Music and Dance

[shanmonster]

Over the years, I've studied a lot of different dance styles, both in classroom and workshop situations. I've also seen lots of dance performances, and I've noted a few patterns about the relationship of dance to music.

1. Dance is the visual representation of the music, and enhances the experience by combining visual with audio.
   
2. The music is mostly irrelevant to the dance, and if the movements coincide with any part of it, it's coincidental.
   
3. The dance is done only to the rhythm of the music, and the music is therefor interchangeable, so long as the music has a coinciding number of counts for the choreography/combination.
   
4. The dance is representative of the theme of the song, rather than the melody/rhythm.
   
5. There is no music at all, and the dance is performed in silence, or the act of the dance itself creates music.
   

#1 is something I see very frequently in improvisational belly dance, and is how I generally treat music/dance, when I perform. I do not necessarily believe it is the superior way of doing things, but it appeals very much to my personal aesthetics. Maybe it's a synaesthesia thing, but when I hear certain parts of music, it feels/looks like certain body movements to me.

I have seen #2 in contemporary and butoh performances, where the music and dance sometimes seem at odds with one another. I think this may be intentional for the purpose of shaking up the viewers' perception a bit, and perhaps keeping them off balance.

I have also seen it with bad dancers, who have a wooden ear and/or no sense of rhythm. I've also seen it with inattentive dancers, who are more concerned with going through a series of tricks and combinations, and are completely ignoring the music.

#3 I've seen in a lot of classroom situations, and in choreographies which are based on counting, rather than anything else to do with the music, specifically. It is especially easy to replace a dance done to one 4:4 or 3:4 time signature song with another. Just adjust the speed of the dance to the tempo of the piece. I personally find this the least interesting, but in terms of teaching, it is the simplest--especially when drilling technique.

I have also seen it in square dancing, where the dancer is using the music for rhythm, but the voice of the caller for combinations.

#4 is something I've seen in contemporary dance, as well. I have also used this a few times, while using dance as a story-telling medium. I have also seen it when a dancer performs to dialogue or poetry.

#5 is something I see in percussive dances, like tap, slap dance, etc. I have long wanted to experiment with this in different ways (ie. wiring up parts of my body so that different movements would play different sounds through a computer), but I do not have the technical know-how. If someone wants to collaborate with me on this, let me know!

There may very well be other patterns, but these are the ones I've noted. What are your opinions on the topic?

Comments

[hayet.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's a synaesthesia thing, but when I hear certain parts of music, it feels/looks like certain body movements to me.

Holy cow. you're the only other person I've ever heard say that. I was just telling my husband the other day that I don't often like music with lyrics, because they never match the movements in my head. Occasionally, the music even has topography as well as choreography to it. :)

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

:)

The simplest way I can think to describe it to people who might not otherwise get it is high sounds (like a triangle, piccolo, etc.) might translate to movements high up on the body (eg. raised arms with finger movements, etc.). Low sounds, like a bass drum, might translate into something lower on the body, like heavy footwork, or low, grounded hip movements.

[hayet-a-thon.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I also get a lot of head, neck, arm, and whole-body twisty movements out of female vocal work. It's...almost bizarre, as if the music's wind and I'm a plant waving around in it. I'm not even sure the movements qualify as dance so much- they were there before I started my dance career. Dance just helped me express them a little.

[hayet-a-thon.livejournal.com]

oops, wrong account. Still me. :)

[threemilechild.livejournal.com]

The dance can also be fluid and swirly or staccato, along with the music. I thought style #1 to be so perfectly obvious that I didn't realize there was any other way until I saw a few of the videos you've linked to. (I did square dance, but I never considered it real dancing, more like synchronized walking.) I experience little to no synaesthesia and don't see the music, but I feel it and it's rather annoying I can't DO what I feel.

#2 and to some extent #4 jar and annoy me -- it's like watching a movie with the sound out of sync. It may be artistic and often impressively athletic but it's kind of unpleasant.

[mystress.livejournal.com]

#3 is definitely the case in ATS/ITS but for choreography, I have to vote for #1.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I think choreography can work with any of the above. Just depends on the style.