Be mindful of music with words that might elicit movements of a mimetic nature. Select music which will elicit the desired movement qualities. Records, Tapes and Compact Discs Records, tapes or compact discs can be used in the dance lesson. Records offer teachers the ability to quickly find a musical selection but they tend to scratch easily. Tapes are more durable than records but finding musical selections can be time consuming.
Compact discs are probably the best.
They scratch less easily than records and musical selections can be cued to play immediately. Caution Teachers should keep in mind that some dance educators feel that music should be used sparingly with young children. They claim that music tends to structure movement, and when children are involved in finding their own unique solution to a problem, their breadth of discovery may be limited by the imposition of a metric rhythm. Also, beginning students of dance tend to let music dictate their quality of movement instead of making their own choices as to the qualities they desire. In cultures past and present, dance has been a means of expressing emotions, ideas and customs that have significance in the daily lives and history of people.