musicality

[dancingliza]

Anyone have suggestions on how to develop dance musicality?

Thanks,
Liza

[opendoor]

Hi Liza,

my first suggestion was to free oneself from basic steps and learned movements for a while. There is a thing called dancing with the melody what you should develope. I have a lot of music files on my mobile and every free second I dance to my favorite titles alone.

Secondly you need a bit of music theory. Depending on what style you dance you can learn something about the development of that specific style, the main titles, orchestras, rhythms, signature, singers, a.s.o. The better you know the pieces the better you can interpret them.

And may be also something like this may help: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_improvisation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_improvisation

[sambanada]

Close the light, and practice in the dark. If this is not possible, dance with a blindfold. This way, the music will guide you. I recommend this to everyone. It really helps.

[bordertangoman]

listen

[Ray Sison]

Welcome to Dance Forums, dancingliza!


I don't know if this makes sense, but I try to "sing with the body" (aka "bodysinging") to the music. I also once got the advice to dance "on the music". My interpretation of this is that when dancing you are like a boat floating on the waves of a musical ocean--though I am not sure if that is exactly what that person meant when giving me that advice...

As mentioned before, learning something about music itself might benefit you as well...

Anyway, best of luck on this. And have fun dancing! :banana:

[Andreth]

Listen to lots of music, especially dance music, even when you're not dancing. Picture the dance in your head as you listen and see how it moves with the music. Also, watch lots of Youtube videos of top couples performing...I have gotten a lot of ideas for styling and just musical expression from these myself.

[kayak]

Would it be the same as musicality taught to west coast swing dancers? That has a pretty structured progression of concepts.

[sycorax]

Would it be the same as musicality taught to west coast swing dancers? That has a pretty structured progression of concepts.

Really? Where or whom should I go to for that? I'd love to get a more structured look at WCS musicality.

[Steve Pastor]

This is part of something I just posted in the AT Forum.
Hey! It swings both ways.

I have found that Argentine Tango has a lot in common with West Coast Swing. The music is different, but it is also the same in many ways.

The information at this page applies to Argentine Tango as well as much of what you might do in WCS. http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/feel_the_music.html (http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/feel_the_music.html)

Hearing the beat http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/...nd_timing.html (http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/music_and_timing.html)

Hitting the breaks http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/hit_the_breaks.html (http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/hit_the_breaks.html)

[Steve Pastor]

There is a wealth of information here.

http://www.wcs-dancer.com/SkippyBlairDanceDictionary.html

[Ray Sison]

There is a wealth of information here.

http://www.wcs-dancer.com/SkippyBlairDanceDictionary.html

That's a great site! :cheers: Thanks...