Make a Dance Solo
The occasion to make a dance solo may come up when auditioning for a part, performing for a loved one's wedding, or meeting the requirements of a high school or college dance class. The beauty of a dance solo is in the opportunity to highlight your greatest strengths as a dancer. Whether you are a technically trained dancer or simply enjoy entertaining others through movement, a dance solo gives you a chance to capture an audience's attention. Here are some strategies for choreographing a dance solo.
Contents
Steps
- Determine the goal of your dance solo. If you're auditioning for a highly technical dance company, the goal of your dance solo may be to present your advanced technical ability. On the other hand, a dance solo for a community event may be geared towards entertaining others.
- Select appropriate music. When auditioning for a traditional ballet company, select classical music or a piece that you would commonly dance to in your ballet classes. If you will perform the dance solo at a social or community event, choose music that will appeal to audience members. Some contemporary dances are performed to recitation of words or in the case of a step dance, you would create your own music through clapping and stomping.
- Choose a theme for your dance. Not all dance pieces must have a theme. Some choreographic pieces are intended to dazzle through high-energy movements or move others through awe-inspiring gracefulness. However, if you are planning to tell a story through movement or convey a concept, define it at the outset.
- Decide how you will enter the stage. Depending on the theme of your dance piece, it may be more powerful to burst onto the stage after the lights are up and the music has started. Alternatively, you might stand on center stage and begin to dance as the lights come up and the music starts.
- Choreograph the middle section of your dance solo.
- Tell a story through dance movement. Your story may be about having lost something and the joy of finally finding it. Your movements may mirror specific words in the music lyrics. You might make use of props to tell your story.
- Highlight your technical abilities. Each dancer has specific strengths. Some are highly flexible. Others are extremely strong. Some dancers have a combination of these qualities and more. Use the middle section of your dance solo to highlight your technical strengths, without taking away from the main theme of your dance piece.
- Use the dance space effectively. Perform your most impressive movements in center stage so they can easily be seen. Avoid performing movements that cannot be seen, such as lying down on a stage that is not elevated. If you are performing on a large stage, use as much of the space as possible.
- Consider the dynamics of your dance solo. Take advantage of dramatic changes in the music. Incorporate movements that take you off of the ground in leaps, take you to the floor and back to center stage. To keep the audience's attention, avoid excessive stillness and stagnation in a solo, unless it is done deliberately to convey a story or concept.
- Decide how you will conclude your dance solo. You might end in a dynamic pose on the last beat of the music. The music may end as your graceful movements gradually stop. Or you might dance off the stage as the music fades.
- Practice your dance solo. In a group dance, if you forget the movements, you can follow others. In a dance solo, you don't have this luxury. Repeated rehearsal will help you memorize the dance solo and increase the fluidity and expressiveness of your movements.
- Ask a friend or family member. If your dance is to much/little for the occasion, you'll want to know. Make sure you have at least two people to preview your dance, just so you won't embarrass yourself.
Tips
- One thing to note is to absolutely not compare yourself to others, it will beat you down! This is a mistake a lot of teen dancers know, but forget to do.
- Emotion tells the judges your hunger and need for dance, and reveals if you really love dancing or not. If you love dancing, emotion will come naturally to you.
- Most importantly, if judges label you as something such as "unemotional", prove them wrong. Also based on the judges, research the head teacher. If the head teacher likes contemporary, do not do ballet.
- Your performance is most important. The performance means of course your technique, timing, presentation (how you're dressed), song selection, but most of all, your emotion.
- Actually, auditions can show if you are the right fit for show business or dancing as a professional. If you audition several times and forget the dance routine out of stress, dancing may not be for you. But don't worry, there's a lot of time to improve.
Warnings
- If you slip or something like that, keep going.
