Great dancers are not great because of their technique - they are great because of their passion

21 October 2026

From Timing to Expression: Cultivating Musicality

The Musical Mindset

Dancers often have questions about music, but I have some for you:

Do you ever feel like you’re just stepping to the beat?
Do you struggle to catch up with it?
Do you find yourself ahead of the music?
Do you sometimes find yourself out of sync? Out of time? Or off time?

It’s not about combining steps with each beat of music; it’s about understanding how to integrate your movements with the music, thereby allowing the steps to happen at the right time.

Before you start dancing, ask yourself about:

The beat—where is the pulse?
The rhythm—what patterns do you hear?
The melody—what does the music say to you?
The accents—how does it want you to move?

Don’t just listen for the answers to those questions, feel them.

A Musical Exercise

Using slow Waltz to give you plenty of time, take a moment to stand with your eyes closed. Start to sway to the music. Don’t just listen to the beat—let the music wash over you and absorb:

The high notes and the bass notes
The percussion
The melody and the vocals
The timing and the phrasing
The loudness and the softness
What it says to you.

When you sway, does the music move you left and right on each beat? Or does it encourage you to vary on which beat you change direction? Does it make you pause for a couple of beats? Does it make you sway slower (over two or three beats perhaps), or quicker (maybe a half beat)?

Progress to taking a step to the side as you sway. Don’t step with the beat—feel the music carry you and let the step follow that movement.

The Partnership

How integrated with the music is your connection with your partner? Do you dance to the music? Do you dance with it? Do you dance because of it? Do you dance despite it?

When you dance with a partner, your relationship with each other and the music becomes four-dimensional—not just the three dimensions of movement, but how you move through time too.

Repeat the exercise together, in hold, both of you with eyes closed. Take note of how you feel the music moving you through your connection. How does the music affect your lead and your response? Does the music move you together? Do each of you interpret the music with your own individual movements, and still retain the connection and the partnership?

The Ultimate Musical Exercise

Dance a basic Waltz sequence blindfolded (first one partner, then the other, then both of you)—natural turn, closed change, reverse turn, whisk and chasse, and repeat. Don’t force the steps—let the music take you through the sequence. Allow it to share both the lead and the response when you change direction in the turns, when you become more active in the chasse, when you slowly dance the closed change, when the movement changes your body position in the whisk.

Now ask yourself: does the music mean anything to you? Or is your dancing just a passenger with the music?

Musical Preferences

In practice sessions you usually have the choice of music you like. At a social dance you may or may not have the opportunity to request a particular song. In a competition you do not have that luxury.

True musicality requires you to embody the music regardless of personal preference. If you don’t like the music being played, would you rather not dance? Or do you go out of your comfort zone and rise to the challenge?

Approach an unfamiliar or uninspiring song like a conversation with someone speaking a foreign language in a distinct regional accent. You don't end the conversation if you want to improve your language skills. You accept the challenge by listening intently, making more of an effort to understand, adapting your responses, and allowing the nuances of their speech to shape the rhythm of the exchange.

Don’t just listen to the music—feel it, assimilate it, use it, let it empower your movement, and allow it to live and breathe with your dancing.

Corta Jaca Dance

Website last updated August 29th 2026