Love this Beats Antique album cover.

In case you missed it, yesterday’s post was about finding new music. But now that you have all of this awesome music, how do you know what to dance to? Which song is right for which venue? This is especially difficult for tribal fusion dancers as many of us dance to a huge range of music and perhaps at a wider range of events. That’s not to say that Egyptian, Lebanese, Turkish, and AmCab dancers don’t have their own challenges, but dancers more experienced and knowledgeable in those areas have already written great things on that subject. I’m going to focus more on the pitfalls that a fusion dancer faces.

There are so many factors to take into consideration when choosing what to dance to at any given event. What is the audience like? What is the setting like? If you’re part of a larger show, what will everyone else be doing? This post will probably be a little scattered because I can’t decide what order I want to discuss things in and how best to organize my thoughts, so here goes.

1. Your audience should be your first consideration, because you’re dancing for them. Overused songs that make an audience of dancers roll their eyes might sound fresh and awesome to the general public. A heavy Goth piece is not going to fly at a Lebanese restaurant. People at an outdoor festival probably want something fun and flashy, whereas your fellow dancers might prefer something more soulful.

2. Setting should be next. Floorwork is awesome on a raised stage when everyone can see you, and awful in a restaurant where the floor is dirty and only a few patrons can see you once you’re down there. The black costume you wear for that heavy metal piece looks beautiful against a red velvet curtain and gets lost against a black backdrop. An outdoor festival during the windiest time of the year is not the time to do that cool fire eating fusion. A venue with a lot of ambient noise is not ideal for a quiet, subdued slow song.

3. Back to your audience. Is there a good chance that they’ve seen you before? What did you do last time they saw you? Make sure you do something completely different so they don’t think you’re a one-trick pony.

4. Do you expect to get good video at this event? If so, definitely choose something that you don’t already have video of, and that is really awesome, because then you’ll have something cool to add to your YouTube channel.

5. Do you expect to get good photos at this event? If so, choose a song that goes well with a new costume you want to show off, and that has lots of really photographable moments.

6. Does the event have a theme? If so, don’t go for the most obvious interpretation of the theme. I promise, you are not the only one thinking “I’ll do Roustabout for the circus show!” and if I see one more person do “Airship Pirates” at a steampunk festival I will scream.

7. Be authentic to yourself even when you’re trying to fit in. It can look really weird to do tribal fusion moves over Egyptian orchestral music. So if you’re at an event where Middle Eastern music is most appropriate, find something that will work for them but also fit your style of movement. Do a drum solo with lots of awesome pops and locks, or choose some world fusion music with an Arabic theme (of course if there’s any lyrics make sure to get a translation).

8. Let’s talk about pop music. It can be fun to dance to a pop song and sometimes the general public absolutely LOVES it when you’re either dancing to something they recognize from the radio or a cross-genre cover of an old favorite. But the problem with pop music is that it can get dated fast. I’ve already seen a meme that said something along the lines to “Can everyone please stop dancing to Radioactive already?” (My thought? “NO!” I love the Pentatonix/Lindsey Stirling cover of that song). Of course, if you’re an improv dancer it’s easy to do a pop song for a bit and then retire it. If you want to choreograph to something popular and mainstream, make it something fun and simple so you won’t feel bad when you have to remove it from rotation.

9. Make sure that you are confident about what you’re dancing to. Sometimes it’s tempting to rush to the stage with an awesome new song that you love, but you don’t want to show the audience a half-baked choreography or awkward improv! The same thing goes for a new prop, or a movement you haven’t quite mastered yet, or even something you are usually pretty good at but feel like you might not be able to do because of a healing injury or bad stage situations or whatever. Push yourself in class and while practicing, but on stage, present something you know you can own.

10. When in doubt, get a second opinion. I’ve been known to ask my teacher “What do you think of X song for Y event?” or to get my husband to watch what I’m working on and tell me if he thinks it’s ready for the stage. If you’re torn between two or more options, talk it out with a friend. They don’t even need to be a dancer or familiar with the songs you’re considering, just get someone to help you examine the pros and cons of each choice and what would be best for the event in question and what you could save the other pieces for.

I think that’s about all I have to say about music for now, but please, if you have any thoughts to add, share them in the comments section!