Bridge the Gap: Essential Drills to Transition from Beginner to Intermediate Contemporary
That awkward phase between beginner and intermediate is where many dancers get stuck. Here's how to push through with targeted drills that build the technical foundation and artistic expression you need.
You've mastered the basic contemporary moves. You understand weight shifts, you can execute a decent spiral, and you're comfortable with some floorwork. But something isn't quite clicking. You watch advanced dancers and wonder how they make it look so effortless, so emotionally charged, so... connected.
The journey from beginner to intermediate isn't just about learning more steps; it's about deepening your understanding of the ones you already know. It's about building the strength, control, and musicality to execute them with intention and artistry.
This blog post breaks down the essential drills you need to bridge that gap. Focus on these areas consistently, and you'll find yourself moving with newfound confidence and fluidity.
1. The Foundation: Connect Your Center to Your Extremities
Beginner dancers often move their arms and legs independently of their core. Intermediate dancers initiate every movement from their center, creating a powerful and connected flow.
Drill: The Weight Shift Wave
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees soft. Feel your weight evenly distributed.
- Slowly shift your weight entirely onto your right foot, allowing your left foot to release onto the ball of the foot.
- As you shift, initiate the movement from your lower abdomen. Let this initiation create a ripple effect: your rib cage will shift, then your shoulders, and finally, your arms and head will follow in one smooth, wave-like motion.
- Reverse the process to shift weight to the left side. The key is to move slowly and with maximum awareness.
- Repeat for 5 minutes, focusing on making the transition utterly seamless.
Why it works: This drill teaches you to use your core as the engine for all movement, eliminating the "disconnected" look. It builds the mind-body connection necessary for sophisticated contemporary phrases.
2. Find Freedom in Your Spine: Beyond the Basic Spiral
Spirals are a cornerstone of contemporary, but intermediate dancers explore their full range, articulating each vertebra.
Drill: The Vertebral Articulation Series
How to do it:
- Stand tall. Slowly drop your chin to your chest, feeling the stretch in your cervical spine.
- Continue the motion, articulating down through your thoracic spine, feeling each vertebra separate.
- Let your arms hang heavy like ropes as you continue into a deep forward fold, engaging your lumbar spine.
- From the fold, reverse the process: stack your vertebrae one by one, starting from the base of your spine all the way up to your head, which should be the last thing to lift.
- Repeat this 4-5 times, moving with your breath (exhale down, inhale up).
Why it works: This increases the mobility and articulation of your entire spine, giving you the tools to create more dynamic and expressive shapes instead of just "bending over."
Pro Tip: Record yourself doing these drills. What you feel and what actually happens are often two different things. Video is your most honest teacher.
3. The Art of the Fall: Control Your Descent
Floorwork is what often separates beginners from intermediates. It's not about throwing yourself to the ground; it's about a controlled, intentional descent.
Drill: The Slow-Motion Fall and Recovery
How to do it:
- From a standing position, begin to shift your weight off-center as if you're going to fall forward.
- Instead of collapsing, engage your core and inner thighs to brake the fall. Extend one leg into a low lunge to catch yourself, lowering with control until your back knee gently touches the floor.
- The entire descent should take 8 slow counts. Focus on maintaining tension and control throughout your body.
- Now, reverse it. Push through your front foot, engage your glutes and core, and rise back to standing with the same controlled slowness, taking another 8 counts.
- Practice falling forward, sideways, and backward.
Why it works: This builds the eccentric strength required for safe and impressive floorwork. It transforms falls from accidents into choreographic choices.
4. Dynamic Changes: Master the Pause and Explosion
Contemporary dance thrives on contrast. The interplay between stillness and explosive movement is a hallmark of the intermediate dancer.
Drill: 1-2-3-Go!
How to do it:
- Create a strong, still shape. Hold it for 3 counts, focusing on creating tension in every muscle, even in your fingertips and gaze.
- On count 4, explode out of that shape into the biggest movement you can create (e.g., a leap, a turn, a large contraction to the floor).
- Find a new shape and freeze immediately for another 3 counts.
- Repeat this pattern for 2-3 minutes straight. Use a mix of high, medium, and low levels.
Why it works: This drill trains your body to understand and execute dynamic range. It teaches you to use energy efficiently—conserving it completely and then releasing it fully.
Pro Tip: Don't just drill in silence. Use music with clear dynamic shifts—like something by Ólafur Arnalds or Hania Rani—to physically internalize musicality.
5. The Final Ingredient: Emotional Articulation
Technique is useless without intention. Intermediate dancers don't just perform steps; they tell stories.
Drill: The "Why" Behind the Movement
How to do it:
- Pick a simple movement phrase you know well (e.g., a step, a arm sweep, a fall).
- Perform it three times in a row, but each time with a different intention:
- First time: You are reaching for something you desperately want.
- Second time: You are pushing away a memory that haunts you.
- Third time: You are offering a gift to someone you love.
- Notice how the quality, timing, and energy of the exact same steps change completely.
Why it works: This moves your dancing from the studio and into the realm of art. It connects your technical facility to your emotional core, making your performance captivating and unique.
The Bridge is Yours to Cross
The transition to intermediate contemporary isn't a single leap; it's a series of small, consistent steps. Dedicate just 15-20 minutes a day to these focused drills, focusing on quality over quantity. Be patient with your body and curious about its capabilities. The gap between where you are and where you want to be is filled not with magic, but with mindful practice. Now go bridge it.
