Dance Composition Basics
Authors: Sofras Pamela Anderson 
Published: October 2023

If the saying “To be the best, you must learn from the best” holds true, then this book is gold for all aspiring dancers.

Dance Composition Basics, Second Edition, doesn’t just feature the works and brilliance of dance and choreographic legends Alonzo King and Dwight Rhoden–it is completely based on the choreographic operations and forms in three of their original works: Chants and Dreamer by King and Verge by Rhoden. All compositional exercises in the book are based on those three works, and the book itself is expertly crafted by Pamela Anderson Sofras, who has 34 years of experience teaching dance at the university level.

Dance Composition Basics, designed for beginning dance composition courses, introduces dancers to choreography through a series of problem-solving activities. The activities are starting points for novice dancers to embark on their own attempts at choreography.

Useful Tools

The book offers several useful tools for instructors:

27 lesson plans that draw from and highlight selected portions of original compositions by King and Rhoden33 reproducible assessment and self-evaluation formsAn instructor guide that includes a sample course syllabus plus written exams for each chapterPowerPoint presentations to guide students through each lessonA web resource featuring online videos that are closely tied to the lesson plans and provide a richer learning experience for students; students can access this resource inside or outside of class

Highly Valuable Video Resource

The videos give students access to Alonzo King and Dwight Rhoden, highly successful and respected choreographers, who share their processes and techniques. Many video clips show the choreographers working on the same movement concepts featured in the corresponding lesson. Students will see the choreographers in action with professional dancers as they develop the movement material for each dance. Because students get to see the choreographers and dancers struggling with the same creative concepts they have been assigned, these clips add tremendous value to Dance Composition.

Book and Web Resource Organization

The text is split into five chapters, each of which features several lessons based on that chapter’s choreographic concept. Each lesson contains the following:

An introductory statement and a vocabulary listA warm-up to prepare the body and focus the mindStructured improvisations that help dancers understand the movement concepts of the lessonProblem-solving activities that allow dancers to apply the concepts presented in the improvisationsDiscussion questions to engage dancers and promote understandingAssessment rubrics to guide evaluation of each dancer’s learning

At the end of the book, a glossary provides definitions for the vocabulary terms introduced in the chapters.

The main menu of the web resource corresponds with the five chapters in the book. To guide students’ use of the videos, icons have been placed throughout the book, referring readers to additional information in the web resource. Reviewing the videos will provide further insight into the choreographic assignment. The web resource also contains all the discussion questions, assessments, and evaluations found in the book. Instructors can distribute these to students electronically or print them out. Instructors can also adapt the forms to meet their specific needs.

The Learning Process

Dance Composition takes students through a systematic learning process: reading about a concept, discussing the concept, seeing the concept played out on video with professional choreographers and dancers, and exploring the concept through their own movement ideas. Through this process, which includes structured improvisations, students discover a movement vocabulary and original dance phrases. They then more fully develop their movement ideas, with specific movement assignments, and are given feedback by their peers and the instructor.

Invaluable Resource

Dance Composition Basics, Second Edition, is an invaluable resource for dancers of all styles, from ballet to modern jazz, as it introduces them to some of the compositional structures used by professional choreographers. Through the carefully designed lessons in the book and the expert examples on the video clips, students can use this resource to take their first confident and exhilarating steps into the craft of choreography.