Thread: Teaching choreography - Tips?

If you teach and don't mind sharing your methodology, how do you go about it? Do you whip up a new one up when it's needed, or do you have a reusable stash in your back pocket? How much prep time goes in? How do you structure your choreography class or workshop? How do you feel about giving notes, CDs, and use of your material?

If you don't teach and like learning choreography, what works best for you? How do you use what you've learned?

I will be stalking this thread...I get "white noise in the head" (kinda like when I think about dividing fractions) when I even think about writing choreo. If I can repeat the same sequence on the right side of my body that I just did on the left not 8beats ago, I am thrilled! help! I want so badly to write some...just to give the beginers something they can do at home when they are not following my bouncing butt...AKA "the conductor of chaos"

Nuttin' but you, me, and crickets, Anala! ..l;, Did I ask too many questions, or does everyone else just go to bed at a sane hour? Please, need input!!

I have to whip up three or four a year, and choreography is not my strong suit. I'm learning though!

First of all, I have a set of movements that are deemed level-appropriate. That helps a lot. The level 2 choreos are easier on that score, because they are for new dancers with minimal experience, or else long-term dancers with less physical ability to do more extensional movement. So they need to be simple and hopefully cute, and not too long. I use a lot of Arabic pop at that level, but I think it is time to whip out something a bit more classic, if I can find a piece that's not too hard.

Level 3 is a bit more complex and that is where the choreographies get tricky - they can't just be a choreography I might do, because that would be too hard for some of them and also, not really much good for a group.

There are ways and means of doing choreo by numbers. I'll elaborate what I know in the next post, since I am way sick of editing!

I was in bed before you asked this one!

I've got a stash (though not a huge one) of choreographies I can use for Beginner classes and for workshops. But my Intermediate students tend to stick with me so I can't rotate those choreos so readily!

That said, I do like to create new routines even for the Beginners, and it's always good to add to the stash.

Most of the time I'm choreographing for a specific class- to teach a particular skill or to get a piece that would be suitable for a group performance- but sometimes I take one of my personal choreos & adapt it. Sometimes I'll take an Intermediate level choreo & simplify it to make it suitable for Beginners.

1) Determine your level.
2) Determine what kind of piece you want it to be - shaabi pop, classical veil, Latin fusion, drum solo, taqsim, mini orientale?
3) Select a suitable piece that is not too long (three to five minutes is usually ample for a class choreo.) This is, of course, really hard in the world of ME dance...
4) Listen to the music a lot.
5) Listen to the music, breaking it down into sections. I always fall down here - I get impatient and the counting aspect drives me mad - but this is a VERY useful step. This way you can map out the song, noting where there are repeats and reprises and sudden unexpected samaii sections.
6) Starting to dance here is a good idea. If you get stumped, listen and determine what kinds of movement seem likely to work. Rules of thumb: roundy sounds say roundy movement, staccato sounds say shimmies, high sounds say upper body/arms, low gutty sounds say lower body/belly, sharp poppy accents may say lock or pop or bounce or *something*. Malfuf, felahi, sometimes ayoub say travel. But these are only guidelines.
7) Start to choreograph! Because you've mapped the piece out, you can go jumping straight into "that chorus that repeats 3 times" if you wish and just work on that to start with. Linear choreography doesn't work for everyone. You can also play with slower, faster, half time, double time.
8) If this is a class choreo, remember it's a group piece. That means floor pattern changes, ideally, but also, that you must consider the need to simplify things so they look good en masse (so a bit that says "soft floaty arm thingy" needs to be timed and broken down so everyone is doing the same thing). You also have the opportunity to use repeats and call-response structures to get the dancers doing different things, so it's not just ten people doing a solo number.
8) If in doubt, just step in time till you get inspired. You can fill those bits in later.
9) And, from my colleague who choreographs extremely well: try and put in a surprise or two. An unexpected level, direction or timing change, a cute arm thingy or other accent.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

1) Determine your level.
... all the way through to...
9) And, from my colleague who choreographs extremely well: try and put in a surprise or two. An unexpected level, direction or timing change, a cute arm thingy or other accent.

Brilliant description of the process I go through myself.

The one thing I would add is that, however long the piece is, there seems always to be a flagging point around 2/3 of the way through it, and that's when your point #9 comes into it's own.

I'm one of those oddities - someone who loves choreographing for a group - I find it gives me so much freedom to try things out and I can get more creative. I'm no expert but have been complimented on my group choreographies. Whether for a group, myself or for another solo performers here's the things I think about.

- what is it for? atmosphere, audience, stage/room layout. Can it be adapted to a variety of places (I want adaptable choreography, saves work in the long run)
- ability of group or dancer - harder with groups 'cos if you only choreograph to the lowest common denominator then it can get stale and boring, also you want to develop dancers - BUT if only one person can do the steps then it can look a real mess. I get round this by choreographing small solos or smaller group vignettes within the larger group choreography.
- always pick music you love - that's how you get inspired, if I'm choreographing for someone else I'm honest if the music says nothing to me.
- I never repeat a chorus, I may repeat steps but not in a predictable way. This rule applies even with beginners choreography.
-Much to my classes annoyance I rarely count - I don't want to fall into the 8 on the right 8 on the left predictability (see above point). Even with beginners I work on phrases and patterns in the music and rythym I could say this is about giving them the tools - it partly is but it's also about how I respond to music, numbers kill it for me.
- here's the bit my class think is strange - I always come up with the patterns first. For me dance is about movement. Whether for a group or solo I think of the shapes I want to make and the floor patterns. I find where the music wants me to travel and where it says static. I work with the pictures in my head that come from the listening to the music and then fit dance moves around that.
- finally be prepared to make changes - sometimes things look great in my head and then when I get a group to do it it doesn't quite work - no point flogging a dead horse just change it. I have been known to change things much later because I've thought of something better or been introduced to a new move which I think will look good, it's great to develop choreographies not just think oh that ones finished I can file it away now.

For class I have a bank of choreographies but I also introduce new ones. With my intermediate class I have just finished getting them to choreograph their own piece. I gave them a choice of 2 pieces of music, we spent half the class drilling technique that would fit with the music and style. Then they would improvise, I'd make notes, get them to demonstrate bits of improv to each other and they'd discuss what steps would work. I'd act as a facilitator. It worked really well because it got them thinking about audience, pattern and direction, dynamic etc. It also means they remember the choreography as they have more of themselves invested in it.

And there's more! Sorry but choreography is one of the things I love doing within this dance.

I have just finished working with a troupe of peers and in terms of teaching the choreography, here's what worked for me.
- Not breaking it down into too many small sections, 3 or 4 is usually enough. Anymore than that it gets hard to string it back together.
- as soon as possible get into always repeating the whole choreography not bits. If you do it in sections don't always start with the beginning (it's amazing how many people learn only the first half of a choreography)
- use movement and pattern to change people around so they don't become reliant on copying the person in front of them.
- repetition. repetition repetition - practise practise practise!

I'll shut up now!

learning choreography:

1. teach some combinations in it separately
2. demonstrate the whole thing if possible
3. teach in 3 - 4 sections (as mentioned above). In each start with 1-2 8 counts and keep adding on.

hmm, I know there is more
too early for the brain to work well

Zumarrad's method is pretty much what I do, too. I put together at least 3 new choreographies for each 6-week session, so between classes, troupe dances, and my own solos, I do 30-40 choreographies a year. Because I can't begin to keep all these in my brain, I have Mr. Latifa video me demonstrating the choreography, and make these demo DVDs available at a nominal price to my students. I also provide printed notes (copies in class, plus I post files on our password-protected student site). This also provides me with video and printout for my records, in case I want to teach a dance again. (At the beginner level, I repeat dances every 2-3 years.) For each session, I select a mix of types of music so that our little student parties at the end have a nice variety.

One thing I like to do when I teach choreography -- although I just realized that I haven't done it in a while -- is to teach non-linearly. If there's a tricky little bit in the middle or near the end, I might sneak it into the end of the warm-up section as a follow-the-bouncing-butt thing. Then when it pops up in the choreo, my students realize that they already know it, and that's a huge psychological lift. For one choreo workshop, I was working with Susu Pampanin's "Tabeli Ya Susu," which has an oriental beginning, and a khaleegy section, a beledi section, and a finale. I taught the beledi first, then the khaleegy, then the beginning. The students loved the feeling of going from a portion they felt unsure about to something they knew. It worked really well. I should do that again.

I like to use choreography as a framework for teaching technique, too. I figure out what the students at each level should be working on, and put that in the choreography. The level is always challenging but attainable, and I have variations if students can't quite get a fancy 3/4 shimmy or a complicated turn.

Just looking back at Nasila's original query... which also asked about prep time. I can usually come up with 3-4 choreographies in a week, but at that point I have them written down, but not firmly in my memory (muscle memory or brain). I make sure that I know the first minute or two of each dance well before the first night of the new session. By the second or third week, I know them well enough to video them.

I had good intentions about getting my fall choreographies done ahead of time during my summer break, so they would be on video and ready... but here I am on Bhuz instead of in the studio. ..l;, I do work best under pressure, luckily.

Enough rambling -- time for coffee!

Originally Posted by bintbeled

The students loved the feeling of going from a portion they felt unsure about to something they knew. It worked really well. I should do that again.

I've used this trick successfully too- it can work well with the right music.

re: learning choreo

it's helpful to understand what mood/theme the choreographer is going for. also to talk about general things like stage presence, expressions, etc. i also really like learning song translations, especially when there's a part that goes along to the words in the song.

how i use it: try to incorporate new moves/combos. breaking down what i think really *works* in the choreo and try to incorporate those concepts.

I'm a student. I like learning choreographies in combos. They're easier for me to remember. I also like explanations as to where it comes into the music, why we're doing that combo for that music, and possible variations.

I like to see the thought process of someone else for my own choreographies

Great stuff!

If not already programmed to do so, encourage students to write notes that make sense for them.

Deborah

Zumarrad described my process, too. Having a list of the movement vocabulary I expect each level to 'master' is REALLY helpful.

To answer some of your other questions:
I make my choreography notes available online for students to print out, and they can get the song title, artist etc. there as well so they can purchase the music. I encourage students to print out my notes and use them as a base for writing their own notes that will be meaningful to them, but almost no one does.

I generally teach the intro first, then the chorus that repeats the most, then the verses. I teach individual steps, then combos. Once we've put the whole section together, I alternate between doing it slowly without the music (so I can correct technique) and doing it at tempo with the music, talking about the musical cues I hear, etc.

My students repeat each level 3-4 times, so I have 4 choreographies (or three choreos and a technique session) I teach at each level and I rotate through those. At each level, the set of choreos as a group reflects the material I want the students to master, in terms of movement vocabulary, technique, and cultural/stylistic info.

Once a year or so I come up with a new lower-level choreo because I get desperately sick of something or revise my goals for the program.

For my level 4 class (which is mostly the same dancers who are in my repertory group), I am constantly developing new material. My goal is 4 new choreographies a year. Their choreos are more complex, so we often cover them over 2 sessions instead of just one, then the choreo moves to the repertory class where we polish/perfect/stage it and keep it performance-ready while the choreo class moves on to something new.

After a choreo drops out of the performance repertoire, I'll often revise it and teach it to the level 3 students.

When do you typically introduce choreography to students? From the get-go? At the advanced-beginner level? Intermediate? In what areas do you expect proficiency before you move on to choreo?

I'm only teaching baby-beginners right now and the 5-week summer session is almost over. We strictly covered basic movements. They still grapple with figure 8's, but have grasped everything else quite nicely. I'm thinking I'll introduce a basic level choreography to an easy song like "Habibi Ya Eini" for the fall session, when my beginners come back. Still wondering, though, if this may be too soon.

I'm such a painfully freestyle dancer, I've put off choreographing and teaching choreo for the longest time. Methinks, it's time to bite the bullet and get to work. This thread is very timely. *taking notes*

Originally Posted by nasila

If you don't teach and like learning choreography, what works best for you? How do you use what you've learned?

I don't know if you've ever taken a class with Tamra-henna, but I like how she teaches choreo. She teaches shorter combinations and then strings them together over time. I like it because I'm really bad at learning/retaining choreography. The word "choreography" scares me, but the word "combination" sounds more friendly.

When I taught many classes I would develop new choreos for each session of courses so people repeating a course or moving up to another level course would learn a new choreo. This includes complete beginners.

It would often be a culmination of techniques they had learned over the course. I have a file cabinet full of choreo notes and can whip 'em out to teach a new group of students, if needed.

I normally let them listen to the music about 3 times first so they kind of know what to expect and it makes sense to them when I teach the choreo.

I teach in chunks and will repeat the chunks from the beginning, each time adding new chunks. Sometimes if a particular chunk is hardcore we'll review that several times.

I teach the steps/floor patterns first, then add movements that occur under the ribs, then add movements that occur at or above the ribs, then the arms. First without music, then repetition with music.

My favorite is to teach advanced/professional level dancers. I usually end up teaching them choreos that I developed for myself. I also start by explaining 2 or 3 key concepts/emotions/attitudes that are at the core of the number; so the emotional component is built in and taught from the beginning.

I teach it the same way as above but leave many options open for them to place their own arms or turn whatever direction they want, and give them guidelines as suggestions. I like to see them stylize it to their own personality and style.

I also develop choreos specifically for the Azhia Movement Project who are my "test subjects" comprised of former advanced students and accomplished colleagues. These are often uber challenging, specifically staged, and slightly acrobatic (but nothing that I myself am not physically capable of performing) and they're taught in one to two, 2-hour sessions since it's always a changing group of dancers and often for a specific performance.

So we hit it hard to learn everything, esp. since I don't perform in my group choreos so when they learn it they don't have the luxury of having me up there with them. And then they're able to perform without me if there is an event I cannot make.

Everybody (student, Movement Project participant, workshop attendee) gets handouts with artist, title, album info, counts and steps written in as bare terms as possible. If I handed them my choreo notes they would not know what they are looking at (squiggles, swirls, and chicken scratches).

Most important to me is that all of the choreos I teach are significantly above whatever level people are comfortable with so they ultimately learn a ton of technique and really push themselves. I expect a lot but everyone pulls through wonderfully. And the goal is not to dance like me but to have learned how to dance.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

When do you typically introduce choreography to students? From the get-go? At the advanced-beginner level? Intermediate?

I have resisted teaching choreo to beginning beginners for many years; this summer is the first time I have attempted choreo with what are mostly baby beginners.

First, I think choreo classes require a minimum of 75 minutes; 90 minute classes are better. Baby beginners have to learn everything, from how to stand up correctly to how to remember left from right. The choreo is merely a learning tool and is not meant to be performed, although it could be.

I start out, after beating everybody about the head and neck about posture, alignment, etc, with drilling the technique for two or three of the movements in the first section of the choreo plus introducing a move or two for the next section. I just continue in this fashion until we get as far as we can through the choreo. Although it's a good thing to finish it, the purpose of the choreo is to learn the technique for the movement, learn how to seque between like and dissimilar movement, and learn to determine what types of movements work well with varying instrumentation/mood.

I try really hard to get folks to understand that dance makes music visible. As Nasila's Bhuz signature says, "It's all about the music . . . " But I'll go in for the sequins, too, like she does!

Deborah

Originally Posted by ejaghana

I don't know if you've ever taken a class with Tamra-henna, but I like how she teaches choreo. She teaches shorter combinations and then strings them together over time. I like it because I'm really bad at learning/retaining choreography. The word "choreography" scares me, but the word "combination" sounds more friendly.

This is how I like it, too. I really have no interest in learning somebody's choreo . . . combos, yes.

I'm also with you on the "I'm really bad at learning/retaining choreography." I've gotten better at it over the years, but that's probably one reason why I dislike choreo-based workshops so much.

Deborah

Lots of good info here. I do structured improv for my own performances and I'm not currently dancing with a troupe, so choreo isn't a big part of my dancing. I think a class with multiple sessions is best for teaching choreo. I dislike workshops that focus on the choreography so much that I spend the whole time trying to keep up with a choreography that I'm not going to remember and have no intention of ever performing. My memory (brain and muscle) just doesn't absorb choreography in a few hours. I need more time and repetition. I won't attend workshops like that any more. But we've had discussions about that before.

I'm a student and choreography really fits well with my learning style - it helps me personally get a feel for using moves and combinations within the context of a dance and moving from one to another more than just drilling or following the bouncing butt does (which makes my particular teacher a good match because she is very choreography oriented) - from a student's perspective some things that really help with learning: we get typed notes on each new choreo when we start learning it with a list of the moves in it and then the sequence (helps a LOT for practicing at home) - info on the music and where to get it to practice at home with is obviously helpful - any time we will be learning a new one, before it is even mentioned, the moves as well as key combos, etc that will be used start making their way into warm ups, drills, etc so when we get to actually learning the full choreography it's not a lot of 'new learning' it's pretty natural. oh and someone asked about at what level people start teaching choreography - we started learning a basic one from the very beginning ... and of course people's preferences are going to be different - but it felt great to me to have that even very simple dance that I was able to do so early on - a nice sense of accomplishment and encouragement.

I have a collection of choreos I've developed over the years that I pull out and use when I want to teach a certain skill. I have 4 different beginner-level ones, so that a student can repeat my Level 1 class 4 times with new material being introduced each time. Now, back when I was new to teaching, I didn't have these choreos lying around, I needed to create them. So there was a time that I would create them on the fly as needed. But now that I have them, I can use them.

Allow 3 hours per minute of music to create the choreography. Your personal time might be a little different, but this gives you a good estimate to work with until you figure out what your personal timing is.

Allow 1 hour per minute of music to teach the choreography to students who already know the basic belly dance moves, more if they don't. In other words, if you have to teach "what is a hip lift" before you teach "put one here in the choreography", then you'll need more than 1 hour per minute of music.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

When do you typically introduce choreography to students? From the get-go? At the advanced-beginner level? Intermediate? In what areas do you expect proficiency before you move on to choreo?

I'm only teaching baby-beginners right now and the 5-week summer session is almost over. We strictly covered basic movements. They still grapple with figure 8's, but have grasped everything else quite nicely. I'm thinking I'll introduce a basic level choreography to an easy song like "Habibi Ya Eini" for the fall session, when my beginners come back. Still wondering, though, if this may be too soon.

I'm such a painfully freestyle dancer, I've put off choreographing and teaching choreo for the longest time. Methinks, it's time to bite the bullet and get to work. This thread is very timely. *taking notes*

Satin, I teach choreography to beginners all the time. BUT.... most of the choreographies are less than 2 minutes long. It's a nice way to string together the movements and steps they're learning. I like several of the selections from Belly Dance for Fortune and Fame, and there are other CDs that have really short pieces too.

I wouldn't use Habibi Ya Eini for beginners because most versions would be too long, given the way I run my classes. At the beginner level, lots of class time is spent teaching and drilling technique.

I also have different expectations of my students at each level. At our class parties, I lead the beginners through their dance. I give the advanced beginners the option, but they usually take that as a challenge and do the dance on their own. And of course the Intermediates and Advanceds are expected to be able to do any dance I teach without my help.

I don't think it would be too early to teach your beginners a choreography in the fall. Go for it!

I introduce choreo right away, but they're not designed to perform, they're for learning at the beginner level how the moves go with the music. My level one choreos don't use many complex combos, it's usually 'To the right, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, To the left, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, turn-a-round.' kind of counting.

Thanks, everyone, for all these ideas. I love Bhuz!

here's what I usually do

1) break the music down into counts/verses. I'll either use 8-counts or second counts, oftentimes depending on the level of dancers. I include a translation of lyrics if one can be found. If it's available, I'll point students to a music video so that they can get an idea of the emotions behind the song
2) choreograph the "hook", which is usually in the chorus and is the theme I generally repeat or repeat with slight modifications
3) bop around until something comes to me, or just sit with the music for hours to choreograph
4) I'll generally teach sequentially within the choreography, especially for beginners. Since the chorus/hook/theme is generally more of a feature in those level pieces, it'll get easier as they keep going

**I love how Morocco teaches choreo, but it would probably only work for advanced level. She teaches the first x amount of seconds, then you run it 4x. Then you add on the next x of seconds, and you practice it 4x from the beginning until the end of the new part. Repeat until song is over.

as far as instructions/music. who knows if they ever read the notes? I know some who do it religiously, and some where it's obvious they never even looked at the paper

1) I'll always write (c) Me on my choreographies and that you need to ask my permission/give me credit if you want to use this piece elsewhere
2) occassionally I'll record my voice over the music to jog the memory (ie, calling out what I would call out in class) -- sometimes it helps to memorize that
3) I'll generally send an mp3 of the music, but also give them the source of it. I know it'd be better if they all bought it, but honestly, I'd rather they have it to practice to, as I know most won't buy the song

**I love how Morocco teaches choreo, but it would probably only work for advanced level. She teaches the first x amount of seconds, then you run it 4x. Then you add on the next x of seconds, and you practice it 4x from the beginning until the end of the new part. Repeat until song is over.


When I have taught choreo...not my own - the drum solo that Jillina teaches - this is the method I use by breaking the music up into segments and slowing down the time. You should see how fast the beginers catch on thru sheer muscle memory.

Would someone be willing to share a written choreo that they have done? I dont know if this is even a kosher request...mea culpa if not...but seeing someone elses method on paper would be most helpful to me.

I follow Zum's outline for choreography, this is my level II drum solo choreography from last year, they performed it in the recital.

Since the goal of the class was to learn how to sting together a combination made up of the basics that they had learned in Level I, there is no traveling (although my Level I choro had traveling... hmmmmm)

Artist: Moktar Al Said
CD:
Date: September 2007

Time Hip Ribcage / Torso Arms Head Steps
0:00 to 0:08 S2S to position
0:08 to 0:18 Alternating staccato downs for 3 M from counts 1 - 6 still 7 & 8 roll still R foot forward, on ball, L stabilizing
0:19 – 0:30 Hip slide, shimmy, on last measure of phrase, all ¾ turn, present L hip still Frame hips Chin left on last beat of measure
0:31 to 0:42 L hip n to an m after 3rd set, switch to R hip still L shape, arm towards audience is rounded still
0:43 0:54 Figure 8’s, staccato at top, 4th measure a hip circle still Shoulder hit on 7 & 8 still
0:55 to 1:05 articulated hip circle, pelvic drop on 8 still basic still
1:06 to 1:18 R side present, ecstacy shimmy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Last measure omi on 6&7 Roll up on 6&7 Same side arm as hip, lifted, other pulling in opposition Still
1:19 to 1:29 still V pops, pop belly X 3 V Still Head slide on last measure
1:30 to 1:39 Hip bumps Still Cross body, 1 had lifted, 1 on bumping hip Still Walking forward, time hip bumps to beat, last measure, step forward right, spin left, SuperStar Pose

Copyright 9/07 Jemileh Nour