The art of cleaning choreography

With creating and teaching choreography to dancers, there is an inevitable point when the choreography has sunk in and it must be cleaned or tidied up so it is consistent across each dancer. The piece may rely on counts, the lyrics of the music it is danced to or even simply breath, so if this has not already been ingrained in the dancers this must be the first thing to be specified and pinned down. This will hold the piece together so it is imperative to solidify this in the dancers’ brains, creating a framework for the rest of the cleaning.

In order to clean sufficiently, break the choreography down into short sections, as it may be that the dancers do not perform in unison and the choreography therefore requires the coordination of different elements. It may be best to focus on each element each time the piece is run in order to solidify each one, fine-tuning each one with less distraction. Making notes throughout each run will help to give dancers their notes afterwards, as it can be distracting to call our corrections as they are dancing.

In making corrections, there are usually a combination of individual notes and quick fixes, in addition to issues for the bigger picture of the piece which need more work. Some may be problematic, such as sorting traffic across the stage during busy sections of the piece. These notes can be time-consuming but completely necessary to give the dancers confidence when performing the piece.

Whilst the technical elements of the choreography are intrinsic, artistic elements are the icing on the cake. The dancers’ focus is a huge must to pin down, and can be achieved by talking through the piece and the intention behind it at different stages throughout. Encourage the dancers to talk too, about what the piece means to them and what they feel they portray, allowing a more personal connection between the dancers and the piece.