How to Choreograph a Dance Fitness Workout

Get information about the class you will be teaching. Before you begin to make your routine, you need to know the length of the class, the level of fitness of the people taking the class, and the style of the class that you will be teaching. If possible get the description that your gym is using to advertise the course with. This information is critical to effectively designing your workout.

Pick your individual moves. Choose a mix of basic, intermediate and more advanced moves in the style/styles that you are using. The balance will depend on your group. An advanced class will likely feature more of the advanced moves, just as a beginner class would likely feature more basic moves, and perhaps only one or two advanced moves if any. As a general guidelines you will want to plan at least 3 moves for each 10 minutes of the class, not including the time for warm up and cool down. If you have a standard 50 minute class this will be between 9 and 15 moves total.

Plan your warm up period. This should be about 7 to 10 minutes long. This period should begin with some basic stretches. The stretches should focus on any and all areas of the body that you intend upon working during the routine, while still providing stretching for the whole body. Including stretching into your routine encourages your class to exercise safely, while giving them a chance to ease into the class.

Near the end of your warm up period begin to integrate some one of the basic moves into your routine. Some instructors like to separate the warm up from the routine, by announcing to their transition into the routine, but you don't have to if you can find a way to make the transition smooth. This is usually accomplished by picking a basic move that uses the same muscle group or similar movements to the last stretching motion in the warm up. Be sure to let the class know the name of the basic move, and describe the motions involved in the move as you complete it for the first time.

Complete One to Three sets of the first basic move before you introduce the second basic move to the routine. When changing moves it is good to name that move as you transition into it, and give a description of the move, as with the first move it is a good to describe the motions as you go through them for the class.

Just as with the first move, complete one to three additional reps before you integrate the next of the basic moves. Once you have shown all of your basic moves to the class you can alternate them to keep the class interesting, or set up combinations of the moves (for example a leg movement with an arm movement, or combining two arm movements where the starting position of the second move is similar to the ending position of the first move)

If your routine includes intermediate level moves, introduce them in a similar manner to the basic moves: name the move, describe its steps as you complete the move for the first time, complete a few reps before moving on to a new step, then integrate the newly introduced moves into the routine.

Combine those moves to create smooth flowing pairs and combinations that work well together. These can be added onto the basic combinations if possible, or they may stand alone. Be sure when introducing any new combination that you describe to the class what moves will be used, and when to do them.

Integrate advanced moves in the manner described for the beginner and intermediate moves. If the class is not of an advanced level you will want to save these for the end and use them sparingly. Try to use advanced moved that you can add onto the basic or intermediate combinations that you have already designed.

Finish the workout by tapering back to the basic moves and into the stretches. This should be another seven to ten minuets of your workout's total time.

Write down the routine step-by-step,so that you can better remember the routine, and have a record of the moves for the next step. This will give you something to mark during the editing process.

Try the routine out. Do this in front of a mirror if possible, on the sheet with the routine mark any spots during the routine , where you feel that something is not right. If you feel that a move is over used, a transition is clumsy or that a pairing of moves is more awkward then you originally believed, make a note on the paper explaining what the problem is with this part of the routine. In addition time this run of the routine in order to get an idea of how close to your ideal class time you are.

Review the sheet with your notes. Make the needed changes to the routine and try out each section as you re-write the section's instructions. Complete this process as many times as you need to in order get make the routine smooth.

Select your music tracks, if you have not already done so. Be sure that the music is appropriate for the class and routine in speed, desired class length and content. Complete your routine during the music to ensure that the length of the routine fits your class time and the length of the music. Lengthen or shorten your routine accordingly.