While watching “Dancing with the Stars - the Results”, this question came to mind, how are dance routine choreographed.
The question applies for individuals such as the Pro’s or the a choreographer for a group.
The choreographer will come up with a routine, but how does (s)he make it up, do they have a way of recording it, some kind of notation system. It seems to me if they only make on-the-fly type of thing, they would have problems remembering what they came up with next.
I was beat to Labanotation, however, in my experience, dances are usually worked out orally. In well-defined genres, most gestures and steps have names. In freer contexts, like contemporary dance, I have found that choreographers may draw some rough sketches of postures, and they will usually act out the movements for the dancers. Macro-structures are somewhat easier to handle: you can give descriptive names to various sections. Once a piece is finished, video is usually the best way to record it. I’ve yet to meet someone who actually uses Labanotation.
I actually asked this very question to the first choreographer I worked with (I scored the music for the performance) and she just sighted and said she wished she could give me a good answer.
It’s a little easier in tap. I’m not sure whether there’s an official notation or not (though it wouldn’t surprise me) as I haven’t studied in years. That said, my teacher would use a shortened notation for basic building blocks: LF, RS, BC for left flap, right shuffle, ball change. These would be strung together to create steps and such, with beats sometimes numbered under them (if needed). It worked pretty well.
I know she also had notes for ballet, because I remember consulting and following them, but I can’t remember what they looked like.
This was just for a dance studio in western WI; the oldest dancer there was 19 or so, so it’s not for anything professional. I studied there for 10 years in grade school and high school.