A sequence of steps to help you with the process of choreographing a dance

1. Get a notebook to write all your ideas and process (to be graded). No loose leaves accepted. ALL your work needs to be in one place. I highly recommend using a pencil for all choreography, music, and formations notes you will take along the way so you can easily make changes.
2. Have the dancers you will be choreographing for in mind from this point onwards. You are choreographing this piece for them.
3. Pick a dance style.
4. Decide on a theme/storyline/idea/concept to drive your dance.
5. Pick a piece of music that inspires you and goes with the theme & dance style you picked.
   1. It must be appropriate: no swear words, no derogatory terms, no inappropriate subject matters such as sex and drugs, no promotion of violence or hatred towards one self or others. Make a smart choice.
   2. Remember who is dancing your piece and their age.
   3. Don’t be afraid to use different types of music such as instrumental, electronic, classical, etc.
6. If there are any lyrics to your song, email Mrs. Isabelle to ask for approval.
7. Edit your piece of music now, before starting to choreograph. Each dance should be between 2min30sec and 3min15sec.
   1. If this is new to you, the best place to start would be by watching YouTube instructional videos on how to use GarageBand.
   2. You can use the dance department Macbook laptop before school, at lunch and/or after school (if Mrs. Isabelle is available) to edit your music.
8. Email Mrs. Isabelle your first completed edit of your music for approval.
9. Map out your entire piece of music outlining the following on a separate page of your notebook:
   1. Each music section with # of counts for each and its tempo and/or feeling.
   2. Highlight the beginning of the piece.
   3. Highlight where the chorus is and how many times it repeats.
   4. Highlight any sections that are repeated musically.
   5. Highlight the ending of the piece.
10. Map out a general idea of what you would like happening in each section.
11. Watch videos of dances you love for inspiration regarding movements or formations.
    1. Take notes of anything and everything you love!
12. Improvise to your music to see what movements come to you naturally to this music.
    1. Take notes or film movement sequences that you love!
13. Create formations with entrances and exits for various groups reflecting the musical sections of your piece. Where will the dancers be, when, for how long?
    1. Transitions are key to any strong dance. How will your dancers change formation? Doing what step? Who crosses in front of who?
    2. Write/Draw them all out using colours, arrows, etc.
14. Choreograph your dance – for best results, follow this sequence:
    1. The ending.
    2. The beginning.
    3. The harder sections (patterns or choreography).
    4. The rest of it.
15. Visualize what you have created and see if it will work before setting it on the dancers.