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Choreography is the art or practice of designing
sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called ...
s of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which
motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...
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 A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to 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 A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to 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, rhythmic or non-rhythmic articulation, theme and variation, and repetition. The choreographic process may employ improvisation 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
emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definitio ...
al or non-literal context. Movement language is taken from the dance techniques of
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...
,
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, 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) 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 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
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...
s 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,
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 m ...
, Charles Didelot, and Salvatore Viganò. 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 ne ...
, Jules Perrot 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 Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant an ...
(1880-1942) and Isadora Duncan (1878-1927), and since then styles have varied between realistic representation and abstraction. Merce Cunningham, George Balanchine, and Sir Frederick Ashton 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 ...
,
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 Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...
and others also created representational works. Isadora Duncan loved natural movement and improvisation. The work of
Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center ...
(1931-1989), an African-American dancer, choreographer, and activist, spanned many styles of dance, including ballet,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, 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, choreography applies to human movement and form. In dance, choreography is also known as dance choreography or dance composition. Choreography is also used in a variety of other fields, including
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
,
cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
,
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
,
marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, o ...
, synchronized swimming,
cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...
, ice skating,
gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
, 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 cardis ...
,
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
production, and animated art.


Competitions

The International Choreographic Competition Hannover,
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
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 al ...
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 ''Staatstheater ...
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 w ...
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 } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
, China *Contemporary Dance Platform,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
, Greece *Copenhagen International Choreography Competition,
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
, Denmark (CICC), founded in 2008, annual *Helsinki Ballet Competition, Choreography Award,
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Finland *International Choreographic Competition,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, Italy *Moscow Ballet Competition and Contest for Choreographers,
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, Russia *New Adventures Choreographer Award,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, UK *Prix de la Danse de Montreal,
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
, Canada *Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition,
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, 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 .


See also

* Ballet master * Contact improvisation * Dance improvisation * Film editing *
List of choreographers This is a list of choreographers: A * Aaliyah * Paula Abdul * Kyle Abraham * Alvin Ailey * Debbie Allen * Richard Alston * Sir Frederick Ashton * Fred Astaire * Bob Avian B * George Balanchine * Claude Balon * Melissa Barak * Margaret Ba ...
* List of dance awards#Choreography *
Movement director A movement director creates physical vocabularies through actor movement in a variety of production settings that include theatre, television, film, opera, fashion and animation. Background Movement directors work closely with directors and pe ...
* Stage Directors and Choreographers Society ;Lists and categories * :Ballet choreographers *
List of choreographers This is a list of choreographers: A * Aaliyah * Paula Abdul * Kyle Abraham * Alvin Ailey * Debbie Allen * Richard Alston * Sir Frederick Ashton * Fred Astaire * Bob Avian B * George Balanchine * Claude Balon * Melissa Barak * Margaret Ba ...


References


Further reading

* Blom, L, A. and Tarin Chaplin, L. (1989) ''The Intimate Act of Choreography''. Dance Books. . * Ellfeldt, L. (1998) ''A Primer for Choreographers'' . Waveland Press. . * Minton, S, C. (1997) ''Choreography: A Basic Approach Using Improvisation''. Human Kinetics . . * Tufnell, M. and Vaughan, D. (1999) ''Body Space Image : Notes Toward Improvisation and Performance''. Princeton Book Co. . * Smith-Autard, J, M. (2000) ''Dance Composition''. Routledge. .


External links

* {{Authority control Performing arts