Why Music Makes or Breaks a Contemporary Piece
I once watched a dancer perform to the wrong track at a showcase. Same choreography, completely different energy — the audience shifted in their seats, disconnected. That night taught me something every contemporary dancer eventually learns: your music isn't background noise. It's your co-performer.
Picking the right track isn't about scrolling through playlists and grabbing whatever sounds pretty. It's about finding music that breathes with your movement, that pulls emotion out of your body before your brain even catches up.
Here are seven tracks that keep showing up in studios and on stages for good reason.
The Slow Burners
Ludovico Einaudi's "Awaken" opens like a whisper and builds into something enormous. Those piano notes leave so much empty space — space your body can fill. Dancers love this piece because the gradual crescendo gives you permission to start small and end huge. Every rehearsal I've seen with this track, the choreographer discovers a new layer.
Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" hits differently. Justin Vernon's voice cracks and strains in ways that feel painfully honest. Choreographers use this one for pieces about heartbreak, obviously, but I've also seen it paired with routines about growth and self-discovery. The vulnerability in the vocals makes audiences lean forward in their seats.
Then there's Debussy's "Clair de Lune." Yes, it's been used a thousand times. There's a reason for that. The melody floats and dips like breathing, and it gives dancers a kind of classical scaffolding to hang modern movement on. When it works, it's transcendent.
The Energy Shifters
Sia's "Unstoppable" is pure fuel. The beat drops and your body wants to move — hard. Contemporary choreographers often use this track for the moment in a piece where the character finds their power. It's theatrical without being cheesy, and that chorus practically demands sharp, commanding movement.
Beyoncé's "Formation" operates on a different frequency. It's not just energy — it's attitude, it's statement, it's presence. I've seen dance teams build entire competition sets around this track because it lets performers be unapologetically bold. The beat is relentless, and it forces you to commit fully to every single movement.
The Wild Cards
Leon Bridges' "River" is the track that surprises people. It's smooth, soulful, almost old-fashioned — and contemporary dancers do extraordinary things with it. The bluesy rhythm creates this push-and-pull that translates beautifully into floor work and partnering. It rewards dancers who aren't afraid to be still for a beat before exploding into motion.
MGMT's "Electric Feel" is pure fun, and honestly, contemporary dance could use more fun. The synth groove invites playfulness — weird angles, unexpected freezes, moments where you just let the music move you without overthinking it. Not every piece needs to be a meditation on the human condition. Sometimes you just need to vibe.
Your Next Piece Starts Here
These tracks aren't a definitive list. They're starting points. The best choreography happens when you stop picking music to impress people and start picking music that makes you feel something — something specific, something you can't quite name but your body already knows how to say.
So hit play. Close your eyes. And see what happens.
