Lyrical dance 

has been defined as a dance style that embodies various aspects of ballet, jazz, acrobatics & Modern
dancewhile still maintaining its autonomy. According to Jennifer Fisher, “It has been strongly
associated with clearly displayed emotional moods, fast-moving choreographic strategies, emphasis on
virtuosic display, illustration of song lyrics, and, in group form, exact unison.”  The style is usually
danced at a faster pace than ballet but not as fast as jazz.

History
The history of lyrical dance has not been as clearly documented as other styles of dance. There is
little research and documentation of the origins of lyrical dance most likely due to the limited use of
this style outside of the competition dance world. There are three popular origin stories for lyrical
dance that have been suggested by experts of competition dance. The first, speculated by Jimmy
Peters, is that lyrical dance evolved from the “dream ballet” in musicals such as Oklahoma and West
Side Story. The second from Chelya Clawson, states that this term can be traced back to 16th
century traditional Indian dance. The last, and the most plausible, created by Phyllis Balanga-
Demoret, is that it began about 25 years ago as a result of ballet’s inability to take to the competition
stage Even though there has been no official documentation, Balanga-Demoret’s explanation is the
most plausible because lyrical dance is only used in competition dance. Additionally, ballet is rarely
seen on a competitive stage, despite it having its own category at many competitions, which further
confirms Balanga- Demoret’s theory. Dancer, teacher, and choreographer Suzi Taylor, who holds
regular classes at Steps on Broadway in New York City, is considered by many to be an early
mother of lyrical dance, having emphasized a unique brand of musicality and expressiveness which
influenced many future teachers and choreographers.
The styles within lyrical dance have changed over time. In the earlier stages, a dancer would
perform the lyrics of a song, displaying emotions. Today, the lyrical category still has an emphasis
on displaying emotion but in a more abstract way. The lyrical category is a place for innovation and
stylized movement that is associated with contemporary dance. Lyrical dancing is performed to
music with lyrics to inspire movements to express strong feelings and emotions the choreographer
feels from the lyrics in the chosen song. Because lyrical dancing focuses on the expression of strong
emotion, the style concentrates more on individual approach and expressiveness than the precision
of the dancer's movements. Because of this, there is not as much focus on the choreography, and,
in fact, the choreography often exists only as a general guide for the dancer, not as a routine that
has to be exactly followed.

Style vs technique
Because of the links between the styles of dance, teachers originally struggled with whether to teach
lyrical dance alongside jazz or ballet or as its own, separate style. The main concerns with lyrical
dance is the distinction between lyrical as a style and/or a technique. Lyrical has been described as
a "pseudostyle" or a "pseudogenre"because it utilizes steps from other, more established styles of
dance. Lyrical dance utilizes training from jazz technique, ballet technique, and modern technique as
a basis for movement. These well-known movements are elongated, taken off their center, and
distorted to create a new aesthetic in lyrical. Although advertised by some studios as a class, “lyrical
technique” does not technically exist. A dancer cannot be proficient in lyrical dance without
knowledge and mastery of basic technique from jazz, ballet, and modern.

Use in popular culture

Lyrical dance is competition dance style and is only used to describe a specific style of dance in the
world of competitive dance. “Lyrical” is used to describe a quality or movement type in other dance
settings, but not as a style name such as Jazz or Ballet. There has only been one instance of lyrical
being used in a professional setting. This was on Season 1 of the popular American dance show So
You Think You Can Dance. Contestants on this reality show were asked to compete in many
different styles such as ballroom, hip-hop, jazz, and lyrical. The term lyrical was replaced by the term
contemporary in Season 2 of the show. This was thought to have been done to professionally
legitimize this show. Despite the name change, the type of dances performed in this style remain
very similar.
LINK where you can find examples of lyrical dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EK4E9nCeYI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dauvMUovv4&t=20s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmA4DZC_qwY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MYMdoMTbWc