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The number one thing that changed my life and outlook as a dancer was journaling. This isn’t your daily cataloging journaling by any means. This is journaling when the inspiration hits you, random questions you might have throughout the day, and any epiphanies about dance that might strike you while in line at the grocery store (or anywhere). You can doodle, scrapbook, and pretty much do whatever in your journal as long as it is authentic for you.
I started journaling as a part of a class assignment for my Dance Improvisation class; it truly changed my life. Before that point I was not a journaling person; it was not for me. However, once I began to see journaling in this new way I loved it. As an individual with ADHD, I found it as a way to organize the thousands of random thoughts I have on a daily basis. Journaling also allowed me to think of dance in a more creative way. Other artists like composers, authors, and visual artists are able to create great works through the little ideas they write down. Just because dance and choreography are typically intangible art forms, that does not mean we shouldn’t also write down our random ideas.
Below is a list of tips and advice for how you can start your personal dance journal and how to make the most of this opportunity in your dancer journaling!
Dancer Journaling-Getting Started
Finding a Journal
Find the journal or notebook with a format that suits you. Personally, I like a dotted grid but you might like one with lines. I have friends that love the Moleskine notebooks. My personal favorite is the Paperage journals which you can find on Amazon. They come in a variety of styles with lined paper, dotted grids, graph paper, and more. For whatever type of journal you find I do recommend it is generally pretty small or easy to carry around. 5.7 by 8 is standard for most journals and very portable.
Make sure your journal is durable and can withstand your activities. Most composition-bound notebooks are preferable to spiral-bound notebooks if you plan on carrying your journal in a backpack or dance bag. If you think you might end up drawing and pasting items in your journal try to find one with thick, durable paper. Remember it should be unique to you so choose your journal based on what you need and like.
The choice of writing utensils is up to you. The sky is the limit! Sometimes you might just have to jot an idea down and the only thing available is a crayon, that’s okay. Personally, when I have the choice I like to use a pack of colored gel pens and change up the colors based on how I’m feeling that day. I also love the Crayola skinny markers if I choose to draw and doodle more. I recommend carrying a reliable pen or mechanical pencil with your journal wherever you bring it just for some insurance.
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I’ve got the Journal, now what?
Carry it around with you!
This isn’t your everyday diary or daily journal. This is a journal to catalog random moments of inspiration or ideas you have throughout the day. Write down a particular shape or smell you see walking to class, a feeling you felt when hanging out with your friends, or an idea you had during dance class. I understand you might not be able to stop what you’re doing and just write whatever down in your journal but it is handy to have around so you don’t wait until the end of the day when you forget all of the great ideas you had earlier.
Start Creating Entries about Anything and Everything
Whenever some random idea hits you, put it in your journal. Hear an interesting song lyric? Write that down. Watch a dancer you admire online? Write about them. Wonder why dancers do certain things? Question that in your journal. Make a connection to ballet by watching nature? Write about that.
When you begin by writing about almost every random occurrence or subject you will start to notice what you individually are inspired by and narrow down your journaling ideas. Let yourself give in to random thoughts and impulses by writing them down in your journal. Dancer Journaling can be anything and everything, even if you don’t see a full idea yet.
Organizing Your Journal
Finding out how you individually journal is a big part of organizing it. Personally, I don’t have any particular system for creating my journal entries other than dating them. Sometimes I title the entry with the location or event where I had a “Journal epiphany”, but that is typically based on that individual entry. How you decide to organize your journal is solely up to you, but all I will recommend is that you don’t let your ideas be limited by how your journal is organized.
“But What if…”-Dealing with Doubt in the Process
This journal is not meant to be perfect, nor are there any requirements to create it. But most dancers are perfectionists so we might try to be perfect when journaling too. You don’t have to connect every moment or entry to dance in your journal, but if you want to go right ahead. When you start journaling you might feel like it has nothing to do with dance, and that’s okay. It takes time so all I will say for now is to just write, draw, and express. Even if you don’t use your journal to complement your dance training it is a great form of self-care and artistic expression.
Remember it isn’t just a journal
Of course, you can write down your thoughts in it but it can be so much more than that. It can be a scrapbook, a sketchbook, and even a notepad. Don’t let yourself be limited to just what you’ve been taught to believe “journaling” is.
Don’t Wait for the Perfect Moment
If you wait for the perfect moment to journal you will never get started. The ideas you have don’t even have to do anything with dance at all. Eventually, your ideas will connect with dance because dancing is more than we think. Dancing can be anything you want it to be and journaling is the same way.
Dancer Journaling Entry Ideas
If this is your first time journaling in this manner or as a dancer at all, you might feel a little intimidated by what to write and need some help getting started. Below are some basic prompts that can help you get started or find inspiration for an entry.
- Illustration of an interesting sculpture
- Reaction to a song or music score
- How the day’s weather makes you feel
- Observations of movement
- Thought-provoking questions
- Description of a TikTok video you watched
- Choreography ideas
- “How can you represent ____ through dance?”
- Emotions
- Look up different paintings or abstract art and describe how they make you feel
- Write about something that makes you happy. Why does it make you feel happy? What memories do you associate it with? Is there a color you think of and associate with happiness?
- Write and contemplate a word that sounds silly
- Who is your favorite dancer/choreographer? Why do you like them? What is it about their movement that you resonate with?
- Ask questions that might otherwise seem stupid. Ex) Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is water wet? etc.
- What are your favorite things?
Hopefully, these prompts can give your some inspiration to get started!
So, How Exactly Will Dancer Journaling Help Change My Dancing?
It is hard to fully answer that question because it will be different for everyone. For some dancers, Journaling might improve their mental health or give them creative inspiration for a project.
Overall, though, journaling can start you on a journey to think of yourself as an artist rather than “just a dancer”. Dancers are constantly trying to balance independence with dependence. We are told to create our own ideas but to also be students and absorb the ideas of others for the purpose of choreography or curriculum. When you journal as a student, professional, or performer at any level you give yourself permission to have ideas and create even if you don’t have the opportunity to do so in front of you. One of the advantages of starting a journal now is that it will generate usable inspiration and ideas for future, creative opportunities that are authentic and real rather than trying to find an idea later on.
Journaling as any artist, especially as a dancer, one must trust the process without a clear end goal. Start creating ideas and the opportunity to use them will come, whether it be in a new mindset or a choreographic idea. Journaling can change everything for you as a dancer and as an artist.
