Creating Your At-Home Dance Space
During the past few months, as our nation has dealt with unprecedented conditions, we have been forced to stay in our homes and limit our time outside the house. Fortunately, restrictions seem to be lifting, and it won’t be too long before we are back in the studio. Still, it is important to have a dance space set up at home!
Whether you are forced to stay in the house for safety reasons or are looking to get in a little more practice at home, setting up an at-home dance space is a great idea! While you may opt to buy a ballet barre or square of dance flooring for your home studio, there are a number of easy (and free!) tricks you can use at home to create your own dance-ready space!
Designate a spot in your house as your dance space. This space should be somewhere that has minimal distractions (you don’t want any background noises -or family members- to distract you!).
Declutter your space. Even if you don’t have a ton of floor space, make sure your at-home dance space is as clean and free from clutter as possible. This means no socks on the floor, no extra papers or toys lying around! Cleaning up your dance space, no matter how can make the room seem bigger. Even clearing papers off a desk can give the room a more open feel, and that’s exactly what you want!
Leave the phone behind! Unless you are using your phone to live-stream a class (like through VODA), you should leave your phone in a different room while dancing. Phones are distracting, and while you would never bring your phone into the actual dance studio with you, it is all too easy to check “just one text” when you are at home in your own space. Treat your at-home classes just as seriously as your in-person ones; that means losing the phone and giving the class your full focus.
Don’t be afraid to improvise! Even if you don’t have a ballet barre at home, you can use a chair, countertop, or the ledge of a desk to provide the stability of a ballet barre. Likewise, you can temporarily take a decorative mirror off the wall to use as your own personal mirror to check your form. Or, you can easily use a 1/2 inch think piece of plywood as a tap floor- the possibilities are endless!
Don’t forget the outside world! If you are needing more space to move, try going outside. Dancers across the world have been visiting parks and other outdoor spaces to stay in shape and work on their jumps and leaps. If you have a yard, try working on your jumps there. Grass is much softer on your joints than hardwood floor, which will make it easier to jump- not to mention you’ll have more space outside to work on some of your bigger jumps.
Hopefully, these tricks will help you make the most of your indoor dance space! Take a picture and tag us on our Facebook or Instagram if you have any other ideas for making the best of your-at home dance space!
Happy dancing!
