Choreography is as important a factor in staging scenes in film and theatre as a director is when constructing a film, or a conductor is when commanding a symphony. A choreographer creates and plans routines.  This could be for a range of performances including live shows, dance concerts and movies. It has played a strong part in orchestrating dance, ballet, and theatre performances and has become more than just someone leading a dance. Being split into multiple different sub-categories regarding other factors that involve choreographed set pieces (movement directors, fight directors, etc), Choreography has existed since the early to mid-20th century and continues to be involved in theatre and film-making within the modern generation.

As a system that effectively demands motion and physicality (the term choreography meaning ‘’dance-writing’’ in the Greek language), choreography became a proper title through the theatre space, with the term Choreographer first being used as a credit for George Balanchine in the Broadway show, On Your Toes in 1936. Previous to this, movies and stage shows eluded using the term, instead using phrases such as ‘’ensembles staged by’’ or ‘’dances by’’. A majority of the credit and strong ties to the origins of true choreography began in 16th, 17th and 18th century France and Italy, where their dance performances and ballets had an artistic pattern and teachable structures which led to several people adopting the title and becoming an ‘’arranger of dance as a theatrical art’’. Some of the most famous choreographers of this era were ballet masters, with one of the strongest and most impactful people being Jean-George Noverre, a French ballet master who transformed ballet from large spectacles focused on elaborate costumes and scenery, into something which focused on the physical and emotional expressions of the dancers, causing a dramatic shift in the art-form as a whole and revolutionizing how dance can be conveyed and interpreted much like other elements of the performing arts. Similarly in the early 1920s, dancing within a musical changed forever as American director and choreographer Seymour Felix thought that dance needed to aid plot and character development in order to enhance the show, therefore he created dances that had a progression and a climax as if they were units to the production as opposed to just ‘’a mere pounding of the feet and kicking to music’’. Film itself has actually had a great influence on dance choreography, as many dance routines have been allowed to expand to new areas and continue through different bodies or even locations thanks to cinematic tricks like jump-cuts and other editing techniques. Dance Choreographer Rebecca Chen explains how film-making techniques are used in music videos and how these aspects can change how a production is delivered.

I assume that the advantage of film-making techniques is being able to make the dance just perfect and being able to re-film if it doesn’t look right.  Also, the advantage of editing allows you to further explore your creativity using the different tools available and offer different camera perspectives.  A live production is one opportunity to get it right!

Erin Brannigan also found in his research into dance and film that many film-makers and choreographers collaborated their styles and performances during the early twentieth century, like including silent film characters, slow motion frames and freezes in ballets, as well as dancers following the silent-acting method of performance as opposed to the popular balletic pantomime of the time, coming to the conclusion that the gestural language of dramatic screen performances has been informed by, and informs, choreographic practice to produce moments of gestural dance. (Dancefilm: Choreography and the Moving Image, Erin Brannigan, Oxford University Press, 2011, pg. 3-5)

The most important aspect of dance choreography is the music. The routine should complement the music and the steps should be appropriate for the vintage of the music. Choreography is vital for commercial dancing as modern dancing has taken on a brand-new stance and style that features much more naturalistic aspects that can vary between realistic and abstract. People are experimenting more with music and steps, and there is so much more freedom in not only what style of dance someone can choreography, but the music choice as well. In more recent styles of dance choreography, improvisation is a part of bringing a sense of organic movement and fresh ideas to the performance, usually done for concert performances. This connection with music has always been a part of choreography, and it continues as a majority of high profile singers and performers not only have back-up dancers for their own constructed numbers in live shows during spectacle events, but said singers often accompanying their dancers in their routine dancers, meaning they also take part in performing or even choreographing their own work, with names like Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Toni Basil, MC Hammer, Black Pink and Lady Gaga being examples of people that can do both. Most, if not all, of the most influential choreographers in the world have previous dancing training. A pre-knowledge to dance rhythm and staging has helped many actors in their performances in films, with stars like John Travolta, Patrick Swayze, Kate Hudson, Summer Glau, and Alfonso Ribeiro utilizing their dancing capabilities to perform these moves effectively. Choreography isn’t only relegated to on stage or on screen, as other activities that require precise movement and dance-like qualities use similar styles and techniques when performing their tasks.

The unpredictability of sports events excludes them from being choreographed unless they are staged. Some sports use choreographers to compose their routines, mainly the ones that require a pattern or rhythm to them like figure skating, synchronized swimming, and gymnastics. Sports choreography can also take on a different meaning in regard to commercials, as in that sense, choreographers are brought on to instruct the team behind the camera and the sports talent himself/herself how to move and react within the commercial, relaying the information to the sports star what the people want from them and how to achieve it. Sports like WWF are choreographed to an extent – the opponent appears to know what’s coming and there is a certain reaction to keep the audience entertained. While it may not be choreographed from beginning to end, it appears that if Fighter A uses a certain move, then Fighter B knows what comes next.  There are sequences, but the order in which they are used can differ. A film’s use of choreographers isn’t only restricted to theatrical related elements like musical numbers like in stage performing, as a film includes unique aspects that a play doesn’t need to pay much attention towards. Director and choreographer Paul Becker, worked on the upcoming series of The Last of Us, in order to choreograph the movements of the clickers (aka, the zombies of the franchise), showing that movement itself can be something to choreograph. A movement director arranges actors and directs them to have a physical language and bring life and authenticity to a role. Choreographers have a slightly similar role as what a director does, moving and directing actors and stunt performers in the way that they feel  looks the most realistic, but also in what feels the most effective for the specific shot. This similarity can actually be seen in certain films that have been directed by people who were either choreographers previously, or transitioned from one role to the other, with multiple examples in Bollywood films with performers like Farah Khan, Remo D’Souza, and Ganesh Acharya, and even more recently with films like John Wick (Chad Stahelski) and Extraction (Sam Hargrave) being helmed by people who previously worked as stunt choreographers. The choreography of a fight is planned the same as a dance – there are specific moves and timing for every count. It’s an era where action and direction of said action is fined tuned and therefore, sometimes requires a professional touch to truly perfect. While staged combat has been a staple part of theatre since the 17th and 18th century like Japanese Kabuki theatre, fight choreography in film has become a great importance even next to traditional stunt work due to the massive amount of action within modern Hollywood, even growing to a point of certain films relying specifically on their fight sequences. It can be portrayed as strictly realistic with correct weapon positions or marital technique, or overblown non-realism with over-the-top stunts and effects. Swashbuckling movies like The Adventures of Robin Hood,  The Three Musketeers and The Pirates of the Caribbean adopt the fencing-style that was originally created by Douglas Fairbanks and his swashbuckling silent films, and fantasy films like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars portray their combat with proper sword techniques. Martial Arts films (a sub-genre of traditional action films) rely solely on martial arts-based combat as the physicality brings a lot of either gritty dramatic flair or comedic possibilities to a film, with prominent names in the field like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Angela Mao, Wesley Snipes,  Sonny Chiba, Cynthia Rothrock, Tony Jaa,  Michelle Yeoh, and Sammo Hung  showing their craft in their own films. In response to other action films veering more towards unrealistic situations and technology to bring fights to their film, martial arts film pride themselves on their natural and real stunts to show off their action, as well as how they use the hand-to-hand fights as a method of storytelling and character expression.  These films, while not considered artistically superior to other more elaborate film, its simplicity and hands-on approach makes it more well-regarded by fans.

Choreography is a style of construction that has had its hand both on-stage and on-screen, whether through various productions, films or even music shoots, and it’s a technique that, much like music and entertainment itself, has been shaped and altered throughout the years through the various changes to the mediums it commands.