Choreographic Methods and Craft
The craft principles and devices used to compose dance: phrasing, motif development, spatial design, and dynamic structure.
Definition
The principles, devices, and processes through which choreographers compose and structure dance material.
Scope
This topic covers the practical craft of choreography: generating and developing movement material, organizing it through devices such as repetition, variation, canon, and contrast, designing use of space and group relationships, and shaping dynamics and form. It draws on the codified pedagogy of dance composition developed for teaching choreography.
Core questions
- How is movement material generated and developed into a dance?
- What compositional devices organize movement in time and space?
- How do form, dynamics, and group design shape a choreographic work?
Key concepts
- motif and development
- phrasing
- canon
- spatial design
- dynamics
- form
Key theories
- Compositional devices and form
- The principle that choreography develops a limited movement vocabulary through devices such as repetition, variation, canon, and contrast to build coherent form.
History
Choreographic craft was first articulated systematically by modern dance practitioners seeking to teach composition, most influentially Doris Humphrey, and was later developed into structured pedagogical models used widely in dance education.
Debates
- Teachable craft versus inspiration
- Educators debate the extent to which choreography can be taught through transferable craft principles as opposed to depending on individual creative intuition.
Key figures
- Doris Humphrey
- Lynne Anne Blom
- Jacqueline Smith-Autard
Related topics
Seminal works
- humphrey1959
- smithautard2010
Frequently asked questions
- What is a motif in choreography?
- A motif is a short, distinctive movement idea that a choreographer develops and varies throughout a work to build structure and coherence.