Choreographic Craft and Process Notes

Choreographic Craft: Overview and Purpose

  • Choreography is the art of the purposefully selected arrangement of movement. It is an art in itself, not just the dancers who perform it; the choreographer’s voice and intent shape the depth and meaning behind a dance.

  • Dance can serve various functions: ritual or ceremonial, commercial, or concert stage works. Each genre asks the choreographer to address different considerations.

  • Western theatrical dance serves as the basis for exploring choreography in this chapter.

  • Viewers often judge performances by various aspects (movement quality, performance, or choreography itself). There is no universal formula for a great dance, but certain elements can increase effectiveness.

  • The chapter goals: define the choreographic craft, describe the choreographic process, identify elements of dance that a choreographer manipulates, and highlight tools a choreographer may use to compose a dance.

  • Exercise prompt (from the text): before diving in, list everything you think may be involved in the choreographic process.

Choreographic Craft: What It Is and How It Works

  • Choreography is a craft requiring thought, research, and trial-and-error; the process can be short (a week or less) or long (months to years of rehearsal).

  • The choreographic craft involves carefully chosen movements organized into aesthetically pleasing and/or purposeful sequences.

  • These movement sequences are sculpted into an overall form or structure that enhances the choreographer’s intent.

  • A choreographic concept is the idea, story, or intention of the whole work. Concepts may be:

    • Story-based

    • Thematic

    • Abstract

BOX 3.1: MOVEMENT EXPERIMENTATION

  • Exercise idea: take a simple arm gesture and experiment with variations:

    • Do the gesture as small as you can, and as large as you can.

    • Look at the gesture as you execute it, then look away.

    • Consider other observational angles and preferences.

  • The text notes four basic ways to manipulate a simple arm gesture (illustrating how many options there are for even a single gesture).

  • With the intent in mind, the choreographer conveys the concept to the audience.

  • Possible intents for a choreography include:

    • Expressing a specific story or plot

    • Making a social or political statement

    • Conveying a theme

    • Exploring an abstract idea

    • Simply entertaining

  • Every piece of the choreographic puzzle provides clues to help viewers discover the work’s meaning.

  • The choreographer makes a series of creative decisions, including:

    • Number of dancers

    • Specific movement vocabulary to use

    • How movements should be executed

    • Pathways and directions

    • Musical accompaniment or lack thereof

Where Do Ideas for a Dance Come From?

  • Ideas can come from everywhere, similar to other art forms (novels, films, music).

  • Potential sources include:

    • Life experiences

    • Historical events

    • Mythical stories and legends

    • Musical sources

    • Plays

    • Religion

    • Social or political conditions

    • Emotions and moods

    • Abstract ideas (colors, shapes)

  • The list is endless; artists respond to the world around them to entertain, relate, or challenge audiences.

  • A stimulus is defined as "something that rouses the mind … or incites activity" and acts as inspiration or a catalyst for movement and/or choreography.

  • Stimulus serves as a starting point for the choreographic process.

  • There are five types of stimuli to which a choreographer may respond:

    • Visual

    • Auditory

    • Tactile

    • Kinesthetic

    • Ideational

The Five Types of Stimulus in Detail

  • Visual stimulus: something that can be seen (e.g., pictures, sculptures, objects).

  • Auditory stimulus: something that can be heard (e.g., music, spoken word).

  • Tactile stimulus: something that can be touched (e.g., sand, props like chairs or hats).

  • Kinesthetic stimulus: internal feel of movement (e.g., swinging motions, curling the body then extending limbs); the focus is on movement itself, sometimes without a specific narrative.

  • Ideational stimulus: an idea from the mind; often the most popular source of inspiration for choreography.

  • Regardless of type, a stimulus acts as a catalyst to guide the choreographic process and can narrow the scope of movement and other elements.

  • Once inspired, the stimulus should evolve into a concrete concept to guide development.

From Stimulus to Concept: Turning Inspiration into a Dance Concept

  • The stimulus evolves into a concrete concept that defines what will be choreographed.

  • How to decide what to choreograph varies:

    • In some productions (e.g., Broadway musicals), the plot and narrative are prescribed, music may be pre-composed, and the director clarifies the dance’s intent and cast size.

    • Boundaries are established early; the scope of the dance is narrowed and options may be limited.

    • In contrast, concert dance offers fewer built-in constraints, allowing broader creative latitude (note: the text begins to contrast but the excerpt ends here).

Production Contexts: Broadway vs Concert Dance (Implications for Choreography)

  • Broadway musical context:

    • Plot and narrative are prescribed

    • Music may be pre-existing; the director clarifies intent, dance needs, and cast size

    • Boundaries are set before the creative process begins, narrowing choreographic options

  • Concert dance context:

    • Repertoire is often created with fewer predetermined constraints, enabling more experimental or personal expression

  • The excerpt ends with a lead-in to discussing concert dance, indicating a shift from tightly defined productions to more flexible, artist-driven works.

Key Takeaways for the Choreographic Process

  • The craft blends artistry and technique through deliberate movement choices and structural design.

  • The concept guides all decisions and shapes how movement communicates with an audience.

  • Stimuli act as catalysts, providing starting points from which concrete choreographic concepts emerge.

  • The process is iterative and context-dependent, with production type shaping constraints and opportunities.

  • Understanding the different sources of inspiration and the types of stimuli helps choreographers plan, develop, and refine a dance work.

Note: The provided transcript ends mid-sentence on Page 4 after introducing the contrast with concert dance ("In contrast, concert dance"). The continuation of this comparison is not included in the excerpt.