There is an essential interconnectedness between music and dance. the poet Ezra Pound wrote, "Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance." It's easy to take music for granted, or to treat it merely as a means of keeping time. Music inspires, it motivates, and it actually helps you to dance better. Being "on the music" means that you reach the correct position on the appropriate count. Being "late" or "behind the music" means that you're not getting where you must be on time. Musicality, however, is more than just being on the music. It's the ability to hear subtle qualities and structures within the music and then communicate them through your dancing.
Teachers can play a great role in helping dance students develop their own style of musicality by giving a combination at a certain tempo with a certain kind of music, like a slow waltz, then, keeping the same combination, speed up the tempo and change the tempo to 6/8, for example. While some teachers might not play with tempo in this way, you can still practice this exercise after class by setting the combinations you learned that day to new music.
A lot depends on the age and level of each dancer. For younger students, emphasis should be placed on basic elements, such as rhythm, keeping time, breath and character of the music, all according to the accompaniment given in class. As a student advances, teachers should pay more attention to playing with and stretching the phrasing and expressing the subtle nuances.
Music educators know that movement is a great tool in teaching music theory. Dance educators and dancers can learn and expand their knowledge and musicality with just a bit of what these musicians put into practice in their classrooms. As Balanchine once said, "Dance is music made visible." He phrased it perfectly.
Music provides the fundamental pulse; in choreography, its rhythm and tempo indicate where you should be at certain specific moments. In some modern dance classes the accompaniment is minimal - just a drummer. But even a lone drumbeat can suggest the quality and character of movement;its accents can remind you to brush out forcefully or close quickly. When melody and harmony join rhythm and tempo, music offers abundant information and guidance to a dancer.
Allow the personality of the music to bring out the same in yourself. If the music is bold and big, dance bold and big. Delicate music calls for delicate dancing. Unless a choreographer is trying for a special effect, let staccato or pizzicato music inspire your own sharpness, clarity and attack.Let legato music help you fluidly connect your steps in smooth, supple, elongated lines. Work on becoming versatile enough to do either comfortably.
Then take it to the next level and consider the phrasing. Movement phrases connect individual steps the same way that musical phrases connect individual notes. Think of your dancing as a pearl necklace: each pearl is beautiful by itself, but the whole necklace is the finished art. Listen for the way the music arcs or changes dynamic; notice the climaxes and cadences. think about what you would emphasize if you to sing the melody and shape your dancing accordingly.
Musical training and learning to read music can only help you as a dancer; at minimum, listen to music outside of class to improve your musicality. You can train yourself to identify rhythm by allowing your hand to beat gently along with the music. It will automatically accent the downbeat, enabling you to distinguish between a march, which is in 4/4 time, and a waltz, which is in 3/4 time. Take "Waltz of the Flowers" and listen for the "one two three one two three" rhythm. then try "Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet and listen for the heavy "one two one two one two" of its rhythm.
Musicality also helps solve problems. When a turn isn't working, or you're behind in a speedy combination, listen to the rhythm and accent of the music. You may turn better by changing your rhythm, or jump quicker by changing the accent. Music can give you the push you need to get through a long, tough combination.
Your teacher might tell you not to rely on counting in order to discourage robotic dancing. While cultivating your own musicality is very important, don't lose sight of the fact that counting is still an essential skill for dancers. Some dancers are naturally musical, but for those who need time to develop an ear, counting helps. If you're in a group or dancing to complex music, counting gets everyone in unison. Some choreography just needs to be counted. toward the end of Concerto Barocco, for example, the dancers hop and move their arms in fast counts of four while the music is in slow counts of three. If they didn't count, they'd be hopelessly confused.
Teachers can play a great role in helping dance students develop their own style of musicality by giving a combination at a certain tempo with a certain kind of music, like a slow waltz, then, keeping the same combination, speed up the tempo and change the tempo to 6/8, for example. While some teachers might not play with tempo in this way, you can still practice this exercise after class by setting the combinations you learned that day to new music.
A lot depends on the age and level of each dancer. For younger students, emphasis should be placed on basic elements, such as rhythm, keeping time, breath and character of the music, all according to the accompaniment given in class. As a student advances, teachers should pay more attention to playing with and stretching the phrasing and expressing the subtle nuances.
Music educators know that movement is a great tool in teaching music theory. Dance educators and dancers can learn and expand their knowledge and musicality with just a bit of what these musicians put into practice in their classrooms. As Balanchine once said, "Dance is music made visible." He phrased it perfectly.
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Great post! In Middle Eastern dance soloists often perform improvisationally to music with complex rhythm and tempo changes. Live band performances also include musical improvisations. Having a sharp sense of musicality and how to use movement to visually represent the music is the height of artistry in our style.
ReplyDeleteI like to use the analogy that you can dance "on" the music with correct tempo and it's like floating down the stream in a boat. Or, you can dance "in" your music and respond to the phrases, melodic and rhythmic accents - that's like swimming in the stream. I prefer to swim!