choreographer

American  

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

noun

choreographers plural

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• choreographers
  plural

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

See Examples For:

choreographer choreographers

In staging Aithra’s magical manifestations, Mr. Räth and choreographer Catherine Galasso made their inner demons visible.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

But they fell out when Madonna appointed a different director - the choreographer Jamie King - for her Drowned World tour.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

Each choreographer pulled ideas from the film and score to craft the imagery of the dance piece.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

Otherwise, this is another hunt-and-retrieve narrative for the bounty hunter voiced by Pedro Pascal, physically embodied in armor by Brendan Wayne and, in combat, by fight choreographer Lateef Crowder.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

Now, without the choreographer, it wasn’t coming together smoothly.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

"I remember saying: 'Hey, choreographers, we're the new DJs, trust us, just give us your music, I promise we'll spread it'."

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

After two years of training with acting coaches and choreographers, Jaafar spent three weeks in his late uncle’s house practicing alone, then invited a small group to watch him perform “Billie Jean.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

Favreau was keen to invite outside choreographers "to highlight the company's technical and artistic qualities and show it could do more than just Bejart".

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

Other musicians, stage directors, choreographers and dancers may be invited in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2026

To this end she recruited Italian dancers, choreographers and a band of violinists, playing on the very instruments she had ordered for her son from Cremona.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall