choreography
Americannoun
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choreographies
plural
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the art of composing ballets and other dances and planning and arranging the movements, steps, and patterns of dancers.
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the technique of representing the various movements in dancing by a system of notation.
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the arrangement or manipulation of actions leading up to an event.
the choreography of a surprise birthday party.
noun
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the composition of dance steps and sequences for ballet and stage dancing
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the steps and sequences of a ballet or dance
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the notation representing such steps
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the art of dancing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of choreography
1780–90; < Greek chore- (stem of choreía chorea ) + -o- + -graphy
Explanation
Use the noun choreography to describe the plan for how dancers will move on a stage during a show, play, or dance. You might particularly love the choreography in the movie West Side Story. You can use the word choreography to mean "dance" or "ballet," but its specific meaning is the notation a choreographer makes on paper as she plans out the complex movements and steps made by dancers. Choreography is particularly important in musical theater, ballet, opera, and dance recitals. The Greek roots of choreography are khoreia, "dance," and graphein, "to write."
Vocabulary lists containing choreography
Dance - Introductory
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Dance - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The non-narrative choreography takes its inspiration from its music—Gabriel Fauré, for “Emeralds”; Stravinsky, for “Rubies”; and Tchaikovsky, for “Diamonds.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
“It begins as fight choreography but as it progresses, it starts to get more expressionistic,” says Jeff Kuperman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
"It's the same dancer with a different choreography," she says.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2026
And her team also won best cinematography and choreography both for Confessions II, the film.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
His blank eyes appear fixed on the women and their unerring choreography.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
The 15-minute orchestral piece has inspired seven different choreographies, but is most widely associated with the version created by Bejart, which remains the best known.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
While supporters have mobilised independently of the club and fund their choreographies, banners and pyro displays, Hammarby's 'one-club' philosophy has certainly helped.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2024
Their work wasn’t linear, but there was nothing haphazard about their highly stylized, carefully rehearsed projects, which often ran on tight clockwork choreographies, integrating video and complicating ideas of plot.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
Local club teams such as Casablanca’s Wydad AC, Raja CA and Rabat’s AS FAR have die-hard fans known for vibrant chants and colorful choreographies.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
There were elaborate choreographies that included a dancing salad and a giant tongue that swept everyone off the stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2018
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
