What is an Assistant Choreographer?
When film, TV or theatrical productions involve dance routines, one or more Choreographers will work on designing them. They then need to train the dancers or actors to perform these movements. In bigger productions the training is carried out by Assistant Choreographers, who also sometimes help with the movement design.
What Is The Job?
Assistant Choreographers are usually hired once the dance routines in the production have already been designed by the Choreographer. Their main task is to work with the performers (actors or dancers) and teach them the required steps and routines.
In order to successfully train performers, Assistant Choreographers will be required to perform the routines themselves, acting as a dance partner to actors, or to show the choreographer the final result of the movement design.
Assistant Choreographers are also responsible for booking dancers and arranging their transport to and from the shooting location. During shoots they work closely with the DoP and Assistant Directors in order to set up how the movement will be shown on screen.
In some cases, if recruited earlier, Assistant Choreographers might also help the Choreographer at the design stage of the routine.
Key Skills
A background in dance is clearly vital to carry out this kind of job, both to understand the steps and movement as briefed by the Choreographer, and to teach them and perform them with the actors, which also requires a bit of charisma and some basic teaching skills.
Being the mediator between the choreographer and the performers, communication and teamworking skills are essential to correctly deliver instructions and receive feedback.
Creative problem-solving skills are especially useful to deal with unexpected issues, especially in live broadcasts or theatrical performances.
How To Get To Work as an Assistant Choreographer
Choreographers usually start their career as dancers, after completing specific training, then become Dance Captains and become involved with choreography.
Education & Training
Assistant Choreographers have to be qualified dancers. Specific courses start from a very young age, and it is possible to train full-time from age 16.
Where Can It Take You?
The direct career progression is to become a Choreographer, after which it is possible to move to a higher position in the production of film and TV projects involving dance.
Become an Assistant Choreographer today
If you are ready for the next step in your career, why not take a look at the latest Assistant Choreographer vacancies on our jobs board? You can view our latest vacancies here.