Contemporary dance is quickly picking up pace and is currently one of the most popular style of dance. It is an extremely nebulous form of dance and is strongly associated with dance philosophy. Of course for contemporary dance you need a song to set the mood. Melodyful compiles a list of 100 contemporary dance songs that will help to set the mood of the whole dance.
Pioneers Of Contemporary Dance!
Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, and Jose Limon.
Introduced in the 20th century, it is a style of dance that is an outgrowth of modern dance plus some other 20th century dance techniques. Unlike other dance forms such as ballet, contemporary dance has no rigid dance steps. Contemporary dancers try to explore the natural energy and feelings of their body in this dance style. Though it is a fluid form of dancing, dancers from any background like classical, ballet, breakdancing can learn this style.
They incorporate bodywork techniques such as Pilates, yoga into their dance. Contemporary dance emphasizes on mind-body connection, trainers motivate their dancers to feel the emotions of the song through this dance form. Unlike any other dance form, it requires mastering the art of balance, floor work, fall and recovery, and improvisation. Contemporary dance performance often exhibits personal narrative, commentary on society, or an integration of various cultures.
Since contemporary dance style depends a lot on the type of song, given below is a ‘contemporary dance songs’ list that encompasses various moods of a human being like emotional, sad, creepy and dark. Many of the songs mentioned are taken from movies and some are based on friendships, love, death, while some are upbeat tracks.
Best Contemporary Dance Songs
- You’ve Got A Friend
-Carole King - Don’t Get Lost in the Crowd
–Ashley Ballard - Show me Your Fire Truck
–Backdraft - It’s my Turn To Fly
-The Urge - Tonight is What it Means to be Young
-Fire Inc - For Crying Out Loud
–Meatloaf - Glory and Gore
–Lorde - Silhouettes
–Of Monsters and Men - Fantasy
-MS MR - The Best Day of My Life
-American Authors - My Love
-Sia - I’m Yours
-Jason Mraz - Stop & Stare
-OneRepublic - Werewolf
-Cocorosie - 14 Days
-Arkitekt - Let it Be (Ft Veela)
-Blackmill - Better Days
-The Goo Goo Dolls - For Today
-Jessica Lea Mayfield - White Blank Page
-Mumford & Sons - Fly Away
-Corrinne May - I’m Every Woman
-Whitney Houston - Wings
-Birdy - At Last
-Etta James - Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo
-Cindrella - In the Air Tonight
-Phil Collins - Windblown
-Brendan James - Impossible
-Shontelle - To Build a Home
-The Cinematic Orchestra - Dictionary
-The Go Find - Are We the Waiting
-Green Day - Just The Way You Are
-Bruno Mars - What I Wouldn’t Do
-Serena Ryder - Bloom
-The Paper Kites - Jar of Hearts
-Christina Perri - Weight
-Sarah Slean - Boston
-Augustana - Volcano
-Damien Rice - Satellite Heart
-Anya Marina - In the Air Tonight
-Phil Collins - Dancing
-Elisa - Tore my Heart
-Oona - Beyond Words
-10th Avenue North - Ordinary Day
-Vanessa Carlton - Eyes on Fire
-Blue Foundation - Magic
-Colbie Caillat - Everywhere I Go
-Lissie - Beautiful
-India Arie - Sober
-Kelly Clarkson - Your Ex-Lover is Dead
-Stars - Fix you
-Coldplay - Almost Lover
-A Fine Frenzy - Always Midnight
-Pat Monahan - She’s like the Wind
-Patrick Swayze - More Than a Kiss
-Tommy Conwell - Cause I’m a Blonde
-Julie Brown - I am
-Christina Aguilera - A Million Miles Away
-Rihanna - Stand By Me
-Ben E. King - The Special Two
-Missy Higgins - Taking Chances
-Celine Dion - Heart Wants What It Wants
-Selena Gomez - I Will Return
-Skylar Grey - Belief
-Gavin Degraw - Jupiter
0Sleeping at Last - Candlelight
-Imogen Heap - The Dance
-Charlotte Martin - Young Volcanoes
-Tiffany Alvord - World I Used To Know
-Ryan Star - All Of Me
-John Legend - Fortune
-William Fitzsimmons - Seven Devils
-Florence and the Machine - Night Bus
-Lucy Rose - Bed of Roses
-Bon Jovi - When I See an Elephant Fly
-Dumbo - Sail
-Awolnation - Without You
-AJ Rafael - Love Is a Song
-Bambi - What Sound
-Lamb - Worn Me Down
-Rachael Yamagata - Love Eternal
-Dracula - Mad World
-Gary Jules - The Time of My Life
-David Cook - Fly
-Sarah Brightman - Going Under (acoustic)
-Evanescense - Latch (Acoustic)
-Sam Smith - Perfect
-Alanis Morissette - Flying High
-Jem - From Where I am
-Enya - Say
-John Mayer - Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
Alicia Keys - Pocketful of Poetry
-Mindy Gledhill - Blue Eyes
-Cary Brothers - Half of My Heart
-John Mayer ft. Taylor Swift - Catch Me
-Demi Lovato - Dream
Priscilla Ahn - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room
-Savannah Outen - XO
-Beyoncé - True Affection
-The Blow - Merry Happy
-Kate Nash - Look Like A Bird
-Amanda Shires
There are ample number of emotional, instrumental songs in the list. Hope this list is helpful in selecting that perfect song for your performance.
