Challenging habit: planning and preparation, the art of periodisation and optimising performance.

Abstract

A question to start - what is the goal, raison d’etre of a dance company? Hopefully you will agree that it is the performance, but a lot of current practice within the dance world is actually having the opposite effect. For example, rehearsing long hours right up to the start of a tour or performance; whilst on tour rehearsing all afternoon prior to an evening performance; the training focus being one-dimensional with too much emphasis on the technical aspects of dance and only paying lip service to the other components of performance. The concept of periodisation is to help optimise the preparation for performance for the dancers so they reach opening night mentally, physically and technically ready to perform. Needs analysis and planning is the key to good periodisation. And for that, co-operation between the different parties involved is vital, in addition to – of course – the basic will to challenge one’s own habits and to check out other knowledge can be useful for dance. Needs analysis refers to the examination of the possible demands that the performance is going to place on the dancer. Depending on how the piece is developed (experimentation, previously set etcetera) will determine the amount of prior knowledge of its demands is available to the planner. Hopefully the choreographer will have a broad concept of the piece and this will form the basis of initial plans, but the planner will need to be flexible. Some other questions that need to be answered are the extent of lifting, jumping, partner work within the piece, the length of time that the choreographer has to produce the work, the present physical, mental and technical condition of the dancers, the group dynamics of the company, the length of the performance period, the amount of travel that needs to be done. The planning component is the difficult part. The planner needs to decide on the importance of all the different components of the `whole’ that makes up performance preparation and then decide how to organise and prioritise them; within this need to be included rest and travel days. The main thing to remember is to work backwards from the start of the performance period and this is where some controversies begin.