Dancing that involves expressing emotions or conveying a story through movement is often referred to as emotional dancing or dance choreography. The key aspects that make dancing emotional are the dancer’s intention, facial expressions, body language, and execution of the choreography. Emotional dancing allows dancers to interpret music, lyrics, or other concepts and share this interpretation through creative movement. There are many different dance styles that can be performed emotionally, such as contemporary, lyrical, modern, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and more.
Defining Emotional Dancing
Emotional dancing, also known as dance choreography, is a style of dance that aims to convey emotions, ideas, or tell a story through movement and expression. The focus is on using the body and face to express feelings and connect with the audience or convey meaning.
Some key characteristics of emotional dancing include:
- Expressive movement: The dancer uses their body to convey emotion, not just execute steps. Movement quality, energy, and body language are key.
- Facial expressions: The dancer’s face is active and helps communicate the intention and feeling behind the movements.
- Musicality: Movements correspond with musical accents, lyrics, and phrases to help convey meaning.
- Storytelling: Sequences of movement and expression tell a narrative or explore a concept or emotion.
- Interpretation: The dancer provides their own unique interpretation of the music, choreography, or intention behind the dance.
Emotional dancing often draws on skills like acting and stage presence to fully communicate the emotions involved. The choreography gives dancers a vocabulary to interpret and share feelings or ideas with the audience.
Origins and History
Dance has long been used as a form of emotional expression, storytelling, and communication. However, emotional dancing as a distinct genre really emerged in the 20th century with new styles like modern dance and the evolution of stage choreography.
Some key moments in the history of emotional dance include:
- Isadora Duncan (1920s): Duncan was a pioneer of modern dance and free dance, rejecting rigid ballet techniques to explore movement inspired by nature, emotion, and improvisation.
- Martha Graham (1930s-1960s): Graham developed new techniques for expressing emotion through contraction and release. Her choreography explored psychological and social themes.
- Agnes de Mille (1940s-1950s): De Mille brought emotional expression and narrative dance to ballet and Broadway, choreographing dances that told stories and conveyed characters’ inner thoughts and emotions.
- Alvin Ailey (1950s-1980s): Ailey drew on his African American heritage to create influential emotionally-charged works exploring cultural and social themes.
- Twyla Tharp (1960s-Present): Tharp fused modern dance and ballet to create innovative choreography dealing with emotions, relationships, and the human experience.
- Michael Jackson (1970s-2000s): Jackson revolutionized emotional expression in pop and music videos, fusing intricate steps with mime and acting to convey meaning.
Over time, emotional expression became increasingly valued and choreography evolved from strict routines to dynamic storytelling. Dancers were given more freedom to interpret music and convey meaning.
Key Techniques and Components
There are many techniques and choreographic tools dancers use to create emotional performances. Some key components include:
Expression
Facial expressions and full body movement are used to communicate feelings and amplify the emotion behind steps. Common expressions include joy, sorrow, anger, pensiveness, affection, tension, etc. Eyes and subtle hand gestures are especially effective.
Movement Quality
How movements are executed communicates as much as what they are. Movement quality includes:
- Energy: Movements can be explosive, soft, tender, sharp, wild, or languid.
- Speed: Faster or slower tempos convey different emotions.
- Weight: Movements can be light or heavy.
- Flow: Movements can be smooth, jagged, swinging, or pulsating.
Musicality
Dancing in relation to the music and lyrics helps convey the associated feelings or meanings. Dancers match their expressions and movements to accents, tone, rhythm, and songs’ intentions.
Gesture
Exact hand, arm, and body gestures express specific emotions or communicate meaning, like reaching out towards something desired.
Stillness
Strategic stillness and pauses draw attention to key movements or concepts and allow time for emotional capacity or expression.
Repetition
Repeating certain steps or motions can emphasize associated emotions or symbolic meaning.
Variation
Varying speed, size, or intensity of repetitive movements builds dynamism and expresses developing emotions.
Benefits of Emotional Dancing
Dancing with emotion and expressiveness provides many benefits for dancers and audiences beyond basic technique and fitness. Some benefits include:
- Artistic freedom: Dancers can be creative and share their unique emotional interpretations.
- Connection and empathy: Emotional dance helps both dancers and observers deeply feel and understand the emotions conveyed.
- Storytelling: Dance provides a powerful kinetic medium for narrative and communicating messages.
- Self-expression: Emotional dance allows safe release of feelings, thoughts, and tensions.
- Versatility: Training in emotional dance develops skills applicable to many styles from stage to film.
- Mind-body connection: Emotional dance integrates physicality with psychology, intellect, and spirituality.
The capacity to dance with emotion and connect to audiences through movement is a special skill valued across many genres and performance settings.
Styles of Emotional Dance
While all dance can convey emotion, certain genres are especially well-suited to emotional expression and storytelling. Some key emotionally-driven dance styles include:
Contemporary
Contemporary dance emerged in the mid-20th century as a hybrid of ballet, modern, and jazz styles. It allows dancers great freedom to interpret music and express themselves through fluid, expressive movement.
Lyrical
Lyrical dance focuses on expressing the emotion and narrative of song lyrics and musicality through fluid, expressive movement and improvisation. Steps interpret the lyrics.
Modern
Modern dance pioneers like Graham and Duncan freed dance from rigid structure to use movement to convey inner emotions, narrative, passion, and creativity.
Jazz
Jazz dance allows dancers to interpret syncopated musical rhythms and song concepts through flexible, athletic, expressive movements.
Ballet
While focusing on precision, ballet choreography increasingly incorporates emotional expression and storytelling elements.
Musical Theater
Dance in musicals helps convey characters, plots, and themes through emotional choreography tailored to specific shows and songs.
Hip Hop
Hip hop dance can powerfully communicate concepts and raw energy through upper and lower body isolations, waving, tutting, and dynamic rhythms.
Incorporating Emotion in Choreography
Choreography is key to guiding emotional dancing. Choreographers use various methods to craft dances rich in feeling and expression. Approaches include:
- Translating lyrics: Steps interpret song lyrics and musical accents.
- Telling stories: Movement sequences follow a narrative arc, like conflict-struggle-resolution.
- Defining characters: Movement and expression define distinct roles dancers inhabit.
- Establishing relationships: Dancers’ movement and energy expresses their connection.
- Motif development: Repeating and evolving symbolic gestures representing emotions or ideas.
- Stimuli: choreography responds to visual arts, poetry, social issues, or other inspirations.
Choreographers provide a vocabulary guiding dancers to interpret and fully commit emotionally. They may work collaboratively with dancers to develop the most powerful expressive performances.
Emotional Dancing in Stage vs Film
Emotional dance choreography differs between stage and film/video performances in key ways:
Live Dance Performances
- Full-body projection to reach back rows of auditorium
- Slower, sustained, exaggerated movements for visibility
- Holding delicate hand/facial gestures several seconds
- Communication focused upstage
- Entire dance work uninterrupted
Dance on Camera
- Subtle, natural movement and expressions
- Faster pacing amplified through edits and cuts
- Wider range of angles, close-ups, and camera work enhances emotion
- Dance broken into many short clips interwoven with other elements
- Lighting, locations, costumes, and effects further accentuate mood
Emotional dance choreography must fit the performance context, whether live or filmed. Dance on camera incorporates cinematography to fully visualize the inner feelings and messages.
Famous Emotional Dance Performances
Throughout dance history, many pieces have become iconic for their emotive artistry and powerful storytelling. Some legendary emotional dance performances include:
- “Swan Lake” – Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s ballet choreography conveys the tragic tale of Odette through expressive posture and movement.
- “The Green Table” – Kurt Jooss’ 1932 anti-war modern dance piece expressed the emotional horrors of conflict through raw, physical movement.
- “Revelations” – Alvin Ailey’s 1960 masterpiece draws on African American spiritual traditions to express a gamut of emotions.
- “Rite of Spring” – Pina Bausch’s rendition of Stravinsky’s work (1975) conveys explosive emotional energy through improvisation and repetiton.
- Michael Jackson Dance Performances – Jackson blended intricate steps and emotive style to convey passion in pieces like “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.”
- Madonna “Vogue” – Madonna and her dancers powerfully strike dramatic vogueing poses in this emotional 1990 music video.
- Travis Wall Contemporary Routines – On “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing With the Stars,” Wall crafts emotional narratives about social issues through his choreography.
These impactful dances demonstrate how movement, expression, and performance can transcend technique to connect audiences to universal human experiences and emotions.
Training Emotional Dancing Skills
While natural ability helps, dancers can build skills to perform with greater emotional range and artistry. Useful training approaches include:
- Acting classes to expand expressive range and body language
- Improvisation exercises to connect to impulses and creative freedom
- Dynamic movement qualities to avoid habitual patterns and increase range
- Active visualization to imagine scenarios, characters, and feelings
- Observing others to study effective emotional projection and intimacy
- Journaling to explore emotions and narratives that inspire movement
The most impactful method is applying these practices through rehearsals and receiving choreographic coaching. Performing offers the best opportunity to experiment and receive feedback. With training, dancers can gain mastery over conveying compelling emotional experiences through their dancing.
Emotional Dance in Popular Culture
Emotional dancing has permeated popular culture through iconic music videos, television dance shows, and commercial choreography. Mainstream exposure has inspired new generations to learn expressive dance styles.
Dance in Music Videos
Artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna revolutionized emotional storytelling in music videos, which live on through YouTube. Impactful contemporary examples include Sia’s “Chandelier” and “Elastic Heart”
Television Dance Competitions
Reality dance competitions like “So You Think You Can Dance” regularly feature emotional contemporary and lyrical routines. Choreographers craft elaborate stories to showcase dancers’ artistry and connection.
Commercial Dance
Brands increasingly incorporate emotional dance into advertising campaigns. Volkswagen’s “Hello Light” commercial featured elegant ballroom dancing displaying the headlights. Apple’s HomePod spot simulated a moving contemporary duet through smart home functions.
TikTok Dance Trends
The TikTok app has popularized emotional freestyle and lyrical dances set to viral audio clips and songs. Users aim to expressively perform routines and convey messages through movements.
This mainstream exposure makes emotional dance more accessible and inspires wider public participation and appreciation.
Notable Emotional Dancers and Choreographers
Many brilliant dancers, choreographers, and directors have shaped emotional and narrative dance over the decades. Iconic influential figures include:
Alvin Ailey
Ailey was a pioneering modern dance choreographer known for works expressing the African American experience through dynamic, emotional movement.
Martha Graham
Graham is considered the mother of modern dance, creating groundbreaking emotional techniques like contraction/release to convey psychological themes.
Isadora Duncan
Duncan broke from rigid ballet tradition to develop free-flowing modern dance techniques drawing on natural movement and self-expression.
Michael Jackson
Jackson’s choreography incorporated mime, character work, and emotive style to convey complex concepts through his iconic music videos and tours.
Bob Fosse
The legendary choreographer’s jazz dance style incorporated bent knees, rolled shoulders, and isolations to convey edgy sensuality and characters’ inner lives.
Twyla Tharp
Tharp is revered for progressive choreography fusing ballet and modern to create works exploring human psychology and relationships.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Considered one of the greatest ballet dancers, Baryshnikov brought unparalleled emotional depth and presence to his interpretations of classical and modern works.
Conclusion
Emotional dancing or dance choreography uses movement and expression to convey meaningful experiences that connect with audiences. It allows dancers to interpret music and concepts through their body and face. While a universal art form, emotional dance blossomed through pioneers of expressive modern styles and theatrical choreography. It remains a staple of concert dance, television, film, advertising, and popular culture. With training and practice, dancers can develop emotive artistry and storytelling skills applicable across genres. At its best, emotional dance transcends steps to share diverse aspects of human emotion and imagination.