Musicality

Latin dance isn’t easy to learn. Merely learning how to keep the beat can be a challenge for beginners. Next, one has to learn a variety of moves and combinations. An aspiring dancer could easily take classes for six months to two years before becoming a competent dancer.

But if you really want to dance with sabor, you need to tackle musicality, which might be loosely defined as the ability to connect with music. More precisely, musicality is the ability to adapt one’s dancing to the music. It generally requires some knowledge of and sensitivity to la musica, which is the foundation of Latin dance.

Musicality can be divided into two components, receptivity and creativity (or musical artistry). In What Is Musicality? Nichelle defines receptivity as “one’s ability to receive, comprehend, be sensitive to, and have a working knowledge of musical concepts like rhythm, tempo, phrasing, and even mood.” Musical creativity is defined as “the ability to connect with accompanying music, interpret it, or phrase and add movement dynamics that relate to music even in the absence of accompaniment, in a way that is unique or interesting.” The article is followed by some interersting comments.

Don’t forget la musica!
Latin Dance Party (Courtesy Rain Ader)

So how hard is it to learn musicality? Some instructors claim it can’t be taught; either you have an innate talent or you’re out of luck. Others counter that just about anyone - even people who weren’t born with “music genes” - can be taught at least some musicality.

Rather than get caught up in the nature vs nurture debate (perhaps aided by the book Communicative Musicality: Exploring the basis of human companionship), you can simply give it a try. Just make sure you find a good instructor.

I’ve taken just one musicality workshop. I found it quite difficult - pretty intimidating, in fact. However, it was pretty easy to grasp the basics; I sensed that it was something I could pick up with repeated practice. However, I do have some musical background. If I had enough time and money, I’d simply take a musicality workshop every day.

One of the best activities for developing your musicality skills is simply listening to music. That includes focusing on music while dancing, of course. The more familiar you become with Latin music in general and individual songs in particular, the easier it will be for you to anticipate particular highlights, transitions and mood changes and react to them.

In the meantime, check out this Musicality Quiz for salsa dancers, then explore some of the musicality discussions below.