LEVELS OF MUSICALITY
Are there different types of musicality?
Just like almost all the things we discusss on this website, we cannot answer this question based on the opinion of experts and scholars in these matters. Unfortunately we have not been able to find very much material about musicality applied to dance. Among the little material that we have managed to find, we recommend in case you want to take a look, Musicality Lecture, or some videos about musicality in hip hop, what they call freestyle (Rockbeats, Swan Phan and, especially this one by Joey Beni L. Tee with an incredible ability to use body movements to express and interpret music).
Some people talk about micro-musicality (the dancer expresses notes with their movements and expressions) and macro-musicality (the dancer expresses the phrases, the energy, the feelings generated by music). This can be a good starting point since it is based on the obvious fact that music also has several interrelated levels of expression. This means we can speak of very specific aspects (such as the accents that mark the melody) and more general aspects (such as the energy the song gives off or the emotional changes it causes). Depending on the level that is perceived or looked at by each dancer, their musicality will follow one way or another. In fact, we do not believe that there really are different types of musicality. We think that musicality is one single thing and that, in any case, there are different levels of musicality, each one based on different expressive levels of music.
From our point of view, we could classify the levels of musicality in:
- Musicality based on music colour and energy.
- Musicality based on structure.
- Musicality based on music reproduction.
- Musicality based on becoming a soloist.
- Mixed musicality.
Let's consider them one by one.
1- Musicality based on music colour and energy.
There is music that makes us jump, there are those that make us laugh, there is even some music that invites us not to dance. Most dancers, with varying degrees of subtlety, perceive this expressive level of music and express it in our dance.
Everyone perceives it and expresses it in their own way. Some, when they feel that the music sounds very strong or loud, they make very big movements while others jump; when a single instrument plays some dancers do small steps, others make their partner move while they stand still. Music can invite us to spin, dance in a closed position, make jazz steps. Music has colour or character, it transmits energy and this energy is different in each song; it can even be different at different times in the same song. This musical colour and energy makes us react differently at different times.
Let's look at an example. Notice how in this video Todd Yanacone and Kelly Arsenault tend to base their way of dancing on this more general level of music:
0:20 a 0:30 The music invites them to dance crouching, moving their legs a lot.
0:30 a 0:50 They make great side steps.
0:50 a 1:10 They tend to perform steps that are characterized by the girl's return, without doing basic steps.
1:10 a 1:20 The rhythm of the melody leads them to make movements based on a marked but short bouncing.
1:20 a 1:45 The music inspires them to take steps that allow them to spin.
2- Musicality based on structure.
As we have analysed in other places on this website, the music we dance to is structured from identifiable patterns (beat, the 1, eights, phrases, choruses...). In addition, a handful of pieces play with a question-answer or dialogue structure between the instruments, clearly distinguishable throughout the song.
There are dancers, like Peter Strom and Laura Glaess in the next video, who express parts of the structure in their dance.
The song that Peter and Laura dance to has a structure of 4 eights per phrase (you can find information about this structure on the page how the phrases of a song are organised). In this type of structure the fourth eight usually releases the musical tension that has been generated in the previous eights and this makes it clearly different from the others, very conclusive. Note how they both follow this structure with their dance and also round off each phrase with their way of dancing.
0:13 a 0:22 They dance the first phrase and, at the last eight, they do a step and gestures different to what they have done the previous eights. They are telling us, with their dance, that they have finished expressing one idea and now they will begin, just like the music will do, to express another one.
0:23 a 0:32 They dance a second phrase and conclude it with a break and jazz steps, an expressive way, completely differentiated from what they have done previously, to close this phrase.
0:33 a 0:41 They again close the phrase with a break and jazz steps.
0:42 a 0:50 They close the phrase and the chorus with a jump, as high as the energy in the music.
Note how from this point on they conclude each dance discourse with contrasting steps at minutes 1:08, 1:15, 1:25, 1:33 i 1:42.
Try this: watch the video but with the volume turned right down. Their way of dancing expresses the structure of music so clearly that you can still know exactly which point of the phrase they are at without listening to the music.
In this other video you can see how very simple steps make the end of each phrase stand out (the video has English subtitles):
In the video we show the structure of the song so that you can better understand the musical ideas (the phrases) and see how they are reflected in the dance. Also note that there are two types of phrases (A and B) that are interspersed in an AABA form. The difference between the ideas is better expressed in the dance by dancing phrases A doing swing outs and those of type B with back to front side Charleston.
Obviously, the possibilities are unlimited and each dancer can express the phrases in their own way. Furthermore, this same song, danced at different times and with different partners, can inspire (should inspire) a different way of dancing it every time.
3- Musicality based on music reproduction.
The music we dance to consists of a set of sounds emitted by different instruments. The links and relationships between these sounds ends up forming melodies and rhythms. Many dancers like to try to express these notes and/or rhythms in their dance. This means that their dance reflects the melody of one of the instruments, the accents or sudden changes made by the music or rhythm, etc.
If the dancers know the music well, it will be much easier to reproduce it. Even so, there are leaders and followers who are able to predict what will happen, even if they do not know the song (you can find more information about this in the section predictable patterns), or react to music as it plays.
This kind of musicality is the easiest to recognize externally, it is usually the most valued by the public and, possibly, by the judges of the various competitions.
The following video shows how Nick Williams and, to a lesser extent, Laura Glaess, very faithfully express the sounds while they are dancing. At times they follow the music closely; everything in the music is also apparent in their dance. They do it so faithfully that we could even turn the volume down music and still feel the music through their dance.
Although the whole video is full of examples of musicality based on music reproduction, we would like to point out a few interesting things:
0:35 Nick slides on his heel in the same way as the trumpet note.
1:01 Laura move her arms, head and body as if she was the melody the big band is playing.
1:36 Both use the steps and body expressions to symmetrically express the music.
One of the most outstanding characteristics of swing music is the use of questions and answers. And this is also a very intersting resource for musicallity based on music reproduction.
You can find examples and strategies to work musicality based on the accents on this web site.
4- Musicality based on becoming a soloist.
Jazz music is characterized, among other things, by the freedom that musicians have for improvising, to create. This improvisation is not done randomly, it adjusts to harmony and to what the other musicians are playing. It adjusts to the colour and the energy that others are putting into the song. The musicians create dialogues among themselves. What one musician is doing creates a reaction in the others. And, if this is done using an instrument, why can't it be done by dancers?
It is not a question of following the music, copying it with our dance (be it at the level of colour, structure, or melody), but to complement it, improve it, add things that match, that fit but are not explicitly expressed. We think it is very illustrative the way Donca, from Vitoria-Gasteiz, describes it: "dance to something that no instrument is playing, but could be playing".
This kind of musicality is much more difficult to perform and, at the same time, to appreciate. Even so, obviously, it is the most creative, possibly the most difficult of all.
The next video shows Thomas Blacharz and Kelly Arsenault dancing as if they were other musicians in the band.
Although at some times they are doing steps, movements and expressions that follow the music, they generally move complementing and enriching the music. We highlight a few examples:
0:34 a 0:40 Thomas begins a swing out in which he jumps twice on the 2 and maintains a very accentuated bouncing the rest of the eight, finishing it with a very remarkable footwork. In the next eight he makes several stops and is dragged by Kelly and slides his feet across the floor.
1:04 a 1:08 Kelly raises a question as she stops in a very different position than before. Thomas looks at her and reacts by jumping and going back to the dynamics of the basic step that had stopped for a few bars.
1:20 a 1:35 The colour of music leads them to completely change their body behaviour and steps, with small trips, sugar push, skating their feet on the floor, making short stops, accentuating some movements and smoothing others, without literally following music, but with a well-tuned and complementary personal contribution.
5- Mixed musicality.
Most dancers use one or more of each of these types of musicality in some songs more than in others. Some dancers tend to use one level more than another. But, as a general rule, there is usually a mix of everything. In fact, if you look at any of the previous videos, even though we have chosen them as examples of each of the levels, you can also find other elements belonging to others.
What's more, the two members of the dance couple can be paying attention to different aspects of the music. In fact, if we have already said that no wto dancers are the same, that no music is perceived in the same way and that each song causes different emotions and reactions in each individual dancer, it would be quite logical for each member of the couple expresses their feelings differently, even when trying to be harmonious with each other (like the music).
Look at this example where each dancer expresses themselves in their own way, each with their own well-differentiated style, but also perceiving music differently and, as a result, expressing it with a different way of dancing. Can you guess where each of the dancers is focussed on during this dance?
You can also watch the next video. Note that apart from copying the music very closely, there is also musicality based on the structure (especially doing a very expressive and differentiated fourth eight), they become soloists with amazing grace and often play with call & response between each other.
On this page we have reflected on the ways in which we dancers pay attention to the music and express it in our dance. We would like you to tell us your opinion about levels of musicality, about videos that seem especially good examples of the aspects we have discussed here or that illustrate aspects that we have not considered.
As we mentioned before, musicality implies perception of the music as a first step, and changes in our way of dancing express what the music is telling us as a second. Becoming more musical not only implies understanding how people who are already musical manage to be so. So if you are interested in going deeper into the aspects that we have discussed on this page or see our proposals and thoughts on other aspects related to musicality, you may want to visit these pages on our website: