Feel the Flow:
5 Songs to Elevate Your Lyrical Dance Practice
Curate your soundtrack. Unlock emotion. Transform your movement from technical to transcendent.
Lyrical dance lives in the space between story and step, where technique becomes a vocabulary for emotion. The right song doesn't just accompany your movement—it breathes life into it, pulling nuance, dynamics, and raw feeling from your very core. This list is crafted to challenge and inspire, offering a spectrum of emotional landscapes to explore in your practice.
"Glimpse of Us" – Joji
(Piano Version / Orchestral Cover)
Why It Works
This song is a masterclass in melancholic longing. Its sparse, aching piano melodies and Joji's vulnerable vocals create a vast, intimate space. It’s not about big, dramatic sweeps, but the quiet, devastating moments in between—the memory of a touch, the weight of absence. It trains you to dance with restraint and internal focus, where a flicker of the eyes or a slow reach can speak volumes.
Movement Prompt
Practice suspension and fall. Let the rising phrases of the music lift you, holding the peak for a breath longer than feels natural, then surrender to gravity with the resolution. Explore contralateral movement—reaching forward with one arm while the leg extends back—to physically embody the push and pull of nostalgia.
"Runaway" – Aurora
(Orchestral Version from "The Gods We Can Touch")
Why It Works
Aurora’s ethereal voice, combined with sweeping strings and pulsating rhythms, creates a sense of wild, untamed freedom. It builds from a whisper to a thunderous, cathartic release. This track is perfect for exploring dynamic contrast and ecstatic movement. It encourages a connection to something primal and elemental—dancing like a storm, a river, or wind through trees.
Movement Prompt
Use the crescendo. Start curled tightly on the floor, movements small and internal. As the music swells, let your energy expand outward through spirals, turns, and leaps. Focus on initiating movement from your center and letting it ripple to your fingertips. In the final, powerful chorus, commit to full-body, unapologetic expression.
"The Alcott" – The National & Taylor Swift
Why It Works
This is a lyrical duet in musical form—a complex, conversational tapestry of two perspectives intertwining, missing each other, and connecting. The layered vocals and steady, poignant piano provide a rich ground for partnering work (with a real partner or an imagined one) and exploring narrative. It’s about relationship, miscommunication, and the fragile threads that bind people.
Movement Prompt
Choreograph a call and response phrase. Let one movement idea (a gesture, a pathway) initiated on Matt Berninger's verse be answered, altered, or challenged in Taylor Swift's response. Practice dancing "to" and "away from" an empty space, using focus and weight shifts to create the palpable presence of another.
"rises the moon" – Liana Flores
Why It Works
Simplicity is its superpower. This gentle, ukulele-driven folk song feels like a lullaby and a sigh of relief. Its steady, circular rhythm and warm vocals are an antidote to over-dancing. It teaches musicality through subtlety—how to honor a quiet song without forcing emotion onto it. It’s perfect for practicing recovery, fluid transitions, and soft, sustained movement.
Movement Prompt
Focus on continuous, unbroken flow. Imagine your limbs moving through warm honey. Avoid sharp starts and stops. Instead, let every movement initiate from the completion of the last, creating a seamless loop. Pay close attention to the gentle strumming pattern and let your footfalls or weight changes softly accent it.
"Movement" – Hozier (Or "Unknown / Nth")
Why It Works
Hozier’s music is inherently physical—rooted in soul, blues, and gospel. "Movement" is a powerful, grinding exploration of devotion as a physical force, while "Unknown / Nth" is a haunting ballad of betrayal and fragility. Both offer a deep, grounded weight and raw, gritty emotion. They demand strength and surrender, pushing you to dance from a place of visceral, almost spiritual, conviction.
Movement Prompt
Work with gravity and resistance. For "Movement," find the pulse in the bass and use deep pliés, grounded sweeps, and powerful contractions. For the haunting "Unknown / Nth," explore fragile balances and falls—how long can you hover in a precarious tilt before collapsing? Let the gravel in his voice manifest as texture in your spine and shoulders.
Your Flow State Awaits
Remember, these songs are doorways. Don't just perform steps to them; listen deeply. Let the lyrics, instrumentation, and emotional intent seep into your muscles and bones. Your most authentic lyrical dancing emerges when you stop illustrating the music and start letting it move through you. So, press play, close your eyes for the first 30 seconds, and just feel. Then, let your body answer.
