Lyrical Dance

Lyrical Dance fuses:BALLET

Traces its roots directly to the Russian Vaganova method of classical ballet (developed by Agrippina Vaganova in the first half of the 20th century)

focuses on back strength and the fluidity of the arms

When lyrical dance first appeared in the 1970s and 1980s, it borrowed the flowing arms and powerful "port de bras" (carriage of the arms) from Vaganova method to communicate the emotion or story of a piece of music

United States jazz and modern dance contributed immensely to lyrical

Mid-20th century, Martha Graham (one of the developers of modern dance) experimented with: the abilities of bodies and conveyed great ranges of emotion through sharp and angular movements

Jazz dance went from being a social dance to the stage, which helped develop lyrical dance

JAZZ AND MODERN

• Lyrical is known for its expressiveness, musicality, and continuously evolving art form• Its entertaining, emotional qualities, along

with its prominence in popular media, propelled its popularity in the 21st century• Lyrical choreographers and dancers

historically adapted existing dance steps and poses to suit new, modern music. • The visually impressive leaps, turns and

acrobatics has helped push lyrical dance to new levels of physical difficulty

• Lyrical dance gained popularity in the 1990s

• Dance teachers • struggled with whether to include the new style in

studio along with jazz, modern and ballet• Some argued that lyrical should be taught only as

a variation on ballet and jazz, rather than as a separate entity

• Other teachers began teaching lyrical dance separately from ballet such as Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway (early 2000s) started offering classes in lyrical dance

Lyrical Pioneer and Choreographers

Suzi Taylor

•considered by many to be an early mother of lyrical dance•emphasized a unique brand of musicality and expressiveness which influenced many future teachers and choreographers

Other Popular Lyrical Choreographers

Tracie Stanfield, Brian Friedman, Mia Michaels, Blake McGrath, Rodney Diverlus, and Dan Karaty

Lyrical Dance in Today

Has appeared regularly in:• Dancing with the Stars• So You Think You Can Dance?• Concerts and Performances

• Celine Dion- "A New Day," which ran in Las Vegas from 2003 to 2007• Pink- 2014 Grammy Performance

• Music Videos and TV Commercials