Composition: Generating, Structuring and Refining Movement
Core concepts
Composition asks you to create and justify. You must understand the choreographic process - stimulus or intent, improvisation and movement generation, selection, manipulation, structuring, and refinement through rehearsal. Know the elements of dance (space, time, dynamics/energy, relationships) and how to manipulate them: altering level, direction, size, tempo, duration, force, and grouping.
Know choreographic devices and be able to distinguish them: motif and development, repetition, contrast, canon, accumulation, retrograde, inversion, fragmentation, unison, and augmentation. Understand form and structure: binary, ternary, rondo, theme and variation, narrative versus abstract, and how transitions and climax are built. Understand the role of accompaniment, costume, lighting and staging as compositional choices that support intent rather than decoration.
Common traps
- Confusing motif (a short, recurring movement idea) with phrase (a longer sequence) or with theme.
- Naming a device without explaining its effect on the audience or its link to intent.
- Describing a stimulus as 'the music' with no explanation of how it shaped movement choices.
- Treating structure as a label ('it is ternary') rather than showing where sections begin and why.
Worked example
Question: 'Explain how you used one choreographic device to develop your motif.' Strong answer: 'I took a two-count reaching motif and used retrograde, performing it backwards in the second section at half tempo; this reversed the spatial pull from outward to inward, reinforcing the intent of retreat.' Note the device, the manipulation, and the resulting meaning - three parts.
Rule of thumb
Every compositional claim needs three parts: what you did, how you manipulated an element or device, and what effect or intent it served. Rehearse describing your own work aloud; vague reflection is the most common mark-loser.