Choreographic Devices

If a motif is the seed of a dance, choreographic devices are the techniques that grow it into a full work. Devices are ways of manipulating and developing movement so that a small amount of material can generate a varied, coherent piece. Mastering them gives a choreographer an almost limitless capacity to develop ideas, and recognizing them is central to analyzing how a dance is constructed.

Motif and development

A motif is a short, recognizable movement phrase that expresses an idea and can be transformed. Motif development (or manipulation) is the process of varying that motif so it stays recognizable while gaining new interest. Because the audience remembers the original, each variation reads as a comment on it, giving the dance unity and momentum. Almost all the devices below are ways