This requires precise yet fluid movements of the body, but the dancer’s emotions should also clearly show in their facial expressions.

Today, lyrical style dance is a well-established genre of modern or contemporary dance.Ī lyrical dancer is trying to convey their emotions a song stirs in them into movement. For example, dancers usually perform at a tempo that’s faster than ballet but slower than jazz. They bring their skills from other dance forms into lyrical dance, meaning this dynamic art form is ever-evolving. The most famous lyrical dancers are also excellent jazz dancers or ballet artists. The emotional stories the dancers play out through acrobatic movements, leaps, and turns appealed to audiences and performers alike.īy the 2000s, almost every dance school in America had added lyrical dance to their roster. TV shows like So You Think You Can Dance and blockbuster productions like Cirque du Soleil further popularized lyrical dance. Wherever this transcendental dance form came from, it’s clear that while it first rose to popularity in the 1970s, it really exploded in the mid-1990s. And Phyllis Balanga-Demoret, a lyrical dance innovator, says it was the dance competition circuit’s answer to ballet. Noted dance educator Chelya Clawson thinks the term has its origins in traditional Indian dance, while another source places its origins in Russia. The origins of lyrical dance are shrouded in mystery.įamed artistic director and choreographer Jimmy Peters has suggested the artform was born of the “dream ballet” acts common in pioneering 1940s and 1950s musicals like Oklahoma and West Side Story. Read on to get all the answers to that burning question: What is lyrical dance? A Brief History of Lyrical Dance Of course, now you’re probably wondering whether lyrical dance has these same benefits. Dancers move fluidly and emotively to a carefully selected piece of music. Enthusiasts often describe lyrical dance as a combination of jazz and ballet. We all know dancing is an excellent form of aerobic exercise, but did you know that moving and listening to music improves your health in other ways?ĭancing to music can help you learn better, improve your memory, decrease fatigue, and even ease depression.

Lyrical dance poses