Choreographers

There are many ways to learn about careers in choreography. First, since many choreographers start out as dancers, you should take dancing lessons and build your skills as a dancer through participation in dance schools. If you are interested in choreography, your instructor may allow you to work up routines to perform. Try to dance and choreograph numbers in high school theatre productions. Attend as many dance performances as possible, and enroll in dance summer camps.

Check out DanceTabs (http://dancetabs.com), which features articles about dance and choreography and interviews with well-known professionals. To understand the challenges choreographers and dancers face as they attempt to create works of art, you might also want to check out Breaking Pointe, a reality television series that ran for two seasons in the early 2010s that went behind the scenes at Ballet West, a ballet company in Salt Lake City, Utah. Additionally, YouTube is a good source of free videos about dance and choreography. Some well-known choreographers even have their own channels.

Finally, talk to choreographers about their work. If you’re still in high school or college, ask your theater or dance teachers to help arrange information interviews with choreographers. If you're already a dancer, tell choreographers you’re working with that you’re interested in exploring the career. Most will be happy to discuss the pros and cons of their jobs and recommend colleagues who can talk to you about their career journeys.