Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who creates choreographies by practising the art of choreography, a process known as choreographing. It most commonly refers to dance choreography. In dance, ''choreography'' may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. Dance choreography is sometimes called ''dance composition''. Aspects of dance choreography include the compositional use of

organic unity Organic unity is the idea that a thing is made up of interdependent parts. For example, a body is made up of its constituent organs, and a society is made up of its constituent social roles. Overview Organic unity was propounded by the philosophe ...

, rhythmic or non-rhythmic articulation, theme and variation, and repetition. The choreographic process may employ

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

for the purpose of developing innovative movement ideas. In general, choreography is used to design dances that are intended to be performed as concert dance. The art of choreography involves the specification of human movement and form in terms of space, shape, time and energy, typically within an emotional or non-literal context. Movement language is taken from the dance techniques of ballet,

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

, jazz dance, hip hop dance, folk dance, techno,

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

, religious dance, pedestrian movement, or combinations of these.

Etymology and history

The word ''choreography'' literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" (circular dance, see

choreia Choreia ( grc, χορεία) is a circle dance accompanied by singing (see Greek chorus, ''choros''), in ancient Greece. Homer refers to this dance in his epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Iliad''. Cognate, Cognates of ''choreia'' are used for circle ...

) and "γραφή" (writing). It first appeared in the American English dictionary in the 1950s, and "choreographer" was first used as a credit for

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

in the Broadway show '' On Your Toes'' in 1936. , p. 180 Before this, stage credits and movie credits used phrases such as "ensembles staged by", "dances staged by", or simply "dances by" to denote the choreographer. In Renaissance Italy, dance masters created movements for social dances which were taught, while staged ballets were created in a similar way. In 16th century France, French court dances were developed in an artistic pattern. In the 17th and 18th centuries, social dance became more separated from theatrical dance performances. During this time the word ''choreography'' was applied to the written record of dances, which later became known as dance notation, with the meaning of ''choreography'' shifting to its current use as the composition of a sequence of movements making up a dance performance. The ballet master or choreographer during this time became the "arranger of dance as a theatrical art", with one well-known master being of the late 18th century being Jean-Georges Noverre, with others following and developing techniques for specific types of dance, including

Gasparo Angiolini Gasparo Angiolini (7 February 1731 – 6 February 1803), real name Domenico Maria Gasparo, son of Francesco Angiolini and Maria Maddalena Torzi, was an Italian dancer, choreographer and composer. He was born in Florence and died in Milan. He is ...

Jean Dauberval Jean Dauberval, a.k.a. Jean D’Auberval, (born Jean Bercher in Montpellier, 19 August 1742 – Tours, 14 February 1806), was a French dancer and ballet master. He is most noted for creating the ballet, ''La fille mal gardée'', one of the ...

, Charles Didelot, and

Salvatore Viganò Salvatore Viganò (March 25, 1769 – August 10, 1821), was an Italian choreographer, dancer and composer. Viganò was born in Naples. He studied composition with Luigi Boccherini (his uncle) and by the mid-1780s was composing original music. ...

. Ballet eventually developed its own vocabulary in the 19th century, and romantic ballet choreographers included

Carlo Blasis Carlo Blasis (4 November 1797 – 15 January 1878) was an Italian dancer, choreographer and dance theoretician born in Naples. He is well known for his very rigorous dance classes, sometimes lasting four hours long. He danced in France, Italy, ...

August Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nep ...

Jules Perrot Jules-Joseph Perrot (18 August 1810 – 29 August 1892) was a dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including ...

and

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...

. Modern dance brought a new, more naturalistic style of choreography, including by Russian choreographer Michel Fokine (1880-1942) and Isadora Duncan (1878-1927), and since then styles have varied between realistic representation and abstraction. Merce Cunningham,

, and Sir

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositi ...

were all influential choreographers of classical or abstract dance, but Balanchine and Ashton, along with

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

Leonide Massine Leonide or Léonide is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Leonide or Leonid of Georgia (1861–1921), Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia * Leonid Berman (1896–1976), Russian Neo-romantic painter and theater and opera designer * Léoni ...

, Jerome Robbins and others also created representational works. Isadora Duncan loved natural movement and

. The work of Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), an African-American dancer, choreographer, and activist, spanned many styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, modern dance, and theatre.

Dance choreography techniques

Dances are designed by applying one or both of these fundamental choreographic methods: * Improvisation, in which a choreographer provides dancers with a ''score'' (i.e., generalized directives) that serves as guidelines for improvised movement and form. For example, a score might direct one dancer to withdraw from another dancer, who in turn is directed to avoid the withdrawal, or it might specify a sequence of movements that are to be executed in an improvised manner over the course of a musical phrase, as in

contra dance choreography :''This article supplements the main Contra dance article.'' Contra dance choreography specifies the dance formation, the figures, and the sequence of those figures in a contra dance. The figures repeat, ideally, in a graceful flowing pattern, a ...

. Improvisational scores typically offer wide latitude for personal interpretation by the dancer. * Planned choreography, in which a choreographer dictates motion and form in detail, leaving little or no opportunity for the dancer to exercise personal interpretation. Several underlying techniques are commonly used in choreography for two or more dancers: * Mirroring - facing each other and doing the same * Retrograde - performing a sequence of moves in reverse order * Canon - people performing the same move one after the other * Levels - people higher and lower in a dance * Shadowing - standing one behind the other and performing the same moves * Unison - two or more people doing a range of moves at the same time Movements may be characterized by dynamics, such as fast, slow, hard, soft, long, and short.

Choreography today

Today, the main rules for choreography are that it must impose some kind of order on the performance, within the three dimensions of space as well the fourth dimension of time and the capabilities of the human body. In the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

, choreography applies to human movement and form. In

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, choreography is also known as dance choreography or dance composition. Choreography is also used in a variety of other fields, including opera, cheerleading, theatre, marching band,

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

, cinematography, ice skating, gymnastics, fashion shows, show choir,

cardistry Cardistry is the performance art of card flourishing. Unlike card magic, cardistry is meant to be visually impressive and appear very hard to execute. The term "cardistry" is a portmanteau of "card" and "artistry". People who engage in cardist ...

, video game production, and animated art.

Competitions

The International Choreographic Competition Hannover, Hanover, Germany, is the longest-running choreography competition in the world (started ), organised by the Ballett Gesellschaft Hannover e.V. It took place online during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, returning to the stage at the

Theater am Aegi The Theater am Aegi is an event venue on Aegidientorplatz square in Hannover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Like the square, it is often referred to as Aegi. The building was opened in 1953 mainly as a cinema, with a versatile stage also ...

in 2022. Gregor Zöllig, head choreographer of dance at the

Staatstheater Braunschweig The Staatstheater Braunschweig is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts. The ''Staatstheate ...

was appointed artistic director of the competition in 2020. The main conditions of entry are that entrants must be under 40 years of age, and professionally trained. The competition has been run in collaboration with the

Tanja Liedtke Foundation The Tanja Liedtke Foundation (German: Tanja Liedtke Stiftung) is a German-based charity supporting modern and contemporary dance. History The foundation was established in July 2008 in honour of the dancer and choreographer, Tanja Liedtke who was ...

since her death in 2008, and from 2021 a new production prize has been awarded by the foundation, to complement the five other production awards. The new award is presented by Marco Goecke, director of ballet at the

Staatstheater Hannover Hanover State Opera (german: Staatsoper Hannover) is an opera company in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The company is resident in the Hanover Opera House (), and is part of a publicly-funded umbrella performing arts organ ...

. There are a number of other international choreography competitions, mostly focused on modern dance. These include: *Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition, Beijing, China *Contemporary Dance Platform, Cyprus, Greece *Copenhagen International Choreography Competition, Copenhagen, Denmark (CICC), founded in 2008, annual *Helsinki Ballet Competition, Choreography Award, Helsinki, Finland *International Choreographic Competition, Rome, Italy *Moscow Ballet Competition and Contest for Choreographers, Moscow, Russia *New Adventures Choreographer Award, London, UK *Prix de la Danse de Montreal, Montreal, Canada *Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition, Brussels, Belgium *Varna International Ballet Competition, Choreography Award, Varna, Bulgaria The International Online Dance Competition (IODC) was introduced in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a Grand Prix worth .

References

External links

* {{Authority control Performing arts