You've mastered the basics. You can hold a solid plank, execute a clean tendu, and fall to the floor with control. The foundational vocabulary of contemporary dance is now in your body. But now you find yourself at a crossroads—the familiar feels stagnant, and the advanced seems just out of reach. This is the intermediate plateau, a space both frustrating and full of potential.
This journey from technical proficiency to artistic fluency is where the true magic of contemporary dance happens. It's about transforming steps into stories and technique into testimony. Ready to bridge the gap? Let's explore the essential techniques and mindset shifts that will unlock your next level of expression.
1. Deepen Your Connection to Breath
If you think of breath as just an inhale and exhale, you're missing its transformative power. For the intermediate dancer, breath becomes the primary internal rhythm, the initiator of movement, and the source of emotional authenticity.
Your Practice: Stop treating breath as an afterthought. Dedicate entire improvisation sessions to exploring how different breathing patterns—sharp, staccato breaths; long, languid sighs; held tension—dictate the quality, timing, and emotional texture of your movement. Let the breath throw you off balance and then catch you. This is the foundation of fluidity.
2. Master the Art of Weight Shift and Fall & Recovery
Beginners learn to control their balance. Intermediates learn to artistically manipulate their off-balance. The concepts of weight shift, suspension, and recovery, pioneered by modern dance legends like Doris Humphrey, are your gateway to dynamic, thrilling movement.
Your Practice: Move beyond simple falls. Practice falling from different levels (high to low, mid to high) and initiating falls from unusual body parts—a rib cage, a shoulder blade, the side of the hip. Explore the moment of suspension just before the give of gravity and the rebound that follows. How quickly can you recover? How slowly can you surrender? This play with momentum is the heart of contemporary's athleticism.
3. Develop Multi-Dimensional Spacial Awareness
The studio mirror is a useful tool, but it lies. It flattens your movement into two dimensions. True contemporary dance exists in a 360-degree sphere. It's about carving through space with your back, your side, and every surface in between.
Your Practice: Stop dancing only facing the mirror. Spend at least half your practice time with your back to it or in the center of the room. Practice phrases focusing on what the movement feels like behind you. Are you carving a circle with your elbow? Is your energy expanding to all corners of the room? Use the mirror to check your work, not to create it.
4. Find Your Voice Through Improvisation
Technique is your vocabulary, but improvisation is how you learn to form your own sentences. This is the critical bridge from executing someone else's choreography to understanding your own unique movement preferences and potential.
Your Practice: Set a timer for 10-15 minutes daily. Use prompts beyond just music. Try improvising to:
- A piece of poetry or a news headline
- A texture (e.g., "move like honey," "like cracking glass")
- A body part leading (let your pinky finger lead your entire body)
- An emotion, but not the cliché one (explore nostalgic, apprehensive, whimsical)
Record yourself. Watch it back without judgment. Notice patterns. What do you keep returning to? That's your voice starting to whisper. Listen to it.
5. Invest in Your Body's Intelligence
Advanced movement demands an advanced instrument. As the complexity of your dancing increases, so does the need for nuanced strength, flexibility, and resilience. Cross-training is non-negotiable.
Your Practice:
- Pilates: For deep core strength and impeccable control.
- Gyrokinesis® or Yoga: For spinal flexibility and organic flow.
- Weight Training: For the explosive power needed for jumps and lifts.
This isn't just about injury prevention; it's about having the physical capacity to execute the sophisticated ideas in your head.
6. Become a Student of Everything
Contemporary dance in 2025 is a fusion form. It pulls from hip-hop's grooves, ballet's lines, martial arts' momentum, and theater's intention. The most interesting dancers are curious about everything.
Your Practice: Take class in a style that intimidates you. Watch dance films and live performances obsessively—but don't just watch; analyze. Why did that sequence feel so powerful? How did they transition from the floor to standing? Read. See art. Listen to new music. Your artistic expression is fed by your life experience. Fill your well.
Embrace the Uncomfortable
The intermediate stage is defined by feeling awkward. You're deconstructing the basics to build something more complex. You will feel uncoordinated. Movements will feel forced before they feel fluid. This is not a sign of failure; it is the sign of growth.
Your next step isn't a single step at all. It's a conscious, curious, and courageous practice of delving deeper. It's choosing to explore the why behind the movement as much as the how. Unlock these techniques, and you won't just be learning new steps—you'll be transforming into the artist you are meant to become.
Now, get off your screen and go dance.
