Disclaimer

These are not rules or a definitive guideline, these are my opinions based on my experience. The article also includes some tricks that help me to create and remember choreographies. They may not work for you, but I hope they may be useful.

The Music

In this article, the song Lolai by Alabina is being used as an example. This is the full song, so may take a little time to download. Click here to hear the song

What makes a good Choreography?

1. The music - The music needs to be immediately enjoyable. Remember that the audience will only hear the piece once. They won't have time for it to 'grow' on them.

2. The length of the music - Personally I have a rather short attention span. I can watch belly dance all day, but a performer needs to be doing something spectacular to hold my attention on one dance for over 3.5 minutes. If you can, shorten a long piece either with a fade out or if you have music editing software like Nero, you may be able to cut out a centre piece and zip the music back together again. Talking of Nero, his performances were so long that members of his audience faked death in order to have a good excuse to be carried out of the arena. Giving birth was the only other valid excuse. Try not to do this to your audience.

3. Interpretation of the music - Don't be tempted to just pack out the dance with all your favourite and most complex moves. The audience will enjoy a simple dance with good interpretation more than a showy dance that doesn't fit the music.

4. Structure - Follow the structure of the music. A song usually has a structure of verses, all of which are different, and choruses, all of which are the same. Don't be afraid to repeat a dance sequence for a repeated piece of music. After all, the bit that people generally enjoy most in a song is the repeating chorus. It gives them something familiar to hook into. You don't have to make it a complete repeat. For instance, if on the first chorus you worked your right hip and circled clockwise, on the second chorus, you could work you left hip and circle anticlockwise. Repeats also cut down the amount of work you have to do when creating the choreography.

Breaking down the Music

In order to choreograph, you need to know the music really well, understand how it has been structured, how it fits together and when it repeats. Everybody learns differently. I am a visual learner which means I need to be able to visualise what I'm learning. I therefore find music quite a challenge, so I get round it by drawing a picture of it. The picture itself is of limited use, but the process of creating it is where the value lies.

The introduction to this song consists of a male chorus singing a line, then a female chorus replies. This is then repeated. I have drawn the male voices with numbers and the female in letters. Instruments are in punctuation marks. Repeated sections are in colour

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The second section consists of 4 lines where 2 drum beats (! !) are followed by the female voice (Ishtar), then the 4 lines repeat.

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The third section is Ishtar singing 2 relatively gentle lines that repeat.

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The fourth section is the male voices singing 2 lines that repeat

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The fifth section, Ishtar sings 2 rapid lines that repeat, then 2 more slightly different lines which also repeat.

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The sixth section is a repeat of the introduction except that the female voices start and are followed by the male

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The seventh section has a drumming section which start with Ishtar's voice then has 8 bars of 8 drum beats each.

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The eighth section is a repeat of the fourth.

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The ninth section is a repeat of the fifth.

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

The tenth section is a repeat of the introduction though it is longer and has some small variations.

Music sample below, click on the arrow on the left.

So now we have an at a glance 'picture' of the music, we can see that the introduction repeats 3 times, the green section twice and the blue section twice. Though its not appropriate for this short piece of music, were it a long one and you have the facilities to edit music, you can see at once that if you wanted to, you could cut out the 5th to 8th sections and zip the 4th section to the 9th etc.

The next thing to do is to select moves that fit the music. Sharp drum beats would be accentuated with sharp hip or rib drops, softer parts with circles and soft arms, busy parts with travelling steps. If the music is quiet, make the movement small, if the music is loud, make yourself large and as flamboyant as the music. Where the music repeats, you can repeat a movement, though usually with a variation. By using a picture like the one above, it makes it easier to jump around in the music, so rather than starting at the beginning and working through to the end, you can start with your favourite sections and do those first. I find this a much quicker and far less gruelling way of going about a choreography. I also find the colours help as it helps me visualise each part of the dance and so helps me to remember the completed choreography.

As for the choreography itself, that's down to you, your taste and interpretation. Nobody can do that for you.