Current state of mind:

Growth Ring Levels:

Chaos
Complexity
Order
Stagnation

This is a framework I continue to use in all of my private lessons. I originally came across this idea in a Tedtalk by Bill Eckstrom.

As an instructor, I strive to stay very aware of where each individual student is in their journey and also where they are on an individual day.

It's important to challenge them to avoid not growing from boredom but also to not challenge them too much it becomes chaotic, where learning and growing cannot occur.

It's interesting to reflect on how different students respond to being outside of their comfort zone. Learning itself is a skill to continually improve on.

I let dancers who invest in private lessons with me know that the comfort zone is tricky. It can feel like you're not progressing because you're perpetually on the edge of the comfort zone. We easily forget that through practice our comfort zone expands.

This is a huge reason why recording yourself is a super important habit and I mention it in my 5 step system for becoming a better dancer, check out Step 1.

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Song I'm currently jamming to:

I went out to a normal club with a friend a week ago or so and there was this DJ playing a very chill version of afro house inspired beats. A few minutes later I heard a throwback R&B song remixed into the afro house and I was like WHAT?!?!? I need this song!!

I asked the DJ if he knew the sample but he didn’t, so I recorded the song on my phone. In one of the DJ groups I’m a part of, someone was able to recognize the R&B sample as Cry For You by Jodeci from 1993!!!!

After multiple failed attempts of looking for this song on Soundcloud and Youtube, I sent the sound recording to some friends who dance afro house, and one of my friends told me that it was a genre of afro house known as amapiano.

Sooo luckily, I was able to find and contact the DJ and he sent me the song on Spotify. The artist is DJ Moma and this song is on his album called Momapiano, which is a play on the word amapiano.

I listened to this song probably 25 times on repeat. I’m excited to continue to explore more amapiano!

Abeg Abeg by DJ Moma
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Recent content:

I’ve decided to start working on my lyricism to start learning how to flow. I wrote my first 16 bars to a random hip-hop beat I found on Youtube, which is about brown sugar oatmeal. You can check it out here! LOL!

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Question of the week:

How often do you record yourself when you practice your dancing? If you don’t, what are your barriers to recording yourself? Self-conscious? Not enough space on your phone? The camera angle is bad? Not enough space in your home? Let me know!
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Thanks for reading!

Thoughts and feedback on the newsletter or on anything covered within are always welcome, just hit reply. The thing I love most about writing this newsletter is follow-up interactions with readers.

Charles