How to Become a Choreographer in 4 Steps

A choreographer creates the steps and moves that comprise dance routines and musical numbers for performances. In dance schools, musicals, and music videos, choreographers rehearse and stage dance numbers to entertain audiences and create musical numbers that forward the story or reveal the inner emotions of fictional characters. The choreographer inhabits the top position for a dance company, tailoring dance steps to the music at hand and the dancers’ skills. Choreographers can compose dance sequences to various music and dance styles, from jazz and Broadway show tunes to hip-hop and modern dance.

When staging new dances or recitals, choreographers take on several specific roles, including:

1. 1. Casting dancers: In casting a musical, film, or music video, the director often has the final say. Still, choreographers will weigh in on background and professional dancers or roles that require more movement skills. Choreographers will run dance calls, stepping performers through steps in dance studios to see who can most quickly pick up the necessary moves most easily match the tone of a given dance style.
2. 2. Staging original dances: Choreographers may map out a dance in their head or assemble a trusted group of dancers to play and invent; the individual flair and movement of these dancers can influence what the original conceit for a number will turn out to be.
3. 3. Collaborating with music directors: Music provides the roadmap for a choreographer’s sequence of movements, meaning it’s essential that the choreographer and music director collaborate to create an aligned and refined finished product. For original musicals or new songs, the music will often change; as such, choreographers must be kept abreast of these changes to create dance moves that follow and evolve with the music at hand.
4. 4. Running rehearsals: Choreography embodies both art form and education: It is a mode of creative expression set to music, and it must also be taught. Choreographers run rehearsals, helping dancers achieve their vision through practice and run-throughs that grow with the help of critical notes. Because of this, choreographers need strong leadership skills.
5. 5. Taking notes on set and in dress rehearsals: After the dancer learns their moves and applies them in a high school drama production or a professional film shoot, the choreographer will stay on hand, watching the final product come to life and taking notes to ensure that what the dancers enact matches the choreographer and director’s vision. The choreographer will aim for a “frozen” production—one where the dancers know the moves well enough and that the dancers can replicate with the same quality of performance at each subsequent performance or film shoot.

Choreographers looking to get their start can follow a few different steps to become professionals:

1. 1. Master different types of dance. No matter where or how you study dance, mastering different dance styles can come into use. Choreographers will want to be well-versed in various dance styles to make them more well-rounded and hirable.
2. 2. Study dance at school. Many Bachelor of Fine Arts programs and some Bachelor’s programs offer dance or choreography majors, minors, or concentrations at the collegiate level. Obtaining such degrees exposes you to unique choreographic classes and the history of dance, enriching your practical and theoretical knowledge to make you a more savvy choreographer.
3. 3. Create dances. Within the performing arts, choreography is a unique kind of creative expression—and as with many fine arts, it is an artist’s style that sets them apart. Aspiring choreographers would do well to create dances with friends, dance troupes, and other ensembles to showcase their talent. Stage dance shows where others can see and familiarize themselves with your idiosyncratic work.
4. 4. Assist a choreographer. Assistant choreographers work with more established dancers in their careers, offering greener ones the ability to gain professional contacts, accrue experience, and build up a resume.

From early musical theatre to contemporary music videos, choreographers have been vital artists for hundreds and thousands of years. Many have taken distinct career paths to stage influential dance movements across history, including:

1. 1. George Balanchine (1904–1983): George Balanchine was a highly influential choreographer who founded the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet. Known as the father of American ballet, Balanchine was a seminal twentieth-century Georgian-American ballet choreographer working in Hollywood and on Broadway. His many esteemed collaborators include Igor Stravinsky and Richard Rodgers, among others. He is perhaps most well-known for choreographing The Nutcracker (1954).
2. 2. Agnes de Mille (1905–1993): Agnes de Mille redefined the role of ballet and dancing in a musical. She choreographed the dance sequences of Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1945), and Brigadoon (1947) on Broadway, showing that a dance number can reveal the inner emotions of a character through movement. She was known for her dream ballets, where dance alone communicated what lyrics normally would.
3. 3. Martha Graham (1894–1911): Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Graham’s work reshaped American dance and today still acts as the basis for dance education worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seven decades, becoming the first dancer to perform at the White House, which cemented the legitimacy and seriousness of the art form.
4. 4. Alvin Ailey Jr. (1931—1989): Alvin Ailey Jr. was a choreographer, dancer, and activist in New York in the mid-to-late twentieth century. He founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) to create more opportunities for Black dancers and artists. AAADT and its affiliated Ailey School continue to nurture Black artists and express the Black American experience through dance.

Get the MasterClass Annual Membership for exclusive access to video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Usher, Misty Copeland, Alicia Keys, St. Vincent, and more.