30 days, 30 dances…
Improve your improvised solo jazz by starting the year with the #JAZZUARY challenge, and dancing once a day, every day through the month!
#JAZZUARY is based on the 30 day challenge idea which I’ve been using to improve my solo jazz since 2017. This version of the challenge allows anyone and anyone to take part regardless of whether or not you’ve found a 30 day challenge partner.
The Rules…
1. Each day, use the prompt list (or create your own) to get your project for today’s practice
2. Pick a song and dance to it, focusing on the day’s project.
3. That’s it!
It’s a time-investment per-day of about 5 minutes, but just the act of doing it every day really pays off by the end of the month
OPTIONAL:
You can also choose to film your practice. If you do, watch it back later that day, and focus on all the things you liked. Seriously. Learning from positive reinforcement feels so much better than beating yourself up
If you fancy sharing it (or sharing part of it) on social media, tag it with:
#jazzuary
#jazzuary2022
If you spot a practice video in the wild, watch it, and let folks know what they did that you liked!
The Prompts…
Here’s the prompt list for 2022! Feel free to make up your own if you prefer.
And take New Year’s Day off, nothing good ever started with a hangover.
Past prompt lists:
FAQs
Do I have to film it?Nah, of course not. It is helpful though.
If you do, watch it back later that day, and focus on all the things you liked. Seriously. Learning from positive reinforcement feels so much better than beating yourself up.
If you spot a practice video in the wild, watch it, and let folks know what they did that you liked!
Can I still play if I don’t really know how to improvise?Hell yeah! Hopefully the challenge will make improvisation more accessible.
If you don’t feel confident with your solo jazz vocabulary, you’ve got a couple of simple options:
- Use the Shim Sham (or other routine that you know) as your basis each day.
- Pick an ‘a’ move and a ‘b’ move (e.g. basic charleston and a mambo step). Start with move ‘a’, and when you think of something else, start doing that. When you get stuck, or are done with that idea, shift to the ‘b’ move. Repeat!
How dare you.
Just kidding! It doesn’t matter.
Go ahead and pick up again when you can.