How to Dance to Lyrical Music

Last Updated: October 21, 2020

Even though you may like to dance, you may not be very good at it. All it takes is a little time and practice. The main question is: are you doing this to impress others, or is your heart in this? Only when you know the answer for sure, will you be great.

Steps

1
Understand that when you dance lyrical, your movements show the words of the song. This means that if the words were , "She falls like the petal drifting from it's rose," you would gracefully sink to the floor and pretend to be the petal. Fluent is where you pour your heart and feelings out with your movements. Let's just say if you danced fluent to the rose petal line, you would probably feel sad because "she is drifting", so you would show that with a sad, but graceful, drift away from the center.
2
Try to come up with lots of different feelings and moves. It would get very boring to watch someone do the same movement over, and over, and over again.

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3
Find a stage, an open place, such as a basement, or even outside in your front lawn (if you do do this, make sure there is an outlet so you can plug in a CD player). The best places are the ones with a large lengthy mirror on the wall.
4
Pick a song with deep meaning and flowing music, otherwise it gets a little harder to stay fluent with your movements.
5
Listen to the song. You should listen to it maybe 2-3 time to get the feel of the words, instruments, and the tempo.
6
Do your body a favor; before you dance, make sure you stretch. This is a key part in getting better. You don't want to pull a muscle and not be able to practice, so be sure to stretch your arms, legs, neck, and maybe do some push-ups. If you plan on doing tricks, be sure to stretch extra well, so you won't get injured.
7
Just let your body flow. This sometimes is a hard concept for some people to understand. When you dance fluently, like the water in a stream, you let your body pretend you are trapped under the ocean. (Pretend you can still breathe) You would get bored just standing there with nothing to do, so you start to flow. Your limbs are floating, your heart lies on a cloud, your eyes are closed. You outstretch your fingers and open your mind to more fluent movement. You touch the sky with every reach and skim the ocean's sandy floor while the suns rays dance around you. This is how it feels to dance fluent. You move your arms and legs and head so they flow gracefully together.
8
Learn tricks. To make your dance stand out, you may want to add tricks. There are hundreds of dance tutorials online. Chose a tutorial from an actual known dancer(so you can guarantee it's safe) and follow the teacher. Some examples of tricks are pirouettes, splits, barrel rolls, jumps, and leaps.

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Community Q&A

Question

What are some good songs for lyrical dancing?

Community Answer

I find that shorter songs by artists like Sia, Ed Sheeran, Vance Joy and Shawn Mendes work well. Their songs are slower and the lyrics are very beautiful and meaningful.
Question

How do I get flexible?

Community Answer

Stretch daily and frequently practice your splits. If you don't stretch every day, you can lose your flexibility.
Question

What do lyrical costumes and shoes look like?

Cecilia Flores

Top Answerer

Lyrical costumes are kind of like ballet costumes, but without fluffy tutus. The shoes could be nude jazz shoes, turn shoes, or you could just dance barefoot.
Question

Can I learn to dance without going to a class?

Community Answer

Yes, you can watch videos or buy instructional DVDs to learn how to dance. Joining a class would have the benefit of being around other people, and receiving the instruction first hand. An instructor would be able to correct your mistakes and help you progress.
Question

How can I create lyrical dances?

Danceandcookies

Community Answer

Watch some beginner lyrical dance videos and try to learn what they are doing. Educate yourself as much as possible. Then, you can take all the steps you've learned and piece them together.
Question

Do I need to know ballet to do lyrical dancing?

Community Answer

Not necessarily. It certainly helps with the grace, flow, beauty, and technique of the dance, but it is not essential. You may want to learn some basic ballet to make your lyrical dancing the best it can be.
Question

What if I'm doing a lyrical dance with my friends and some of them can do cartwheels and others can't?

Community Answer

Everyone in the group doesn't have to do the exact same choreography through the entire dance. Give the ones who know how to do cartwheels an opportunity to do them while the other dancers do something else.
Question

Do I need to know ballet positions?

Community Answer

You do not need to know ballet positions do dance lyrical unless those positions are incorporated into your dance.
Question

Does it take long to learn tricks?

Anna Sekeres

Community Answer

That really depends on your aptitude for learning and how much effort you put into it.
Question

What stretches can I do to get my splits in the air?

Community Answer

Do any stretches that loosen your hamstrings and tendons around your knees and ankles.

Warnings

As stated before, it is very important to not overstretch to the point where you pull a limb. Simple stretches include touching your toes, reaching away from you, yoga, etc. Be careful not to harm your back, for it is essential in all fluent movement provided in the dance.

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Tricks, such as splits or handstands, can cause injury, without a proper teacher at a dance studio. Use a soft mat, and start out small. Do at your own risk.

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