Sokanu: The Blog

What Is a Choreographer?

The word choreography literally means "dance-writing".  Choreographers are trained professionals that create and arrange original dances by combining steps and movements.  They can also take traditional dances and develop new interpretations for them.  After auditioning performers, choreographers then teach a dance during several long rehearsals, which can include directing and staging presentations of their own works.

Choreographers work in various forms of dance, including classical ballet, modern, tap, jazz, folk, ethnic, and ballroom. They must be knowledgeable not only about dance techniques but also about music, costumes, lighting, and drama.

A career as a choreographer is an excellent choice for a person with a strong love and passion for dance and wanting to teach. Choreographers must have an excellent understanding of the specific type of dance they choose to teach. Creativity, physical strength, flexibility, coordination, patience, and perseverance are must-have characteristics. Choreographers must have excellent communication skills and have an ability to be a leader and motivate a variety of dancers. They must be able to work as part of a team and must also be able to work under stress and pressure in a chaotic environment.

Due to the strenuous activity involved in dance, many dancers retire from performing in their thirties and at that time become full time choreographers and teachers. Choreographers typically are older dancers with years of experience in the theater. Through their performance as dancers, they develop reputations as skilled artists that often lead to opportunities to choreograph productions. It is important to note that most dance teachers could be called choreographers because they choreograph end of the year performances and other dance competitions run through dance schools.

What Is A Choreographer's Job?

Typical Tasks

• Show dance steps and techniques
• Schedule and direct rehearsals for performances
• Express original ideas through physical movements and patterns
• Teach dancers to interpret movements
• Choose dancers to perform their works
• Have some understanding in reading music
• Teach students about musical rhythm in regards to dance
• Plan dance programs and create dances
• Practice regularly with dancers
• Choose music or sound effects to accompany dance steps
• Restage existing works to give a new interpretation
• Experiment with different dancers and dance steps
• Advise on how to stand and move, teaching correct dance techniques to prevent injuries
• May manage own dance school
• Choreographers may work in studios during practices then move to where performance will take place to do final rehearsing. Choreographers spend their days dancing and creating and teaching dances. There is often a lot of traveling if working for dance companies.
• Choreographing is a very time consuming process that requires long working hours. Rehearsals usually take place during the day and performances are generally in the evening.  Therefore, some choreographers work both day and night. Rehearsals are very busy times for choreographers because they must spend time with artistic directors, theater designers and the technical crew, so having regular working hours are not part of this career.

What It Takes To Be A Choreographer

Successful choreographers enjoy teaching others and taking control of situations.  They are interested in various musical and dancing styles and enjoy teaching others how to interpret movements and moods. The most satisfying part of being a choreographer is creating dance numbers and routines and watching them come to life on stage.

Choreographers need to have a lot of stamina, good coordination and a flexible body. They also need to have strong bodies, and maintain top physical shape.

Choreographers are former dancers with years of experience working in the theater and with dance companies. A university degree is not required for professional choreographers, but high school courses in drama, music, and the visual arts are highly recommended. It is imperative that choreographers develop their sense of rhythm and their understanding of music. Strength, flexibility, grace, and coordination are musts. Self-discipline, patience, commitment and perseverance are also characteristics vital to becoming a successful choreographer.

Although there is no required educational path for becoming a choreographer, most all choreographers come from a dance background. Most begin dancing as young children. They are trained in the various styles of dance, from classical ballet, tap, modern dance and jazz, and draw on all of these traditions in their interpretative works. Having knowledge about historical costumes, human anatomy and production design is a definite plus.  Some choreographers have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and some even move on to getting master's degrees. Often, choreographers with these degrees go into teaching at the post secondary level.

Many dance companies provide opportunities for experienced dancers to work under the direction of skilled choreographers.  Prospective choreographers should seize every opportunity to get experience and hone their dancing skills by performing as frequently as possible. Creating dances for local groups is a good way to begin a career. Dance/Theatre magazines contain announcements for auditions. Dancers can move into choreography by becoming assistants to established choreographers or by creating brief pieces for their own dance troup.

Choreographers must continually complete additional training and education throughout their careers to keep their skills up to date and to stay abreast with advancements in the field.

Workplace

Choreographers can be found anywhere, from a small theater company, all the way to the famous 'Broadway', usually working on a freelance basis. They may be hired to choreograph special events such as festivals, fashion shows, half-time shows at sporting events, entertainment for the Olympic games, television shows or music videos.  Musical theater productions may also hire choreographers to train actors in dance movements or to choreograph dances.

Choreographers may also split their time between working as choreographers as well as working as dancers or dance teachers. Choreographers can also be the artistic director of their own dance company. Successful choreographers often work with a professional dance company, and most dance companies will ask different members of their dance troupe to act as choreographers for new numbers.

Many of the major full-time professional dance companies have resident choreographers they hire under contract. These companies also invite guest choreographers to come in every once in awhile.

Work can be found with opera companies and in musical theater, television, movies, music videos, and commercials.

Salary

Better recognition in the field of choreography comes, of course, with better pay.  Choreographers with extensive experience and great talent will have the best job-paying opportunities.  As of February 2010, the middle 50% of choreographers earn annual salaries between $27,874 and $41,735.  The top 10% earn annual salaries of more than $49,239.

Employment of choreographers is expected to grow more slowly than average for all professions, increasing 5% from 2008 to 2018. The limited amount of funding for public and private dance organizations will contribute to the slow job growth.

List Of Choreographers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_choreographers

List Of Drama, Dance & Performing Arts Schools in the United States

http://www.internationalgraduate.net/usa-schools-drama-dance-performing-arts.htm

List Of Drama, Dance & Performing Arts Schools in Canada

http://artsalive.ca/en/dan/make/becomedancer.asp