Staging: Choreographer? so you really want to be one? Options

[Guest_Leigh Witchel_*]

Remember those books from your school library? I don't think I ever saw that specific volume. Let's try and remedy this.

Fledging choreographers, ask questions and we'll try to answer them as best as we can.

[julip]

ok, so i want to be a ballet choreographer. why? well, it's just what i have to do. some people have to dance, i have to make dances. it's as simple as that. why ballet? well, that's the type of dance i love the most. i don't particulary love most ballets i've seen, but i love the idea of what ballet can (could) be.

so, how do i become a ballet choreographer? well, so far i've worked with one RDA company in addition to the works i've done in college. i'm also in the process of sending out video packets to other RDA type companies (fingers crossed).

what do all of you established choreographers suggest? any ideas would be helpful, thanks in advance.

[Guest_Leigh Witchel_*]

julip -

The most important thing for you to do at this stage, in my opinion, is to work regularly, and to see other work. A good choreographer has been a good audience member, in the same way that a good writer was a good reader. Make trips to Seattle, San Francisco, New York; anywhere you can see what is being made at the highest level possible.

Try and make your relationship with that RDA company regular. What I did to cut my teeth on choreography was work for a summer program (Burklyn Ballet) as resident choreographer. I made one new work a week, and at times was responsible in rehearsal for up to three.

Be prepared for a long apprenticeship. I didn't start Dance as Ever from a burning artistic vision; I started it because I couldn't get work.

[Guest_Xia_*]

What about someone starting earlier along the line? My university offers modern composition classes, but not ballet. I've wanted to try choreography since I was a kid, but I haven't the slightest idea where to begin.

[Guest_Leigh Witchel_*]

Xia -

There are precious few composition classes in with an emphasis on ballet, mostly because of the tradition in ballet of on-the-job learning. With all respect to Mr. B, I wish this would change. While I don't think that artistry can be taught, craft sure as heck can, and as an audience member I've had to endure an awful lot of ballets with basic mistakes thought could have been prevented if ballet believed in choreographic study.

When I wanted to take a choreography workshop in NYC, I took one that was primarily geared toward modern dance. You might consider asking the teacher of the course at your university if you could work in ballet vocabulary.

If that's not possible, one thing to try is going where you take classes and asking the teacher if it would be possible to get a group of advanced students together to make a small piece. Use your initiative!

[Alexandra]

This goes along with Leigh's advice on watching (I think all of his advice is excellent (IMG:http://dancers.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) I've often thought the best training for a choreographer is to work alongside a master choreographer -- not very practical -- OR to restage masterworks. It's the analog to young painters painting old masters, not to copy them, but to really understand the technique behind those colors, or that lighting effect. Then you go off, armed with not only a palette of colors, but the knowledge, in your fingers and brush, of how to use them.

This is difficult, too, in the real world of dance, but it may be possible with a school, a preprofessional company, or a regional ballet. Young choreographers are often criticized for being "derivative" and I think this has led to the notion that you have to be doing something 100% different from the past, but I think there's value in trying to make one's own version of "Concerto Barocco" -- again, not to copy it, but to understand its bones from the inside out.

In any city you should be able to find at least a handful of ballet dancers who have had to leave the main company for a variety of reasons. There are several small dance companies in D.C. with this type of makeup. They generally don't dance ballet, more a ballet-modern hybrid (one local choreographer has said she doesn't make ballets, the genre in which she was trained, because she can't afford the shoes). But it is quite possible to start a workshop level company to experiment.

[julip]

to xia...

the college i went to (also in seattle)had excellent composition classes. yes, they were geared toward modern dance, but because of that i think my ballet choreography is much more interesting than alot of other ballet choreography out there.
i had to remind myself constantly that i was in classes to learn tools, not to create masterpieces. i don't really like the works i did in the classes, but the tools i use now to create ballets.

to everybody else....
it's good to know that i'm on the right track in what i am trying to do (choreography). i am lucky that i live in an area that has alot of dance. i've been able to see alot for someone who has never been in new york (all of the major modern choreographers, several of the contemporary classics and traditional classics in ballet, tons of small expermental modern works). my problem with watching is that i am just not impressed with anything that i see. the only work in the past year that i had a really good reaction to was 'in the middle...somewhat elevated' (ok, so i actually felt like turning cartwheels afterwords i was so excited). on the whole i find that both the ballets and modern pieces that i see are just not interesting to me. even ones that are considered great works.

[Guest_Leigh Witchel_*]

julip -

A good thing to do for you as you develop your choreographic skills would be for you to try and put form to your artistic viewpoint. What follows are rhetorical questions, you don't need to answer them here. Do you know what it was you liked about the Forsythe? Do you know why you didn't like most other dance you have seen so far? How are you going to make work that you like?

Psychology enjoys saying that creativity is inherently neurotic, and it is -- much of creativity is borne out of dissatisfaction. It's the drive to build a better mousetrap. It doesn't hurt to remember though, that creativity can also be driven and enriched by one's love of the art. It's a much happier road. I hope you find more dance out there that you love!

[Guest_BryMar1995_*]

I began to choreograph because I felt that it would be a logical extension of my dance career when I came to that point where I performed less and less. I began teaching at that time too. I wanted a dance career for life. I also had mentors whom I admired and naturally wanted to emulate. I followed choreography.

My first attempts at choreography were naive failures. I believe it was because I thought that if I was born an artist it would just flow out of me. I would be a conduit for the divine! It didn't and I wasn't. I had inspiration but no tools and no clue. Despondent, I quit choreographing for five years. When I got a teaching position at a university I had to choreograph. I got help at the Carlile Project (much thanks to Barbara Weisberger and Ernie Horvath). The workshops emphasized musicality and craft. In those workshops I finally learned how to put my love and enthusiasm for making movement into form. It took time, some soul searching, and a lot of commitment. I did not let someone else decide if I could be a choreographer or not. I made the choice.

I agree with Alexandra's comment about not being afraid to build on what you know and have experienced. It is a rare artist who begins fully formed. Much of my early work resembled that of my mentors and I knew it. While I worked on finding my own style I didn't let my past keep me from living my life as a choreographer. One's own voice needs time and experience to develop. To affirm Leigh's advice, I also believe it is essential to work regularly and study good work. Yes, craft can be learned, and it must be continually practiced and continually evaluated. Be your own worst critic, but let your criticism teach you. Timing, theatricality, and taste (along with craft) can all be acquired with time and experience.

Inspiration helps, but it isn't the only motivating factor. Commit to a gig or workshop and get to work. I've found that inspiration sometimes doesn't come until I'm well into a project -- and sometimes in spare doses. Work through it and get onto the next project. My experience with the muse is that it can be fickle and capricious. Keep working.

Maybe an important thing to keep in mind is that to be an artist is a life choice. Talking or dreaming about being a choreographer is a start, but one must choreograph to be a choreographer. One must work at it daily in one way or another. Keep at it, and make the best work you can.

Rick McCullough

[Guest_Dancing4Me_*]

So, I want to be a choreographer (among a billion other things). It started off when I had to choreograph my own dance as part of an audition to my dance team (even though I knew it wasn't really important, I had been on the team for two years so my spot was pretty much fixed) and I had so much fun with it that I thought hmm... And then when I was helping run auditions at the end of the year (since I couldn't be on the team because I was moving up to high school) I helped the choreographer make up the audition dances and I helped teach them to the hopefully-future-dancers, which was probably my best dance memory. So I thought hmmm, maybe I should become a dance teacher or choreographer? Yeah, that would be fun! I don't think I'd want to do ballet choreography, right now I'm thinking more along the lines of shows or broadway type stuff.

So, what are some tips you can give to a 15 y/o who's thinking of a career in choreography?

Brittany

[Guest_Leigh Witchel_*]

Hi Brittany!

I admit this could sound "one size fits all", but I really think the most important thing for anyone who wants to make choreography at the outset is to watch choreography. Tons of it, and the best possible. It's similar to advice I'd give to someone who wanted to write: To be a good writer, you have to start as a good reader.

While you are watching choreography, don't watch it emotionally and don't focus on the dancers, watchthe choreography and watch it analytically. Dissect in in your mind. Figure out what you liked, why you liked it and how the choreographer made it possible.

The other piece of advice is to get out there and try to make something. Find music you like. Get together some classmates. Put together something short, perhaps just to show one day in the studio after class. And don't dwell on your first work hoping for perfection, just go on to the next.

Good luck!

[Mcke16]

Hi!

I would like to become a choreographer, I'm not sure whether it would be ballet, or modern. I love to experiment with different steps and moves to try and make them my own. Whenever I have time, I go in an empty studio, and just work with whatever is playing in another studio nearby. Or sometimes, I have my friends play something on the piano, and then I improvise, and go from there. I'm not sure if this is really "choreography"...but---whatever it is that I am doing, I love it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

My only factor is rejection: My whole life I have spent worrying about rejection, in school, in ballet, or whatever I am doing at the moment. I need someone's assurance--I am not confident with myself. I know that this is an unattractive quality, and I have been trying to build up my confidence, but still-it is hard when I am choreographing something in my head, because I wouldn't be able to perform it, without someone there to say--yes, that looks good...or no, I would change it to this.

I don't know if this has any reference to the conversations above, but I'm just letting my emotions go. What chance does a teenager like me have at choreographing later in my dance career? I would like to try it, but I think it would be easier to do it with a partner. Are there many companies out there in need of choreographers??

Thanks for your time, just putting this out in the open. [img]smile.gif[/img]

~Mckenzie

[Guest_Leigh Witchel_*]

Hi McKenzie!

Many dancers improvise and are fascinated with the possibilities of the body and movement. It's one (though not the only) route to being a choreographer.

As for rejection, well, there's no kind way to put this. It comes with the territory and if you can't inure yourself to it and believe in your own abilities enough to persist, you'll have a very hard time of it. As in everything, there's someone out there who got their career handed to them on a platter. Odds are it isn't going to be me or you. And the sad truth is there are precious few jobs out there.

The good news is most of these problems will solve themselves one way or another as you grow older without you worrying constantly about them. Experience will often bring confidence and toughness. But choreography is definitely a dream that one has to fight for.

Good luck!

[Dansant]

I teach a choreography class at a local college. My would-be-choreographers come from a very mixed bag of backgrounds and experience as this is part of a theatre department, not a dance department. So, I let them apply the lessons to whatever vocabulary they wish along with exercises in creating new vocabulary. Some of them choose ballet, many of them choose hip-hop/club dance.

So, let's design our dream ballet choreography class? What would definitely be included? What is not useful? What are the common/egregious errors of novice ballet choreographers?

[*artist]

Thank you for starting this thread. (finally something i can participate my feelings toward) I know I'll have many questions later, but for right now, do you know of any colleges that offer ballet choreography (and also ballet history) ? I have done as much research as I could and they mostly give me a broad description of BFA in dance and what each college offers. ANY help would be greatly appreciated.