![\"Author\"](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art52\/graphics52\/AdrianeCamel.jpg\")
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\u201cWhy does my teacher have us practice figure eights year after year if I already learned how to do them on my first day of belly dance class?\u201d \u201cCan’t I move on from those slow boring drills and just dance?\u201d \u201cWhy do I need to practice technique at home when I’ve dancing for over __ years?\u201d It is because mediocre or non-existent practice makes for a mediocre performer and perfectly consistent practice makes for a perfect performer.<\/p>\n
That Girl’s Got Skills!<\/p>\n
\u201cSkill equals knowledge plus 10,000 times,\u201d said Dr. Suzuki<\/span>, founder of the internationally renowned Suzuki method for learning how to play musical instruments. This concept is crucial for musicians and dancers alike. It means that once a belly dancer has learned how to do a move, they need to practice it 10,000 more times in order to be skilled at it. Belly dance drills that repeat one move through a series of variations are necessary for belly dancers to do, no matter what level they are that. It is akin to a musician practicing their scales every time they rehearse, even if they have played them 10,000 times before. <\/p>\n "Practicing basic technique is for beginner dancers- I don’t need to practice that anymore! I want to learn choreography!" some experienced dancers may say. Well, you’ve got to do it all as you get more advanced: drill old technique, practice new technique, practice improv and practice choreography. This requires a much more substantial regular time commitment to practice than many dancers realize.<\/p>\n Slow Down, You Move Too Fast<\/p>\n To practice perfectly, you need to start practicing your technique slowly every time. The slower you go, the more you can engage your muscles and train them accordingly. Once you start slow and are able to maintain correct posture, you can build up in speed and add variations such as shimmies. <\/p>\n![\"Author\"](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art52\/graphics52\/AdrianePoseedit.jpg\")
<\/span>High level mastery of any skill requires 10,000 hours of practice. Malcolm Gladwell<\/span> proves this fact in example after example in his mind-opening book Outliers<\/em>. Whether you are Bill Gates<\/span> or Aziza<\/span><\/a>, the talents of extraordinary people can be directly correlated to the number of hours that they practiced their skill (in addition to being in the right place at the right time after they clocked in their hours of practice).<\/p>\n\n
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