I have always been a fan of dancing in my head. I was always encouraged to use imagery to help me to get the feel of a step or movement. And I find it helps me to clarify movements, steps or dances. In many ways it feels as if I am dancing it for real. And because it feels like this I can mark things through or do a full-blown performance in my head. What I find interesting about this is that studies in performance psychology show that  there is real value in mentally rehearsing as well as physically rehearsing. So when I feel as if I am dancing in my head it is because this process has a physical response too.

I might be dancing in my head but the muscles that I use to perform the movements fire up in a similar way when I am dancing for real. Professional athletes and sports people use this type of mental rehearsal a lot. Professional footballers, such as, will mentally rehearse taking a penalty and when they do this it is as if they are actually taking the penalty. They will go through the process in their head seeing and feeling it all as if they were on the pitch taking a real penalty. The connection between mental and physical rehearsal and performance is a valuable tool to have and to use.

Continue reading →