Creating Choreography for Dance Solos

By Bob Anholt

Early in my dance life while sitting through some overloaded studio showcases and competitions I came to realize that the dance solos were the most interesting parts of the shows. I best liked solos that are entertaining and creative; syllabus dancing to the same kind of bland music used for the freestyle rounds is not much more entertaining than the rounds. When I create solos, I therefore pick music that is NOT used in the rounds or in social dances, music that has a story to tell in the vocals, and has firm danceable movements. I especially like music that is somewhat multi-rhythmic having, for example, elements that suggest foxtrot, others suggesting samba, etc., so one need not be constrained to any one dance form. I always listen to music while driving and exercising; often imagining dancing to it so I have no shortage of ideas about the dances and tunes I want to do.

Because of all of the chit-chat and advertising, I find “Dancing with the Stars” to be unwatchable on live TV. I do learn from “Best of DWTS” videos on YouTube, and have noticed that the most entertaining solos comprise of about 60% silver syllabus, 20% side-by-side dancing facing the audience, and about 20% acrobatics (lifts, jumps, etc.). Although I myself don’t do much for acrobatics, I always include a bit of side-by-side dancing.

Having picked a song, I first analyze its structure. Music has sections like paragraphs in writing; they may be called chorus and verse, or in most pops songs we label them simply A, B, C, bridge, etc. I try to organize figures to maintain a theme in each section. For example one section might be waltz/foxtrot dancing in shadow, so the section needs to get into shadow, do a few things, and get out by the end. Another section might have all of the side-by side dancing etc. The ends of the major sections or the ends of each repetition of the tune are good places for developés, Cortés, or hesitations, and the beginnings I often start with basic movements of the dance form. Each section is designed to have a very good flow so that once begun, subsequent figures roll along automatically. This is a good memory device for instead of having to remember the sequence figure one, figure two, etc., one has to remember theme one, theme two, etc.

I usually tie the structure to the song lyrics which can be found these days by Googling “lyrics name of the song.” I print the lyrics, then play the song and count it, placing a mark every eight or six counts. I then create a spreadsheet of two or four bars per line with the lyrics in column one and dance figures in the second. Here is the “airplane” (natural outside turns with left arms extended) section of a sheet for a Viennese waltz I’m currently working on:

It's a grand night for singing.
4 bars (12 counts) Viennese Waltz
The stars are bright above.
Reverse turn, 1/2-rev, back change
Earth is a-glow...add to the show
Change step going outside to airplane; airplane
I think I am falling in love!
Walk around with L arms joined up, twirl her out
Falling, falling
wrap and unwrap twice
in love!
bring her to arabesque run around
instrumental slow down to rest
Release to Corte, hesitate LR

The names of the figures in the second line are idiosyncratic, especially if the teacher I learned them from didn’t or couldn’t say. I have never had a partner who could use these, but they provide a good framework, and as a lead, if I lose where I am in the choreography the lyrics tell me, for example, I need to be doing a wrap unwrap when I’m falling, falling.

From learning in group classes and private lessons I have always tried to retain figures instead of sequences. For example my first introduction to Turkish towel was in a long silver cha cha sequence which I soon forgot, but in the next private lesson with Kristina Lee, we figured out the simplest way into Turkish towel from basic and the simplest way out. And while we were at it, we did the same for rumba, night club, bolero, salsa, and swing. I keep a notebook describing figures indexed with lists of figure names I know so on the spreadsheet I need only insert the figure names into column 2 making sure the figures flow together for both lead and follow.

The art comes in picking figures that fit nuances in the music. For example, particular bars of waltz music might be more staccato where you can use step points instead of spirals. An even run of quarter notes in foxtrots might suggest doing a vine or something resembling samba voltas. Bouncy or swingy bars suggest some east coast swing moves, sultry sections west coast or tango figures. I insert hesitates, dips, Cortés, developés at rests in the music. In the airplane section above the wrap-unwrap works really well for “falling falling” in the music so that is one of the first things I write down and work the choreography to get there by that time. This approach works forward and back a lot instead of just beginning at the start of the tune and plowing through.
When I run out of ideas, I sometimes search YouTube, for example “DWTS top foxtrot” or “championship rumba,” and try to understand and estimate whether I could actually do the figures I see there. I own several Dancevision “silver variations” DVDs and sometimes use those sequences, but by the time I adapt them to my musicality and the rest of my choreography they are barely recognizable as such.

No paper plan survives first dancing with a partner. I usually make numerous revisions in the choreography either because figures do not work or because I, my partner, or coaches suggested better ideas. My December solo with Nelly Dorovski was launched in five sessions and I was still tweaking it in session four.

While learning to dance it with your partner, one must fit the choreography into the dance space available at the intended venue. For the smooth and standard dance forms that move around the floor: find methods to turn the corners. For the side-by-side dancing and the stationary dance forms (Latin, social) one must present to the audience or at least to the person who is videoing your solo. As ballroom shows have audience members on one, two, three, or four sides of the room, an arbitrary choice about which side to face has to be made. Professional coaches are useful helping to edit the choreography, as well as guiding shaping, theatricality, and footwork.

The benefits of creating many solos combined with a lot of social dance practice is that you can begin to exploit nuances in all of the music you hear instead of just applying standard sequences to the rhythm of the music. Also, you can choose figures you want more practice with. In social dancing, it makes a more interesting lead and more fun.