A Dance Instructor’s Guide to Recital Choreography
We all know an end-of-the-year dance recital is a major event for any dance teacher AND their students. It's the culmination of months of hard work and dedication from both. In this blog post, I have included a lot of questions to ask yourself and I'll share some tips to help you create a dance that is both memorable and beautiful for your dancers.
1. Start planning early.
Duh! Right?! In a perfect world, the earlier you start planning and outlining your recital choreography the better. I always set a goal for myself to choose my music and have an outline of choreography by Spring Break each year.
2. Select your music.
Some details to consider:
Does your music have to fit with a certain theme?
If you can choose whatever music you like, does it have to be a certain length?
Do you offer options for your students to vote on? If so, are you prepared to choreograph to whatever they choose?
Is it age appropriate? Have you listened through the whole song to make sure you have no surprises? I don't always use classical or 'ballet' music for my recital pieces and I recommend having a young adult or older student listen to the song, their ears are far more accurate for inappropriateness than mine! =)
Do you have the ability or the resources to edit your music if needed? For younger students, I recommend having the music already edited from the beginning. That way they don't get confused and familiarity with the music begins immediately while learning the choreography.
3. Outline your choreography. Keep it basic to start!
How many students will be in each piece you have to choreograph?
What types of formations or patterns do you want to incorporate?
Will they start onstage or off?
What are the different sections of the music?
Are you going to have an adagio or petite allegro section?
How many counts make up the different sections?
Are you working with multiple levels within the same class? How do you plan on customizing that choreography to fit all?
Do you plan on combining classes? Sometimes the younger dancers not only get excited at the thought of working with a higher level, they actually work harder. It's a good kind of peer pressure.
If you combine classes, will there be times they can practice together before the recital? Sometimes the best ideas aren't always attainable with varied schedules or parents not willing to add extra trips to the studio.
4. Start digging in.
What are some of the combinations your students learned this year that could be used in the choreography? Or with slight alterations? I have found great success with reviewing my lesson plans from the beginning of the year for combinations to incorporate into my choreography.
Students love to hear, 'You remember this, we worked on it back in September' or 'Since you all did this so well back in November I wanted to make sure to include it in our choreography'.
I have never been a big fan of teaching a bunch of new things just for a recital for a couple of reasons - #1 it typically means you have to start working on it much earlier in the year, #2 - no need to stress your students out. This is their time to shine, and they will feel more confident to perform for an audience, #3 - by using combinations and steps they are familiar with it's much easier to incorporate formations and patterns.
At my studio, we don't start working on recital choreography during our classes until about 6-8 weeks before the recital. So, I take sections and combinations from my choreography and add them to my spring lesson plans. My students don't even realize they are 'working on recital' when they are!
Do you choreograph your pieces outside of class time or do you create during class time?
5. Work on the finer details.
Now that you have taught the choreography, start exploring some of the finer details that will make it complete. Adding a port de bra or tightening up a formation. The costume they are wearing may help - for example, do they have a skirt to hold during a certain step?
Some of the different ways I help my students really know the choreography, I will have just the front-line practice the entire thing while the back-line watches. Then switch.
Or the stage right dancers practice it by themselves while stage left dancers watch. Then switch.
Another idea is to have them stand in a line and each student is either a #1 or a #2 and those groups practice while the other watches.
It really helps them know their formations and patterns even if there isn't a person next to them.
And of course, the age-old (and sometimes dreaded) run it facing away from the mirror. I have always wanted to have a black curtain above the mirror to simply close when needed - think about how much you could use that during regular classes throughout the year? =)
6. Last but certainly not least.
Choreograph with your student's best interest in mind.
Be patient and remember that your student's experience with learning choreography and performing is something that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Some students may not return next year (to pursue other interests) but you want their impression to be a positive one.
Have fun! Working with your students to create something beautiful that everyone is proud of is an amazing process. If you enjoy the experience, they will too! And it will show when it's performance time.
