choreographer

American  

[kawr-ee-og-ruh-fer, kohr-] / ˌkɔr iˈɒg rə fər, ˌkoʊr- /

noun

1. a person who creates dance compositions and plans and arranges dance movements and patterns for dances and especially for ballets.

---

Etymology

Origin of choreographer

First recorded in 1885–90; choreograph(y) + -er ¹

Explanation

A choreographer is a person who creates a dance, designing every move that the dancers make. The choreographer of a preschool performance will usually have the little dancers do simple movements, spins, and kicks. Choreographer is from choreography and its Greek roots, khoreia, "dance," and graphein, "to write." Choreographers are like composers, but instead of creating music, they compose movements, writing out notations that symbolize how dancers will move. It was a choreographer's job to plan out the Jets-Sharks fight in West Side Story — and the dance moves in your favorite music videos.

Example Sentences

The choreographer asked her costume designer, Robert Perdziola, to dress her dancers in a variety of looks, with flouncy tutus for the women in her first movement and limp, longer skirts in the others.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

FKA twigs, who is also a singer and choreographer, said Baker's "extraordinary legacy is such an inspiration to me and to so many people".

From Barron's • May 12, 2026

The two are in the cast of Luail dance company's Trojans, by acclaimed Irish choreographer Philip Connaughton.

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026

Millepied — a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet — served as a choreographer on the movie.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

The director of her violin band was the Italian-born choreographer, composer, conductor and violinist Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall