How to choreograph a routine

[pygmalion]

For those of you involved in competitive or exhibition dance, a question. Do you do your own choreography? If so, how do you go about doing it? Choosing music? Selecting patterns, poses. etc? Do you modify your choreography/presentation depending on the music chosen?

Thoughts, anyone?

[DancingMommy]

I normally start with a piece of music I adore and go from there. I listen to the music until I know every break, nuance etc *before* it happens.

I normally try to adapt choreography to the lyrics (if there are any).

For me, the first step is seeing the finished dance product in my mind's eye when I hear the music for the first time. Then I analyze the breaks, style, character of the music.

[SwinginBoo]

I agree with Dancing Mommy about picking a song you really like. (because chances are you are going to get sick of it by the end.) Also making sure it's a danceable tempo for all people in the group.

Secondly, listen to it often and formulate some ideas for general choreography. E.G. -- lindy here, Balboa at this part, tandem charleston next.

Next, think about how many couples are going to be in the choreographed dance. This will be a key for developing formations and various detailed choreography.

Once I've done all these things, then I get to the nitty gritty of the details. You'll find that sometimes what you picture in your head may not work perfectly on the floor. So once you start rehearsing you need to be flexible and be able to tweak it a bit.

These are just a few things that I have done in my limited experience in choreographing a dance.

[LauraB]

I have a coach do my choreography, then my partner and I might modify little pieces of it in practice if we find something doesn't work quite right for us. Music doesn't matter, because in competition, you don't know which song they're going to play (a waltz is a waltz). If you're doing an exhibition or cabaret dance, then the music comes first. I would still have a coach do the choreography, but with more input from us as to which lifts we do best, etc. Setting the movements to the lyrics, and the highs and lows of the music, is really important.

[Vince A]

I (we) also pay to have a routines choregraphed, and then pay that Pro to coach us on an hourly basis once we get the routines memorized.

Of course we also tape all sessions, and set with the Pro to critique. Here is where they can tell you things that they were trying to get you to do during the coaching session.

There is much more to choreography than just throwing patterns together and then memorizing them . . . there are rules to follow . . . such as in some venues, the "12 count rule," where you cannot do more than 12 counts of non-vanilla footwork, before you absolutely have to insert a "basic," or ding-ding-ding to the points go the judges!

The coach that I hire, better have a set of the rules in-hand. They should also know them well and know about any recent changes! This includes the legalities involved in shoes and costumes.

[ballroomboilergirl]

I personally don't use routines YET (our head coach likes the Newcomer and Bronze couples to learn sound lead/follow techniques before jumping into choreography), but the members of my team that do usually have Dan, one of our coaches, choreograph something for them. A few have choreographed (or tried to choreograph :shock:) some of their own stuff, but many of them say that it is easier to have someone who is familiar with your strengths and weaknesses and knows what patterns flow together well and look cool do it for you. However, I think if it were me, I would at least want to have some input on what was going into a routine...I mean, if I think a certain move looks dorky, I'm going to feel dorky doing and thus I'm probably gonna do it poorly, so it's just pointless for me to do it. Plus I think of routines as the dancer's interpretation of the music, which is how one can show good emotion during their performance...so to me it would seem a bit flat to just dance to an entire routine that is someone ELSE'S interpretation of the music and not your own :?

[dancersdreamland]

While I don't dance in competitions and very rarely perform (already in groups with set choreography), I do enjoy choreographing.

I usually begin with a piece of music I feel passionate about. A lot of time I'll hear and song and suddenly feel the need to dance. Usually, specific dance steps or ideas will just pop into my head.

As I begin getting ideas, I write them down, dance them out and just play around.

No real set way, just kind of have fun and see what happens.

[redhead]

What do you do if you and your partner just LOVE some move but your coach takes it out of your routine? She probably knows better but still...

[dancerfreak5678]

Wow! What a kawinkydink! I was just about to ask how different ppl choreograph dances!! Whattayaknow?? Well I might as well put in my 2 cents. I'm a teenager so I don't choreograph for competitions but I am told that I have a nack from choreographing. I have been choreographin to put in the City of Lakewood Hip Hop's recital (no big thing) or for fun for a while now. I don't really have a very structured way to choreograph. Most of the time I can only think of a certain part of the song that i have an idea for and have a problem comin up with the rest of the dance. If anyone could help me with that I would appreciate it!

But for the most part I just listen to the music that I want to choreograph to and just free style and when I do something that I like I TRY to remember what I did. A video camera does help but mine sucks! and then I repeat that until I have that embedded in my head and then I move on.

Most of the time I already have an idea in my head for what I wanna do for a part of the dance and I build off of that too!! whether its a formation or a combo or a theme.

I inherit my 1st dance teachers want to change everything about the dance! He ALWAYS changes everything and I tend to too! lol yea. I just stay flexible.

Umm . . that's all I can think about now! If I remember anything else I'll post it! Hope I helped you!