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Thread: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

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    What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Hi Ladies and gents I hope I don't bore you with this post I don't claim to be an expert I am just a simple dance addict with no axe to grind or aspirations to teach I just feel passionatly about musicality and dance.
    Musicality for me is the essence of any dance it doesn't matter to me if its Lindy, MJ, WCS. Bal Boa, Ballroom, AT, Street dance or Disco Musicality is dance fullstop!!

    I accept musicality is an individual thing.
    For me it is simply using my whole being as a musical instrument, following the music interperating the different parts as they occour.
    I like to get inside the music expressing the music in movement , communicating the feelings if the music smoothly with a positive connection to my partner, that is the basis of musicality for me.

    How did i develop musicality well for me it took a lot of dance practice (i think it's a quest like the holy grail)
    well i'm still learning with every dance
    I am not a great lover of lessons for me get up and dance is the key.
    I have always loved all forms of lead and follow dancing, choreography is not for me
    I first learned Jive then Lindy and Bal boa before discovering MJ WCS and AT which is my current passion.
    Dance is dance i love them all and i think they all fit together music permiting.
    I love to dance to a wide range of music the only requirment is that it makes my feet want to dance.
    The journey into musicality for me was simply making my feet move to the music. learning the basic Swing shapes Bal boa and basic Jazz steps was also a big help.
    It wasn't untill I was confident about moving my feet to the music, without worring about counting or performing a certain move that I developed what i would call musicality, breaks and hesitations being part of the music became instinctive.
    As my confidence improved i then started to include my whole body in the dance.
    For me a simple Shimmy or maybe a shoulder or head movement interperating a section of music can be infinitely more rewarding than some big new outragous move
    (so often less is more).
    I believe the emphasis on moves in all forms of dance reduces the practice and importance of music interpretation
    The large number of men dancers not only MJivers who lead with their arms using their feet at random with little connection to the music who are content to lead move after move always amazes me.
    Give me great dance music a partner with good connectionand lets dance to the music . i would rather dance well using 3 moves than become a moves monster


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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    I think you have answered your own question there ducky.

    About 20 million times.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    I achive musicality by listening to music and dancing to it (or atleast attempting to dance to it )

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Musicality is in its most basic terms, being able to listen to different levels of a peice of music and not necessarily the main beat that could be played by a drum or voice or guitar etc.

    If you put on a peice of music and listen to it, try and hear all the instruments playing and listen to each different beat it does, different sounds, different instrumentals and try and listen for breaks or something special in that music that would enable you to do a little dip or stop and hold, pause etc.

    Musicality is about listening and feeling the music but also its about hearing the different levels and timings of the music and being able to adapt a dance to it.

    Thats how i understand it anyway.!!

    Hope that make sense.

    I dont achieve it unless i hijack which i have been known to do now and then


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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble View Post
    Musicality is in its most basic terms, being able to listen to different levels of a peice of music and not necessarily the main beat that could be played by a drum or voice or guitar etc.

    If you put on a peice of music and listen to it, try and hear all the instruments playing and listen to each different beat it does, different sounds, different instrumentals and try and listen for breaks or something special in that music that would enable you to do a little dip or stop and hold, pause etc.

    Musicality is about listening and feeling the music but also its about hearing the different levels and timings of the music and being able to adapt a dance to it.

    Thats how i understand it anyway.!!

    Hope that make sense.

    I dont achieve it unless i hijack which i have been known to do now and then

    when i have my taxi hat on i always tell beginers to let the music talk to them !! that way thay listen and understand

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Musicality is dancing to the music – that's all the music and not just the beat.

    I was able to add some musicality to my dancing as soon as I was able to dance without having to think about what I was doing all the time, and had time to think more about the music.
    Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble View Post
    I dont achieve it unless i hijack which i have been known to do now and then
    Why do you have to hijack to achieve musicality? It's not strictly for leaders only you know?

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gav View Post
    Why do you have to hijack to achieve musicality? It's not strictly for leaders only you know?
    how did you work that out. I would look pretty stupid doing a break if my leader is about to try and lead me into a pretzel. How can you force a leader to listen more the the music and not have bunny dancing without hijacking.?

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble View Post
    how did you work that out. I would look pretty stupid doing a break if my leader is about to try and lead me into a pretzel. How can you force a leader to listen more the the music and not have bunny dancing without hijacking.?
    You've just given a lovely explanation of all the aspects of musicality, now it's just about hitting breaks?

    Slowing returns, playing, styling. Errr, all stuff that you already do to some extent.

    If I'm dancing with an experienced dancer like yourself and you make no effort to interpret and act upon the music, it'll be pretty disappointing.
    The dances I like the best are the ones where the follower is using musicality too. While I struggle to do it myself.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gav View Post
    You've just given a lovely explanation of all the aspects of musicality, now it's just about hitting breaks?

    Slowing returns, playing, styling. Errr, all stuff that you already do to some extent.

    If I'm dancing with an experienced dancer like yourself and you make no effort to interpret and act upon the music, it'll be pretty disappointing.
    The dances I like the best are the ones where the follower is using musicality too. While I struggle to do it myself.
    awwww - Gav, you charmer you..... have a hug and a cuddle cause your sooooo sweet.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    I cheated, and bought a job-lot of musicality from Tescos when they first started stocking it. Expensive, but well worth it. That was before they started skimping on the quality - the shoddy musicality they get in nowadays just ain't worth the money

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    For me musciality is one of the most important areas in dancing. I like to feel the music and dance to the beat, the mood, act to the words in the song and play on the dance floor . I like to move my body to the rhythm and display attitude. Dancing with someone who encourages interpretation is always a bonus. Its not the moves that are important, but how you dance those moves, and make them yours by putting your style and finesse onto them.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    When someone starts talking about musicality, I remeber that phrase, "dance like noone is watching". I thi nk its about finding that place where you let your body movement follow the soul of the music. Its not about hitting EVERY beat and break .. its about following the feeling. MJ is a limited danceform but also a very open dnace form which give you incredible scope to speed up, slow down ... bring your partner in close, give them distance, meld into one or each do your own thing.

    I thi nk there have been developments in dance, e.g. N&Ns Blues, Amir and Kate's Jango that have increased the 'tools' with which MJ dancers can interpret music.

    If there is a dark side to this ... its been the posuers who have taken the more dramatic moves and applied them without taste or discretion to all and any tracks. The latest abomination is the Tango leg hook sweep ... a very dramtic move which should be used sparingly and is ideal for crecsendos and drmatic emphasis. Unfortunatly (in the N West) it has now replaced the ballroom drop as THE move to use at least 4 times in a track ... even if the track is motown or club

    Musicality is (IMHO) about developing a feeling for the very different types of music and then developing a portfolio of body movements and footwork that best hekp you express what that music says to you. As Paul F's sig says (said ?) ... dancing should be MORE THAN MOVES.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gus View Post
    The latest abomination is the Tango leg hook sweep ... a very dramtic move which should be used sparingly and is ideal for crecsendos and drmatic emphasis. .
    That's interesting - barridas aren't particularly dramatic in AT; ganchos and boleos are the dramatic steps I think.

    Although maybe the "leg hook sweep" is different - is it more like a gancho then?

    And how are leg sweeps done by MJ-ers? Fast and furious?

    I find the trouble with trying sweeps on MJ-ers is that they tend to transfer weight back the the foot I'm trying to sweep, before I can sweep it, which makes the whole exercise kind of pointless...

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble View Post
    Musicality is in its most basic terms, being able to listen to different levels of a peice of music and not necessarily the main beat that could be played by a drum or voice or guitar etc.

    If you put on a peice of music and listen to it, try and hear all the instruments playing and listen to each different beat it does, different sounds, different instrumentals and try and listen for breaks or something special in that music that would enable you to do a little dip or stop and hold, pause etc.

    Musicality is about listening and feeling the music but also its about hearing the different levels and timings of the music and being able to adapt a dance to it.

    Thats how i understand it anyway.!!

    Hope that make sense.

    I dont achieve it unless i hijack which i have been known to do now and then

    Someone was listening!!

    Are we seeing you this Sunday?!?

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    I find the trouble with trying sweeps on MJ-ers is that they tend to transfer weight back the the foot I'm trying to sweep, before I can sweep it, which makes the whole exercise kind of pointless...


    Musicality - I probably would have given up dancing a long time ago I think if it weren't for this. While I love the connection between lead and follow (the moves are just there for something for that connection to do), I would get bored following even a fabulous lead to repetitive music all evening.

    I love adding in some musicality to dancing with intermediates and seeing the little 'lightbulb' moments as they suddenly realise that something I've added has been as a result of something the music has been doing (rather than just me trying to look 'stylish'...). I don't feel the need to hijack to do this, but sometimes I do give an indication of 'hang on a second, this is a break, lets just take a moment'...or 'can I have a little bit of time to do something here?' - if the leader hasn't picked up on that indication, that's OK, we dance on. With some leaders I would never even 'ask'.

    In the past its been completely 'instinctive' - just feeling what the music is doing, familiarity with a track etc. But the past couple of weeks I've been trying to understand the structure of the music more. Interesting stuff.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Double Trouble View Post
    I think you have answered your own question there ducky.

    About 20 million times.
    Sorry Goosey I guess musicality is boring to most Dancers (It does take time and effort) Most are far happier learning the Triple spinning Quadrouple pretzel in ten minutes
    Sod the music lets BOUNCE


    Does NOBODY agree you have to move your'e feet and dance to the music to develop musicality


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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Musicality is like sensuality; you either have it or you don't. If you were not born with it, you can not acquire it by training. By way of analogy, someone devoid of sensuality could go on a massage course and learn some tricks, tips and the mechanics of how to touch someone. But that would not make them sensual.

    As a music student, I came across a number of people who were proficient at their chosen instrument, but whose performances could only ever be described as mechanical.

    There is sometimes a conflation of the different concepts of technical dance ability and musicality. They are very different things.

    There is an important caveat to the above. To the extent that one hasn't mastered the mechanics of a given dance, then this will of course inhibit one's ability to interpret the said dance.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Lynn View Post
    I love adding in some musicality to dancing with intermediates and seeing the little 'lightbulb' moments as they suddenly realise that something I've added has been as a result of something the music has been doing (rather than just me trying to look 'stylish'...).
    love that too... Even with the experienced dancers, I love when I've done something that goes with the music and they smile... (in a 'I liked what you did' sort of way, not a 'what the heck are you doing you look ridiculous' I hope ). I've noticed lately that making by partner smile and enjoy the dance by adding some musicality in my following has become a purpose on its own when I dance.

    Quote Originally Posted by Spin dryer View Post
    Musicality is like sensuality; you either have it or you don't. If you were not born with it, you can not acquire it by training.
    I strongly, no STRONLGY disagree with this Spindryer. I didn't know anything about music up to a year ago, never heard about the word musicality, didn't know a thing about the structure of music. I took classes, I practice the exercises, I watch people and I see that yes I can hear stuff, yes I can understand it when it's explained to me, and even better, I can now start to include a whole new dimension in my dancing.
    I'd go as far as to say that it's that sort of attitude 'musicality you have it or you don't' that makes people like me who are already not very confident in their dancing and their ability to understand music, give up and think they'll never get it anyway / will look ridiculous. It really isn't helping anybody in addition to being very presomptuous and a tad scornful.

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    Re: What is musicality to you how did you achieve it?

    Quote Originally Posted by Caro View Post
    :

    I strongly, no STRONLGY disagree with this Spindryer. I didn't know anything about music up to a year ago, never heard about the word musicality, didn't know a thing about the structure of music. I took classes, I practice the exercises, I watch people and I see that yes I can hear stuff, yes I can understand it when it's explained to me, and even better, I can now start to include a whole new dimension in my dancing.
    I'd go as far as to say that it's that sort of attitude 'musicality you have it or you don't' that makes people like me who are already not very confident in their dancing and their ability to understand music, give up and think they'll never get it anyway / will look ridiculous. It really isn't helping anybody in addition to being very presomptuous and a tad scornful.
    As a music graduate and former musician, I would encourage anyone who's interested to learn a little music theory. I can readily accept that this may have improved your confidence. But I reject completely the suggestion that a knowledge of music theory will somehow make one musical.

    You should learn to respect that different people have different opinions. I am not annoyed by your assertions and I don't see why you should get worked up about mine. Life is too short to get angry about anything.

    For the avoidance of doubt, my comments should not be taken as comments on the musicality of anyone.
    Last edited by Spin dryer; 18th-February-2007 at 07:08 PM.

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