What Is Dance Choreography?
Dance choreography refers to sequences of movements and steps that are created by choreographers and performed by dancers usually to musical accompaniment (either live or recorded).
Sometimes choreography is called more simply a dance routine. Choreography tends to refer to longer pieces whereas routines tend to be shorter, though these are not fixed terms.
For example a piece of choreography may constitute several dance routines put together. Each dance routine may be performed to a different song or created by a different choreographer.
Areas of staging or performance often fall under choreography also, for example the formations and spacing of the dancers and which areas of the space they are expected to use.
In many styles of dance, choreography can be broken down into two main methods:
Improv(isation): Here the dancers are given guidelines as to what type of movements occur and when. The exact way the dancers perform and exectue them are largely at the disposal of the dancers who make many of the creative decisions.
Planned: In planned choreography the dancers are told exactly what to do, when, and how to do the moves. In other words they are told everything that they need to do and their job is to perform it as instructed.
Dance performances can also fuse the two above and have planned choreography with improvs placed in between routines or in predetermined locations.
The person that devises the choreography is called the choreographer. The choreographer instructs or guides the dancers who perform the choreography. In some instances the choreographer may perform with the dancers also, this is common for example in hip hop dance choreography.