Choreographers - Preparation (2024)

FAQs

What are the 3 stages of preparation in choreography? ›

The choreographic process may be divided for analytical purposes (the divisions are never distinct in practice) into three phases: gathering together the movement material, developing movements into dance phrases, and creating the final structure of the work.

You'll need a high level of dancing ability, the patience to teach others and to know what looks good to a wider audience, as well as the communication skills needed to make sure that your directions are coming across clearly to your dancers.

Difficulty picking up choreography can sometimes come from overthinking. Being "stuck in your head" can lead to brain processes getting in the way of our body's wisdom and instincts. This can be especially true if negative thoughts start to fill our head: thoughts of self-criticism, fear, or anxiety.

As previously mentioned, the primary elements of dance are time, space, and energy.

Finally, a great way to remember the five elements is by thinking of the acronym BASTE: Body, Action, Space, Time and Energy.

In order to pick up choreography fast, it helps to have an expansive range of dance vocabulary. Being comfortable with moves from different styles will make it much easier to pick up choreography fast because those moves are already ingrained in your muscle memory!

The slow tempo and simple steps of the Rumba make it ideal for beginners. The basic steps of the Rumba consist of side steps, forward-backward motions, and Cuban motion, all of which are easy dance moves to learn and can be adapted to different styles of music.

Now to better understand how to conquer these situations, we must continue to better understand why this situation can arise in the first place. Three of the most common reasons for forgetting your dance can include, but are not limited to, nerves, lack of practice, and natural human imperfection.

You'll need a high level of dance training and experience. You could do a foundation degree, degree or postgraduate award to develop your skills. Relevant subjects include: professional dance.

Choreographers generally begin their careers as dancers, and during their training they participate in informal apprenticeships with experienced choreographers to study and practice how to choreograph dance routines.

Is choreography a talent? ›

Being able to choreograph or visualize what a combination of dance moves will look like is a great skill set. If you can dance well and choreograph then it makes you exceptional.

The key to remembering a routine is to convert the physical movements into muscle memory which means you don't have to think about each step. Go over steps in class as much as possible, in particular tricky quick movements. Repetition is key to creating muscle memory.

For most professionals, they can take anywhere between thirty minutes to a couple hours to memorize choreography and have it down really well. For reference, I've been dancing for about fifteen years and it takes me about forty-five minutes to get choreography into my brain and be able to anticipate the next step.

If you want to make some easy choreography for yourself, begin by watching some simple routines from established choreographers, so you can pick up on what you might like. Then, choose a song that makes you wanna move, and try freestyling to that song. This will help you work out what grooves come naturally to you.

The first four steps in the choreographic process - observation, feeling response, memories combined with imagination to equal movement, followed by evaluation - can be revisited as the choreographer cycles back and forth through various stages.

Conception of the dance idea 2. Gathering of the movement 3. Putting and arranging the movement by teaching the dancers 4. Creating the final structure and polishing it for performance.