Notes · DanceUK · A-Levels

Group choreography and aural setting

The group choreography is the choreographing task of Component 1 (AO2): an original dance the candidate creates for a group, together with its aural setting - the music, sound or silence that accompanies it. It applies the whole choreographic craft (movement components, motif, devices, structure, process and intent) to a group of dancers, and adds the specific demand of choosing and relating an aural setting to the movement. This topic covers the task, structuring a group dance, the elements of the aural setting (tempo, rhythm, metre, call and response), the relationship between movement and accompaniment, and refining the dance with its choreographic programme note.

5 sections~20 min reading time2 competenciesLevel Foundation 1 · Standard 2 · Advanced 2

T·0777 / 15

Exam profile

AO2 · Choreograph a group dance and its aural setting, applying processes and structuring devices to communicate choreographic intentAO3 · Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the aural setting and its relationship to movement

Operators:identifydescribeexplainapplystructure

basic level

AS-Level choreography expects an original dance for a group with a suitable aural setting and a clear choreographic intent.

higher level

The full A-level group choreography demands controlled use of the group and of structuring devices, a considered aural setting, and a clear, well-communicated choreographic intent across the whole dance.

Depth

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Contents · 5 sections

Group choreography and aural setting

The group choreography task#

FoundationAQA 7237 Component 1 (group choreography)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

What the group choreography task involves

Fig. 1The group choreography task brings together original movement, deliberate use of the group, a considered aural setting and a clear choreographic intent.

The group choreography task asks you to create an ORIGINAL dance for a group of performers, with its own AURAL SETTING (the accompaniment), that communicates a clear choreographic intent. It is the task that assesses you as a choreographer (AO2), applying the choreographic processes, devices and structures covered in the previous topic to a group and to a chosen accompaniment. It is supported by a choreographic programme note. Where the solo and quartet assess you performing, this task assesses you making - the marks are for the quality of the dance you create.

Choreographing for a GROUP opens up the full range of relationship possibilities that a solo cannot use: unison and canon, contact and formations, splitting and regrouping, dancers leading and following, complementing and contrasting. The group is your richest choreographic resource, and using it well - deploying the dancers in space and in relationship to serve the intent - is central to the task. A weak group dance under-uses the group (keeping everyone doing the same thing in a flat arrangement); a strong one uses the group's numbers and relationships as a deliberate expressive tool.

The task also requires you to provide and consider an AURAL SETTING - the sound world the dance lives in. This is not merely 'choosing a nice song'; the accompaniment shapes the dance's mood, timing and meaning, and the RELATIONSHIP between the movement and the sound is itself a choreographic choice. Whether the dance moves with the music, against it, or in some other relation, the aural setting must be considered as part of the whole work, and the specification asks you to attend to it explicitly.

Everything you have learned about the choreographic craft applies here, focused through the group and the aural setting: a stimulus and a clear intent; motifs generated and developed; devices chosen to serve the intent; a form that shapes the whole; and a working process of improvisation, selection, structuring and refining. The next sections concentrate on the two things this task adds - using the group in structure, and choosing and relating the aural setting - before turning to refinement and the programme note.

Worked example

Recognising an under-used group

A candidate's group dance has six dancers who spend almost the whole piece in unison, standing in two flat rows. Why is this a weakness, and how should it be developed?

Diagnose the weakness
Constant unison in two flat rows under-uses the group: it wastes the relationship and spatial possibilities that six dancers offer, giving the audience one unchanging picture.
Introduce relationships
Vary the relationships - canon to create a rippling effect, splitting into sub-groups that contrast, dancers leading and following - so the six are used as a dynamic resource.
Vary formation and number
Change the formations and manipulate number - move between the full group, smaller groups, and moments of solo or duet focus - so the stage picture develops and directs attention.
Serve the intent
Make these choices serve the intent - use unison where unity is meant, contrast where difference is meant - so the group work communicates, rather than just fills the stage.

Result: The flat, all-unison dance is developed by varying relationships, formations and number in service of the intent - showing how deliberate use of the group is central to strong group choreography.

Typical mistakes

Under-using the group - keeping all the dancers in constant unison in a flat arrangement rather than exploiting relationships, formations and number.
Treating the music as a backdrop rather than considering the relationship between movement and accompaniment as a choreographic choice.

Active revision

For a group-dance idea, list three ways you would use the group (for example a canon, a split into sub-groups, a contact moment) and one reason the aural setting you choose suits the intent.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA)

Structuring the group dance#

StandardAQA 7237 Component 1 (structuring; use of the group)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

A group in a wedge formation

Fig. 2A wedge formation for five, apex downstage - one of many group formations; its pointed shape directs the audience's focus and can single out a leader.

Structuring a group dance means giving it a clear overall form AND deploying the dancers within that form to serve the intent. The form (binary, ternary, rondo, narrative, episodic) shapes the whole, as in any choreography; what the group adds is the moment-by-moment arrangement of the dancers in space and relationship. A well-structured group dance has both a clear large shape and a considered use of the group throughout, so that the audience is guided through the work.

Using the group in space is a matter of FORMATIONS and their change. A group can form lines, diagonals, wedges, circles, clusters and scattered patterns, and can split into sub-groups; moving between formations creates a developing visual design and directs the audience's focus. Formations are not decoration: a tight cluster concentrates, a wide line spreads, a wedge points, a circle encloses - each shape carries a suggestion the choreographer can use. Changing formation with purpose is a key structural tool.

Using the group in relationship is a matter of the DEVICES that connect the dancers. Unison gives unity and power; canon gives a spreading, overlapping effect; contrast and complement set dancers or sub-groups against or alongside each other; manipulation of number varies who moves and directs attention (a soloist against a still group draws all eyes to the soloist). Sequencing these relationships - when the group is together, when it divides, when one dancer leads - is how the choreographer structures the dance's texture over time.

The art of structuring a group dance is to make the form, the formations and the relationships all serve one intent. A dance about growing unity might move from scattered individuals through canon to full unison; a dance about conflict might set two sub-groups in contrast building to a climax; a narrative might use the group to represent a crowd or a chorus. Structure is where the choreographic intent becomes an organised experience for the audience - and controlling it is one of the surest signs of choreographic skill under AO2.

Worked example

Structuring a group dance about growing unity

Your intent is to show a group of individuals gradually becoming a united community. How would you structure the group dance to communicate this?

Choose a shape for the intent
The intent - from separate individuals to unity - suggests a structure that moves from scattered, individual movement toward togetherness, so the form itself tracks the change.
Open with separation
Begin with the dancers scattered across the space, on contrasting individual material, using manipulation of number and contrast so they read as separate individuals.
Build connection through canon
Introduce a shared motif in canon, spreading from dancer to dancer, so the audience sees connection beginning to form and the group drawing together.
Arrive at unison
Bring the group into unison in a gathered formation at the climax, all performing the shared motif together, so the arrival at unity is clear and satisfying.

Result: The 'growing unity' intent is structured as a move from scattered individuals through spreading canon to gathered unison - showing how form, formation and relationship devices together communicate the intent.

Typical mistakes

Giving the dance an overall form but not thinking about the moment-by-moment use of the group, so the arrangement is flat within the structure.
Changing formations and relationships without purpose, producing busy but meaningless variety rather than structure that serves the intent.

Active revision

Plan the structure of a group dance in a clear form (say ABA), and for each section note the formation and the main relationship device you would use and what it communicates.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA)

The aural setting: tempo, rhythm and call and response#

StandardAQA 7237 Component 1 (aural setting)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

The elements of an aural setting

Fig. 3An aural setting can be built from many sound sources and is described through musical elements - tempo, rhythm, metre, dynamics, timbre and mood.

The AURAL SETTING is the sound world that accompanies a dance - and it can be far more than a piece of music. It may be instrumental music, song, spoken word, natural or found sound, body percussion, or silence, and choreographers often combine these. The aural setting shapes the mood, the timing and the meaning of a dance, and choosing (or creating) it is a genuine choreographic decision that the specification asks you to attend to explicitly in the group choreography task.

To use an aural setting well you must understand its elements, which are largely musical. TEMPO is its speed (fast or slow, steady or changing), which strongly influences the energy and mood of the dance. RHYTHM is the pattern of sounds and silences in time, which movement can echo, accent or work against. METRE is the underlying pulse and its grouping (for example into bars of a set number of beats), which gives the dance a framework to move within or across. Beyond these, an aural setting has DYNAMICS (loud and soft), TIMBRE or instrumentation (the character of the sounds), TEXTURE, STRUCTURE and MOOD - all of which the choreographer can respond to.

One important structural relationship between movement and sound is CALL AND RESPONSE: the sound 'calls' and the movement 'answers', or vice versa, in a dialogue. This can operate between the music and the dancers (a musical phrase answered by a movement phrase) or be built into the aural setting itself. Call and response gives a dance a conversational, interactive quality and is one of many ways the aural setting and the movement can be woven together rather than simply layered.

Silence is part of the aural setting too, and a powerful one. A moment of silence can throw the movement into relief, create tension, or focus attention entirely on the body; sound entering after silence lands with extra force. Understanding the full range of the aural setting - from a driving rhythmic track to spoken word to pure silence - and its elements of tempo, rhythm, metre, dynamics and mood, lets a choreographer choose and shape a sound world that genuinely serves the intent, rather than simply dancing on top of a song.

Worked example

Choosing an aural setting for an intent

Your dance is about mounting anxiety building to a breaking point, then release. Describe an aural setting that would serve this intent.

Match tempo and rhythm to rising anxiety
Use an accompaniment whose tempo gradually accelerates and whose rhythm becomes more insistent and irregular, so the sound itself communicates mounting anxiety.
Build dynamics to the breaking point
Let the dynamics grow louder and denser towards the breaking point, so the aural climax coincides with the movement climax.
Use silence for the break
At the breaking point, cut to sudden silence - the absence of sound throws the movement into stark relief and marks the moment powerfully.
Resolve with a change of mood
For the release, bring in a slower, calmer, warmer sound world, so the aural setting's shift in tempo, dynamics and mood communicates the release.

Result: The anxiety-and-release intent is served by an aural setting that accelerates and intensifies, breaks into silence, then resolves calmly - showing how the elements of the aural setting are chosen to serve the intent.

Typical mistakes

Thinking the aural setting must be a piece of music, overlooking spoken word, found sound, body percussion and silence.
Choosing an accompaniment for its own appeal without considering how its tempo, rhythm and mood suit and serve the choreographic intent.

Active revision

For a dance idea, describe an aural setting in terms of its tempo, rhythm, metre, dynamics and mood, and explain why these suit your intent; then note one place you might use silence or call and response.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA)

The relationship of movement and accompaniment#

AdvancedAQA 7237 Component 1 (movement and accompaniment)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

Relationships between movement and accompaniment

Fig. 4Movement can relate to the aural setting in several ways - with it, against it, in mutual coexistence, in silence, or by creating sound - each carrying a different effect.

The RELATIONSHIP between the movement and the aural setting is itself a choreographic choice, and there are several distinct ways they can relate. Movement can go WITH the music - matching its rhythm, accents, phrasing and mood, so movement and sound reinforce each other directly (hitting the beats, rising with a swell). This creates a clear, satisfying correspondence and is the most immediately readable relationship, though used exclusively it can become predictable.

Movement can also go AGAINST the music - deliberately contrasting or working in counterpoint to it, so that fast movement plays against slow music, or calm movement against agitated sound. This creates tension, irony or complexity, and can communicate a gap between appearance and feeling (serene movement over anxious music suggesting a mask). Choosing to work against the accompaniment is a sophisticated device that can carry meaning the music alone would not.

Between these lies MUTUAL COEXISTENCE or a complementary relationship, where movement and sound share a mood or world without literal, beat-by-beat correspondence - they belong together and support each other but are not locked in step. This gives the dance freedom while keeping a coherent atmosphere, and is common in contemporary work. A choreographer may also move to SILENCE, letting the body's own rhythm lead, or have the movement CREATE sound (body percussion, footfalls) so the dance generates its own accompaniment.

Skilled choreography varies the relationship across a dance rather than using one throughout: moving with the music to establish correspondence, against it for tension, into silence for focus, and back, so the relationship itself becomes expressive. Understanding these relationships matters for both components: in your own group choreography, consciously choosing and varying the movement-accompaniment relationship strengthens the work under AO2; in analysis, identifying how a professional choreographer relates movement to the aural setting, and why, is a strong AO4 observation about a key constituent feature.

Worked example

Using 'against the music' to carry meaning

You want to show a character who appears calm on the surface but is inwardly panicking. How could the movement-accompaniment relationship communicate this?

Identify the contradiction
The intent is a gap between a calm surface and inner panic - a contradiction, which the movement-accompaniment relationship can express directly.
Set movement against sound
Have the dancer perform slow, smooth, controlled movement (the calm surface) against an agitated, fast, dissonant aural setting (the inner panic) - working against the music.
Explain the effect
The mismatch makes the audience feel both layers at once - they see calm but hear panic - so the 'against the music' relationship communicates the hidden inner state.
Consider a release
Later, let the movement break and match the agitated sound (with the music), so the shift from 'against' to 'with' shows the surface calm finally cracking.

Result: The calm-surface, inner-panic intent is communicated by setting smooth movement against agitated sound - showing how the 'against the music' relationship carries meaning that neither movement nor sound could alone.

Typical mistakes

Always moving exactly 'on the beat' with the music, producing a predictable relationship, rather than varying it for effect.
In analysis, noting only that a work has music without analysing the RELATIONSHIP between the movement and the sound and its effect.

Active revision

Take one phrase of movement and perform it three ways to the same accompaniment - with the music, against it, and in silence - and describe how each relationship changes the meaning.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA) · Ofqual - GCE AS and A level qualifications (Ofqual)

Refining the dance and its programme note#

AdvancedAQA 7237 Component 1 (refinement; choreographic programme note)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

Refining a group choreography

Fig. 5Refinement is a cycle - watch the whole dance, judge it against the intent, identify what does not serve it, and revise - repeated until every choice communicates the intent.

A group choreography is brought to its final form through REFINEMENT - the stage of the process where the structured dance is polished so that it communicates the intent as clearly and powerfully as possible. Refinement works on every level: clarifying the movement material, tightening the structure, sharpening the use of the group, adjusting the relationship to the aural setting, and rehearsing the dancers to perform it accurately and expressively. As with performance, refinement is guided by honest assessment - watching the dance back on video and against the intent - and by asking, at each point, whether a choice serves the intent or should be changed.

Effective refinement is critical and selective. A choreographer must be willing to cut material that does not serve the intent, however much work it took to make, and to strengthen the moments that carry the meaning - the highlights and the climax. Common refinements include making transitions between sections and formations smooth and purposeful, ensuring the climax is genuinely the peak of the dance, checking that the group is used with variety and purpose throughout, and confirming that the aural setting relationship works as intended. The aim is a dance where every choice earns its place.

The dance is presented with a CHOREOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME NOTE - a short written statement of the dance's intention, its stimulus, and the choreographic approach (how the movement, structure and aural setting serve the intent). Like the performance programme notes, it frames the work for the examiner and demonstrates the choreographer's understanding of their own choices; it should communicate the intent and approach, not merely describe the sections. Writing it well clarifies the choreographer's own thinking and often reveals where the dance can be strengthened.

The refined group choreography, with its clear intent, considered use of the group, thoughtful aural setting and polished structure, framed by its programme note, is what earns the AO2 marks. The strongest group dances are those in which a defined intent is communicated through every element working together - movement, group, structure and sound - and in which the refinement has removed anything that does not serve that intent. Choreography is finally the art of making purposeful choices and refining them until the dance says clearly what it means.

Worked example

Refining a climax that does not land

Your group dance builds towards a climax, but on video the supposed climax does not stand out - it looks like just another section. How do you refine it?

Judge against the intent
Confirm the problem: the moment meant to be the peak of the dance is not registering as the most intense or significant point, so the structure is not communicating its shape.
Build to it more
Strengthen the build-up - increase the intensity, tempo, dynamics or fullness of the group in the sections leading up to the climax so the peak is prepared.
Make the climax distinct
Make the climax itself stand out - full-group unison, the highest energy or the boldest formation, the key motif at its most developed - so it is clearly the most important moment.
Give it space
Consider a contrast or a moment of stillness or silence just before or after, so the climax is set off and the audience feels its significance.

Result: The flat climax is refined by building the approach, making the peak distinct, and setting it off with contrast - showing how targeted refinement makes the structure communicate the intended shape of the dance.

Typical mistakes

Refusing to cut material that does not serve the intent because of the work put into it, so the dance stays cluttered.
Writing the choreographic programme note as a description of the sections rather than an account of intention, stimulus and choreographic approach.

Active revision

For a group dance you are making, list three specific refinements that would strengthen how it communicates its intent (for example a smoother transition, a clearer climax, a cut section), and draft a programme note stating its intention, stimulus and approach.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA) · Ofqual - GCE AS and A level qualifications (Ofqual)

References & sources

Sources

AQA

AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification

Ofqual

Ofqual - GCE AS and A level qualifications

Group choreography and aural setting

5 sections~20 min reading time2 competenciesLevel Foundation 1 · Standard 2 · Advanced 2

Group choreography and aural setting

Key points

Recognising an under-used group

Key points

Structuring a group dance about growing unity

Key points

Choosing an aural setting for an intent

Key points

Using 'against the music' to carry meaning

Key points

Refining a climax that does not land

Sources

Group choreography and aural setting

Key points

Recognising an under-used group

Key points

Structuring a group dance about growing unity

Key points

Choosing an aural setting for an intent

Key points

Using 'against the music' to carry meaning

Key points

Refining a climax that does not land

Sources