A Choreographer's Handbook

by Jonathan Burrows

On choreography: "Choreography is a negotiation with the patterns your body is thinking" On rules: "Try breaking the rules on a need to break the rules basis" A Choreographer’s Handbook invites the reader to investigate how and why to make a dance performance. In an inspiring and unusually empowering sequence of stories, ideas and paradoxes, internationally renowned dancer, choreographer and teacher Jonathan Burrows explains how it’s possible to navigate a course through this complex process. It is a stunning reflection on a personal practice and professional journey, and draws upon five years’ of workshop discussions, led by Burrows. Burrows’ open and honest prose gives the reader access to a range of exercises, meditations, principles and ideas on choreography that allow artists and dance-makers to find their own aesthetic process. It is a book for anyone interested in making performance, at whatever level and in whichever style.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2010

Reviews

[marine ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my studies, that was actually helpful and well written, I just wished he answered the questions he was asking as I don't know how to answer them myself and that is why I read the book in the first place

[Ileen Rook · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Silence is no more neutral than nudity."

[Olympia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This thought provoking, not exactly manual but kind of, got me inspired after a long time. It got me thinking about what I like and not what others expect to see. With some tips and tricks this book will get you moving. My copy will soon be filled with notes and colours.

[Flissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of inspiring tidbits. I'm sure I will be flipping through this often. I love that the answer to all questions is "it depends" and the general principle is to keep working. And it's all work.

[Dovydas Strimaitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a young choreographing, trying to find my voice, my style, my signature, trying to figure out what I want to make and why, trying to understand how the dance world works, this small collection of theses shook me up and comforted me both at the same time. In a way, it made me feel less unique, as I saw that many people engaging in the art of choreography have very similar questions, fears, hopes, and realizations. But whenever you are made to feel less unique, you inevitably feel more part of some group, and this book had such an effect on me as well. While I know many choreographers and people who are just trying to call themselves by this name, some of the not-so-obvious thoughts, ideas, and feelings are constantly hidden from everyday conversations. This book opened it up to me, and to others, and demonstrated that I must not feel too unique or too lonely in my quest to find the most appropriate way to make dances, whatever that might mean.

To finish, my favorite quote from the book:
"It can feel at times <...> as though the compulsion to subvert is so strong that things are challenged before they have had a chance to reveal what they have to offer." (p. 62)

I recommend this book definitely to everyone engaging in the art of choreography, but also in the art of dance, and in general in any creative practice. I understand that choreographing might seem very far away from other creative art forms, such as music, painting, etc., but, maybe surprisingly, there's so much in common how we think about our art, our work, our practices, our life.

[Autumn Lytle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read enough of this for it to count. I had to honestly skim through the last little bit because I was frustrated with it. We read a majority of this in a composition class I took, and I don’t like it at all. Some of the things were inspirational or helpful, but most of it was contradictory and weird. It felt like the author was not confident in himself and his writing, making it feel insincere and incomplete. He literally says half the time that stuff doesn’t matter, things he talked about for several pages. I’m honestly kinda mad I had to read this and couldn’t just have had some of the quotes picked out for the class.

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of my research and found it really interesting.

Jonathan Burrows writes in a refreshingly short and witty way about choreography and how to create successfully but you could easily apply many of his observations and ideas to the others arts as well as life!

A must read for dancers/anyone in the arts or for people who want to learn a new way to learn to evaluate.

[Paige Hofschire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for enhancing creativity and giving insight into dancers' work. Helped me a lot with my own practice and projects I was working on at the time.

[Caz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked this book. Must read if you are into Philosophy and dance.

[Jackson Haywood · Rating 3 out of 5]

a lot of it is really wordy but doesn't say much

[Gitta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. It's like coming home.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for choreographers, those thinking about choreography, or creative processes

[Mills College Library]

792.82 B9725 2010

[Natalie]

Extremely useful ideas for any artist.