Table Of Content“Roche and Burridge’s book, Choreography: The Basics, is an
insightful introduction to the theory and practice of choreog-
raphy that is illustrated with current choreographic examples
from diverse regions and cultural contexts. For anyone con-
sidering studying dance as a profession, I would recommend
this book.”
Professor Anna CY Chan, Dean of the School of Dance,
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
“Choreography: The Basics is ideally suited to undergraduates
seeking to better understand a multiplicity of approaches to
making dances. Emphasising the social and relational aspects
of choreography, alongside its craft and discipline, this accessi-
ble text is packed with insights and portraits of choreographic
processes for the twenty-first century.”
Professor Carol Brown, Head of VCA Dance,
University of Melbourne
“Brought to life through diverse examples, Choreography: The
Basics provides a road map of the experience, knowledge and
contexts of making dances. I would recommend this book to
all dance students and scholars eager to establish a sound basis
to their choreographic studies.”
Dr Jamieson Dryburgh, Director of Higher Education,
Central School of Ballet, London
CHOREOGRAPHY
THE BASICS
This book provides a comprehensive and concise overview of cho-
reography both as a creative skill and as a field of study, introducing
readers to the essential theory and context of choreographic practice.
Providing invaluable practical considerations for creating choreog-
raphy as well as leading international examples from a range of geo-
graphical and cultural contexts, this resource will enhance students’
knowledge of how to create dance. This clear guide outlines both his-
torical and recent developments within the field, including how cho-
reographers are influenced by technology and intercultural exchange,
whilst also demonstrating the potential to address social, political and
philosophical themes. It further explores how students can devise and
analyse their own work in a range of styles, how choreography can
be used in range of contexts – including site-specific work and digital
technologies – and engages with communities of performers to give
helpful, expert suggestions for developing choreographic projects.
This book is a highly valuable resource for anyone studying
dancemaking, dance studies or contemporary choreographic prac-
tice and those in the early stages of dance training who wish to
pursue a career as a choreographer or in a related profession.
Jenny Roche (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lim-
erick, Ireland. Having worked as a dancer for many years, she con-
tinues to collaborate on interdisciplinary arts projects as a performer,
maker and arts practice researcher. Her book Multiplicity, Embodiment
and The Contemporary Dancer: Moving Identities was published in 2015.
Stephanie Burridge (PhD) lectures at LASALLE College of
the Arts and Singapore Management University and is a chore-
ographer, performer and dance writer. She is Series Editor for the
Routledge collections Celebrating Dance in Asia and the Pacific,
and Perspectives on Dance, Young People and Change.
THE BASICS SERIES
The Basics is a highly successful series of accessible guidebooks which provide an
overview of the fundamental principles of a subject area in a jargon-free and
undaunting format.
Intended for students approaching a subject for the first time, the books both
introduce the essentials of a subject and provide an ideal springboard for further
study. With over 50 titles spanning subjects from artificial intelligence (AI) to wom-
en’s studies, The Basics are an ideal starting point for students seeking to understand
a subject area.
Each text comes with recommendations for further study and gradually intro-
duces the complexities and nuances within a subject.
SOCIOLOGY (THIRD EDITION)
KEN PLUMMER
MUSIC COGNITION
HENKJAN HONING
PERFORMANCE STUDIES
ANDREEA S. MICU
AMERICAN STUDIES
ANDREW DIX
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (SECOND EDITION)
JOSEPH HOLDEN
WORLD PREHISTORY
BRIAN M. FAGAN AND NADIA DURRANI
FRENCH REVOLUTION
DARIUS VON GÜTTNER
RESEARCH METHODS (THIRD EDITION)
NICHOLAS WALLIMAN
ARCHAEOLOGY (FOURTH EDITION)
BRIAN M. FAGAN AND NADIA DURRANI
REAL ESTATE
JAN WILCOX AND JANE FORSYTH
MANAGEMENT (SECOND EDITION)
MORGEN WITZEL
SEMIOTICS (FOURTH EDITION)
DANIEL CHANDLER
CHOREOGRAPHY
JENNY ROCHE AND STEPHANIE BURRIDGE
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
PAUL IBBOTSON
CHOREOGRAPHY
THE BASICS
Jenny Roche and Stephanie Burridge
Cover image: Images by Carol Brown, Digital Dance courtesy of the Victoria
College of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne.
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Jenny Roche and Stephanie Burridge
The right of Jenny Roche and Stephanie Burridge to be identified as authors
of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-89615-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-89616-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-02011-0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003020110
Typeset in Bembo
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 The journey begins 7
2 Choreographic notebook 37
3 Broader skills a choreographer needs 69
4 Choreographic (re)evolution, documentation
and preservation 96
5 A choreographic voice 126
6 Choreography for sites, screens and
community practice 157
Conclusion: next steps on your choreographic
journey 185
Glossary 189
References 195
Index 205
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank Brigitte Moody for her initial work on
the proposal for this project and Yarra Ileto for assisting with the
research and referencing.
The compilation of knowledge and experience from decades
of choreographing, performing, teaching, learning, writing,
researching and critiquing dance come together in this volume. We
are grateful for the wisdom and inspiration from so many dancers,
choreographers, academic colleagues, artists, friends and family
who have supported our journeys in dance.
INTRODUCTION
If you want to train in and study dance at university level, you
will also need to study choreography as part of your undergraduate
dance studies. Choreography is a very broad term which covers
a multitude of activities and descriptions. We use it to describe
what happens when someone or something puts together actions
in order or sequence. In other words, the term choreography refers
to the structuring of movement. It can be used to describe well-
executed and rehearsed set passes in soccer, the elegant patterns of
flamingos on a salt lake in Africa, a sequence of Martial Arts moves,
the precision of robots assembling cars in a factory. But of course,
choreography is most closely connected to structuring dance in all
its forms, styles and genres. Without choreography dance could not
be presented or ideas communicated.
Choreography can involve using a set dance vocabulary like in
ballet or inventing the actions to be performed (improvising) fol-
lowed by the sequencing and progressions of that movement into a
legible, communicable form. In other words, it’s about what move-
ments and phrases you choose and how you put them together. The
eminent dance scholar, Susan Leigh Foster (2010, p.15) describes
choreography as “a plan or orchestration of bodies in motion.”
There are as many ways of choreographing as there are people who
do it. In the professional world of dance there can be a distinction
between being a dancer and being a choreographer although in
most small-scale dance companies you must be both. So, what does
it mean to encounter choreography at university? Studying chore-
ography in the twenty-first century means you will be equipped to
make dances, be innovative, take creative risks and usually begin
DOI: 10.4324/9781003020110-1
