Teaching artist Kelby Brown prefers simple piano accompaniment with long sustaining chords. He finds this helps dancers to concentrate and fill in the space with the steps. “I need fewer notes, less music,” he says. It’s an approach he learned from his teachers at the School of American Ballet, like Stanley Williams, and from his […]
While contemporary jazz teacher Stacie Webster keeps her choreography rooted in traditional jazz, she likes to incorporate soulful music in the studio. “I gravitate toward deep house music because it’s a mixture of house, jazz, funk and soul,” says Webster, who has taught for the Broadway Dance Center Children and Teens program since 2007. “It […]
Love electronic music? Calming notes of a piano? Smooth, rich trumpet? Want music in clear meters of 3, or in 7? This week is the ideal time to check out musician Michael Wall’s abundant website soundformovement.com. I myself have enjoyed getting to experience his music over the past five years—whether to use in a teen […]
Finding age-appropriate hip-hop music can be a struggle. Choreographer Afaliah Tribune addresses this common dilemma for hip-hop teachers by making her own original tracks on GarageBand. “I love experimenting with live music, and my students think it’s fun, too,” says Tribune, who is an adjunct professor of dance at New York University. “There are so […]
For Gianna Reisen, a classically trained ballet dancer who now performs with L.A. Dance Project, the process of finding music for her choreography is everything. “If I’m not 100 percent inspired by the music, the movement just doesn’t come out,” she says. Following this natural creative spirit, though, wasn’t always the driving force behind her […]