As a dancer here at Allen Community College, I’m always looking for ways to better my skills and technique in the dance world. I do this by going to other schools and attending their dance clinics. I also follow a variety of studios, college dance teams, and performing arts groups on social media where I get most of my information about clinics from.

The most recent clinic I attended was Sunday, February 19th, at Johnson County Community College. Each clinic spans 3-5 hours and has a similar schedule. At JCCC, their clinic was 3 hours long. When I first arrived, I was greeted by the coach and checked in. Like every clinic, it started with a warm-up and stretching by the college dancers. Then, after the stretch, technique across the floor began. The technique consisted of turns, leaps, jumps, and kicks. The technique that I enjoyed the most and struggled with was the kicks. I enjoyed the challenge, but I did struggle some because there were a few tricks in that category I’d never done before.

After the technique portion, we were given a quick water break and headed back to start learning short dance combos. At JCCC, we started with a jazz combo to the song, “The Way I Are”, by Timbaland. The most complex tricks in the combo ended up being a quad turn and a tilt jump, which was manageable. We learned the combo rather quickly and took only about 30 minutes until moving on to the next combo.

The next combo we learned was hip-hop to the song, “Industry Baby”, by Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow. The hip-hop combo was more relaxed. The goal with it was to have more fun and make it your own compared to the strong technique of the jazz combo. The hardest trick in the hip-hop combo was a headspring, and it was optional to do one or not.

The dance clinic was then concluded with a Q&A session with the collegiate dancers. Most questions are designed to help prepare dancers for college and to know what to expect at tryouts, as well as how to balance school while being a college athlete.

If you like to embrace your creative side or try something new, dance clinics are 100% recommended. Every clinic or team welcomes those willing to try and learn.