What to Wear for Modern Dance

Series Summary

Lyrical and modern dance have origins in the very recent history of jazz dance, ballet and emotive or trance dance. Through lyrical modern dance, a dancer is expected to use music and emotion to design their steps and movements, relating to their inner selves just as much as the music around them. Often referred to as concert dance, modern and lyrical dance began as a form of interpreting ancient myths and legends into the world of dance. Closely related to ballet, this form of dance and bodily expression combines the elements of carefully balanced and calculated movements with elements of free dance and personal expression to make for a truly inspiring performance that is good for both the body and mind.

In this free video series, our expert dance instructor and performer will explain all the elements of modern and lyrical dance you will need to begin practicing and experimenting. The free online dance lesson contains instruction on stretching and warm-up methods, types of clothing and shoes that work best for modern dance routines, as well as explanations of particular moves and routine combos. Learn how to put all the steps, moves, turns and bows into one fluid and beautiful dance routine.

Video Transcript

"Hi there! My name is Connie Hale. Thanks for joining me here at expertvillage.com. Today we are going to be learning some modern and lyrical dancing. I am going to first talk about some body where you would use simple leotards and a body cover up would be find. You can wear a skirt or simple gaucho pants. Something that flows is usually best for a lyrical. You could do a capri's if they are a little bit more larger because they just work more with the body. Lyrical and modern dancing is very expressive form of dance and it is really telling a story with your body. Let's talk about footwear for a second. What I have here is a half soles. It just essentially looks like a foot thong. They do have something to that is called a foot thong. They have foot undee's, other different kinds of things where it just covers the simple tips of your toes. Going to go ahead and use these half soles today. I have on convertible tights; great for dancing different forms. It just simply rolls up off your foot. Again you have a full footed tight. It has a hole in the bottom. You simply just roll it off the foot and you are ready. You can dance barefoot if you like as well. We are going to go ahead and put these half soles on. Better for gripping. Slide it to the foot, have the ball of your foot to turn on. Now put the other foot on. "