Making Dance
The Choreographic Process
Composition
![Dancers in “Joe” , 1989 [Michael Slobodian]](/upload/dan/jeanpierreperreault_joe1_full.jpg)
Developing, modifying and selecting dance sequences, and editing the overall work are essential skills in the choreographer's craft. The architecture of a dance work can have many sources.
- A dance may take the form of an elegant solo or an epic that involves fifty dancers
- Dances may be evening-length or have related sections, like a musical suite or acts in a play
- Narrative dance tells a story, whether it is a three-act ballet, or a short dramatic solo
- Abstract dance explores choreographic interest in time, space and relationship
Chance methods can be a provocative element of choreographic process, allowing new artistic possibilities to arise in creation or performance. American choreographer Merce Cunningham adopted this idea in his dance creations. The way the music and dance sequences fit together might be determined in his dances by throwing dice, or using the I Ching. Sometimes, Cunningham's dances were created to be exactly the same duration as a commissioned piece of music, but the two were only put together for the first time in performance.
Some choreographers start at the beginning of a dance and work from the start to the finish. Some have no idea where the creative journey will take them and just plunge in. Some create sections of choreography and later play with the order in which they will be performed. Some never change anything once the choreography is in the dancers' bodies. Others revise and edit right until the dancers are ready to go onstage to perform.
