Dance choreography: a guide for pros

What customers ask, how to win the job, and what to put on your profile.

Offering dance choreography

You create original choreography for performances, weddings, teams and videos, and teach it to the dancers who will perform it. Your listing should show the routines you have made and the types of clients you work with.

What customers ask

  • Can you make a routine for our team's competition in six weeks?
  • Can you choreograph a dance for my wedding that fits our song?
  • Who owns the routine once I pay for it?
  • Can you teach the routine in person, or only create it?
  • Do you create routines for videos, and how do you plan the filming?

How to win the job

  • On the first call, ask the event, the song, the number of dancers and the date of the performance or filming.
  • Offer a short look at the group's skills, and explain how the routine will be built around them.
  • Show a sample routine map with the sections, formations and counts for one part of the piece.
  • Share a short clip of a past routine, if the client agrees to share it, with the process explained.
  • Put the song, rehearsal schedule, ownership terms and filming plans in the quote.
  • Say how you plan rehearsals so the group knows the timeline before the first session.

What to put on your profile

  • Your choreography training and experience, such as years of teaching, performance credits and the styles you create in.
  • The kinds of routines you make, such as wedding dances, team pieces, competition routines or videos.
  • Photos or short clips of past routines, with the client's permission to share them.
  • The service formats you offer, such as full creation and teaching or creation only.
  • Reviews from clients that name the event and the result, once they agree to share them.

Follow-up that helps the customer

  • After the routine is taught, suggest a rehearsal plan and a date for a final run-through.
  • Offer a refresh session for the group before a competition or event when the client's goal fits, and let them choose.
  • Recommend a new routine for the next season or event once the group is ready, and let them decide.

Licenses and permits

No license is usually required to create choreography privately. Keep your training records, portfolio and references ready, and check your state and local rules for any business registration you need. Put ownership and usage terms in writing with each client before you start work.

Questions

Do I need a degree to offer choreography here?

Not usually, but clients look for a portfolio and proof of experience, so show your past routines and training clearly.

Can I offer choreography and in-person teaching?

Yes. Say which services you offer so clients know whether you create the routine, teach it or both.

Do I pay to join?

Joining is free. You pay only for leads you accept, you can decline any lead for free, and every profile is reviewed before it goes live.

Pro reviewers

Pros who offer dance choreography remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.

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