Musicality In Dance: What Is It? Can It Be Taught?

What Is Musicality?

Musicality in dance has two main components. Receptivity and Creativity.

Musical receptivity is ones ability to receive, comprehend, be sensitive to, and have a working knowledge of musical concepts like rhythm, tempo, phrasing, and even mood.

Musical creativity (or musical artistry) is the ability to connect with accompanying music, interpret it, or phrase and add movement dynamics that relate to music even in the absence of accompaniment, in a way that is unique or interesting.

Musicality in dance then might be considered a measure or degree to which a dancer is receptive and creative in his translation or rendering of music through movement. It is a key ingredient in a dancer’s display of artistry (more on developing artistry can be found here).

Can Musicality Be Taught?

In a previous blog post I offered my thoughts on How To Develop Musical Awareness In Dance Students. Within the article I shared some reasons why it is important to help your students improve their musical receptivity and offered a few methods to help bridge the gap in experience and increase students’ sensitivity to music at any age.

In the comments Deb, always a thoughtful reader and responder, pondered if teaching musicality was even possible especially for those don’t seem to be born with a musical gene. I’m sure we’ve all had those students that certainly made us wonder! I had to consider what I’d witnessed, eventually weighing the effects of nature versus nurture in my own experiences. This was my answer:

I think that what we consider “natural” ability is mostly learned in a sense, albeit for some very early in life. My son at 2 already displays a very “natural” sense of rhythm and musical awareness however he also heard and felt music and movement from within my body as I taught classes, we dance around our home, music is often a part of our daily routine… Perhaps it goes back to those synapses that people form very early in life, why its best and easiest to learn languages at a very young age for example. Music is another kind of language and those neural pathways are opened through exposure and experience when we are young [sometimes very, very young]. As we get older it may be harder to carve out those pathways, just as it harder to learn a language as one gets older. But I do think it is possible to develop greater musical awareness and comprehension in students with time and exposure (and a willingness on the part of the student since learning is of course a two-way street). Will those that are not “naturals” ever catch up with those that are? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s worth a try.

Though babies show a preference for moving to a rhythm, even in this recent study [Babies are born to dance to the beat - telegraph.co.uk], it seems individuals display varying degrees of accuracy. In thinking more on this topic, I realized that there will always be degrees of potential and talent, which may be either naturally genetic or nurtured very early. Either way, as teachers we can establish greater receptivity in our students by giving them the opportunity to be receptive. We can provide plenty of practice so that they have the tools to expand their musical creativity.

How would you define musicality?
Can musicality be taught?

More thoughts and tips on teaching musicality:

Musicality in performance — 7 Secrets of Super Performers

“While counting can be important sometimes for finding moments of precision in a dance, musicality in performance is expressed through more than just counting beats. In fact, while counting, it is easy to forget that a beat includes not only the sharp “tap” of a particular rhythm but also the space between those taps, just as all movements include transitions and shifts of weight between desired “shapes” of the body. Exciting and musical performers fill these spaces in the music and movement, not letting the energy or intent drop between shapes or between counts. Enjoyable performers also utilize dynamics in their performance. Resisting “sameness,” as they dance, they incorporate…”

Musicality in jumping — Vertically Challenged: Improving Your Jumps

“Awareness of your breath will improve your height and help release excess tension. Also, listen while you’re jumping to the timing and tempo of the music or rhythm accompanying your movement. Try clapping in time with some music, making circles…”

Musicality in choreography — How To Make Choreography “Your Own”

Tools for connecting movement effort to dynamics and time — Teaching Dynamics: It’s All In The Effort

Encourage a bit of experimentation — Set Your iPod to Shuffle

How to Develop Musical Awareness in Dance Students

Why Is it Important that Students Have Musical Awareness?

Communication. As students progress in their study or as they move toward teaching or choreography the ability to talk about and interpret music and its relationship to dance with clarity will be an asset rather than a handicap. Consider the following scenario, for instance:

“Something in three,” the ballet teacher says, and the poor accompanist can’t satisfy the request until the teacher finally yells, “No, no, no! Something in THREE! One, two, three, eee; One, two, three, eee.” — from an article by Monica Dale; MusiKinesis website (this website regarding Dalcroze Eurhythmics is undergoing some reconstruction… I hope the article above will return soon)

Developing musical artistry (or musicality) in dance requires some understanding of or at least hands on experience with musical form, rhythmical structure, and the other ingredients of music. What is musical artistry? My definition: The ability to connect with accompanying music, interpret it, phrase and add dynamics to movement in relationship to the music (or even in the absence of music) in a way that is unique or interesting.

Staying together. At a more base level it is simply easier to keep students moving together and on the beat if there is a shared comprehension of music.

Bridging the gap

Do your students have a basic understanding of musical concepts? As music and arts programs in public schools have faced cutbacks, I’ve found myself needing to diligently cover meter, tempos, and rhythms in my dance classes to make up for what schools are lacking in this area.

While dance teachers cannot fully nourish this musical malnutrition, there are fortunately many inventive ways that they can lay a foundation for musicality and a competency in musical theory within their classes. The suggestions (or perhaps more accurately, principles) below are by no means a complete guide to accomplishing the task but hopefully they’ll prime the pump of your own creativity. I’d love to hear about additional strategies or ideas that you have in the comments below and I know others would too!

Explore Tempos and Rhythm in your Curriculum

Most classes for younger children incorporate music-related activities through the use of props, instruments, songs or rhymes. Rarely, however, do teachers of students older than 5 or 6 years make exploration of tempo or rhythm part of each dance lesson. It can’t be assumed that older children have “naturally” developed a sense or understanding of these concepts. Continue musical exploration beyond the early years.

Break Patterns

Whenever possible, seek out music with varying meter or with time signatures other than 4/4. This can be particularly challenging in classes that make use of popular music. Experiment with music from other cultures and push yourself to try something new or that goes beyond your own choreographic or musical preferences. Include your students in the process, urging them to be on the lookout for music with unusual meter and to bring in their best finds for use in class.

Return to Square One Every Now and Then

Sometimes even older students have trouble finding the beat. It never hurts to revisit such basic concepts as moving on the beat, finding the downbeat, counting the music, or locating phrases within the music. Try having students improvise – moving on each clap, drumbeat, or beat of the music. Then have them try moving on each downbeat, or every 3 or 4 or 5, etc. beats. Create rhythms and patterns like this example (in 3/4 time) move, hold, hold || moo-oo-ove || hold, hold, move! || hold, hold, move!

Music Theory through Dance

There are many creative ways you might incorporate concepts like note value and rhythm in your classes. Try visual aids as simple as halved, quartered, and further divisions of paper. Allow students to explore what it feels like to suspend movement throughout a whole note or dance a rhythmic pattern. Allow them to create and dance their own patterns. Or, help students to recognize the musical structure of phrases or movements which they already know. Explore the uneven quality of a skip for instance – Clap the rhythm. How many fit within a given measure? What would a skip look like if written in musical notation? And, what about chaîné turns? A triplet or waltz turn? A time step?

Music educators know that movement is a great tool in teaching music theory. Dance educators can learn and expand their curriculum with just a bit of what these musicians put into practice in their classrooms… if given the opportunity.

Additional reading:

• Teach music concepts through body movement – MENC 1973
• Dalcroze Eurhythmics: A Brief Introduction
• Rhythmic movement and Public School Music Education – MENC 1991
• Music Education Beyond the Mozart Effect
• Feel It: Rhythm Games for All
• Hap Palmer: Educational Children’s Songs

Why do you feel musical awareness is important?

What are some methods you use in your classes to increase musical awareness?

Vertically Challenged: Improving Your Jumps

Jumping is a large part of a dancer’s training and students are constantly searching for the secret recipe that will improve their skills in this area. However, for the most part the secret to jumping is not so secret, it is the same hard work that goes into most everything in dance: proper alignment, solid technique, and practice, practice, practice! Not what you wanted to hear? Sorry, but never fear, I can give you some pointers that will help you as you practice those jumps. I’m going to focus mainly on vertical jumping (sauté) in this post, although many of these principles can also be applied to traveling jumps or leaps. I will focus more specifically on leaps in a future post.

Foundations

Proper alignment, as I stated before, is key in quality jumping. (Here is a helpful video on finding good alignment in the spine.) In vertical jumping, especially, it helps to imagine stacking your body parts (the head, the torso, the pelvis, the knees, the feet) on top of one another like stacking stones. When one stone is out of place, a horizontal element is added to an otherwise vertical force. This slows the jump and reduces its height. What keeps the stones in alignment is a strong core. This does not mean you should be stiff like a pogo stick when you jump. The center is strong and active so that the rest of the body can stay connected without added tension.

The quality of your jump is only as good as the plié that proceeds it. And, a quality plié is defined by not only the action of the legs but also by its supporting base (the feet). The ankles (or, more correctly the tarsus) should not roll in or sickle before or during lift off and there should be a feeling of widening and lengthening through the feet and toes so that the whole foot (including the heel) is used for optimum leverage. For height and power, it may be helpful to imagine your legs in plié as a coiled spring ready to release straight into the air.

Lift Off

As the legs lengthen and the body is leaving the ground, it is important to remember that the feet play a very important role in any jump. Vertical height is greatly increased when the feet roll sharply through to pointed toes beneath the pelvis. In the book, Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance, Eric Franklin encourages you to imagine your feet extending and piercing the sand beneath your toes as you jump into the air. Strengthening the muscles of the feet, therefore, are very important for jumps. Practicing good foot articulation (like articulating syllables in a word, you want to articulate each action of the foot when “rolling through”) in tendu, dégagé (tendu jeté), other battement, and relevé will strengthen the feet for both taking off and landing in a jump. Further resistance training with exercise bands can also be done as homework outside of class.

A mistake many dancers make is bringing tension into the shoulders, arms, and neck as they leave the ground. This tension is not effective in getting good height so, as a teacher, I try to re-direct my students’ focus to other parts of the body. To aid you in your sauté, I’m now going to pretend you are my students…

1. When a rock wall climber is harnessed and attached to ropes and pulleys in order to get him/her off the ground, what part of the body is the harness supporting?
2. Why do you suppose that is? (go ahead, think about it!)
3. So, in order to get yourself off the ground let’s try to imagine a harness supporting and lifting the pelvis from underneath. The harness supports the pelvic floor. That is the web of muscle and tendons at the base of the pelvis between your sitz bones (ischial tuberosity), tailbone (coccyx), and pubic bone. (see here for a glossary and some pics)
4. Try jumping with this image in mind. Does it make a difference? (If imaginations aren’t enough, I have been known to have students lace their hands between their legs, one arm back and one arm front, and actually give themselves a lift as they jump. Sounds embarrassing? Maybe, but they don’t forget the image!)

I also like the image of attaching rocket boosters to your sitz bones. This gives a nice idea of the downward force needed to shoot your body up into the air and, like the harness image, encourages the feeling of lift from beneath the pelvis. Try these images and see what works for you!

Landing

As I mentioned before, articulating the feet is vitally important in landing a jump. I’m sure your teachers have all cried out “Toe, ball, heel!” at least once during a jumping exercise. However, the whole leg is involved and should arrive at the floor extended, rather than bent to provide the most cushioning. Alignment should also stay in tact on the landing. Many student dancers seem to crumple as they land (making it harder to rebound into another jump if necessary). Maintain the alignment by feeling a reach through the top of the head (not the chin) through the entire jump.

Breath and Musicality

I also recommend that you practice breathing during jumps (particularly if you are doing a series of sauté). You can decide which works best for you: exhaling on the jump or on the landing. Awareness of your breath will improve your height and help release excess tension.

Also, listen while you’re jumping to the timing and tempo of the music or rhythm accompanying your movement. Try clapping in time with some music, making circles with the arms as your hands rebound and come back together. A beat is not just a “one” and an “and” but a whole space to be filled. Imagine filling that space with your jump and land and rebound on the downbeat just as your hands did.

What are some other tips or images that have helped you with vertical jumps?