18 Things Every Dance Choreographer Knows To Be True
After saying, “Just mark it, don’t go full out”, there will always be at least one dancer who continues to do it full out. Someone’s going to be exhausted.
By 
De Elizabeth
1. No matter how many times you review your choreography notes, when it comes time to teach them at rehearsal, you’ll have no idea what you’ve written down.
2. You kind of hate jazz squares but sometimes can’t help sneaking them into routines.
3. While teaching a routine, you start out with proper counts, but usually dissipate into a series of “duh duh duh bum bum BUM”s.
4. When you say “once more with me and then I’ll watch you”, it usually means you’re doing the combination at least three more times.
5. Grapevines can be deadly traps.
6. It’s possible to practice a dance in your head without anyone knowing what you’re doing.
7. Sometimes you have no other choice but to label a move in your notes as “the greased lightning.” It happens.
8. When you’re asked, “how do you get out of this step?” it is absolutely necessary to quickly do the whole combination in double time, while whisper-counting to yourself out loud, in order to answer accurately.
9. After saying, “Just mark it, don’t go full out”, there will always be at least one dancer who continues to do it full out. Someone’s going to be exhausted.
10. The names Fosse, Robbins, DeMille, Bennett, and Tharp are like religious figures in your opinion.
11. You have some very strong emotions — either positive or negative — about Cats.
12. Getting your iPod to start at the exact point of your 32-bar combination is a science.
13. “Bad turning days” and “bad flexibility days” are very real things.
14. You struggle to remember a time without blisters on your feet. You should get a discount on band-aids.
15. When you were a kid, you made up dances to Britney Spears or Spice Girls songs and performed them in your living room. You probably still remember them.
16. You are already planning a choreographed dance for your bridal party to do at your future wedding.
17. When taking notes at a dance audition, you hope to use a very structured system including number ratings and carefully worded notes, but it usually becomes a scribble-fest with basic words like “yes”, “no”, or “ugh.”
18. Watching dancers nail a routine that you came up with is one of the most awesome feelings ever. It’s like seeing your thoughts take shape in bright color and nothing is more rewarding. 
