Guiding Students Through
Choreographic Exploration
by Amy Howton
Why Explore Choreography?
Hanya Holm said, “There is no value in copying what
someone else has done. You must search within your
own body” (Brown, 1979, p. 71). If this statement is
accurate, every dancer should explore choreography
as a means of finding his or her individual “voice” as
well as acquiring technique in order to have the tools
with which to express that voice. Unfortunately, many
students with limited dance experience are afraid to
venture into exploration for fear they will “do it wrong.”
Others fear negative criticism. It is stressful to perform a personal statement in front of an audience, not
knowing what the response of that audience might
be. Students, particularly young ones, who have never
attempted to choreograph their movements, may be
unsure how to proceed. For these, and a myriad of other
reasons, many dancers (not to mention physical education students) avoid improvisation and choreography
when, in fact, they should embrace such experiences.
Giving students a few simple tools that allow them
to be successful in their first choreographic experiences
helps the teacher or mentor introduce students to the
many opportunities for personal enrichment found in
the choreographic process. Using exploration, students
can become more educated observers of dance. They
can also learn to view dance from several different perspectives, including critical response and aesthetics.
Before Choreography
Before students can begin to think in terms
of choreography, they must have an understanding of choreographic elements. The
most basic of these is shape. Ask
students to find their “personal
space” in the room. They should
be able to turn in a circle with
arms outstretched without contacting another student. As an initial
“You must search within
your own body.”
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task, ask them to make shapes using their bodies:
Make tall shapes, short shapes, big and small shapes;
make shapes while standing and other shapes on the
floor. Begin by creating shapes with straight lines and
progress to shapes that are round or curved. Have the
group stop on occasion and look at particularly original
shapes.
If time permits, suggest that students pair up and
create shapes that require two bodies. They should
explore shapes that are completely curved, completely
linear, and combinations of curved and linear lines.
Guide the students to examine negative space as well as
the space filled by their bodies. They might fill the negative space surrounding or within one person’s shape
with part of the second person’s shape. If students are
brave, they can perform trust exercises in which one
person’s weight is completely supported by the other
person’s shape. Encourage them to alternate so that
each student experiences supporting as well as being
supported.
For more complex movement exploration, introduce
verbs and adverbs. For example, students can explore
the contrasts between running, walking, jumping, and
crawling. Adding an adverb, such as slowly, briskly,
happily, quietly, or ecstatically helps young students
expand their language and movement vocabularies
while beginning to create a mood or character through
movement. At all times, encourage students to try to
find movements that are new to them, rather than
repeating movements they have seen on television or in
the movies . . . or (for advanced students) performed in
their last dance recital.
Beginning the Choreographic Process
“Making a dance is very much like writing a composition: First find something to say, then say it as well
as you can” (Ellfeldt, 1988, p. 78). The structured discovery of shapes provides a very simple beginning to
choreographic exploration. The next part of this project
builds on the shapes students experienced above. Students should arrange themselves in a personal space
again. Begin by standing, facing in any direction.
Ask them to make as many shapes as they can in one
minute. Some guidelines are
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• Use different levels.
• Use curved and straight lines.
• Consider symmetry and asymmetry.
• A shape repeated on the other side of the body still
counts as one shape.
• Make the shape first; think about it later!
This process may be repeated over and over. Eventually, ask the students to recall five shapes they liked
best. This is a decision-making process that helps the
students identify authentic movements they wish to
share with an audience; in larger terms, it helps them
find something to say. Give them an opportunity to
review the shapes and decide how each can best be
presented so it is interesting to the audience. This also
ensures that no shape or part of a shape is visually lost.
As above, remind them to consider negative space as
well as positive space. Select groups and allow the students to display their shapes within their group.
In order to discuss the element of chance, mix the
groups up. This lets the students see how different
groupings change the way various shapes are received
by an audience. Encourage students to talk about why
some combinations of shapes are more exciting, more
calming, or more interesting than others. It is useful for
each performer to receive feedback on movements the
“audience” really liked.
The Next Step
Challenge the students to connect their favorite shapes,
from above, with transitional movements. Explore ways
to get from one shape to another in interesting ways.
For greater impact, require that at least one connecting movement causes them to locomote (move to a new
area of the room or stage). An easy way to accomplish
locomotion is to reflect on the earlier movement exploration that was defined by verbs and adverbs. At this
point, the students should choose and practice a fixed
order for their shapes and transitional movements.
Again, encourage them to look at and be aware of the
presentation of each shape and movement. As they get
comfortable performing the movement in a fixed order,
ask to memorize it as a theme.
A theme is defined as a movement phrase long
enough to contain a complete idea but short enough that
the audience can remember and recognize it when it is
repeated. Engage the students in a discussion of Theme
and Variation in which they might be encouraged to
discuss different ways variation can be accomplished.
Introduce examples such the following:
• Augmentation: Add to the original theme in terms
of space, time, energy, repetition of a movement or
movements, new movement(s), and the number of
dancers or body parts.
• Diminution: Subtract from the original theme in
terms of space, time, energy, less repetition of
a movement,
fewer movements,
removal of a movement(s), and the number of
dancers or body parts.
• Inversion: Perform movements
in the reverse order. If the original theme was compared to a
sentence, “Please come here,” the
inversion would be “here come
Please.” (In movement terms, if the
student begins with her right hand
on her shoulder and extends it straight up, then
moves her left hand from her side to her right
shoulder, the inversion would be to move her left
hand from her side to her right shoulder. Then
she would move the right hand from her shoulder
to its extension straight up, reversing the order in
which the movements are performed, not necessarily the direction.)
• Retrograde or Cancrizans: Movement that previously went upward now goes downward; movement that went from left to right now goes from
right to left; movement forward becomes movement backward. A musical definition would be
“Used to indicate the order in which notes should
be read. For example, when a voice repeats a
melody, the last note then becomes the starting
point. The voice works back through the melody
to the first note. Essentially, the last note becomes
the first and the first note becomes the last”
(Hearts Ease, 2004). If the original theme were
compared to a sentence, “Please come here,” the
retrograde would be “ereh emoc esaelP.” (In movement terms, if the student originally began with
her right hand on her shoulder and extended it
straight up, then moved her left hand from her
side to her right shoulder, the retrograde would be
to move her left hand from her right shoulder to
her side, then move her right hand from its extension straight up down to her shoulder.)
After the discussion, have students spend some time
exploring each of the variations by making changes to
their original theme. Then, it is useful to examine the
variations in order. So, students are assigned the task
of structuring their choreography so the original theme
is presented, followed by a variation. For example,
perform the original routine, proceeding directly into
a repetition of the routine, but this time with augmentation. Encourage students at this point to work from
their completed original theme, with no more changes.
Continuing to Create
As at the beginning of the choreographic process,
students continue to perform for each other each time
a step in the process is completed. As groups show the
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second stage (original plus augmentation), students
may remain in the same groups, or they may re-form.
Critical response from the larger group is appropriate
at this point. Questions such as follows may help the
audience reflect on the material
viewed:
• Does the variation solve the
problem given?
• Is the intent of the variation
clear to the audience?
• What movements in
the combined piece are
particularly interesting or
memorable, and why?
• Has the choreographer
used the space well? Are
there contrasts? Contrasts
may be in the form of
energy, level, direction,
repetition or lack of
repetition, use of space,
use of time, and type of
movement.
Completing the
Work
Once the students have
a clear picture of how
the process works,
the choreography can be
completed. Students will subsequently
add a diminution variation and one more variation of
choice to their dance. The completed choreography
concludes by revisiting the original theme. It is
important to remember that it is the original theme
that is being varied each time. At the discretion of
the teacher, taking into consideration the personality
of the students, the final showing may be done in
random groups or individually. In either case, the final
showing will be a unique one- to two-minute dance
that includes (a) the original theme, (b) an augmentation
of the original theme, (c) a diminution of the original
theme, (d) an inversion or retrograde of the original
theme, and (e) a return to the original theme.
It is important for both the choreographers and
the audience members to reflect on what they have
done and seen. Positive feedback—statements of the
things that worked best for the audience and why they
worked—is the most helpful response.
Some Thoughts on Choreographic
Projects
At the discretion of the instructor, students may use
music to accompany their final showing. There are
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some things to consider in the choice of music:
• Music with words may distract the audience from
their concentration on the work being presented.
• Popular music may evoke a mood or response
from the audience that the
choreographer did not
intend; therefore, it is
often better to choose
a somewhat obscure
piece of music rather
than one that is familiar
to the audience.
• Students often
regress when music
is added. They begin
to mimic dance they
have seen before rather
than creating authentic
movements of their own.
It may be best to keep
them working in silence
for some time.
Students often seem to
have difficulty expressing
their responses to
movement verbally. They
can express what they like,
but not why they like it.
However, it is vital that
they learn to explain their
reasoning. The explanation
can be very helpful to the
choreographer, and it also helps
students develop an aesthetic understanding of dance
that helps them in their own choreography, as well as
in their future experiences as audience members.
Students benefit from observing both live dance
and dance on video. If they have completed a
choreographic project such as described in this article,
they will have more tools with which to critically
observe the work of other choreographers.
Note
This choreographic project addresses National Dance Standards 1,
2, 4, and 7 (PE Central, 1994).
References
Brown, J.M. (Ed.). (1979). The Vision of Modern Dance. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton Book Company.
Ellfeldt, L. (1988). A Primer for Choreographers. Prospect Heights,
IL: Waveland Press.
Hearts ease. (2004). Retrieved on February 3, 2004 from http:
//www.hearts-ease.org/cgi-bin/defin.cgi?data=conservatory&ID
=105
PECentral. (1994). Retrieved on April 15, 2004 from http://
www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/dance/dancestandards.html j
Teaching Elementary Physical Education
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