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Translating Technique: Where Training Begins

July 9, 2026

BY KELSEY NELSON

Kelsey has over 25 years of dance experience ranging from major motion pictures to teaching students all across North America. You can find Kelsey on the judging panel of several national competitions and as a member of Impact Dance Adjudicators. She has had the honor of judging several National Finals for Universal Dance Association and USASF. For more on Kelsey see kelseynelson.com

Dancers today are training more than ever before. They are exposed to countless
styles, an endless stream of choreography, and constant pressure to absorb material
quickly. In the process, the focus can begin to shift from how they are training to simply how much they can accomplish. Class becomes centered on consumption rather than development.

As educators, it is our responsibility to guide dancers back to the understanding that technique is not built through speed, quantity, or exhaustion, but through awareness, patience, and intention. The first few minutes of class establish the tone for that process, yet they are often the most overlooked and rushed portion of training: the warm-up.

A warm-up should never feel separate from the training itself. No matter the style, the structure, presentation, and execution of a warm-up should reflect the same level of intention as the rest of class. When approached thoughtfully, warm-ups become an opportunity to build far more than physical readiness. They develop awareness, discipline, coordination, and the foundational habits that shape a dancer’s technique over time.

More importantly, warm-ups begin to enroll dancers in the process of training. A meaningful warm-up invites dancers to become engaged, curious, and invested in the work from the moment they step into the room. It shifts the focus away from simply getting through class and toward understanding how to train with purpose.

If we want dancers to successfully execute pirouettes, extensions, leaps, acro skills, intricate footwork, weight transfers, direction changes, isolations, and level changes, then the foundational principles behind those movements must first be developed within the warm-up. Balance, coordination, alignment, stability, rhythm, spatial awareness, and control are not concepts dancers should encounter only when performing advanced skills. They should be consistently introduced, challenged, and reinforced from the very beginning of class.

A proper warm-up is about far more than physically warming the body or stretching muscles. It is about preparing the mind and nervous system for the demands of training. Warm-ups should move beyond a few jumping jacks, splits, and sit-ups. They should begin introducing coordination, proprioception, spatial awareness, timing, rhythm, and reactionary control long before complex movement or skills are asked of dancers.

The nervous system plays a critical role in nearly everything dancers are required to do. It influences how movement is organized, how quickly corrections are processed, how efficiently the body responds to change, and how clearly movement is executed under pressure. If we want dancers to move with greater clarity, efficiency, control, and musicality, then the nervous system must be intentionally integrated into the very beginning of class.

An effective warm-up should progressively prepare dancers for the physical, mental, and neurological demands of class. Rather than isolating conditioning from technique, warm-ups should begin integrating the movement patterns, coordination, rhythm, balance, and control dancers will later need within combinations and choreography. They should challenge awareness, encourage problem solving, and gradually increase complexity so dancers are fully engaged from the beginning of class.

When approached with intention, the warm-up becomes far more than preparation. It becomes the foundation of how dancers learn to train. The habits developed within those first few minutes of class often shape the quality, discipline, and awareness dancers carry into every aspect of their movement. Technique is not simply built in the execution of advanced skills; it is built in the process that prepares dancers for them!