Is there such a thing as too much musicality??

calichris10

calichris10

Son Montuno
My first answer is an unequivocal NO!! But I recently saw a video of two very musical dancers and it was so overdone I think it looked ridiculous. I then began to question if maybe there is such a thing as too much musicality to where it looks contrived. I never thought so before because I love hitting the breaks and dancing to different instruments but starting to think some people are over doing it. When its overdone I think it takes away from the dance. Any opinions?
 
First there is a typo in the title :)
too much mysicality depends on the dancer himself/herself actually, not on the watcher.
As long as both dancers enjoy the dance, they can do just cross body and play with the music in between.
 
Well, people that are accenting everything aren't dancing musically in my opinion. An integral aspect of music interpretation is to know which elements to emphasize and which to leave out; i.e. exercising restraint. To illustrate with a cooking analogy, the master chef knows when to stop adding ingredients to a dish to avoid muddling clean flavors or unwittingly altering it's character.
 
olamalam said:
First there is a typo in the title :)
too much mysicality depends on the dancer himself/herself actually, not on the watcher.
As long as both dancers enjoy the dance, they can do just cross body and play with the music in between.
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lol sh**. I can't see the title to edit it! Help!
Enjoyment is the key. But you also don't want to look bad doin it:p
 
GroovyMambo said:
Well, people that are accenting everything aren't dancing musically in my opinion. An integral aspect of music interpretation is to know which elements to emphasize and which to leave out; i.e. exercising restraint. To illustrate with a cooking analogy, the master chef knows when to stop adding ingredients to a dish to avoid muddling clean flavors or unwittingly altering it's character.
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Yes!!! Exactly, very well put!
 
Philosophically my aim as a dancer is to complement the music rather than to mirror it exactly.

(Of course, there's a big gap between what I intend to do and what I am able to do)
 
It's tough to put a finger on this with traditional models of musicality (matching your movements to the music, hitting breaks, etc.), but I think of musicality as having 5 interconnected elements (the creative, emotional, somatic, relational, and improvisational elements), so I definitely believe that it is possible to "overdo" it. You can describe it in various ways: not letting your movement "breathe," imposing an interpretation on the music to the point that you're not really listening anymore (i.e., you're no longer in the moment and therefore are losing that improvisational quality), getting so absorbed in your "interpretation" of the music that you're ignoring the connection and musical interpretation of your partner, thinking more about how you look to others (whether that's out of ego or out of self-consciousness) than about the experience which can lead to impressionistic vs. expressive dancing. Musicians definitely recognize this in themselves and in each other when they jam as a group, and I believe we have that same sensitivity as dancers. I do agree with another commenter that our perception of these undesirable qualities in another person's dancing can be imperfect based on our own projections, but I do believe that we have the capacity to recognize it in others even if imperfectly. And we can definitely recognize it in ourselves if we pay attention.
 
calichris10 said:
Yes but I don't want to offend since I used the word ridiculous. They were just crazy with body movements and accenting Everything...looked like they were trying to hard...more the follow than the lead.
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Could you at least tell us what the song was? That would be interesting to know.
 
I think it is possible. . . I was thinking about this last night. We were dancing a timba song infused with rumba & afro elements, and I kept breaking out the appropriate steps -- Elegua, Oggun, Yemaya, Obatala, rumba, etc -- until I realized I was murdering the song, trying to express everything and creating a jumble as a result. It's like there was almost no salsa/casino left between all the improvisation. Perhaps this could be done smoothly and skillfully and still be a great dance, but I think it's hard, especially if both dancers don't have the same level.

Of course we could argue that 'too much musicality' isn't the right expression -- that a really musical dance isn't like this -- but we have to describe the phenomenon somehow. . .
 
Is this about mickey mousing? It's a great skill - obviously and obvious. And can be overdone. But watch Big10 before judging. :) I look at it as starting point for first 5 years.
 
IMO matching the energy and flow of a song is far more important than to overtly express every accent in the music.
I wachted a couple dancing the other night: They hit all the breaks and expressed a lot of the accents. From a technical perspektive it was rather impressive (wish I had her balance and body movement!).
Still, it didn´t look musical to me... Why? Because they were dancing to a mellow, romantic song and what they did looked very busy and hectic.. (at least to my eyes).
On the other hand: Some of the most musical leaders I´ve danced with might not look to impressive, if you look at them from a distance. But as soon as you dance with them, you realise how much they dance in the music.
While they do reflect accents of the music in their dancing, it´s often rather subtle, more to be felt, than to be seen.. Just little changes in tension, rhythm, energy and "emotional vibe", that onlookers might not even notice.
My conclusion: there can´t be too much musicality, but some people try too hard to look musical...
 
Tricky question. No simple answer. First of all, musicality as personal expression can never be too much. It's the way you feel it and the way you can and are willing to express it. It doesn't matter what a spectator thinks, it's your dance.

From the point of view of the partner it can feel too much if they feel the music differently or express themselves differently. Then it's a matter of imbalance and lack of synergy, not about some absolute amount of musicality.

In a performance of course it should matter what the audience thinks. But I can't think of a single one where I thought the musicality was too much. An example of a WCS performance (one of many) where they basically sing the song in their choreography to the point that at times they mark two elements simultaneously - I would never say it's too much because it's done skillfully:
 
I think everyone has mountains of musicality within their heads! It's the skill to show it, that is usually lacking.

A better way to say it, "They are trying to show too much musicality for their skill level". ;)
 
calichris10 said:
My first answer is an unequivocal NO!! But I recently saw a video of two very musical dancers and it was so overdone I think it looked ridiculous. I then began to question if maybe there is such a thing as too much musicality to where it looks contrived. I never thought so before because I love hitting the breaks and dancing to different instruments but starting to think some people are over doing it. When its overdone I think it takes away from the dance. Any opinions?
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Yes. I am pretty sure that at some point in the near future we will have a musicality equivalent to 'pattern monkey'.
Musicality Muppet, maybe.

For me personally, it's when musicality becomes some sort of fetish in itself instead of a wonderful, playful element that two people use to communicate, share, create.

And I could post a number of videos of a well-known guy who I still have much manlove for but I cannot help but notice that in recent social dance clips he has started using his partner as a musicality prop - as opposed to using musicality as a tool to please and amuse and connect with his partner.
 
Joy in Motion said:
(i.e., you're no longer in the moment and therefore are losing that improvisational quality), getting so absorbed in your "interpretation" of the music that you're ignoring the connection and musical interpretation of your partner, thinking more about how you look to others (whether that's out of ego or out of self-consciousness)
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I have been noticing this more and more lately...looking like they have something to prove. Look at me and how much musicality I have:p
 
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