic to do. So, while we are initially focused when learning a new task or skill, we eventually get to a point where we can do it without thinking if repeated enough. This mindless practice might start to ingrain little errors that we overlook, making these errors increasingly difficult to correct and inhibiting our ability to truly improve.
So how do we do this? First, you need to set priorities of what needs to be practiced first. Second, you need to be SMART about your goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based. This helps to provide the clarity, focus and motivation to achieve your goal in a certain time frame. For dance, videotaping yourself is a great way to measure your progress over time. Feedback from your dance teacher is also important to identify errors and help you make the necessary modifications. Finally, you need to get out of your comfort zone. Pushing your limits on a regular basis is the only way that you can grow and improve.
Intentional practice is not comfortable. It requires consistent effort and concentration. Setting aside a fixed time to practice every day for at least 15 minutes is key. For recreational dancers, practicing for more than an hour every day may be excessive because it would be hard to maintain your focus. Most importantly, practice what you really want to improve in. This will help to keep you motivated to be the best dancer that you can be.
