JESSIE: Have you ever felt like,
no matter what you do,
you're not improving,
you feel STUCK,
and dare I say it...
plateaued?
I want you to know that EVERY dancer,
whether you're a professional or a beginner dancer,
everybody goes through plateaus in their dance journeys.
CLAY: SO true, and if you feel like you're not getting better,
well, it's a good thing you're watching this video,
because we're gonna give you five things, right now
to help you get unstuck.
JESSIE: And hey! If you're already subscribed to us,
then welcome back, we missed you-
but if you're NEW to our channel,
it's your girl Jessie.
CLAY: And Clay!
JESSIE: And THIS is what STEEZY does,
we make you a better dancer.
So if you wanna see more helpful and fun dance content,
give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel!
BOTH: Reason you're not getting better at dancing Number One–!
CLAY: Your positioning is OFF.
JESSIE: Okay, I KNOW you've been in this situation.
You're getting the choreography,
you're on beat,
you're even putting energy and facials into your performance!
So, WHY don't you look like the choreographer??
CLAY: It's likely because your body positioning is off.
Now that's NOT to say that you're doing the move wrong-
in fact, it's probably because you're doing it right,
that it makes us SUPER hard to see.
You're just gonna have to make a few subtle, specific adjustments.
Say, for instance, you're doing this step-slide motion.
I'm using my shoulder, I'm performing
and the move looks good-
if I say so myself.
JESSIE: But let's tweak your positioning a little bit!
What if you angled your body and showed your BACK to the audience?
CLAY: Oh, whoa- okay, that looked a lot better!
Okay give another one!
JESSIE: Okay, let's try this grab-pull move.
But NOW add a head LOOK on the grab
and a head TILT on the pull!
These small, positional adjustments are gonna make a WORLD of difference.
So if you notice that your moves don't look as
POWERFUL or UNIQUE,
then don't just stick with the base movements,
add some FLARE and CHANGE up the body positioning.
Reason Number Two - You quit before building.
There's nothing more disappointing than seeing a dancer
that has SO much potential just-
give up
before they've truly realized their abilities.
JESSIE: But this tends to happen to dancers
who move on to the next move or the next technique
or the next style-
before BUILDING on what they already have.
Can you imagine if, the first time that Gordon Ramsey tried cooking,
he tasted it and was like,
"This tastes like booty!"
"I'm just gonna be a QUILTER instead!"
The first move that I ever learned was the arm wave.
I asked a friend in high school,
his name was Ben Lee,
if he could teach me,
and uh...
this was me a few months into practicing.
But, I kept at it!
Just like in our first tip,
I changed up the positioning,
I tested variations,
and sooner or later,
with more and more practice,
it actually became my SPECIALTY.
Look at that!
Look at it- it looks like a noodle!
And I LOVE noodles.
JESSIE: So STICK with it!
There's always gonna be something new and exciting to do,
but you have to give it a little more time and you'll be rewarded for it.
BUT,
if you get discouraged easily and find it difficult
to commit to putting in days to months to improve a skill,
then you should be following
the One-Degree Different Rule!
TA-DAAA!
We'll describe what that is in the next section, which is...
Number Three - You put too much on your plate.
I know! It's SUPER easy to get discouraged
when you try something new and it just isn't working on your body.
JESSIE: This is why I like to train with just ONE degree of difference
from my original routine.
Look, my hair might suggest that I'm a very adventurous person,
but I actually really like routine and consistency.
I like knowing exactly what to expect without having to think so much.
It's like how Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day.
So jumping TOO far out of my comfort zone makes me feel anxious.
Which is WHY I just inch my way..
into things.
CLAY: For example, becoming a BEAUTIFUL ballerina
might seem like a really lofty goal,
but, that's why we created the Intro to Ballet program,
so that you can learn just ONE new thing each day.
Each day, you start with a review of what you learned the previous day,
then, learn one new Ballet technique.
By the end of the 25-day program,
you will have learned ALL the foundational techniques
of beginner Ballet,
just ONE degree different each day.
JESSIE: This is the fourth reason you're not getting better at dancing-
CLAY: You don't solicit information from experts and peers.
You need, one,
to LEARN from people who know more than you do
and two,
to get the SUPPORT from the people
who are around the same level as you.
JESSIE: Okay, let's address the first point.
Where do you find your experts?
Where??
CLAY: Where?
JESSIE: Where??
Ask a teacher at your dance studio for advice,
reach out to people who could act as a dance mentor,
read the HUNDREDS of thoroughly researched articles on the STEEZY vlog,
and watch our educational YouTube videos-
like this playlist right here–?
This one?!
This is RICH with tips and advice,
ESPECIALLY if you're a beginner or intermediate level dancer,
and you don't have a lot of local, reliable resources.
CLAY: Okay, now where do I find peers or a community?
Well, if you're lucky enough to live in an area
with an active dance community,
go ahead and engage with them and ask them about their experiences!
Our private STEEZY Studio members Facebook group
has over 7,000 members from over 100 different countries.
In this group, you can post your own dance videos,
get critiques,
ask questions,
and receive answers from other active STEEZY members and instructors.
And my FAVORITE thing is that the community does this
#weeklyclasschallenge,
where everyone takes the same class,
shares their videos
and the STEEZY staff picks a STEEZY select group.
JESSIE: You gotta be willing to receive input from experts
and share with your peers,
because you can only go so far by yourself.
And the LAST reason you're not improving as a dancer.
CLAY: You don't play a character.
JESSIE: Where's Clay??
There's only this character here!
CLAY: I'm just SO much in character.
[laughing] JESSIE: Oh! That's- that's Clay!
CLAY: You know when you watch your favorite dancer,
and they just looked SO confident,
like they were MADE to dance that way!
Well, actually most of the time,
that's not actually the case!
JESSIE: Huh?
CLAY: A dancer is like an actor.
We have to EMBODY the music, character, and story-
even if it's not natural to us.
JESSIE: This is why you see so many dancers act one way in person,
then COMPLETELY different when they're dancing!
This is a performance art,
so it's OKAY to pretend like you're the cockiest, coolest person on stage.
NOT that I really HAVE to perform–!
[fake laugh]
[heavy breathing]
[laughing] CLAY: She's breathing so hard!!
[laughs]
As long as you still remain your most authentic self
outside of the dance floor.
JESSIE: Don't get lost in the sauce.
CLAY: Don't be lost in the sauce.
Hey y'all, we just want to take this time to thank all of you for
watching our videos.
When we first started this channel,
we never expected it to be as BIG as it is
with such a kind, loving, and supportive audience-
so THANK you guys so much for all the love.
JESSIE: The more you support us through likes, comments, and shares,
and, of course, signing up for STEEZY Studio memberships,
the more potential dancers that we're able to reach.
WHICH, all helps us get closer to our goal
of making the world a dancier place.
CLAY: Thanks y'all,
we'll see you in the next one.
JESSIE: The first time Gordon Ramsey tried cooking,
he tasted it and he was like,
"Ooh, it's not that good."
CLAY: "IT'S F**KIN RAW!!" [laughs]
Reason Number Two–
What- were you just like looking at your nails?
JESSIE: Yeah, no. That's the bit. CLAY: Oh okay.
Oh- oka– [laughs]
Okay! [laughs]
JESSIE: ♪ Into the thick of it. ♪
CLAY: ♪ Into the thick of it. ♪
BOTH: Unh!