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I don’t usually choreograph my solos.  I “tried” many times over the years, but was unsuccessful.  I tried choreographing by dancing through a song, but couldn’t remember what I’d done. Or I came up with a set of moves for one phrase, but couldn’t come up with anything for the rest.  Or I listened to a song and imagined how I would dance, but these images didn’t translate easily to reality.

Honestly, I think I lacked patience and confidence in my choices.  I wasn’t ready to choreograph.  Creating something definite was too much pressure.  If I improvised, I didn’t have to worry about forgetting my choreography.  Sometimes I worried about not knowing what was next, but I had no choice but to commit and keep dancing.  It seemed less stressful.  I love the freedom of improvisation.  It’s so honest and genuine.  However, both improvisation and choreography are important skills and lend themselves well to different circumstances.

A couple months ago, I signed up for a 3-5 minute solo at Amaya’s Oriental Potpourri.  I wanted to challenge myself with an Oriental belly dance choreography.  I picked a piece of music that seemed like it would be challenging to improvise to.  After working on it obsessively, I am pleased with how it turned out.

Here is the process I went through:

1) I listened to the song over and over and over again.  I wrote notes about the sections.  How are they different?  What is their feel?  Should that section be fast? Staccato?  Melodic?  Traveling?  In place?

2) I broke down the song by section and count.  I wrote things like “Intro-32 counts” and “Call and Answer-16 counts.”  Then I wrote general notes about what I saw for each section, such as “traveling,” “undulations,” “layering,” “shimmies.”

3) I listened to one section at a time, and then one phrase at a time.  I visualized dancing.  I kept listening until I had an idea I really liked, then I wrote it down.  If I couldn’t get an idea for something, I skipped it and came back to it later with the question, “what does the dance still need?” As the dance developed, I made sure there was enough variation in floor patterns, traveling, staying still, leveling, etc.  I didn’t want my dance to look stagnant and I wanted it to reflect the changes in the music.  I also made sure there was some repetition so the dance was cohesive.

4) Once I had a combo written down, I tried it. I sang each part to myself as I slowly went through the moves.  Some things worked and some didn’t.  Some phrases needed a little refinement while some had to be entirely reworked.  It was a process.  Once I had something solid, I tried it with the music.

5) When I finished choreographing, it was time for memorization.  I kept my notes nearby and practiced transitioning from one section to the next.  This took awhile.  It was the same process as learning someone else’s choreography.

6) Once it was memorized, I focused on musical expression.  I listened to the music very closely and adjusted moves to reflect the sound.  I tried to really dance it.

7) Practice, practice, practice.

This is the process that worked for me.  I put together my 3-and-a -half minute solo in about a week and a half.  I worked on it everywhere I could; every free second I got.  At home, at school, at work, at the laundry mat…Once I started, it was hard to stop.  It was a labor of love.

Here is the finished product:

What is your choreography process?  Do you have any tips to share?