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DO YOU NEED MUSIC TO MAKE A DANCE?
Lisa C.
- Yes, music is vital to movement, however, the music can come from your inside voice or an outside sound. However you are inspired, dance comes from the soul and to that tune, it is personal.
Vladimir A.
- Yes, i love to have music for my dances, but it is not always necessary....
Desi J.
- Not necessarily. I can dance in my mind, I can dance without and with music. But music inspires me to make a great choreography.
Carmel M.
- No, you can certainly use silence. Many, if not most choreographers, however, use music. And some even use music as their inspiration. Live music is wonderful. Music might be sounds from the environment, and not actual "music."
Cynthia W.
- Yes! Music is important because it gives the dance certain mood, tempo, structure and environment to unfold. For me the music is essential and I cannot dance without it.
Ingrid Z.
- For me, Music is Queen of the dance. The music tells the dancers where to breathe, which is what gives life to the dance. The music relays the story. The music is where the dance lives.
Lauren T.
- No, for me the music starts within and is determined by the mood the dancer is in. Music helps to reflect the mood and direct the movement.
Katie H.
- I don't "need" music. That being said, I have never made a dance that is unaccompanied by music. I like to be inspired by music, but not bound by the music. I prefer to work collaboratively, so that the music and the dance influence each other.
Jenifer G.
- Music can be used for inspiration and creates a mood, but it is not always needed. One can use inner breath and inner rhythms and other sounds. A dance should be able to stand on its own even without music.
Alison W.
- No, it's not an absolute. Dance can & has successfully existed without music. However, I find it essential to my work as a teacher, performer, and choreographer. Tt moves me in ways I don't expect, brings energy to a room, and inspires people to move
Pat G.
- No, you can of course make good - even GREAT - dance without music...but good luck getting an audience to sit through it.
Maida W.
- In 1957 when I was a junior in college, I wrote music to be played on the French horn for my student choreography, Woman Song. The original music was created as I created the dance. Sadly, I recorded the music on a small blue 45” disc rather than have “live” music. Why? I will never understand. This was a necessary exception. Generally for all my works and improvisation performances, music and all other collaborative arts/sciences come together during the process of the choreography under construction. Silence is often used – blessed silence!
Michelle H.
- Music is not a necessity to creating dance! music can be used as inspiration, another layer in the creation of the dance and can enhance the atmosphere the dance is trying to create. I have started dances without music but added music in the end.
Helen H.
- How does one define music? Is it notes that create a melody line, a soundscape or one's heartbeat or breath? Dance can certainly exist without traditional music but not without 'accompaniment.'
Andrea B.
- No. Dancers create music through their movements. Our bodies are instruments. An audience should hear and see our song when we dance.
Kyoko N.
- Dance comes from my heart. The happier I feel, the more I want to dance, but music always elevate my emotion. I love to listen to birds singing, and it elevates my emotion, but it doesn't make me want to dance.
John D.
- What is music? Ballet requires melody and cannot without it. African Dance requires drumming rhythm and cannot without it. Modern Dance requires internal pulse and cannot without it. Perhaps dance IS music of the body...
Stephen C.
- For me, music and dance are separate forms with shared elements i.e. rhythm, time, impulse… Each may exist alone, but the craft of each contributes to the experience of the other. As choreographers, it seems we often transcend multiple disciplines.
Tehreema M.
- I compose all the accompanying music for my dances for each flows out of me in a rhythm of its own, the melody sings, the poetry breathes, the instruments play in my mind; often triggered by natural sounds around me that others hardly notice.
Erica R.
- No, I not need music to make dance. I believe dance should be the primary art form. Yet collaboration with a composer is very rewarding, and gives the piece another layer.
Diana M.
- Yes. It gives a tone and context to the movement, and adds something for the audience that movement alone does not.
Maya Z.
- I don't need music to start dancing. My body has its own ways to produce rhythm and melody. But if I want to create an accomplished dance piece with specific rhythmic stucture set to a certain mood I deffinitely need the music to inspire and guide me
Michael L.
- I find that dance without music, doesn't move me nearly as much as it does when it's choreographed to music. Music contributes a valuable emotional dimension which inspires the dancers and enables their performance to better inspire us as well.
Septime W.
- Usually but not always
Deborah R.
- Quick answer - no! Many people start by making movement & working through ideas without any music or sound. Then add sound/music later. And many people do the reverse.
Irina W.
- Yes. In classical ballet it is impossible to make dance without music which give the movement phrasing a fundamental structure, flow and mood. Music helps both - the choreographer and the dancer.
