Tips for young choreographers

by Maryah
(United States)

Hi, my name is Maryah and I'm 17 years old. I just wanted to email you, because dancing is a huge part of my life and my career is to be a dance choreographer and be able to explore while doing it. Are there any tips you could maybe give me? I would love to know. :)

Comments for Tips for young choreographers

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Jan 26, 2012

Answer from Maria to tips for young choreographers
by: Maria

Dear Maryah,

I could talk to you about many things that concern the life of a choreographer... Maybe you already know that choosing to be an artist of dance is a challenging decision. You will have great spiritual rewards, but your work might be so much harder than that of your non-artist friends.

Here are just a few tips for young choreographers like you:

- If being a choreographer is what you really want to be, it is important that you keep a spirit of general research for the rest of your life. You will need to stay current with the events of the dance world as well as with those of the rest of life in the planet. Your choreographic judgment will need that information to develop, so don't be lazy to be in the search for what's going on about dance in the web and wherever you go.

- One of the most problematic issues of the choreographic career is to find the funding for creating dance pieces. If you will be hired by an institution or something likewise, this might not be such a problem. However, whenever you feel that you wish to do an independent artistic work, you will face the reality of the cost of dance. Paying dancers, rehearsal studios, costumes, sets and a general production of a show is something that almost no choreographer can afford alone. So, start thinking from now on how you would solve this situation. Are there companies in your hometown that would support dance? Could you have another alternative job that could help you finance your creativity? The solution for that is not easy, but it is not impossible. The proof is that there’s so much dance in the world, and all choreographers are in almost the same situation...

- Another thing that I believe it's very important about being a choreographer is to be a dancer your self. Having the experience of being in the role of the dancers is the best lesson to know how to direct your dancers after. So, I believe that a choreographer should maintain an active life as a dancer for as long as s/he can. You will see how your dancers gratefully regard it.

There are some other tips for the choreographer at the end of our page about choreography. You might want to read those too. Here’s the link to the page:

Choreography

I also recommend you to read the following pages, which relate to the work of the choreographer:

Dance Composition

Movement Dramaturgy

How to create contemporary dance music ?

And well, stay in touch... I will always be here to share and give a hand.

You are warmly welcome!

Maria

Mar 12, 2012

how to stay current in the dance world
by: jane

how to find information and news about dance i am not very familiar with the dance world i know informations in terms of moves and dance itself but i am not aware of what is going on around it is there any websites you recomment

thanks

Mar 12, 2012

Reply for Jane
by: Maria

Dear Jane,

I'd recommend you our blog, off course. You will always find news from the entire world about what's going on: Contemporary Dance Blog

There's also a performing arts magazine that I like, in which you will find information about what's going on in London: Bellyflop

Another way to know what choreographers are currently doing is to search in the web for the dance festivals in big cities (like New York, Paris, Sidney, Shangai...). Look for the dance companies that are scheduled and then make some research at YouTube to see if there are videos of their work.

If there's a center for the arts in your city or any kind of institution with a good library, you might also find videos, books and related documents there.

Those are just some ways to do it...

Continue searching!

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