Learning to Dance in Second Life (SL) (121125)
About a year ago I posted about learning to dance in SL. A year is a long time in SL and now this post is an update on the subject.
This note is for people just beginning to dance in SL using a HUD. It is a step-by-step guide. It takes effort and money to become a really good dancer in SL, but WOW!!! it is so much fun.
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STEP 1 - GET A GOOD DANCE HUD (Heads Up Display)
Buy a good dance HUD. This a really important decision because different HUDs have different capabilities. Once you use a dance HUD and become familiar with it, changing to another dance HUD is difficult. The most recent comparison of Dance HUDs discusses this subject. If you really love dancing and want to become very proficient in most situations, I recommend the Barre HUD. If you are focusing on specialty dancing such as couples dancing, consider the MLDU5.
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STEP 2 - SET-UP THE HUD
All dance HUDs come with instructions. Sometimes the instructions are online and other times they are in notecards. Read the instructions. You may not understand everything at first, but you will over time. I will help you if you need it for the Barre, Huddles and Fleursoft HUDs.
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STEP 3 - ADD DANCES TO YOUR HUD
HUDs usually have no dances or a few lousy dances inside. Using the instructions that come with the HUD you can see what is inside the HUD using edit and you can see what a notecard looks like. The HUD instructions tell you how to load dances. You can buy dances at Dance Makers. Start with Motion Capture (MOCAP) dances since these are the best quality.
Also you can find free dances using this notecard. There are also free dances in the DANCE QUEENS Freebie Dance pack that is updated occasionally for DANCE QUEENS members.
Money is always an issue so here is a list of good first dances to get. Also make a decision about buying copy or transfer dances.
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STEP 4 - START DANCING
At first you will probably want to dance individually using your dances. After you become confident about your HUD and begin to learn your dances, you will start to invite others to dance with you. This is the time to learn Freestyle choreography or attend a class that I give occasionally. This is important so you look good while dancing and others enjoy dancing with you.
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STEP 5 - OPEN YOUR EYES
There are a lot of good dancers in SL. They are in clubs, in shows and on videos. Watch them and learn from them. Focus your attention on the dancing and look at things like transitions between dances, how well the dances match the music, movement of dancers ... are the dancers really life like? Most dancers, particularly DANCE QUEENS members will share how they do things, so ask when you see something you like.
Many dancers will stop at this point and become excellent freestyle dancers and have lots of SL fun. Some will want to learn more.
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STEP 6 - JOIN A DANCE GROUP
If you decide to learn more, joining a dance group even for a short time is a good way to learn. Usually, the leaders of dance groups are very experienced dancers and you can learn from them.
Even if you don't join a dance group, this is a good time to think about Sequenced Choreography and navigating in your HUD.
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STEP 7 - MAKE NOTECARDS
Once you start using notecards, you can benefit from what others have done. I send out a lot of dance sequences. One reason for this is to help you learn about how to make dance sequences.
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STEP 8- BECOME A TRUE DANCE QUEEN (OR KING)
This website has a lot of information about dancing. Read it. Once you are familiar with the above, you will find that your dancing will draw attention to you. People will start to ask you for advice and help. You have arrived as a DANCE QUEEN OR KING ... congratulations!
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STEP 7 - HELP AND BE HELPED
DANCE QUEENS is a group that is for learning about dancing and sharing so we all become better and have more fun. Almost every day dance information is added to this blog and sent out in daily notices. As you learn things new, contact me and I will include it in a Daily Notice to share with all.
xxx
Nottoo