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Putting Your Best Foot Forward - Styles Of Dance To Learn For Musical Theatre

A great musical isn't just focused on hitting all the right notes; dance is an important element as well. If you are looking at getting involved in musical theatre, here are some dance styles that you might consider training in:
Ballet
Ballet is the foundation of Broadway dance, and learning even the basics of this dancing style will give you a great starting point. All the terms used in ballet are French, and these terms will carry over into other styles of musical theatre dance.
Tap
Although tap is used less often in modern musical theatre, it is essential for performing more classic shows like Singin' in the Rain. Tap dancing utilizes faster movements, but still possesses that sense of poised control seen in ballet. Your feet become a kind of soundboard or rhythm set, and the metallic-bottomed tap shoes hitting the floor add the soundscape of the show.
Jazz
Jazz dance has a long history in musical theatre, from classics like Oklahoma to modern shows like Chicago. Jazz dance is a great place to start when training for musical theatre dance.
Ballroom
Every now and then, ballroom dancing is utilized in a musical to emphasize the elegance or romance in a scene. It’s good to have basic ballroom knowledge and skills – you never know which show might need them!
Hip-Hop
The use of hip-hop dancing hasn’t been a traditional staple of musical theatre, however Hamilton has broken that stereotype. Modern musical theatre uses more dance styles, so taking a few hip hop classes could help you out a lot.
Do you take dancing lessons? Tell us about it in the comments!
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