• 124 questions
  • Checked October 2026

Good Questions to Ask Dance Choreographers

Twelve questions for a choreographer, to print with a line for each answer, and seven more sets for dancers.

Good Questions to Ask Dance Choreographers

Dancer or choreographerAsked byDate

  1. Write the dancer's or choreographer's name and the date at the top.
  2. Ask after class or after the show, not in the minutes before.
  3. Write the answer down as it is said. Anyone may pass on a line.
  4. On a class visit, give each child one question to ask.
Show all 24
  1. How do you find the last moment of a dance?
  2. How do you get a dance out of your head and into other people's bodies?
  3. What do you do during the show, once the dance is out of your hands?
  4. What did you dance yourself before you started making dances?
  5. What do you want the audience to look at first?
  6. How many rehearsals go into a dance the audience sees once?
  7. What do you do when a section is not working?
  8. How do you choose who dances which part?
  9. How much of a dance comes from the dancers?
  10. What do you do in the studio before the dancers arrive?
  11. Which dance of yours taught you the most?
  12. What makes you cut a step you love?

Next step Dance charades ideas

All 124 questions

Good ones for a choreographer 24

  • How do you choose who dances which part? I watch who cannot stop doing the phrase in the corner.
  • How do you count: in eights, in breaths or in something else? Eights for the feet, breaths for the arms.
  • How do you find the last moment of a dance? I look for the place where one more step would be too many.
  • How do you fit a dance to a stage you have not seen yet? Tape on the floor, the exact size, from day one.
  • How do you get a dance out of your head and into other people's bodies? I show it once, badly, and they make it better.
  • How do you make twelve dancers look like one? We breathe together before the first count.
  • How do you remember what you made yesterday? A video on my phone and scribbles only I can read.
  • How do you set a group dance when the dancers are at different levels? I give everyone the same shape at different speeds.
  • How do you start when you have an empty studio and no idea? I walk in circles until one step repeats itself.
  • How is making a dance different from dancing someone else's steps? I have to decide. Dancers get to do.
  • How many rehearsals go into a dance the audience sees once? Twenty or so, and a week of doubting it.
  • How much of a dance comes from the dancers? Half. I set a task and keep the best answers.
  • What did you dance yourself before you started making dances? Tap, then anything anyone would let me try.
  • What do everyday movements give you: walking, waving, waiting? A whole dance once came from people lining up for a bus.
  • What do you ask dancers to do that is not a step at all? Look at each other. It changes everything.
  • What do you do during the show, once the dance is out of your hands? Count under my breath and grip the armrest.
  • What do you do in the studio before the dancers arrive? Walk the floor and hum the counts.
  • What do you do when a section is not working? Turn everyone to face the back wall. It nearly always helps.
  • What do you want the audience to look at first? One still person. Stillness pulls the eye.
  • What kind of music have you always wanted to set a dance to? Something slow with a clock ticking in it.
  • What makes you cut a step you love? When it shows off and says nothing.
  • Which comes first for you, the music or the movement? The movement. I dance in silence for a week.
  • Which dance of yours taught you the most? My first. Good idea, too many steps.
  • Which note do you give most often in rehearsal? Slower. Almost always slower.

Making a dance, start to finish 12

  • How do you pass a dance on so it can be done without you? A video, my notebook and one dancer who knows it all.
  • How do you plan where everyone stands and how they get to the next place? Coins on my kitchen table. One coin for each dancer.
  • How do you teach a phrase: all at once or eight counts at a time? Eight counts at a time, then we stitch.
  • How do you work with the person who wrote the music? We trade: eight bars for eight counts, back and forth.
  • How do you write a dance down, if you do? Stick figures, arrows and the counts along the bottom.
  • How many rehearsals do you get, and what is the last one for? Ten. The last is for running it twice and going home.
  • What do the costumes and the lights change about the steps? A long skirt hides small footwork, so I make it bigger.
  • What do you bring to the first rehearsal? The music, eight counts I am sure of and a lot of questions.
  • What do you do differently when you make a dance for children? Shorter sections, and a job for every single child.
  • What happens when a dancer is missing on the day? Someone learns the part in the hallway. It has happened twice.
  • When do you stop changing a dance? When the dancers start correcting me.
  • Who asks you for a dance, and what do they tell you at the start? A school, usually. They give me a date and a length.

Good ones for a dancer 22

  • How do you learn a new routine quickly? I say the steps out loud, like directions.
  • How do you tell a choreographer that a step does not feel right? I show her what I would do instead.
  • How old were you at your first class, and what do you remember of it? Six. I remember the smell of the wooden floor.
  • What did dancing teach you that you use when you are not dancing? To walk into a room as if I meant to.
  • What do people get wrong about dancers? That we are graceful off the floor. I trip on curbs.
  • What do you do on a day off? Sit down. For a very long time.
  • What do you do when you forget the steps on stage? Keep my face calm and follow the person in front.
  • What do you hear in music that the rest of us miss? The beat between the beats.
  • What do you practice at home, and where? Turns in the hallway. The kitchen is too slippery.
  • What do you remember of the first time you danced for an audience? The lights. I could not see anyone, and I liked that.
  • What do you think about while you are dancing? Nothing, on a good night. The counts, on a bad one.
  • What does a mirror tell you, and what does it hide? It shows the shape. It hides how the step feels.
  • What does dancing with a partner ask of you? Listening with my hands.
  • What is in your dance bag? Two pairs of shoes, tape, a banana and safety pins.
  • What is it like to dance to live music instead of a recording? The tempo breathes, so I have to as well.
  • What kind of dance do you do, and how did you find it? Tap. My grandfather's records and a kitchen floor.
  • When did you last dance just for fun? Last night, in socks, with the radio on.
  • Which is harder: dancing fast or dancing slowly? Slowly. There is nowhere to hide.
  • Which shoes have you worn out fastest? My tap shoes. The left one always goes first.
  • Which step do you no longer have to think about? A turn to the left. To the right I still think.
  • Which style would you love to learn next? Something with a partner. I have always danced alone.
  • Who do you watch to get better? The person beside me in class who makes it look easy.

Class, rehearsal and the stage 14

  • How do you find your place on a dark stage? Glow tape. Small marks only we can see.
  • How do you keep time when you cannot hear the music well? I watch one dancer's shoulders.
  • How do you rest in a busy week? Feet up the wall and an early night.
  • How do you warm up in a small backstage space? Against a wall, quietly, in a coat.
  • How does a dance class begin? Slowly. Feet first, then everything else.
  • What can you see of the audience from the stage? The exit signs and the shoes of the first row.
  • What do the dancers do right after the curtain comes down? Laugh about the thing that went wrong.
  • What do you do between the last rehearsal and the show? Eat early, nap and walk the stage in my socks.
  • What does a teacher's correction feel like after all these years? Like a present. Somebody is still watching closely.
  • What fills a normal week: class, rehearsal, teaching, shows? Class each morning, rehearsal four afternoons, teaching on Saturday.
  • What has a costume done mid-dance that you had to dance through? A strap snapped. I held it with one elbow.
  • What is the floor like on a good stage? It gives a little. A hard floor talks back.
  • What runs through your head while you wait in the wings? The first eight counts, over and over.
  • Which correction have you been given a hundred times? Drop your shoulders. I am working on it.

For a professional dancer 11

  • How did your first season differ from what you expected? I danced less and watched more.
  • How do you choose which auditions to go to? I look for a choreographer whose work I would watch anyway.
  • How do you learn a part that was made on someone else? From video first, then from the dancer who had it.
  • How do you share a dressing room with people you also compete with? We lend each other pins. It keeps the peace.
  • How many dances do you hold in your memory at once? Five right now. They live in different drawers.
  • What did you have to show at your first professional audition? A minute of my own and a phrase I learned on the spot.
  • What do you do in a season with no shows? Teach, take class and learn something I am bad at.
  • What do you plan to do when you stop performing? Teach the little ones. They ask the best questions.
  • What does a working week look like in a dance company? Class every morning, rehearsal all afternoon, shows at the weekend.
  • What does touring do to your routine? Every floor is new, so I arrive early and walk it.
  • Who decides what you dance, and how much say do you have? The director casts. I may ask, once, politely.

For a ballet dancer 10

  • How do you keep from getting dizzy in a string of pirouettes? I fix my eyes on one spot and whip my head around to it.
  • How long did you train before you went up on pointe? Years. My teacher decided when, not me.
  • How long does a pair of pointe shoes last you? A few weeks in class. On a show night, sometimes one evening.
  • What do you do at the barre every day? Bend, stretch and brush the feet, one hand on the rail for balance.
  • What do you do to a new pair of pointe shoes before you dance in them? Sew on the ribbons and soften them until they fit my feet.
  • What does a pas de deux need from each of the two dancers? Trust, and the same count in both heads.
  • What does the bow at the end of class mean to you? It is a thank-you to the teacher and the pianist.
  • What is it like to dance in the corps de ballet, where everyone moves as one? You watch the line from the corner of your eye, all night.
  • Which of the five positions of the feet was hardest when you began? Fifth. My feet would not stay crossed.
  • Which part did you dream of as a child, and have you danced it? A bird. I was a villager first, three years running.

For a flamenco dancer 10

  • Do you dance with castanets, a fan or a shawl, and which was hardest to learn? The shawl. It tangles the second I stop thinking.
  • How did you get your footwork that fast and that clear? Slowly, with a metronome, for years.
  • How did you learn to keep the compás, the rhythm of the dance? Clapping at the kitchen table before I ever took a step.
  • How do you and the guitarist follow each other? I give a signal with my feet, and he answers.
  • How much of what you dance is set, and how much do you decide in the moment? The frame is set. Inside it, I choose every night.
  • Is it true that flamenco dancers keep getting better with age? I think so. You need something to say, and that takes years.
  • What do the palmas, the hand claps, tell you while you dance? Where the beat is, and that someone is with me.
  • What do your arms and hands say while your feet keep the rhythm? The story. The feet are the drum.
  • What does the singer give you that the guitar cannot? The reason to move at all.
  • Which style of flamenco do you feel most at home in? A slow, serious one. I like room to wait.

For an older dancer 9

  • How has your dancing changed over the years? Fewer steps, and each one means more.
  • How was dance taught when you started? A piano in the corner and no mirrors at all.
  • What can you do on a stage now that you could not do when you were young? Stand still and hold a whole room.
  • What do younger dancers ask you, and what do you tell them? How to last. I say, enjoy class more than the show.
  • What keeps you coming back to the floor? It is where I think most clearly.
  • What would you say to someone who feels too old to start? Come on Tuesday. Wear flat shoes.
  • Which dance has stayed with you the longest? A waltz I learned at twelve. It is still all there.
  • Which steps have you retired, and what do you do instead? The big jumps. I use timing now.
  • Who do you still dance with from the early days? Two friends from my first troupe. Thursdays, in a church hall.

For a class visit 12

  • Can boys and girls do the same dances? Yes. A step is a step.
  • Can you show us one step we can try right now? Yes. Step, together, step, clap.
  • Do you ever get dizzy when you spin? Not if I keep looking at one spot.
  • Do you get nervous before a show? Every time. I shake out my hands and it goes.
  • Do you have to practice every single day? Most days. I take Sundays off.
  • How can we make up our own dance? Pick three moves you like and put them in a row.
  • How do you remember all the steps? I give every part a silly name.
  • What do you wear to dance, and why? Soft clothes that stretch, so the teacher can see my knees.
  • What happens if you fall down? I get up and keep going. People clap louder.
  • What is the hardest dance you ever learned? A fast one with a hat. I dropped the hat for weeks.
  • What is your favorite move? A big jump with my arms out wide.
  • Who picks the music? Usually the choreographer. Sometimes I get to ask.

How it works

These good questions to ask dance choreographers open on twenty-four about making a dance: music or movement first, why a loved step gets cut, how twelve dancers look like one. Seven more groups are for dancers, ballet and flamenco included.

Read the full guide

Questions to ask a professional choreographer

Making a dance, start to finish follows one dance in order: who asks for it, what comes to the first rehearsal, how the steps are written down, how the dance is passed on.

Questions to ask professional dancers and older dancers

For a professional dancer asks about auditions, a company's working week, touring and learning a part made on someone else. For an older dancer asks what the years have changed: the steps retired, the dance that has stayed longest, what younger dancers want to know.

Questions and answers

What are some good questions to ask dance choreographers?

Ones about choices: how much of a dance comes from the dancers; how do you choose who dances which part; what do you want the audience to look at first. Good ones for a choreographer holds twenty-four.

What questions to ask a dancer?

Broad questions suit any style: which step do you no longer have to think about, what do you hear in music that the rest of us miss, which is harder, dancing fast or dancing slowly. Good ones for a dancer holds twenty-two.

What are questions to ask ballet dancers?

Ask about the things ballet is known for: the daily work at the barre, how long a pair of pointe shoes lasts, the five positions of the feet, moving as one in the corps de ballet. For a ballet dancer holds ten.

What are questions to ask a flamenco dancer?

Ask about the rhythm and the people around the dancer: how the compás was learned, what the palmas, the hand claps, tell the feet, how dancer and guitarist follow each other. For a flamenco dancer holds ten.

What can kids ask a dancer on a class visit?

Do you get dizzy when you spin, what happens if you fall down, how can we make up our own dance. For a class visit holds twelve, each short enough to say aloud.

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