Creating Choreography For Performance

By Author: Maxwell David
Total Articles: 26
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Do you love to dance? Like thousands of young dancers worldwide, you may enjoy creating your own dance routines and trying them out with your friends and other young dancers. In this training tip, we'll give you the advice you need to create a performance to be proud of.

Choreographing good dance routines is an extremely challenging but ultimately rewarding process. There are many important stages from deciding to dance to performing your finished routine but if you take each stage at a time and put in time and effort, then you're sure to succeed.

Step 1: Choosing your troop & your tune - the first step to creating a dance routine with a group is to choose who you'd like to work with and then choose the music you'd like to dance to. Both tasks sound easier than they actually are. When you choose your dance troop, think about who you work well with and make sure everyone is a team player otherwise things could get very difficult. Don't just invite everyone to join you because you think it would be fun - choose your group with care. Choosing the music you would like to dance to is just as crucial for success. ...
... Take time alone or with your dance group to listen to lots of different music. Try to broaden your horizons and listen to music you wouldn't immediately think about dancing to- you may stumble across a track which is perfect for you and your group. Make a shortlist of two or three tracks and then improvise some dance moves to the music - you'll soon know exactly which tune to choose.

Step 2: Choreography - Once you and your dance group have decided on the music you are going to use, you need to start choreographing your routine. You may want to choose one member of the group to be the choreographer to create the routine or you may want to create the routine as a group. If you become the choreographer, you should always be open to ideas from your dance group and if you choose to create your routine as a group, you need to find a way of reaching a decision or you'll never get anywhere. To choreograph a dance routine you need to explore the music and develop a character and style for your moves. This may take some experimentation. Once you collected your ideas it's important to decide when you're going to use each move and ideally write your choreography down.

Step 3: Rehearsal - Once you've chosen your dance troop and your tune and you've created your choreography, it's time to start rehearsing. First, make sure you and your troop do some warm-ups and stretches before starting - otherwise you might put your body at risk. When you first start working on your routine, make sure you take small sections at a time and take things slowly, particularly if the routine is completely new to some members of the group. Remember, you're not competing with each other, you're working as a team to produce the best possible dance routine for performance. When you first start rehearsing, don't worry about the small details, they can be added in later. Simply learn the basics of the moves for the whole routine. Once everyone has learnt the basic moves, you can move on to adding details and improving the character and style of the piece. Your ultimate aim when rehearsing your routine is to make it as slick and smooth as possible. Every member of the team should be moving together and the direction and angle of every move should be the same. The more you achieve this, the more successful your routine will be as it makes more of an impact on your audience. But remember, if someone is struggling to do a particular move or keep in time, don't criticise them for it. Instead, help them out and take more rehearsal time.

Step 4: Performance - Once you're confident that you know your routine, that the whole group is moving together and that you have added style and character to the piece, it's time to take to the stage. If you've followed steps 1,2 and 3 properly, you should feel confident about performing and looking forward to getting on stage. However, a few nerves won't do you any harm. Once you get on stage, put all your energy into your performance and enjoy yourself!
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