Finding age-appropriate hip-hop music can be a struggle. Choreographer Afaliah Tribune addresses this common dilemma for hip-hop teachers by making her own original tracks on GarageBand. “I love experimenting with live music, and my students think it’s fun, too,” says Tribune, who is an adjunct professor of dance at New York University. “There are so many ways we can open up our work when we experiment with sound.”
Tribune has been inspired by music from an early age, thanks to her father, an eclectic musician and bandleader. “I’d come home from dance class and end up harmonizing with the band in choir rehearsal in the basement,” she says. Tribune, who’s also a singer, rapper and songwriter, says she didn’t realize how much this played a pivotal role in shaping her artistry. “As a kid, I didn’t think it was cool, but now I realize my love for music was because I was surrounded with so much of it.”
After studying postmodern and contemporary dance at Ohio State University and touring for a decade with Rennie Harris Puremovement, Tribune was itching to choreograph. “I really wanted to find my own voice,” she says. Pulling from her diverse dance background and natural love of hip hop, and incorporating all of her artistic skills, Tribune developed her own style—a blend, she describes as “contemporary with hip-hop nuance.” In 2010, she founded her own company, Afaliah Tribune Dance.
Tribune enjoys exploring music throughout her class. To start, she’ll have dancers lie on the floor, making shapes with their bodies and ironing out the kinks in a moving meditation to live beats that she created. With a Maschine, a portable instrument that produces beats and sounds, she might play a basic eight-count-of-eight track and, after demonstrating movement, add layers and build on accents. Tribune has found that editing music, while adding poetry or spoken word to a track, enhances her work, and it’s simple for teachers to learn. “It’s just another way to expand yourself as an artist,” she says. “It makes the work more personal and creates a signature.”
Artist: Jayswifa
Song: “Dystopia”
Album: Enigma
“The synthesizer and then the drums! Perfect for a house dance, hip hop, contemporary dance or across the floor.”
Artist: Kaytranada
Song: “You’re the One” (feat. SYD)
“This song features beautiful vocals and insane house vibes great for a hip-hop or jazz class.”
Artist: Roy Ayers
Album: Wake Up
“I’ve always gravitated toward ’90s R&B for class. I love Ayers’ music for floor work in a technique class.”
Artist: Anita Baker
Song: “Caught Up in the Rapture”
Album: Rapture
“I use this song during class for technique, like tendus and positions of the feet.”
Artist: Afaliah
Song: “A Woman’s Work” (available on SoundCloud)
“I created this track on GarageBand because I couldn’t locate a song with the exact elements I wanted. It was such a daunting task, but I pushed through my limits and conceived something meaningful for the work. And it was fun!”
