Best Am. Rhythm Coaches/Choreographers

[Dream314]

I am looking to start new, fresh competition routines........how does eberyone else come up with their choreography? Would you all suggest coming up with your own and then getting a coach to fine tune? Or having a coach choreograph all? I want dynamic routines but that are right for competition....any suggestions?

 

[Jananananana]

I am looking to start new, fresh competition routines........how does eberyone else come up with their choreography? Would you all suggest coming up with your own and then getting a coach to fine tune? Or having a coach choreograph all? I want dynamic routines but that are right for competition....any suggestions?

Just the words "new routines" send chills down my spine.

The advantage to doing your own choreo is many fold:
1. it's your own personal routine
2. it's free!
3. it's a great learning experience
4. you can learn to choreograph for others as well
5. you pick exactly what you want in the routine and how you want it

The disadvantages are:
1. you and your partner may have more vocal disagreements about stylistic choices
2. it generally takes forever if you are new to it and can be very frustrating
3. it has the potential to be phenomenal but also not phenomenal (especially when you're first experimenting with choreo...)

with a coach there are advantages and disadvantages as well. I had a falling out with a coach because of a routine. There were times when the routine was so hard that I just had no way of learning it. Additionally, for me expense was always an issue, so my partner and I prefered home-grown routines.

However, I think coming up with a few ideas and segments could be a good compromise for a first try. Try a few things and ask your coach how he/she would make them better and combine them into a fluid routine that made sense.

You've just motivated me to get on some choreographing

 

[3wishes]

1) Talk this out with your partner, who is a willing participant in the routine.
2) Figure out what movement/figures/transitions you do best and your partner as well.
3) Take some time, play some music,,,and see how you, without boundries, interpet or dance to it...without thinking...just dance. You will be amazed with what you or both of you come up with.
4) Have fun with developing your "own" patterns.
5) Get a coach to come and watch,,add, fine tune, suggest, look at the transitions...and make was is "yours" even more as long as all agree.
Developing your own...is a great feeling.

 

[suburbaknght]

My partner and I do "all" our own choreography, meaning we assemble the routines ourselves but then our coaches make changes, take out figures, insert others, and in general build on the routines. That said, here's how we go about it:

1) Decide the figures we want to use.

We begin with a copy of every syllabus we can get, as well as the list of permitted figures and elements from both NDCA and USA Dance. We go through each figure in the dance, as well as other dances that can cross over (i.e. if we're putting together a rumba routine we also go through the cha cha, bolero, and mambo lists), marking which figures we definitely want to do and which figures we definitely don't want to do. Often this will mean aspects of figures, esp. in American style (i.e. "I love the snap turn into fan position on figure 13, quick underarm turn and loop, but don't feel the need for the spot turns left and right afterward"). We do a check against the list of permitted and restricted elements to make sure everything we want to do is legit.

2) Lay out the figures

We next work on aligning the figures to the audience. We take each of the figures we want to do and choose the angles that work best from the audience's point of view.

3) Connect the figures

We now work on transitioning from one figure to the next so that we can retain those alignments. For example, we finish outside partner breaks with back walks away from the audience while continuing to face them, but quick underarm turn and loop looks best when it's done with the leader facing the audience so it makes an easy transition between the two figures.

4) Check for phrasing

We count through the figures in 8's. Starting on phrase and ending on a phrase aren't a big deal but we do make sure we hit something on the 4's and 8's (i.e. counting American rumba 1QQ, 2QQ, etc.). If things don't match up we may adjust our transitions to take out measures by blending the ending of one figure with the start of another figure, or by inserting additional measures such as doing 3 crossover breaks before something rather than 1.

5) Outside opinion

Finally, we take the routine to our coach who looks it over and gives feedback which we then incorporate.

 

[Dream314]

Thank you to alll for replying! The knowledge is fantastic and I am looking forward to rocking it out!