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choreographing a routine..
Hey ladies. I’m trying to put together a routine for the first time and I’m finding it easier to do it without music. I’m still working on it and hoping that once I start practicing to a song I will be able to adjust the pace to match the music… Is that what most people do or is it better to choreograph to a song from the beginning? Just wondering what other polers prefer.
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5 Replies
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When I choreo, I always do it to the music I'll be performing to…first I dance to the song over and over, letting the music wash over me and 'feeling' it, often the movements and sequences and the unique flow for that song arise out of that. I wouldn't and don't necessarily choreo the song start to finish, just maybe something flows in the middle and you build around that. For me, it's not a set system but pretty organic.
The key is the music, though, at least for me!
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I think everyone does it a little differently. Personally I do the opposite – I listen carefully to the song first for inspiration and really try to fit the choreography to the song. That way it flows better and the moves can more accurately interpret the lyrics or the mood of the piece. If I have a certain combo I'd like to do I can usually find a place for it, but I never choreograph a whole routine (or even most of one) without at least picking a song first. When I'm stuck and can't think of what to put where, I just listen to the song over and over again and try to imagine myself dancing to it until I come up with something that fits. It also helps to have a list of moves and combos I know handy so that I can go through that for ideas as well – it's especially helpful when trying to interpret a song because you might have five different ways of sliding down to the ground (for example), but one of them might go with the words (i.e. "falling" vs "slowly sinking," etc.) better than the others, and it's good to be able to have that in front of you for reference. But I think that, in general, choreography is a pretty personal thing.
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I forgot to mention that I have listened to the song a million times and gave also danced to it but I end up forgetting everything I know and it ends up being 99 percent dancing / 1% tricks or spins.
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I always do my choreography to the music. I listen to it over and over and picture what I want to do, then when I practice I can see what fits and what is unrealistic. 9 times out of 10 things need to be changed around at least a little.
I really liked Amber Richard's ideas for helping girls get more comfortable choreographing which is for them to pick 5 moves before and try to work those in to the routine ( http://aerialamy.com/blog/2011/09/09/personal-style-amber-richards-part-1/ ). And that if you keep filming your practices you notice more what looks best and what isn't working from the audience's point of vue.
HollySatine, I love the idea of having a written list handy! I'm totally stealing the idea https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
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I always pick the music first. The song will come to you. It always does for me. I listen to the song and listen to points where I want to do certian moves. From there I work around it. Theres always alot of editing. I have big habit of choreographing a routine that I cant do. I know I cant be the only one who does that!
Then I work on that routine non stop. I get to a point where I can play it out in my head everytime I hear the song. The advantage of dancing solo is if you screw up a move, no will know the difference. I have to do it that way or its mostly dancing and no tricks!
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