Students often ask me, “Why should I bother with Musicality when I can hardly distinguish between 6 and 8 count patterns?” My response varies, ranging from “Maybe it’s not your priority right now” to “It’s the essence of why you should embrace this dance.” I’ve given every possible answer in between. I understand that not everyone is as immersed in dance as I am, but as someone with ADHD, let me tell you why this dance has held my fascination for the past 25 years!
To comprehend the significance, we need to grasp what it means to be musical. In our dance, we work with 6 and 8 count patterns, each having its own inherent pulse accentuated by direction changes, pauses, or accelerations. Similarly, music has its pulse with accents typically on counts 1 and/or 5. Musicality is the art of harmonizing the natural accents of each pattern with the song’s accents. The more you achieve this synchronization, the more fulfilling the dance experience becomes. I’m not suggesting you can’t have fun without being musical; it’s like enjoying cake without knowing how to bake one. However, like everything else, there are different levels to this dance, and I hope you’ll join me on this journey!
What I find most appealing about musicality is that you can improve with practice. Constant exposure to new music keeps things exciting. What’s great is that both you and your dance partner don’t have to engage in musicality simultaneously. Two dancers at different skill levels can have a blast—one embracing musicality while the other focuses on maintaining the tempo during their triples.
Here are some patterns that lend themselves really well to being musical: