In simple terms
A friendly intro before the formal notes — no formulas yet.
The Choreographer's Blueprint
Choreography is the art of designing dance. For IB Dance, this means moving from an initial idea (a stimulus) to a fully realised dance work, making deliberate choices about movement, structure, and space to communicate a specific intention to the audience.
Think of choreography like being an architect. You don't just start laying bricks randomly. You begin with a concept (a family home, a public library), create a blueprint (the structure and form), choose your materials (movement vocabulary and devices), and then construct the building (the final dance) to fulfil your original vision.
- 1
Conceptualise: Begin with a stimulus (a poem, image, sound, or concept) and develop it into a clear, focused choreographic intent. This is your 'why'.
- 2
Explore & Develop: Generate movement material (motifs) and manipulate it using choreographic devices (repetition, contrast, development) to build your vocabulary. This is your 'what'.
- 3
Structure & Refine: Arrange your developed movement into a coherent form (like ABA or a narrative) with clear transitions, a climax, and a resolution. This is your 'how'.
- 4
Articulate & Realise: Document your process in your process portfolio and ensure the final performance effectively communicates your intent. This is your 'proof'.
Explore the concept
Use the live diagram and synced steps — play it or tap a step card to walk through.
Full topic notes
Formal explanation with the rigour you need for the exam.
Criterion C1: From Stimulus to Perceptive Intent
The journey of any strong composition begins with a clear and compelling choreographic intent. This is more than just a 'theme'; it is the specific question you are investigating or the statement you are making through movement. The IB rewards a process that is 'perceptive' and 'imaginative'. This means your exploration of the stimulus should be deep and your resulting intent should be focused and arguable. You must be able to articulate precisely what you want the audience to think, feel, or understand.
Choose a Stimulus with Depth: Select a stimulus (e.g., a photograph by an artist like Francesca Woodman, a complex piece of music, a scientific concept like symbiosis) that offers multiple layers for interpretation.
Formulate an Inquiry Question: Instead of 'My dance is about sadness,' ask, 'How can the physical manifestation of gravity be used as a metaphor for the progression of grief?' This transforms a theme into a choreographic investigation.
Document Your Exploration: Your process portfolio must show your thinking. Include mind maps, sketches, journal entries, and videos of early improvisations. Explain why certain ideas were pursued and others discarded.
Refine Your Intent Statement: Your final intent should be a concise, powerful statement that will guide every subsequent choice. Example: 'This choreography explores the tension between individual identity and collective pressure, using the spatial relationship between a solo dancer and a unified ensemble.'
Criterion C2: Skilful Application of Choreographic Principles and Devices
Once your intent is clear, you must select and apply choreographic tools to bring it to life. Criterion C2 assesses your ability to use principles (like contrast, repetition, climax) and devices (like motif, canon, unison) in a 'skilful and effective' manner. This means your choices must be purposeful, not arbitrary. Every device used should directly serve to clarify or deepen your choreographic intent. A top-band work demonstrates a sophisticated integration of these elements into a seamless whole.
Motif as a Building Block: Create a core motif that encapsulates your intent. For the Yeats example, a motif could be a gesture of hands clasping the solar plexus (the 'centre').
Purposeful Development: Develop this motif to show progression. To show the 'centre' weakening, you could fragment the clasping gesture, perform it with less tension (lighter weight), or have it interrupted by a sudden, sharp movement.
Strategic Use of Space: Use the stage space symbolically. Placing the 'stability' motif downstage centre and having the 'chaos' phrases enter from the upstage corners creates a clear spatial narrative of invasion.
Dynamic Variation: Use dynamics to create texture and meaning. A sustained, bound quality for control can be contrasted with sudden, free-flow movements for chaos. The interplay between these dynamics drives the emotional arc of the piece.
Avoid the 'shopping list' approach in your process portfolio. Do not simply state, 'I used repetition, contrast, and canon.' Instead, justify your choices. For example: 'I employed a ripple canon in the ensemble to create the visual effect of a shockwave emanating from the soloist's collapse, thereby reinforcing the idea that the central failure has wider repercussions.'
Structuring the Dance: Form, Phrasing, and Coherence
A collection of interesting movements is not yet a dance. The structure, or form, provides the overarching logic that guides the audience through your choreographic world. The choice of form—be it narrative, ABA, theme and variation, or episodic—must be a deliberate one that supports your intent. Within this structure, phrasing shapes the rhythm and flow, creating moments of tension, suspension, and release. Transitions are the crucial connective tissue; weak transitions can fragment a piece, while strong ones create a sense of inevitable progression.
Choose a Form that Fits: For a story of conflict and resolution, a narrative or ABA form might be effective. For exploring different facets of a single idea, an episodic or theme and variation structure could be more appropriate.
Build Towards a Climax: Your structure should create a clear arc of energy. Identify the moment of peak intensity (the climax) and choreograph the sections leading up to it and resolving from it.
Craft Your Phrases: Think of movement phrases like sentences. They should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Vary the length and dynamic of your phrases to create rhythmic interest.
Design Seamless Transitions: A transition is not just 'walking to a new spot'. It is a choreographic event in itself. Can a gesture from the end of one phrase initiate the beginning of the next? Can a change in focus or level bridge two sections?
Criterion C3: Realisation and Communication
This criterion assesses the final product. Is the dance coherent? Is it engaging? Most importantly, does it powerfully communicate your stated choreographic intent? A high-scoring work is one where the concept (C1) and the craft (C2) have culminated in a performance (C3) that is greater than the sum of its parts. This involves a rigorous process of refinement, editing, and ensuring every single moment on stage is purposeful. If you are working with other dancers, your ability to direct them to embody your vision is also part of this realisation.
The Importance of Editing: Be ruthless. If a movement or section, however beautiful, does not serve the intent, it must be refined or removed. Ask for feedback: 'What did you see?' 'What did it make you feel?'
Clarity of Performance: The movement must be performed with technical precision and dynamic clarity. Every gesture, focus, and nuance should be intentional.
Holistic Vision: Consider how production elements, even in a simple studio setting, can enhance the intent. A specific lighting state or a simple costume choice can significantly amplify the message.
Audience Perspective: Watch your dance from the audience's viewpoint. Is the narrative clear? Are the spatial patterns legible? Does the emotional arc resonate?
Worked examples
See the formulas applied — reveal one step at a time, like the exam.
In your process portfolio, explain how your initial stimulus, the poem 'The Second Coming' by W.B. Yeats, evolved into a clear choreographic intent.
- 1
My initial stimulus was the visceral imagery in Yeats's 'The Second Coming,' particularly the lines 'Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.' Initially, I explored this literally, with movements of collapse and disintegration. However, my exploration (C1) became more perceptive when I focused on the internal experience of this chaos. My inquiry shifted from depicting external collapse to embodying the psychological struggle to maintain composure when one's personal 'centre' is failing. This led to my refined choreographic intent: to portray the internal conflict between a desire for stability (represented by sustained, bound, and symmetrical motifs) and the encroaching force of chaos (represented by fragmented, sudden, and asymmetrical phrases that invade the personal space of the dancer). The 'widening gyre' from the poem was translated from a literal circular pathway into a conceptual spiral of increasing dynamic and spatial instability, forming the core structural principle of the work.
Analyse your use of structure and spatial organisation in realising your choreographic intent to explore 'the tension between individual identity and collective pressure.'
- 1
To realise my intent, I selected an episodic structure, with each section representing a different stage of the individual's negotiation with the group. The application of this form was integral to communicating the narrative (C2). Section A established the soloist's identity through a fluid, expansive motif in a personal kinesphere downstage left. Section B introduced the ensemble, moving in tight, geometric unison, occupying the upstage area. The tension was built through spatial organisation: the ensemble's pathways began to systematically encroach upon the soloist's space. The climax occurred in Section C, where the soloist is 'absorbed' into the ensemble's unison, forced to adopt their rigid, restricted motif. The transition into this section was a moment of stillness, where the soloist, surrounded, makes the choice to conform. The final section, a brief coda, shows the soloist as part of the collective, but a subtle fragmentation in their execution of the unison motif suggests a lingering, unresolved internal conflict. This structure provided a clear, coherent journey for the audience, powerfully communicating the core tension of the work (C3).
How it all connects
The big idea sits in the middle — tap a linked idea to explore the link.
Tap a linked idea to see how it connects back to the main topic — that connection is what examiners reward.
Glossary
Try to recall each definition before you reveal it.
Quick check
Answer in your head first — then tap to check. No pressure.
Revision flashcards
Flip the card. Test yourself before the exam.
Choreographic Intent
The choreographer's purpose or the central idea they aim to communicate through the dance. A top-band intent is focused, clear, and consistently informs all creative choices.
Key takeaways
Review these before you close the topic — retrieval beats re-reading.
- ✓
Choose a Stimulus with Depth: Select a stimulus (e.g., a photograph by an artist like Francesca Woodman, a complex piece of music, a scientific concept like symbiosis) that offers multiple layers for interpretation.
- ✓
Formulate an Inquiry Question: Instead of 'My dance is about sadness,' ask, 'How can the physical manifestation of gravity be used as a metaphor for the progression of grief?' This transforms a theme into a choreographic investigation.
- ✓
Document Your Exploration: Your process portfolio must show your thinking. Include mind maps, sketches, journal entries, and videos of early improvisations. Explain why certain ideas were pursued and others discarded.
- ✓
Refine Your Intent Statement: Your final intent should be a concise, powerful statement that will guide every subsequent choice. Example: 'This choreography explores the tension between individual identity and collective pressure, using the spatial relationship between a solo dancer and a unified ensemble.'
Practice — then mark it
The whole point: a real Cambridge question, marked mark-by-mark.
Test Your Choreographic Analysis Skills
Test Your Choreographic Analysis Skills
Extra simulations & links
PhET, GeoGebra and other curated tools — open in a new tab.
Frequently asked
Checkpoint
One marked question is worth ten re-reads — close the loop before you move on.
Reading it isn’t knowing it — prove it.
Before you move on: do Test Your Choreographic Analysis Skills on paper, snap a photo, and get examiner-style feedback on exactly where you win and lose marks.