Last week I started talking about when to choreograph and when to improv pole dance routines.  This week, I thought it would be cool to go into more detail about how to actually pull together a choreographed routine.

If I can do it, you can do it.

The first thing to know is that there are probably as many ways to do this as there are pole dancers. This is just what works for me, and I’ll be the first to tell you choreography isn’t really my thing. I am definitely more of an improv girl. On the other hand, if this helps even a choreography-challenged person such as myself create a routine, then it must have something going for it.

I’ve used this method a lot with my belly dance students, to give them a dance they can practice on their own, and it’s worked really well. My problem with choreography is more that I can’t remember what comes next in a sequence, but this process helps get it in my head.

Choose your music.

It all starts with the music. Things to look for in a song are interesting rhythm changes, a mix of softer and stronger sounds, and a mood that suits you. Basically, you want music you like, and you want something more interesting than a mindless groove even drunken frat boys can dance to.

Listen to your music.

Listen to it over and over and over again. And then listen to it again. Yes, again. You want to hear all the changes, you want to hear how the sounds mix with the lyrics. Listening with the idea of choreographing is different from listening while you dance in the car.

Make a list of all your moves.

List everything you can do and break it down into groups: transitions, spins, inverts, climbs, floorwork, contortions, and so forth. Circle the ones you especially want to use. Maybe you want to use them because you’re choreographing for a beginner class and those are the only two moves the class knows. Maybe you’re in a competition and certain moves are required. Maybe you just know some better than others and want to strut your stuff. Whatever the reason, if you want to be sure to use them, circle them.

Then, cross off the ones you haven’t quite perfected. Unless you are preparing a routine with months yet to practice, it’s best not to choreograph around moves you don’t feel comfortable doing. Leave them off the list for now – you can always use them next time. What’s left on the list are all the moves you can use to create your dance. You won’t use all of them, but it helps to have your whole repertoire in front of you.

Listen. Walk through. Choose. Repeat.

See which of your moves sound best with the music and walk through them while you listen. Use a bit of improv and a bit of imagination to choose the moves you want in your routine. Look at your list and listen to the first few measures of your song. What kind of feeling does it give you? Slow and sexy? Energetic? Dramatic?

Let yourself play a bit while you walk through it and you’ll find you come up with some great combinations. By walking through it, I don’t mean fully doing each and every move. I mean, stepping through it so you can see how the move fits the music and how the moves you want to use flow together. Keep your remote handy so you can pause and rewind the music as often as necessary. When you have some moves that work well, write them down. Then listen to the next bit of the song and go through the process again.

Keep doing this for each section of the music until the whole song is choreographed. Then do the whole routine for real, not just walking through the moves, but really doing them. You may find that some moves had seemed to fit, but don’t now that you’re actually doing the whole dance. That’s normal. Just change the moves to ones that fit better and write down the changes. Dance it through again, for real, until there are no more changes you need to make, and – voila – you have choreographed a pole dance routine!

A helpful reminder.

Let yourself move to the music as you go through the process above, and you will naturally include filler steps and accents. A lot of dancing isn’t dancing, per se. It’s walking to the music, or making a cool arm gesture, or kicking your hip out to accent a beat. You don’t want to get so wrapped up in your list of moves that you forget the subtler things that make up a dance, too. Letting yourself play with the music will make sure you don’t.

There you have it – a simple guide to creating a pole dance routine. Happy poling!

See also How to Improv a Pole Dance Routine.