Give students as many different experiences moving to as many different types of music as possible.
There are three groups of people I go to for new music recommendations; music librarians, record store owners, and dancers. Despite the prevailing idea that we need to introduce dancers to new music in their college years, I find that is rarely true. Steering dancers towards certain pieces of music and away from others is a terrible practice when it is unsolicited by a student. We need to foster and empower curiosity, not narrow it down to a selection of preferred music based on our own individual preferences. The larger impact of this can be felt and seen by looking at mainstream media today. I am always curious if the reason that we see such a lack of representation of dance in our culture is because educators for years have discouraged and shamed students for wanting to use music with lyrics, from movies or other popular music of the day.
Students today make brilliantly diverse playlists of all types, for all occasions and on a variety of platforms. This is an important practice for dancers and choreographers to discover and develop their "sound". Like musicians, choreographers and dancers go through stages of their careers exploring certain "sounds" based on the movement processes they are going through. The last thing I ever want to do with students is tell them what pieces of music they "should or shouldn't" be exploring. I want to empower the practice of searching for new music that inspires them, no matter where it might lead them.
As teachers, dancers will need a range of playlists for their classes. Music is a crucial element of a technique class. Even though it is not the most important part of all movement practices, it can have a significant effect on the class experience. Music can either hinder or elevate a class. I learned the incredible influence of music in a dance class when I started accompanying. At first, I didn't know how best to support the class musically. I could easily feel how my inexperience was hindering the class, and for all teachers bringing in a musician new to playing class, it is important to be sensitive to this. Eventually, I started learning a few things that worked really well for certain types of movement and I played them all of the time. I played those same things so many times, that eventually I noticed how they were hampering the class because of a lack of variation. Now I know that the key to being an exceptional accompanist, and the key to a successful class, is being able to play a diverse range of music and sound.
Dancers that plan to teach, need to keep this in mind as they choose music to use in class. Whether it is a live musician or recorded music, variety is so important. We want to give students as many different experiences moving to as many different types of music as possible. Some teachers will make a playlist to use while teaching a class, and not change that playlist the entire semester. I encourage teachers to think of themselves as DJs, and always bring new music into their classes, especially if the combinations stay the same over long periods of time. Here are a few ways to practice making playlists and discovering new music for teaching and choreography:
Make separate playlists based on different meters (beats in a measure). Have individual playlists for music in 3, 4, 5 and 7. Try to order them from slow tempos to fast tempos, so it's easy to switch to another piece of music if you want to slow down or speed up a combination's tempo. Make playlists of ambient and non metered music. Create several different playlists based on "mood or vibe", like driving/intense, calm, funky, dark, nostalgic, etc...
Make playlists just for choreographic inspiration, especially if there are pieces of music you have always wanted to choreograph too. Make collaborative playlists with other choreographers and dance teachers. See what they are using to teach and get inspiration.
Hold listening parties. Invite 3-5 people over to a space where you can play music easily out of speakers. Each person chooses a few pieces of music for the evening. Take turns playing each of the songs and discussing what is inspiring about it and share any other information about the artist or making of the music. These gatherings can be super fun community builders as well.
Hold a discussion about making playlists, what type of playlists do they already have? What music platforms do people think are best for making playlists? Have they ever been told not to use a piece of music? If so, why? Did they agree with the reasoning?
Always encourage students to follow their curiosity when discovering music. The goal is not to teach a specific aesthetic with music for dance. There is a huge wide world of diverse music out there, and students must be allowed the freedom to explore, discover, and create with music that truly moves them. The profound feedback loop of music and dance is fueled by dancers finding new music to create with, which in turn, supports new music to be created.