Choreographic Prompts

NACHMO prompts are a quick and easy way to participate in NACHMO, generate material, and vanquish choreographer's block. There are three types of NACHMO prompts:

The NACHMO prompt is your quick and dirty choreographic kick in the pants to start each day or to end each evening. Each prompt can be completed and posted in 5 minutes.

The NACHMO plus prompt is for those who'd like to use the prompts to build a complete piece by the end of the month. They’re cumulative and ideally completed in order.

The NACHMO lens prompt track is for those interested in making a dance on film.

INTRODUCE YOURSELF (Copy)

State your name and NACHMO goal for the month on social media!

MASTER WORK (Copy)

PROMPT: Find an iconic dance photo and re-create it.

PLUS: Watch the footage from that work and make a phrase in that style. Call this phrase A.

LENS: Watch an iconic dance film or video noting what you like about it: color balance, framing, editing, dance moves. Consider creating an inspiration video playlist!

CHANCE DANCE (Copy)

PROMPT: Write some action words on green post-its, tempos on blue post-its, pathways on red post-its, mix them up, and pull out one of each color. That’s your mini dance for today!

PLUS: Do this three times and pick the one you like best to keep. Call this phrase B.

LENS: Add a camera angle to your post-it group.

PARALLELS (Copy)

PROMPT: Improvise with two body parts doing the same movements.

PLUS: Codify this movement into a 30 second phrase. Call this phrase C.

LENS: Film yourself from both the front and the back.

STORY (Copy)

PROMPT: Find a narrative using a story that inspires you: a situation you saw on the subway, a favorite episode of a TV show, a memory you have. Then extract its essence and dance it.

PLUS: Make it into a one minute phrase. Call this phrase D.

LENS: Make a storyboard of this narrative. Here is a sample printout you can use.

SHAPES (Copy)

PROMPT: Find an object that looks cool and take a photo of yourself making that shape.

PLUS: Think about tableaus/poses as part of a piece. Watch these three videos that include stillness. (Serenade, ___, and ___). How does the stillness advance the piece?

LENS: Think of silhouettes and stillness. Watch these three videos and take notes.

CATCH-UP DAY (Copy)

Go back to the prompt you missed and do it.

PLAYLIST (Copy)

PROMPT: Ask your friends for a playlist and pick a song to move to.

PLUS: Pick three very different songs from this playlist, and try your phrases to all three.

LENS: Rewatch your favorite music videos, noting how the edits work with the music. Add the most inspirational to your playlist.

GROOVE (Copy)

PROMPT: Visit these Creative Commons resources and find a piece of music to work with: bit.ly/CCmusiccommunities and bit.ly/CCmusiclabels

PLUS: Think about licensing. Research how choreographers you admire work with music.

LENS: If you know a musician who may want a video, reach out to them with your ideas for a dance film short.

TEXTUAL CLUES (Copy)

PROMPT: Find a written phrase or audio recording and speak it or play it as you do your phrasework or improv.

PLUS: Think about ways to incorporate text into one of your phrases: say it, project it, record it, etc.

LENS: Practice recording sound, including speaking while moving on camera.

SILENCE (Copy)

PROMPT: Thoughtfully perform some movement material in silence.

PLUS: Choose a piece of music or text - or several or none - to perform your NACHMO work with.

LENS: Listen to your raw footage. Decide if you want to bring in any sound from the footage.

PROP TIME (Copy)

PROMPT: Find something in your living space, and explore it as a prop utilising its surfaces and negative space.

PLUS: Now do that phrase without the physical item. Is it interesting? Do you want to keep the phrasework with or without the prop? Name this phrase E.

LENS: Place the object in different areas of the frame of your camera lens. Try the middle or to one side. Place it closer and play with focus. Move around and record.

LIGHT (Copy)

PROMPT: Create a unique light source (phone flashlight, candle, lamp, etc) and move only within that source of light. Play within the fringes of light and darkness.

PLUS: Light a candle. Watch the flame dance. Create a phrase that reflects the flame's movement.

LENS: Try filming the same phrase using different light sources. Notice how the camera reacts to different sources, and levels, of light and shadow, depending also on where the light source is in relation to you and the camera.

CATCH-UP DAY (Copy)

Go back to the prompt you missed and do it.

ARC (Copy)

PROMPT: Think about the arc (beginning, middle, and end) of your future piece, and the energy. Do you want to start with high energy? Low energy? Draw what you want your piece to look like. Imagine a rollercoaster: is it something traditional or a crazy out there engineering feat? Do you want accelerations and decelerations? Post your roller coaster.

PLUS: Write your phrase letters on index cards, and assign them spots on the drawing. Don’t worry, their spots may change! Dance it in this order. Do you like it? Do you want to make changes?

LENS: Take a look at your footage so far, and start assigning it to the various sections of your roller coaster. For extra credit, bring back your storyboard and start storyboarding your future piece.

REPEAT (Copy)

PROMPT: Do a phrase 3 times: 1-Perform the original, 2-Loop some movement or gestures within the phrase, repeating motifs, 3-Reverse your choreography.

PLUS: Using the phrase order you developed, think about repetition throughout the piece. How do the phrases you made talk back to each other throughout the piece? How do they reference and reinforce each other?

LENS: Load some of your footage into a video editor. Begin moving clips around. Play with speed settings, and see what copying and pasting phrases or moments does to the work.

CUT! CUT! CUT! (Copy)

PROMPT: Kill your darlings! Cut half of your piece. Dance the severely shortened version.

PLUS: A few days from now, ask yourself what you miss. Put it back in.

LENS: Remove half of your footage but DON'T DELETE IT. Pick a date a few days from now to ask yourself what you miss. Put it back in.

TINY (Copy)

PROMPT: Find a small space. Let it shape your work.

PLUS: Bring one of your biggest movement phrases into the space, how does it affect the phrase? Is there anything here you want to keep?

LENS: Film yourself from close up and as far away as possible.

WATCH (Copy)

PROMPT: Pick a weird place to put your phone (not “front”), perform some movement, and then watch the dance from that angle.

PLUS: After watching the footage, think about where you want the audience to watch your piece from. In the round? Proscenium? Do you want to acknowledge the 4th wall? How about outdoors?

LENS: Export your work and watch on the largest screen you have and the smallest. Note what is missed or magnified.

POLISH (Copy)

PROMPT: Take a chunk of your movement and ask yourself: Am I doing the movement or is the movement happening to me? Post an example of both versions.

PLUS: Go through a part of the piece you or your dancers are struggling with and answers these questions for the whole section considering each movement and transition.

LENS: Think about how you are directing the camera. Does the camera follow the movement or does it lead into something already happening. Begin looking at your transitions.

FIN (Copy)

PROMPT: Post an ending pose or movement. No longer than it takes to inhale and exhale.

PLUS: Think about your finale lighting cue, the finale image the audience sees, and consider bows.

LENS: Go back to your storyboard and sketch out your final scene. Describe it. Consider how you want to transition into credits.

ASK (Copy)

PROMPT: Post a phrase and ask people to comment using see / feel / do. Ask them factually what the see. Ask them how the piece makes them feel. Ask them what the piece makes them want to do after watching.

PLUS: Open rehearsal! Have friends, a professor, a mentor, or colleague watch your piece and give feedback. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions!

LENS: Show your footage so far to a trusted colleague.

WRECKING BALL (Copy)

PROMPT: Pick one of the following options and do your piece: Upside down / level change everything / in a chair / extreme tempo change.

PLUS: Invite people to a rehearsal and let them choose the wrecking ball. How would they like to see you do this piece? Remember, you don’t have to keep any of the disruptive suggestions!

LENS: Duplicate your film project and mess with it. Change the order, mess with speed, repeat and delete footage. Go back to your original footage and keep what your liked.

EVOKE (Copy)

PROMPT: Without showing people your movement, show them another aspect of your piece-costumes, music, or text. Ask what images they evoke.

PLUS: Consider, do those images align with the mood/theme of your piece?

LENS: Consider, do those images align with the mood/theme of your film?

POP (Copy)

PROMPT: Do your movement to a poppy pop song. Top 40!

PLUS: How does this change the way you feel about the movement?

LENS: Play your video over a pop song. How does this change the way you feel about the movement?

TITLE SCHMITLE (Copy)

PROMPT: Come up with 10 BAD titles for your piece. Post the worst three.

No PLUS or LENS.

SUM IT UP (Copy)

PROMPT: Sum up your work with a word and a gesture.

No PLUS or LENS.

PROCESS (Copy)

PROMPT: Write about the arc of your creative process this month. What was hard?

PLUS: Revisit your goal from the first prompt. Did it change throughout the month?

LENS: Revisit your inspiration video playlist then review your own video. Are there any stylistic changes or edits you want to make?

PRAISE (Copy)

PROMPT: Look through #NACHMOprompts2022, and comment on someone else’s post saying what you like best about it.

No PLUS or LENS.

FEEDBACK (Copy)

PROMPT: Send us your feedback on the prompts. What was your favorite prompt and why?

PLUS: What prompts would you like us to include next year that we didn’t have this year?

LENS: What questions do you have about film that you would like focused on next year?