Two years after hip-hop professor Tiffany Bong arrived at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, she asked to bring a DJ into the studio. “That’s a huge part of hip-hop culture,” she says. Just like most university-level ballet classes have a pianist and contemporary classes might have a percussionist, Bong’s classes rely on a […]
During the 11 years that Jean Freebury danced for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, she discovered the value of being specific not just with your movement but also with your rhythm. “Merce had metered phrases, and also unmetered phrases where the rhythm would come out of the movement itself,” she says. Sometimes, there were even […]
Tracie Stanfield doesn’t want students to just dance to music. She wants them to partner with it. “It should be a duet,” says the contemporary lyrical and contemporary jazz teacher. “I want it to look like they inspire the music—not that they’re dancing to the lyrics.” Dancers of all backgrounds take Stanfield’s fusion classes at […]
When it comes to choosing music for class, Popin Pete has one rule: “It’s always going to be something groovy,” he says. That’s because he doesn’t want students to just hear the music—he wants them to feel it. “It’s a difference,” he says. “That’s on any level, whether emotionally or spiritually or physically. That’s what […]
Dance teachers can sometimes be treated a bit like DJs. “People always want fresh music from you,” says teaching artist Bailey Randolph. She feels pressure to always keep an ear out for new songs—and she’s happy to oblige. Whether she’s watching TV, riding on the subway, or just walking down the street, the Shazam app […]
Sometimes dancer and choreographer Jason Williams can’t even listen to music. It can be too overwhelming. “As a choreographer, sometimes I don’t want to hear any music at all. I sit in the apartment with no music playing, in silence, because my brain wants to make movement to the music. And I’m like, ‘No, we’re […]
For choreographer and dancer Hayden Frederick, there was no escaping music growing up. Their family was full of musicians, and Frederick, who started taking voice lessons young, had their sights set on a music career. But when it came to performing, they struggled with stage fright. So, to help mitigate their anxiety, their mom enrolled […]