Your Musicality Sundae: A Sweet Strategy for Bringing Music to Life

A Dose Of Danspiration “Your Musicality Sundae: A Sweet Strategy for Bringing Music to Life”

In competitive dance, musicality can be broken down into two categories: artistry and execution.

 ARTISTRY is in the hands of the choreographer. It is up to the creator of the piece to find the nuances in the music and build upon them. Though the driving down beat is the most commonly used portion of the music in competitive dance team, next being lyrics, it is important to not become dependent on those particular portions of the music.

 *(I have found it to be reversed in competitive studio dance; lyrics being first, driving downbeat second).

Finding the other instruments or subtle moments where there is a “bing” sound effect, being committed to really bringing those “musical hidden gems” to life is where a creator gets the most bang for their buck in the musicality portion of the scoresheet. This is also where judges bring up the term “dynamics in beat.” For example; moving between counting 1,2,3,4 to 1 & 2 & 3 & 4, or 1,2, &a 3, &4, or even moving from the lyrics to the beat.

It is the creator’s responsibility to present movement in ways that brings the music to life and then hand it off to the performers. This is the foundation that the musicality score is built from.

 In EXECUTION, it is now the dancers’ responsibility to make it very clear what is being expected of them by, what is commonly referred to as “staying with the pocket of the music” and “dynamic execution.”

The performers do this by moving the body to the beats/sounds/lyrics/etc. and executing the movement with the understanding of the movement’s intention, such as; smooth strength or staccato sharpness.

They are tasked with being the vessel that brings the music to life. Hopefully the choreographer has taken the time to pull out the musical nuances and give a strong starting point, then it is up to the dancer to study the movement and understand the music to bring all the layers to life in performance.

I like to think of the creation of routine musicality as the “Ultimate Sundae.”

Ice cream sundaes have lots of layers. Think of the ice cream, the chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, candy bits, whipped cream, sprinkles, maybe a cookie on the side, and a cherry on top. The possibilities are endless!

AND think about what that giant sundae looks like as the server brings it to your table. You can see all the layers and goodness and when you take that bite with all the goodies together…OH MY WORD, HEAVEN!!!

So let’s make a musicality sundae. Remember, we want to see all the layers and when it all comes together in one dish…GORGEOUS!

STEP 1:

The chef (choreographer) decides what is going to be on the menu and how it is going to be put together for the staff (performers).

The base of the sundae, let’s say vanilla ice cream🍦, is the driving downbeat of the song. For example; 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 or in a waltz 1,2,3 1,2,3.

The chef could stop here. This isn’t a sundae though; this is simply a scoop of ice cream. It is safe (an average approach) and we know it will be delicious, but we want MORE! 

 From there, we add our layers, maybe looking like the following…

🍫Chocolate sauce: Lyrics

🍯Caramel Drizzle: Dominate musical instrument, for example; piano or guitar

🍓Strawberry Sauce : Electronic “Bing” that happens every 8th or 16th beat

🎊Sprinkles: Subtle background violins or horns

🐄 Whipped Cream: Changing up the dynamic demand by utilizing a different musical pattern

🍒Cherry on top: A swooshing sound that happens only once in the whole piece

**It’s even more beautiful if these different layers are being highlighted in complimenting groups at the same time on the floor. For example: One group is the ice cream, another is the sprinkles, and another is the caramel sauce.

STEP 2:

Now that the chef (choreographer) has decided how the sundae will be built, the staff (performers) puts the sundae together in the fashion that the chef has decided and brings it to the customer (audience/judges).

 It is up to the staff to make sure that when presenting the sundae to the customer, that each layer is articulated clearly. This will allow the customer to view each layer for it’s own beauty.

STEP 3:

Now it is time for the customer (audience/judges) to devour the beautiful sundae the chef and staff have worked so hard to create and present. 😋

Musicality is the first spark of magic in a routine. Give it the attention and nurturing it needs and the magic will quickly spread across all aspects of the routine and your scoresheet!

When creating and drilling a routine, take the time to create and execute your own musicality “Ultimate Sundae!”

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