A choreographer is someone who creates original dances and puts together dance steps in sequence for a dance work.

As part of the job, they must:

• Develop ideas for a dance work

• Translate those ideas into movement

• Teach the movement to the dancers who will perform it

• Coach the dancers to perform the choreography well

Listen and watch to learn about what a choreographer does! Think about the questions below after you finish the video.

1. How do you think choreographers find inspiration for their dances?

2. Do choreographers need to have experience dancing?

3. Do choreographers need to work hard to find work and finish projects?

4. Is it important for choreographers to watch other choreographers and try to learn from how other people work?

Listen and watch to learn about the science of how dancers learn and remember choreography! Think about the questions and statements below after you finish the video.

• Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to adapt and change.

• Motor Neurons are nerve cells that control your body movements.

• Mirror Neurons are brain cells that help you copy someone else's body movements when you watch them.

• Breathing is very important for dancers to work properly and control their nerves.

• Self-talk can be instructional (telling yourself how to do something) or motivational (coaching yourself through something).

• Visualization helps a dancer think envision their performance and prepare themselves for success.

1. Does your brain change as you get older or does it stay the same?

2. How can you exercise your brain like you exercise your body?

3. What does your self-talk sound like? Do you speak to yourself the way you would speak to others? Is your self-talk helpful or hurtful?

4. How can you visualize success in your life? What does that look like for you?

Listen and watch to hear how a choreographer thinks about her own work! Think about the questions below after you finish the video.

1. How do choreographers keep track of their ideas?

2. How do choreographers interact with their dancers? Do they tell them what to do or do they ask questions and collaborate?

3. Where do choreographers find their inspiration?

4. What does it mean when Lauren says "choreography is problem-solving"?

Julius Reisinger originally choreographed the ballet. However, the ballet was received very poorly and was largely considered a failure. Swan Lake did not gain popularity until Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov revived (re-choreographed) the ballet together. Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, the ballet's composer, was very happy that Petipa was going to re-choreograph Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky really admired Marius Petipa and said of him "never with anyone but Petipa would I produce ballets."

Petipa choreographed the scenes at the palace (Parts 1 and 3) and Ivanov choreographed the scenes in the enchanted forest with the swans (Parts 2 and 4. Though many choreographers have since come up with their own versions of Swan Lake, Petipa's and Ivanov's choreography still lives on today and serves as the basis for many new versions.

Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was born in Marseille, France on the March 11, 1818. His parents were Jean Antoine Petipa, a renowned Ballet Master and teacher, and Victorine Grasseau-Maurel, a tragic actress and drama teacher. He was the third child of six siblings and spent his childhood traveling all over Europe with his family because his parents' jobs often took them from city to city.

During Petipa's career, he choreographed over 50 ballets, some of which still survive today in versions that are faithful to, inspired by, or reconstructed from his originals. Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, Raymonda, and The Nutcracker are some of his ballets that still survive in this way today. Because of the breadth and depth of his work, Petipa is considered to be one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history!