Choreographers
Create new dance routines. Rehearse performance of routines. May direct and stage presentations.
- Median pay
- $55,310
- Doing it now
- 4,700
- By 2035
- Up 3.1%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
600 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Direct rehearsals to instruct dancers in dance steps and in techniques to achieve desired effects.
- Read and study story lines and musical scores to determine how to translate ideas and moods into dance movements.
- Design dances for individual dancers, dance companies, musical theatre, opera, fashion shows, film, television productions, and special events, and for dancers ranging from beginners to professionals.
- Choose the music, sound effects, or spoken narrative to accompany a dance.
- Advise dancers on standing and moving properly, teaching correct dance techniques to help prevent injuries.
- Coordinate production music with music directors.
- Audition performers for one or more dance parts.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Drama/Theatre Arts and StagecraftSee 880 colleges that teach it
- DanceSee 283 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Creative and expressive
Helping and teaching
Leading and persuading
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $55,310 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.