Zelma Badu-Younge travels to foreign countries to gain inspiration for choreographing dance numbers.
Before a dance routine is complete and audiences flock to see the performance, the show is typically designed and practiced. In musicals, such as the Oscar-nominated movie La La Land, creating dance moves is a crucial aspect. The practice through which dancers create set movements is choreography, and the method can be different for each choreographer.
Lily Gelfand, a junior studying dance, said some choreographers prefer to move slowly and run through aspects of the piece multiple times and other choreographers act quickly. The performance she is rehearsing for uses a collaborative approach where the dancers are asked to produce some of their own content, she added.
“(When) I was just in other people’s pieces, I kind of got a glimpse of what it’s like to be in a choreographic process where the choreographer is building a piece on you,” Gelfand said. “The big thing about choreography and working with different people is everyone’s process is different.”
As a dance ethnographer, Badu-Younge, a professor of dance at Ohio University, draws from different cultures when choreographing a piece. To gain inspiration, she immerses herself in cultures and observes the movements of people going about their everyday lives. In the past, she has traveled to India and Ghana to study dance.
“I look at the dance, but I just like to watch everyday people — see how they move, see how they interact,” Badu-Younge said. “The first thing I like to do is enrich myself, especially if I want to create something that’s very different.”
Most of the content Badu-Younge produces is based on intuition and ideas she stores in her head. She said she is often in a constant state of choreographing as movements come to her when she hears rhythms and music.
Gelfand has created three pieces of her own and said she uses some ideas from other dancers but also likes to have an understanding of what she wants the routine resemble. Gelfand said she likes the collaborative approach because she enjoys working with other dancers and experimenting with movements.
For Gelfand, the hardest parts of choreographing involve problem-solving, patience and trusting herself. When she cannot produce dance moves, she said she has to push through the mental block and create as much content as possible.
“When you’re making a piece … there’s not a set answer, basically — there isn’t a right or wrong answer,” Gelfand said. “There are so many possibilities of what you could do.”
Badu-Younge likes the challenge of choreography and working with people from diverse backgrounds. Choreographing allows her to be creative and to “escape,” she said.
“For me, (choreographing) is a time to reflect on my life. …. It’s a personal thing. It’s coming from things that I value (and) that I’ve seen,” Badu-Younge said.
Azaree Whitehead, a senior studying dance, believes choreography is an “essential” component to dance. When choreographing a dance number, she said it can be set up like a narrative or about creating movements, which she thinks is a “special part” of choreography.
“I think (choreography) is a great way for us to express ourselves and to really show our individual approach to dance,” Whitehead said.
Even though taking courses in choreography and dance can help someone learn the techniques of the trade, Badu-Younge does not believe the classes are necessary to be a good choreographer. She said she has found some choreographers like to set formal techniques aside and work outside conventional structures.
“My strong belief is that you’re either a choreographer or you’re not, and you don’t have to have formal training to decide that you’re a choreographer,” Badu-Younge said. “I know a lot of people who have never had any training, but they are fine choreographers.”
Correction: A previous version of the photo caption incorrectly spelled Trezon Dancy's name. The caption has been updated to show the most accurate information.
