Thread: Choreography for a group of mixed abilities--tips?

I have a couple pieces of music that I want to choreograph group numbers to. I'm just curious as to how people deal with the varying levels of skill/talent in a given group of dancers. How do you keep it interesting and yet do-able for all involved? I'm thinking the movements themselves should be simple but the floor patterns can be intricate. Following the music with lots of one-offs. That is, a phrase repeats, say, 3 times, you have 3 dancers, they each do a movement/combo to one instance of the phrase, then dance together as the music comes together again. (Does that make sense?) But I wonder how often you can pull that off without looking dull. Does anyone have any other hints, tricks, traps? (I'm talking Oriental/middle-eastern folkloric dance, not tribal.)

Mini solos for the more advanced dancers?

Zweena bint Asya taught a wonderful choreography class that was based on dividing the group into smaller groups, as small as two people. Each group chose a leader. The leader taught a short combination to the rest of the group. They all learned that combination. Then people shifted over to the next group - so that at least one or two people stayed in the old group but one or two people moved. The new people coming into the group taught their combo to the group. Then it was performed by having Group 1 start off the choreo, group 2 joining in at the end of their combo and performing their own combo. Drat, I can't explain it very well. But it made an interesting dance because by the end of the switching around, the group members were scattered evenly across the dance space. Members of the group would perform their combo together even though they weren't standing next to one another. Then the next group would join in by dancing the last phrase of the first combo and adding their own combo. So you had movement going on in unison sometimes and other times only certain members of the group were moving, then unison again, then different members were moving together even though they weren't standing next to each other. Heck. It sounds really complicated but it worked beautifully and was fun to do. Hope this made some kind of sense or sparked an idea or something.

What about having some dancers dancing to the rhythm while other dancers are spotlighted dancing to the melody, like if there is a ney flute part or an accordion or violin solo or something?

Lots of pretty combos can be done with veils in groups, too.

Staging always makes it interesting! Or highlight certain groups of dancers...

For recital last year we were split into two trios and a duet and each group had one section of a song. We never danced as one group but we did have to work the transitions between each group for the beginning and returning for bows - it was a fun exercise in creating a choreo, with less stress because you had fewer people to work with.

I agree with the above.
I would stagger or layer the dancers (I'm not a pro choreo, so I don't know your lingo).

I really liked the way belly dance superstars had dancers doing different choreo, at different times.
(I know these dancers are advanced, I'm only using these videos as example)

Here's a youtube example:

Here at 3:49, perhaps the newer less experienced dancers could be in the background.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp1rGVeTXeg&feature=related]YouTube - Belly dance superstars[/ame]

Happy New Year! :-)

We just did 2 combined (beginners and advanced classes) choreographies where the advanced class did a sword dance and we did the floor work and balancing with a sword and then the beginners did simply shimmies and turns in the back with their swords. We also did "Ice Queen" where 3 of us advanced did sword and the rest did simple veil work. Was very effective! Something else to think about is the stage confidennce side of things. Some of the girls may be nervous about being in the front and still need "prompting" guidance for the next steps from the people in front of them. I have found this is the case in our troupe. A lot of the girls dont like to be towards the front. So those of us with the confidence and more stage experience go to the front. We stage it so that the other girls are always seen as well :)

Have fun :)

Thanks for the responses so far, keep 'em coming! Dunyah, your experience sounds fascinating but I'm going to try to "graph" it (heh) to see if I can understand it better.

I've seen quite a few group choreos where smaller groups of dancers do different things; thanks for reminding me! Need to pay attention to what the dancers who *aren't* highlighted at any given moment do, too--next time I watch vids I'll take notes on that. (I know you all know this isn't what I'm talking about, but I *detest* group choreos that have "backup" dancers whose only role seems to be to provide a pretty backdrop for the "star" dancer.) That BDSS clip is a great example of creating interesting pictures on stage.

Perhaps you could use the staging idea I was describing without the process of teaching & switching people. you could divide them into groups that each learn a combo you create, then have them positioned onstage as I described.

Part of the idea of the workshop was to get people dancing together who had different styles of dance, so that Tribal, Tribal Fusion, Egyptian, etc. dancers could create a dance together. It was really fun. But you probably don't need that part of the process for your choreo.

That's a good point, Dunyah, although I like the sound of the exercise, too. Sounds like it could be a good bonding experience.

My mixed choreographies usually have 2 or 3 'parts' to them. The groups are sometimes moving together, sometimes only one group is moving, etc. The groups often move around and interact onstage and always change formation and switch places.

I do it for visual interest in the choreo, and to keep anyone from staying stuck in the back throughout the dance, but sometimes the groups also accommodate mixed abilities.

When that's the case, I don't usually sort them so much as announce "Group one will be doing floorwork with the sword in this choreography, so if you want a more knee-friendly part, I suggest being in group 2!" I could say the same thing about spinning, or layered shimmies.

My students do a terrific job of self-sorting appropriately when I give them information, I've never had to send someone to a different group.

Originally Posted by Taj

Need to pay attention to what the dancers who *aren't* highlighted at any given moment do, too--

Sometimes I'll have the group in front take the melody while the group in back is dancing to the rhythm. Other times the dancers in back are mostly just hitting accents.

The important thing, to me, is making sure that the placement switches, so the 'pips' get a chance to be up front while the other group plays the 'pip' role for them.

The sections of choreo where each group is in front don't have to be the same, of course. So group 1 might have a short, simple section where they're highlighted, while group 2 is behind them bringing out some accents in the music, then there's a traveling section where they all switch places, and group 2 comes to the front and lets loose a more complex bit of choreo while group 1 backs them up.

Taj -- I'm in no way holding these up as examples of great choreography!!! and the videos are terrible... but here are illustrations of what I mean, maybe they'll help you.

In this video you can see what I mean by the 'back row taking mostly the accents' from about :43 to 1:00 -- then the rows switch.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U19cag5L4oY]YouTube - Oyoun Albi[/ame]

And here's one where some sword dancers do floorwork and others are mostly marking the rhythm in back. (we've done this dance with as many as 5 on the floor and 4 standing, here there are only 3 but it's a better video)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXtrHJzvsmk]YouTube - Hips Afire - Solitude Sword Dance[/ame]

Thanks, Lauren.

Related question for everyone: when you choreograph a group piece with different things going on, do you find it's easier to kind of work through it as a soloist first, to get the feel down and create a bare-bones structure, and then add to that, or--? I can *see* a lot of the choreo in my head, but get bolluxed up when I start walking through it because there seem to be too many things going on for one person to manage (not ADD enough, I guess!). So I've been thinking I should create solos, and then modify them for group dancing. Just wondering what other people do.

Are you having trouble making the dance or teaching it?
If it is making I would picture the whole picture then write down what groups A B C for example are doing.
Teaching different parts is sometimes better done at diffeent times with each group seporate.

Making at the moment, and just looking for tips and ideas for the future. I have some group choreos insistently swirling around my head and decided it was time to think about birthing them.

Those are great clips, Lauen! You're a very good choreographer, and your staging of multiple dancers is really skillful and interesting.

I agree staging is the key. If it was me I'd start by teaching the whole group the bare bones choreography - without direction changes and limited layering. Add these as people are ready for them. At the same time you can watch for who is good at what - so people get key positions doing what they do best (Khaleegi folk example, long haired dancers with good knees and necks on knees doing hair tosses, short haired good necks doing hoods with slides, flanked by dancers swishing thobes)

Another thing to consider is duets/solos with a chorus - or multiple entrances/exits.