Choreographic Devices, Structural Devices and Structures

How a dance is actually built

A finished dance can look like one flowing thing, but a choreographer builds it from small pieces that are DEVELOPED and ORGANISED on purpose. Learn the three layers and you can read or make any piece. ⭐⭐ It starts with a MOTIF: a short, clear movement idea. On its own it is just a phrase; the craft is in what you DO with it. ⭐ First, CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES change a single motif. You can repeat it, perform it backwards (retrograde), change its tempo, its level, its size or its direction, or break it up. Same idea, transformed. ⭐⭐ Then STRUCTURAL DEVICES arrange dancers and phrases in relation to each other: unison (together), canon (one after another), contrast, and highlights that draw the eye. Finally the whole piece follows a STRUCTURE, an overall shape such as binary, ternary, rondo, episodic or narrative. This module is those three layers: devices, structural devices and structures. A separate module covers RADS and the step-by-step choreographic process. ⚠️ Carry one question the whole way through: what is the movement material, how is it varied, and how is the whole piece organised?

Three layers of the craft

The three layers a choreographer works with. Read across what each one does.

Tap the two choreographic devices

Tap the TWO things that are CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES, ways of transforming a single motif.

• Performing the motif backwards, from its last movement to its first.
• Performing the motif much more slowly than before.
• Several dancers starting the same movement one after another.
• Giving the whole piece two clear sections.

Naming what you see

Four dancers perform exactly the same phrase, but each begins two counts after the one before, so the movement ripples across the stage. Which term names this?

• Canon, because they perform the same movement staggered, one starting after another
• Unison, because they are dancing the same phrase
• Retrograde, because the phrase is being changed
• Ternary, because there are several dancers

The words a choreographer uses

Six terms this topic turns on. Learn them and a dance becomes readable.

Pair each term with what it means

Two true things about the craft

Select the TWO statements that are true of how a dance is built.

• A choreographic device transforms a single motif, for example by reversing it
• Ternary is a structure with an ABA shape, where the first section returns
• Unison and canon mean the same thing
• Devices should be added at random just to fill time

Using devices for top marks

The strongest choreography does not just contain devices; it uses them ON PURPOSE to communicate the intention. ⭐⭐ TIE EVERY CHOICE TO THE INTENTION. Do not add a canon because canons look clever; use it because staggered movement suits the idea, perhaps a crowd reacting one by one. Name the device AND why it fits. ⭐ DEVELOP, DO NOT JUST REPEAT. A motif shown once and then again unchanged is thin. Transforming it, slower, reversed, at a new level, shows craft and keeps a piece growing. ⭐⭐ LET THE STRUCTURE CARRY THE MEANING. Choosing ternary so an idea returns changed, or rondo so a theme keeps coming back, is a decision about meaning, not just a shape. Say what the structure does for the piece. DO NOT DRIFT INTO THE PROCESS OR RADS. The step-by-step choreographic process and RADS have their own module; here, keep the focus on devices, structural devices and structures. ⚠️ A note on scope. Describe movement in general terms; do not attribute devices to a named living choreographer or a specific set work, which belong to their own study. Keep the one question to hand: what is the movement material, how is it varied, and how is the whole piece organised?

Build a piece from the ground up

Put the stages of building a dance, from a single idea to a whole organised piece, into a sensible order.

• Start with a motif, a short movement idea
• Transform it with choreographic devices, such as retrograde
• Combine dancers with structural devices, such as canon
• Arrange the sections into an overall structure
• Check the whole piece communicates its intention

Build a point about a motif

Assemble one sentence that shows a motif being developed on purpose.

The choreography run

Five quick decisions about how a dance is built. Three lives.

A songwriter and a hook

Leave dance aside for a moment. Think about how a songwriter builds a whole song out of one small, catchy idea. ⭐ It begins with a hook: a few notes you can hum. On its own it is nothing much. The craft is in what happens next. The writer repeats it, sings it higher, slows it down, or turns it upside down so it feels new while staying recognisable. One little idea, worked in many ways. ⭐⭐ Then the writer arranges voices. Sometimes everyone sings the same line together for power; sometimes voices come in one after another, like a round, so the line chases itself. Different effects from the same words. Finally there is the running order: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, a bridge, then the chorus again. That overall plan is chosen so the song builds and the chorus lands hardest. Change the plan and you change how the whole thing feels. ⚠️ Hold that picture. A dance is built exactly this way: a small idea, developed in set ways, with performers arranged together or in turn, and the sections put in a deliberate overall order.

Finish each choreography line

A short, clear movement idea that a dance is built from is a _____. Performing that idea backwards is called _____. Dancers performing the same movement at the same time are dancing in _____. Dancers performing the same movement one after another, staggered, are dancing in _____. The overall shape of a whole piece, such as binary or ternary, is its _____.

Three choreography choices

Three situations are described. For each, choose the reading the choreographic vocabulary best supports.

• A student shows a strong motif once and then simply repeats it identically many times to fill the piece.
• A choreographer wants a moment where a feeling spreads through a group one dancer at a time.
• A choreographer wants an opening idea to return, changed, at the end so the piece feels complete.

Explain how a dance is built

Explain how a choreographer builds a dance from a motif: what a choreographic device does, the difference between unison and canon as structural devices, and what a choreographic structure is. Explain why devices should be used to serve the intention, not decoratively. Use general examples, not a named work.

• Explain what a motif is and why it is the starting point
• Explain what a choreographic device does, with an example such as retrograde
• Explain the difference between unison and canon
• Name a choreographic structure such as binary, ternary or rondo and what it does
• Explain why devices should serve the intention rather than be decorative