Lyrical

Lyrical Dance is a dance style which combines elements of ballet, modern and jazz dance techniques. It is most commonly set to popular music with vocals. The choreography imitates or pantomimes the lyrics of the music to which the dance is set. This can include use of gesture, facial expression, and melodrama. It is popular primarily with teenage dancers due to its ease in physicality and often emotional inward focus. It therefore can serve as a vehicle for personal emotional expression through movement. While lyrical dance choreography borrows steps from ballet, modern, and jazz it does not have the rigor of those techniques. Lyrical dance typically encourages an unrefined use of articulation, line, weight, and movement qualities.

While lyrical dance draws on legitimate dance techniques, the style itself has no established technique or history. It is a style generated by private dance studio teachers, possibly beginning in the late 1970s or early 1980s. It was most likely developed as a more accessible entertainment for judges at local and regional dance "competitions." It is typically performed at these commercially operated competitions as an alternative to actual ballet. Other than these competitions, lyrical dance can only be seen performed at private studio recitals. Lyrical dance usually is not taught or performed in pre-professional, professional, college or university dance programs.