Elements of a Solo
Hello friends! I thought it would be fun to look at various solo elements that will help us move past the fear and create a fabulous solo that will make you proud and leave your audience in awe.
First and foremost is the obvious…
Know your music.
As dancers we are physical and visual expressions of the music hear. Be sure you chose music that makes you want to dance. I love choosing music that has fun and unexpected phrasing, dramatic changes in tempo or sudden beat drops. For me it keeps it fun and playful.
You may enjoy the sound of classical music or traditional Egyptian music. Just be sure you love it because you’ll want to listen to it enough that you could dance to it just by playing it in your head.
Match the energy of the music.
It’s important to not just express the music through movement, but also the energy that you bring. Now…I’m not talking about just facial expressions which, by the way, are tricky in our style so we recommend Lacey’s Game Face class this week. Nope, I’m talking about that deeper connection to the music that comes through in the quality of your movements.
Dancing more relaxed, more fluid or even with more resistance or "punch" can really enhance the expression of the music. Even changing up the pace of your slow movements can really help the audience (and you) FEEL the song’s emotion.
The quality of your movements, not a change in technique, can really set your solo apart and help the audience feel as though they are part of the experience and feel what you feel.
Keep it short.
I like to leave the audience wanting more. As Lacey says in last week’s Tuesday Tip,
“We never want (our audience) to be happy that it’s over”.
If you love a song, but it’s too long for a solo consider only doing part of it as a solo and then having another dancer or two join you for the rest of it. If you are performing on your own, try editing the music in a way that creates an exciting ending.
I’ve even used Audacity to edit out complete mid-sections of a song because they were repetitive and made the song too long to dance to. I tend to keep solos somewhere between 3-4 minutes.
Here’s a YouTube playlist of some inspiring solos.
There are SO many fantastic ones on YouTube so I'll continue to add to this list over time. Feel free to send me your favorites, including yours!