How to remember choreography?

 At one of the Hip Hop workshops I took in San Francisco in 2017, a fellow dancer came up to me and was like, "Hey! How do you remember all these steps the choreographer just taught? I don't understand!" I remember telling him "It's just Practice". And that's exactly what I am going to tell you. No matter how cliche or simple this sounds, but practice makes you perfect. This guy was a beginner dancer and was confused about how other dancers in the class were able to pick up choreography so fast and execute it right away. His question did not surprise me. I have been in his shoes. I have felt both frustration and curiosity when taking workshops with these crazy talented dancers who made me feel like I should quit dancing. I remember feeling like I am the only loser who couldn't remember a single step while everyone else in the class was killing the piece as if they already knew the routine. I would be embarrassed to stand in the front line when the choreographer would be teaching the class. I would even try to hide in the corner somewhere when it was my turn to perform in groups at the end of the class. To make sense off of all this, my brain cooked up this theory that I have a bad memory and I won't be able to dance unless I practice the piece a hundred times.

Obviously this was not true. I learnt over time that learning any choreographed routine quick is just a matter of practice and patience. The more workshops I took, the better I got. Not just with the moves but with my ability to remember the choreography as well. There is no magic trick behind it. There is no need to eat almonds or take supplements to boost your memory power. No dancer is born with the power to memorize all the steps and execute it on the go. True power lies in the art of being consistent. And by consistency I mean taking workshops from choreographers/dancers with different styles on a consistent basis. The more you dance, the more your body gets familiar with the process of challenging itself and learning more. You gradually start to build what we call "Muscle Memory". The more you do, the stronger your muscle memory gets and the more it can store. This change is so subtle that you won't even notice it unless somebody comes to you in class and be like "Wow dude, you were killing it out there! How did you learn all those steps so quick?" 

With that said, I still struggle several times remembering all the steps when learning a new piece. And this happens more when I am learning a dance style I am not very familiar with. And that is just fine. Like I said, your body has its own memory just like your brain does. When fed with new information, it takes it own time to process it. So enjoy the learning process and be patient with yourself. Consistency is the mother of all skills. Take tons of classes in your favorite style, take several classes in different styles and drill those moves when alone and REPEAT. Everything else will follow.