What does a choreographer do?
Choreographer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real choreographer resumes:
- Start up and manage social media; Facebook, Instagram.
- Perform as lead dancer in semi-annual mainstage concerts.
- Perform in mainstage, blackbox and academic productions.
- Perform in script shows including children's theater, choreograph stage combat, and choreograph dance performances.
- Create, execute and perform an original musical production: including plot, music, costumes, choreography and staging
- Design culturally authentic costumes for performances.
- Exhibit leadership and creativity by choreographing an advance halftime show
- Develop leadership skills by teaching routines, organizing auditions and rehearsals
- Develop and implement interesting and interactive exercises to increase student understanding and knowledge of specific dance genres.
- Develop and implement interesting and interactive exercises to increase student understanding and knowledge of specific dance genres.
Choreographer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Choreographers are proficient in Stage Presence, Musical Theater, and Dance Classes. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Leadership skills, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Choreographers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Stage Presence, 29%
Dance activities were taught in order to help with memorization and stage presence.
- Musical Theater, 15%
Choreograph concert dance pieces, recital dances, musical theater productions, and any other sort of dance related performance.
- Dance Classes, 10%
Design dances for dance classes and for dancers at three different levels, ranging from beginners to advanced students.
- Dance Routines, 8%
Directed and participated in dance routines for public social events and national competitions throughout Ireland.
- JR, 4%
Worked with the choreographer to create dances for a production of Peter Pan Jr.
- Hip Hop, 4%
Choreographed and taught hip hop routines to students (ages 9-18) 3-4 nights a week to about 60+ students
Most choreographers use their skills in "stage presence," "musical theater," and "dance classes" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential choreographer responsibilities here:
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a choreographer to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "dancers need artistic ability and creativity to express ideas through movement." Choreographers often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "choreographed and taught a timeless high-energized hip hop routine that reflected excitement, joy, and creative expression. "
Leadership skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling choreographer duties is leadership skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "choreographers must be able to direct a group of dancers to perform the routines that they have created." According to a choreographer resume, here's how choreographers can utilize leadership skills in their job responsibilities: "developed communications strategy for 75th pioneer leadership program; 2010-present anniversary. "
Physical stamina. This is an important skill for choreographers to perform their duties. For an example of how choreographer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "dancers are often physically active for long periods, so they must be able to rehearse for many hours without getting tired." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a choreographer: "train, exercise, and attend dance classes to maintain high levels of technical proficiency, physical ability, and physical fitness".
Teamwork. A big part of what choreographers do relies on "teamwork." You can see how essential it is to choreographer responsibilities because "most dance routines involve a group or pairs, so dancers must be able to work together to be successful." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical choreographer tasks: "job duties included; traveling the united states teaching high school dance teams dance, leadership, and teamwork. "
The three companies that hire the most choreographers are:
- Addison Trail High School2 choreographers jobs
- Stevens Institute of Technology1 choreographers jobs
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Compare different choreographers
Choreographer vs. Dance instructor
A dance instructor teaches a variety of dance styles and techniques to students from beginner to advanced level. Dance instructors must choreograph routines for their students and select the proper music for recitals and concerts. They evaluate the performance of their students and provide suggestions and recommendations for improvement. Dance instructors can specialize in one or more dance genres such as ballet, ballroom, or hip-hop. They also can find employment at schools, dance studios, and community centers.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, choreographer responsibilities require skills like "stage presence," "jr," "hip hop," and "ran." Meanwhile a typical dance instructor has skills in areas such as "role model," "hip hop dance," "dance program," and "fine arts." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, dance instructors reach similar levels of education than choreographers. Dance instructors are 3.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Choreographer vs. Dancer
Dancers are responsible for using fluid body movements during musical productions, including ballroom, musical theater, opera, ballet, and concerts. They dance alone, with a partner, or with a group to entertain the audience. Their primary responsibilities are to perform classical, modern, or acrobatic dances, work in tandem with other dancers to create an entire routine, coordinates movement to express emotions through dance set to music, present folk, jazz, tap, ethnic, or other popular kinds of dance, choreographed routines set to music, promote performances if necessary, and maintain a healthy lifestyle to accentuate performance.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real choreographer resumes. While choreographer responsibilities can utilize skills like "stage presence," "musical theater," "jr," and "ran," dancers use skills like "excellent guest," "public appearances," "parade," and "nba."
Dancers earn lower levels of education than choreographers in general. They're 5.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Choreographer vs. Dance teacher
Dance Teachers are responsible for leading dance classes to teach individuals or groups of people various dancing techniques. Dance Teachers are required to help their students improve their dancing skills by participating in amateur or professional dance competitions or performing in social events such as high school reunions. They must teach one or more dance genres such as ballet, ballroom, or hip hop. They must also be physically fit and should possess a good sense of quality music.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, choreographers are more likely to have skills like "stage presence," "dance classes," "jr," and "hip hop." But a dance teacher is more likely to have skills like "hip hop dance," "role model," "front desk," and "dance program."
Dance teachers typically earn similar educational levels compared to choreographers. Specifically, they're 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Types of choreographer
Updated January 8, 2025
