Woman Learns to Masterfully Dance in 365 Days


While New Years is usually the time for people to make resolutions, Karen Cheng couldn't wait for January 1 to roll around to start her self-improvement. Cheng, a designer at a San Francisco start up, decided to follow her dream to learn to dance in a year. She recorded her progress starting at day one showcasing her awkward body and stiff moves and by day 365 she's swaying through a subway station like a seasoned professional. The video, which was uploaded to YouTube Tuesday, already has almost one million views.

Actually achieving a lifelong dream may seem lofty but Cheng's video documentation proves that it's possible. She wanted to show that most people don't master something overnight and that the true experts work really hard for an end product of perfection. "Usually you see amazing things and react with shock and awe and think, I could never do that. I wanted to make a video of my progress so people could see step by step. People don't record the bad, everyone starts like you, at the beginning, and they just work at it," she says.

Follow her foolproof plan as a guideline for finally ticking a target off your bucket list. Personally, I'll be heading to my local dojo to take a karate class tonight.

  1. Dream. As a kid Cheng was inspired by dancers that could move like robots, rooted in a deep fascination in the supernatural and telekinesis. She thought that shifting her body similarly to automatons would be awesome but accepted the fact that it would take too much work to achieve. As an adult she found a mentor that changed her outlook and told her that she could, in fact, learn to pop, lock and drop it like the best of them. Her end goal is to be able to boogie like an optical illusion and though she admits she hasn't gotten to apparition status yet she's surely on her way. Her advice: "If you have a dream and you don't know how to start, start anyway."

  2. Set goals. When Cheng first started on her journey to become a jitter expert she set attainable goals for herself. In her blog, Dance in a Year, she says, I started with a promise to dance at least 5 minutes every day. When I got more into it, I upped my goal to 14 hours a week, about two hours a day." Cheng remained realistic throughout the process. With a fulltime job she knew that staying stringent with daily objectives wouldn't work but making up the lost time at another point takes away some pressure.

  3. Record yourself. "You'll see things in the videos you didn't catch in the mirror. You'll think you danced well, and then you'll watch it back and be mortified. Embrace those moments - that's when the learning happens," Cheng writes. She also says that while progress can't necessarily be seen day-to-day, with long-term recordings the proof is in the pudding that change has happened. While technology is great, going the old school route by taking pen to paper is important too. Cheng kept track of everything from time tracking to how to improve her moonwalk, which she notes also helped with motivation.

  4. Speaking of technology… The app Lift helped Cheng keep to the course. The web and mobile portal chronicles streaks and check-ins towards a specific activity. She said that she didn't want to break the continuity-she's at 90 plus days- and seeing it in front of her with graphs, colors and numbers pushed her to keep at it.

  5. Do a little bit everyday. Cheng didn't relegate practicing her craft to the studio. Instead, she says, "I practiced everywhere. At bus stops. In line at the grocery store. At work - Using the mouse with my right hand and practicing drills with my left hand."

  6. Splurge. Miley Cyrus wasn't born twerking. She most likely had the luxury of a personal poppin' instructor to teach her how to Dougie. Cheng, a self-proclaimed frugalista, found someone with all the right moves and signed herself up for private lessons. The one-on-one instruction made her more accountable for her actions as she wasn't just self-regulating her progress. Totally worth it.

  7. Really, really, really want it. Most people make sweeping resolutions at the beginning of the year to implement changes in their life. But by the time the seasons start to change these goals have usually been abandoned (I can attest to this-my goal to improve my posture fell by the wayside as I sit hunched over my desk writing this). Based on feedback Cheng has gotten and analyzing her experience she says not to be discouraged by past failures. "You shouldn't be hard on yourself because it may mean that you haven't found something that you are passionate about yet."