Why Silence is Overrated: How Ballet Dancers Unleash True Power by Embracing Primal Sound

For years, ballet has held an almost sacred view of silence. Every movement, every step, is cloaked in quiet, as if any sound might break the illusion of perfection. But what if that silence is more of a constraint than a strength? Recently, I had the chance to work with 20 ballet-trained dancers to challenge that notion, inviting them to step outside the quiet control of ballet and embrace primal sound and movement. The results were both unexpected and profoundly transformative.

Breaking the Silence
When we first started, the dancers expressed unease at the idea of vocalizing while moving. Classical ballet had trained them to equate silence with discipline and elegance, leaving vocal expression as something irrelevant or even inappropriate. Their voices, they felt, weren’t “allowed” in their art form. But by denying themselves this form of expression, they were missing out on a huge part of what it means to truly connect with their bodies.

The journey began with baby steps. We started with breath work and simple vocal sounds, gradually moving toward something much more visceral. The initial sessions were tentative, almost cautious, with the dancers releasing tiny, fragile sounds that mirrored the controlled precision they were so accustomed to in ballet. But over time, as we delved into the primal worlds of animals, they began to shed their inhibitions.

Unleashing the Animal Within
In one session, we explored the Feline and Canine worlds, challenging them to connect with the grounded, instinctual movements of these animals. Their voices deepened and thickened, filling the room with a new kind of energy. They prowled, growled, and inhabited the space with a weight and presence that was raw and liberating. I watched them embody the unrefined spirit of animals, moving far beyond the graceful confines of ballet.

The Canine world, with its lively energy, had them barking and growling, breaking their silence with sounds they never thought they’d make. Here, their voices turned into raspy, fragmented bursts, full of emotion and unrestrained expression. In that moment, they weren’t ballet dancers. They were creatures, unchained from formality, letting the world hear them.

Confronting Humanity’s Imperfections
The most challenging—and perhaps the most enlightening—session was exploring the Human world. Unlike animals, the Human world required them to tap into the complexities of their own emotional landscapes. For dancers trained to express only through movement, it was an entirely new realm to explore their humanity through sound, laughter, and cries of joy or anguish. This wasn’t about performing; it was about experiencing vulnerability and tapping into a voice they’d been conditioned to ignore.

Why Noise Matters
In ballet, silence is often revered as a sign of discipline. But in breaking that silence, these dancers found something far more powerful. They discovered that their voices, when freed from the pressure to be beautiful or controlled, could carry an intensity that transformed their movements. They moved beyond the delicate pitches of traditional ballet and into the realm of the Saxophone configuration—wild, raw, and entirely real.

The freedom they experienced when they let go of silence was transformative. By the final session, as they embodied the light, airy movements of the Bird world, they were chirping and trilling, exploring pitches they’d never considered. The silence they had clung to was gone, replaced by a harmony of voices moving through a wide range of sounds, embodying everything from gentle whispers to full-bodied cries.

Reclaiming Expression in a World That Worships Silence
Through this journey, these ballet dancers didn’t just learn to make noise—they learned to reclaim parts of themselves that silence had kept hidden. They discovered that by letting go of the notion that beauty must be quiet and contained, they could access a depth of expression that was entirely new. It was as though they had found their true power, not in silence, but in the primal resonance of their own voices.

So, the next time you think silence is golden, consider this: perhaps it’s only in breaking the silence that we can truly find our voice. In a world that values quiet control, sometimes the loudest form of expression is simply allowing yourself to be heard.

Randolph Matthews