15*15 CREATIVITY EXERCISE SERIES — 15

Create a choreography with 15 dance routines and upload your dance videos on TikTok

This is your opportunity to go on creative adventures of a dancer

In this series (15*15), I design and present you 15 adventures and challenges in 15 days. I am developing these challenges in real-time — I hope you do enjoy and benefit from these exercises.

The goal of these challenges is to help you expand your imagination and exercise your muscles of creativity. This is the 15th day and 15th installment of that series.

In this challenge, imagine that you are a dancer. You will create your own choreography with 15 dance routines.

How will you do this?

First, you need to loosen up. Do not judge yourself. Do your dance practice while you are alone. Make sure you do this for fun. You can be naive, goofy, and foolish while you are dancing. No one will judge you (including yourself).

Please check out the following resources for guidance and inspiration:

Below are some amazing dance routines that you can follow. Please try to model the dancers in the videos below. Use your favorite music. Perhaps you can create your own moves after a while.

I hope you are inspired by these resources.

Your Challenge: Create a choreography with 15 dance routines and upload your dance videos on TikTok

Are you ready for this exciting challenge?

Your challenge is to create your own choreography: Create 15 dance routines.

Your goal will be to create ideas and inspiration for these dance moves and routines. You might use your favorite dance music and improvise as you move your body. Do not think too much and let your body flow into motion. Do not judge your moves. You can do lame moves and be foolish. Remember: You want to have fun and improvise.

You can choose any type of dances you want to experiment with: Hip hop, disco dances, ballroom dances, breakdance, tap dance, waltz, quickstep, tango, rumba, samba, Zumba, cha-cha-cha, belly dancing, etc.

You can choose and experiment with a mix of diverse styles. Try to choose songs and music that you love listening to.

You will videotape each dance — you might even upload your clips to TikTok for fun.

Try to create the following for each dance:

• The title of the piece (make it interesting and creative)
• What is the short story of this dance routine?
• Video record yourself dancing using your favorite song/music
• Upload your video on TikTok for fun

Feel free to dance as you go.

For the purposes of this exercise, please do not try too hard. Aim for 4–5 minutes of dance practice for each dance routine — improvise and move your body for fun.

It is important to start small and treat these dances as play. They are small experiments in exercise and creativity. They work much better if you stop judging your dance moves and start enjoying the process. You will instantly jump in the water without thinking. Thinking too much hurts your creativity because it paralyzes you. Every dance move starts with taking a leap of faith into the unknown. Each time you dance into the unknown, this will make you more adventurous, open, and creative.

Remember: You are doing this just for fun. You just want to accelerate your metabolism, improve your wellbeing, and increase your happiness.

You will benefit a lot from exercising your creative muscles and getting out of your comfort zone. If you do the exercise above, you will tremendously strengthen your creative as well as physical muscles. We need to give our brains and bodies a set of creative challenges every day. If we make this a habit, the process will help us rewire our brains (and bodies) to be more open to change and creativity.

A curation of best films on dance

I will continue today’s post with a list of wonderful videos and films on dance, dance history, and dance icons.

I have also included clips from iconic movies, fashion competition shows, K-pop music videos, London musicals, and even a robot dance show.

These videos and films beautifully capture the talents and passions of dancers and dance lovers. They will inspire you and elevate you to new heights. It is a pretty amazing list.

“Dance enables you to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time.”

“Take more chances. Dance more dances.”

I hope we can get inspiration from the passion, lifestyles, and joys of these talented and dedicated dancers.

I hope we can sing and dance more in our lives.

We have now finished 15*15 creative exercise journeys.

I will still upload a 16th bonus challenge for you tomorrow.

I loved the series — I wish we could continue and did not finish this series:)

I am hoping to design a new series with new challenges for you in the future.

Fahri

Fahri Karakas is the author of the Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.