![]() ![]() This is how you translate the mood the music gives you into the steps.” “Without getting off the beat, find where you can balance longer or fit one more turn. ![]() “A dancer must have an excellent sense of rhythm to hold the audience’s attention,” says Feijóo. Perhaps you can hold a développé for an extra moment or change the tempo of your movement to squeeze in another battu. In fact, the better you know a score or song, the more you’ll be able to play with the dynamics and timing of the steps-instead of always dancing right on a square beat, which can make you look repetitive and boring. Sometimes choreographers will specify the way their steps should be phrased, but when it’s allowed, experimenting with phrasing can give you multiple ways to dance a piece. Which steps hit on the beat, and which move through the rhythm? Should one step be performed quickly so another can be stretched out? Where are the syncopations? The cadences? The accents? Choreographic phrasing is similar-it’s how steps are organized within a musical phrase. If you’ve ever discussed musicality with a teacher or other dancers, you’ve probably heard a lot about “phrasing.” But do you know what it is? Musical phrasing is the way music is organized within measures. Making sure that you’re clear in your execution will give you more options because you’ll be able to take advantage of the still space musicality can be as much about when you’re not moving as when you are.” Don’t slide through the music in tendu combinations, for instance. “It starts from the moment you begin dancing. Says Oregon Ballet Theatre principal Anne Mueller. To start working on your musicality, “do your barre work in a musically accurate way,” “Jerome Robbins wanted his dancers to be under the music, a little more weighted, rather than right on the beat.” We anticipated the music so when we were in the air, we hit the height of the note at the height of the jump,” she explains. “Balanchine wanted us to be right on top of the music. As a dancer, you must be ready for any approach they use.įor example, Wingert remembers that when she danced for New York City Ballet, George Balanchine and resident choreographer Jerome Robbins had very different musical sensibilities. Some choreographers create entire dances before they choose the music, while others may start with a piece of music before they create a single step. It’s important to understand that musicality comes in many forms, and there is no right or wrong way to interpret a score. Musical dancers never get so caught up in steps that they ignore the music.” They turn until they have to move on to the next point in the music. “Musical dancers don’t just turn until they stop. “You can see the effort in a nonmusical dancer-they are often step-driven,” says NYC ballet teacher Deborah Wingert. Musical dancers, on the other hand, never disregard the music to fit in more tricks. I’d rather watch a musical dancer with less extension and not-as-pretty feet.” “A strong but nonmusical dancer is like a painting without any colors. “They’re unable to transmit the emotion the musical notes are giving,” Feijóo says. Dancers without a keen connection to the music might seem stiff or disconnected-often, they’re hard to watch. Put a musical dancer and a nonmusical dancer side by side and you’ll see why it’s so important to be attuned to the rhythm, melody and mood of a song. It also makes you enjoyable to watch-and it’s a more rewarding way to dance! Here are some ways to hone your ear and make inspired music and movement choices of your own. “It’s dancing inside the music, as opposed to floating on top of it.”Ī well-developed sense of musicality separates the pros from the amateurs. “Musicality is understanding music on a technical level, and then dropping all of that knowledge so you can sit deep inside the music,” says choreographer and “So You Think You Can Dance” regular Wade Robson. So what exactly is musicality? It’s how a dancer expresses music in his or her body. Whether from studying the piano as a young dancer in Cuba or from her intrinsic ability to embody sounds, the San Francisco Ballet principal exhibits that intangible quality that makes dance such a pleasure to watch: musicality. When Lorena Feijóo took the stage in Jerome Robbins’ In the Night at New York’s City Center last October, it was as if an invisible cord connected her body to each instrument in the orchestra. ![]()
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