How to Choreograph A Dance!

December 3, 2015

So, you think you can dance? Great! Now it’s time to take your talent to the next level and choreograph a dance.  Don’t worry, you can do it! There are 10 basic steps you need to apply when choreographing your dance. Below I will list the ten steps for you that will help you create a wonderful dance.

  1. Find your inspiration– select a song that you are drawn too.  Choose songs that will make you want to dance.
  1. Have a vision– think about how you want the dance to look and feel. Your vision can include; the clothing you will wear, where you see yourself dancing, costumes, even how you would like the lighting. Write down the dance.  Make a list of moves that would work for the song you have selected.
  1. Develop a vocabulary– This means to think of the gestures and movements. Select dance moves that will flow and work well together.
  1. Break the song apart– Determine the mood or moods of the song. You may even want to draw out the tone of the music by using squiggly lines.
  1. Use the full dance space– try to use the entire space provided for you when you dance. When you use all of your space you keep your audience engaged. Also, it ensures that you will use different moves as you think of ways to use the full space.
  1. Start dancing– Record yourself dancing to the song. There are 3 reasons you should record yourself making up a dance; to see what moves came naturally to you, to see what expressions you made with your face, so you can dance freely without trying to remember what moves you used.
  1. Get the basic movements down– we like to focus on one part of the song until we have created a dance to it and have perfected it.
  1. Practice– Practice makes better! Practice the moves until you are comfortable with the flow of the dance.
  1. Mirror the beginning– Try to end the dance the same way you started it. By bringing the dance full circle, it will give the dance a sense of completion.
  1. Have fun and be yourself!

www.Juliadances.com Challenge:  Expose yourself to more music.  Here are a couple of ways you can listen to new music.

  • Listen to Pandora or your favorite radio station
  • Go to iTunes- on iTunes you can search for your favorite artist and listen to their current music.

After you have found a song that is just right, it’s time to get started choreographing your dance! Here is a dance Julia choreographed. You can see more of her dances and tutorials on her YouTube channel- Julia Dances Live

{ 0 comments… add one now }

Leave a Comment

Previous post: