Lyrical Dance

This is similar to Modern Ballet with more emphasis on correct technique. It is a fusion of ballet with jazz and contemporary dance techniques.

Lyrical dance style has its primary basis in ballet, combining the many technical elements of classical ballet with the freedom and airier aspects of jazz, contemporary and modern dance. It is typically considered a sub-category of jazz and/or contemporary dance, the latter itself being an emerging category. Lyrical dance is expressive, simultaneously subtle and dynamic, focused on conveying musicality and emotion through movement. It is a combination of intricate, highly technical, and pedestrian/naturalistic moves. It is commonly set to popular music with vocals as well as rich instrumental portions of a pop song. Lyrical inspires choreographers and dancers to use movement to interpret music and express emotion.

Comparatively more so than other aforementioned dance styles, a lyrical performance aligns with the essence of a musical piece, in addition to highlighting the beauty, openness and strength the dancer. By contrast, ballet, Broadway/theater dance, and certain jazz genres tend towards a more presentational quality.

Lyrical dance gained its name not because the lyrics or words of a song are (indeed, often) emphasized over the song's rhythm, but because of the definition of the word lyrical: having a poetic, expressive quality; musical; characterized by or expressing spontaneous, direct feeling; expressing deep personal emotions or observation; highly rhapsodic or enthusiastic. Choreography can be gripping and exquisitely delicate, at the same time.

That a song's lyrics are a driving force and key inspiration for the movement accounts for why a sizeable number of dancers are unaware of how the style's name was derived, erroneously thinking it came from the word "lyrics".

The emergent lyrical style has a relatively recent history and a genesis based on the coming together of ballet with rock/folk/pop/alternative music and a variety of jazz dance styles and modern dance.

Musically, the choreography accentuates and/or flows often in correspondence with a song's climaxes, but the choreography will also bring out the more nuanced aspects of a song: sometimes a silence between notes in the music, or the breath between words, will be emphasized, perhaps with a simple, physical gesture.

This may be followed, for example, by a more complex sequence, such as a triple pirouette en cou-de-pied (coupe), or a grand jete, or a series of chaine turns, followed by a cabriole, descending to the floor, only to rise again and perhaps very casually to walk downstage for a few counts before changing direction once again.