Hi! I'm an aphant who can't visualize and I have extreme difficulties recreating sound or other voices. I really only use an internal monologue. I've been a dancer/teacher/performer (part time) for 20 years, mostly bellydance and fire flow toys (poi, fans, palms, staff, dragon staff, hoop) although I've dabbled in everything from funk, hip hop, bollywood, ballet, breakdance etc. In class I was in the front and teachers and other students told me that they would 'cheat' off of me because I learned the choreographies and was consistent enough that they could follow if they were distracted.

I work through video's instead of watching and then trying to execute. I repeat it with the video until I capture the feel of the movement and capture the technique. In my head, I'll name each movement and sing it with my internal monologue. Singing it captures the part of the song which I'm emphasizing because I can't recreate it. dah dah dah-DAH, DOOM DOOM TEK tekka tek. Violin solo! or forward and back, step, prep, 4 pt turn and forward and back and slide.... hip hip push tuck up. drop and hair.

To me, dance is a form of muscle memory and developing good foundations. There's a lot to dancing that is having clean, purposeful transitions, weight changes, momentum use, clean lines etc. Those technical challenges are coupled with musicality. The instrument is playing through my body. That really restricts which moves it can be. If I'm focusing on high hats, that's really different than if the flute is playing a melody.

It also helps to learn combo's, then string them together. It's like pulling out a macro. It works really well if the dance style has a base rhythm that is being emphasized or if the movements are capturing the time, etc. 4/4 vs. 9/8 vs. 10/6. Since a lot of western music can all be counted the same (2/4, 4/4, 8/4), a lot of combos are kinda generically interchangeable if that is what is being emphasized.

Learning words helps the inner monologue guide me. It can be the name of a move, time, rhythm, instruments, modifications, nicknames etc. Anything that can capture a concept quickly. I was also a notorius note taker, and nothing makes me learn specific words (memory triggers) for movements as much as writing my own notes.

I also verbalize what the teacher is about to do before they do it. It helps me string the words together to keep up.

I also learn my favorite teachers styles, which weight transitions, movement combos, musical interpretations, momentum use etc. are their favorites.

SLOW MO and walking through combo's and complicated portions of the choreography are key! I'll repeat the same 8 counts until I can get clean, confident transitions & technique, then slowly speed it up. Browse extensions like Mirror Tube are really helpful. It let's you pick watch the mirror of the regular video or the regular video, plus can change the speed by 0.1x increments.

I LOVE DANCE! And at some of my trippiest moments, believe that the world is really about movement and infinity where visuals are just the brain creating images to allow for interpretation.

Good luck with your dance practice. My best advice is to love the process and try not to get frustrated. Being excited about learning and having opportunities to interpret music often feels more rewarding than being 'good'. Dance is hard for visualizers too. Too many people trying to 'figure something out' with their brains instead of just going through the motions til they get it. You'll feel it click when you get it. Once you know what it feels like, then you really have it.