As I watched New York City Ballet (NYCB) perform this month at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, I couldn’t help but think about the choreographers. NYCB repertoire includes works from the old masters, George Balanchine and Jerome Robins, and a growing collection from some young masters, Justin Peck and Christopher Wheeldon. I can’t help but wonder how they are able to see the patterns, mold movement to music and make an emotional attachment with their audience. Do they consider the audience when they envision a piece or are they driven by an almost primal need to express themselves?

Part of my fascination with choreography is because I’ve done a little of it myself. My pieces have always been solos or for a few dancers at a time. Because of my work with the Tina Marie’s Dance Academy, most of my pieces lately have been for dance competitions. Since I’ve worked closely with these young dancers, I know their capabilities and can create a dance that suites their talents and level of training.

So, to create a work of dance, all you need is an idea, music to assist the movement, and a beautiful costume. Sounds easy, right?

One of the requirements for competition pieces is that they have to be a very specific length, which means you need to find music that not only fits your style and mood of the piece but also the proper length. Thanks to the internet and sites like iTunes and Amazon, it’s much easier to find the right music.

This past year, I worked on a pointe solo for a very special student of mine named Chloe. Everything came together in this piece – a theme, the right music, a beautiful costume, and a talented dancer.

From the moment I heard a section of the music from the ballet, La Jolie Fille de Gand, I thought of Chloe and how her smile would light up the stage. Luckily, the music fit the theme I had in mind – a peasant dance, which is the type of dance that you find in many of the story ballets. It includes steps that are based on folk dances.

Chloe searched online and found a beautiful peasant dress costume. It can be tricky ordering a costume without seeing it live and up close, but we were not disappointed when it arrived. It too worked perfectly for the piece!

From the few ballet solos that I’ve seen at competitions (there usually aren’t many ballet solos at competitions), I’ve noticed that the choreographers tend to put a few of the flashy steps in whether they fit the theme of the piece or not. Those steps are meant to wow the audience and judges but usually don’t make a thematically cohesive dance. I chose a different approach. I made sure the movement kept to the theme of the piece. That’s not to say the dance was easy, there were some very difficult pointe steps in it.

Chloe and I worked on the piece together almost every week for four months. During that time, I taught Chloe the steps and we concentrated on the flow of the dance and on building her stamina.

Her first performance went well, but the judges focused in on her lack of turn-out (rotation from the hips). There was time before the next competition, so we worked on her technique and also concentrated on presentation.

I had the opportunity to watch Chloe perform the dance at the Elite Dance Challenge in East Greenbush, NY and she danced beautifully! And for me the best part was that I could tell how much she was enjoying herself while performing the piece. The judges liked it too!

As time went by, Chloe became stronger and stronger en pointe, so it was time to increase the difficulty of the steps. The choreography didn’t change, though. Instead we added beats to her jumps and more rotations to her turns (double pirouette instead of a single!). I didn’t get to see her perform at her final competition, but am amazed at how much she improved over the year.

I’m not sure if I’ll get to do another competition piece next year but I like to think that the planning that goes into every class I teach is a rudimentary form of choreography. So clearly, my students are my audience and my inspiration!