Dancing an irregular-length line dance to such a song creates a multitude of rhythmic and metrical interpretations. Neal says that in some cases, musical and dance meters never align during the course of a song. Good dancers learn to enjoy these polyrhythms. We re capable of locking into whatever repeating pattern is present and accepting that as the pulse of the event, Neal says. Consider a jazz tune where the drummer sets up two rhythmic patterns that weave together and play off each other.
Dancing can be like being that drummer.
Since a country dance doesn t require a square tune, Neal says that songwriters and performers can employ a broad range of techniques to shape a song as they see fit. Meanwhile, line-dance choreographers are free to create interesting dances without being locked to the music s meter. Because the music and dance have evolved together, neither restricts the other. Seems country is more sophisticated than a lot of folks thought. As Neal puts it, the same techniques present in Bach s and Brahms s music appear in country music.