We Got the Beat: Find Great Music for Dance Class!

by on Jul 14 '17

We don’t know about you, but we simply cannot imagine dance class without music…Music makes dance fun! During the summer when we have a smidge more time to think creatively, we like to take a look at some of the music we want to use in class for the upcoming season. As dance teachers, it can be challenging to find music that is new and different and pertinent to the style of dance and the age of the dancers you’re teaching. We feel that same struggle! But, we do have some fun ideas of how you can pack a little more fun into your dance class based on the music you choose to play!

All About That Theme 

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you know we love a good theme! And, you also already know that we love creating fun-themed playlists on Spotify. But if you’re new around here, let us fill you in!

Each month, we create a #ConfettiMOOD blog post centered around a theme, and one of the fun tools we include every month is a Spotify Playlist based on that theme. It’s one of our favorite things about those posts! But, our use of themes isn’t limited to just our blog posts. When we need inspo for class, we also look to music to help make our class more fun!

Focusing on leaps and jumps in class? Look for songs about air (Hot Air Balloon by Owl City), flying (Fly by Sugar Ray), and jumping (Jump by Van Halen), and play them back-to-back when dancers leap across the floor. Concentrating on perfecting those turns? A quick search offers plenty of options for turn (Turn the Beat Around by Gloria Estafan), spin (You Spin Me Right Round by Dead or Alive) and circles (Circle in the Sand by Belinda Carlisle).

Whether it’s a mood or a particular focus during class, see how easy it is to take a theme and run with it?! You’ll probably find too many songs to even fit into one class as you create your fun playlist, but we bet you’ll have so much fun putting it together! And, that fun will translate into class!

New Music State of Mind

Themes are great, but sometimes, you just want to play the latest and greatest new music, especially for your middle and high school dancers! There are several ways you can search for the top hits of today!

  • iTunes Store: Right at the top of the page is a listing for New Music. Just below that, you’ll see Hot Tracks. You can also select specific genres and see these same categories to help you narrow it down.
  • Spotify: Select the Browse button at the top left of the screen, then you can choose New Releases
  • Billboard Charts: Go straight to the source to see all the latest rankings on a variety of music genres. We’ve found that the Charts drop-down menu is the easiest place to start.
  • Ask your dancers what they are listening to! We promise they are completely in the know!

Kid (Friendly) Rock

Did you find the perfect song for this week’s combo, but it has that one lyric that you just can’t play in your 1st grade jazz class? We’ve all been there. But, before you throw in the towel and look for another tune, check to see if there is a kid-friendly version of the song. For many Top 40 hits, Kidz Bop has a super fun, clean version that is safe for most of your younger classes. They have upwards of 30 compilations that include hundreds of remakes of songs you know and love! We also like Kids Rock Kidz for fun, age-appropriate music! There are so many creative kid-friendly choices these days without feeling like you have to revert to nursery rhymes only.

Shazam

You know when you are in a store and a great song comes on and you immediately want to know what it is? That’s where Shazam comes in! You likely are already using this app, but if not, download it immediately! With just one tap on your phone, Shazam listens, recognizes the music playing and tells you the name of the song and the artist! It even gives you a link right from the app to purchase it on iTunes, save it to a Spotify playlist and more! We use it at conventions and competitions, too! It’s definitely a great resource!

Feel Like Dancing

One theme we all have in common as dance teachers is…well…dance! We recently started a fun, recurring post on our Instagram feed featuring lyrics inspired by dance called #confettifuntracks. We’re still building up our list, but you can find the songs we’ve used so far on our #confettifuntracks Spotify playlist! Each song is a fun, uplifting song that is great to use in any dance class! Let us know your ideas for more #confettifuntracks we can add to our list!

Whatever your theme, genre or lyrics, be creative in your search for and use of music and add an extra spark of fun to your dance class!

Note: If you don’t already have a Spotify account, you will be asked to create one in order to access our playlists, but it’s FREE and EASY, and only takes a quick sec. Do it! Make you sure you “follow” our Spotify Account by clicking the Follow button to for the most up-to-date fun playlists we create for dance class! 

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