Hair Styling
Intermediate Level
Going deeper — techniques and nuances for experienced dancers
Hair styling is the art of making your hair an instrument — flicks, tosses, and touches that add cinematic drama to movement that's already beautiful.
Intermediate focus
Start timing your hair movements to the music. A hair flick on a beat accent, a slow cascade during a body wave, a hand-in-hair pose during a break. Practice the 'delayed flick' — move your head, then let the hair follow a beat late, creating that dramatic slow-motion effect. Work on both sides; most dancers only flick to their dominant side.
Tips
- •Tie your hair up and dance a full song. Then let it down and dance the same song. The movements that naturally created hair moments? Those are your styling opportunities. Don't add hair styling; reveal what's already there.
- •Slightly damp hair (not wet) moves more dramatically than completely dry hair. Many dancers lightly mist their hair before performing for this reason.
Common mistakes
- •Overusing hair styling — when every count has a hair movement, none of them are special. Hair styling is seasoning, not the main course
- •Violent head movements that risk neck injury just to get a bigger hair effect — the movement should originate from the spine, not from flinging the head
- •Ignoring the partner's face — a hair flick into your partner's eyes is not styling, it's assault. Be aware of where your hair goes
Practice drill
Stand in front of a mirror. Do 10 slow head tilts to each side, watching how your hair moves. Then 10 faster flicks. Find the speed where your hair creates the most dramatic arc. Now add music: do a basic step and place one hair moment per 8-count phrase. Just one. Make each one intentional.