Choreographers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Artists who conceptualize and organize the movements and formations in dance performances
2. Creators of dance who invent and organize sequences of movements for stage presentations
3. Professionals who plan and arrange the movements in dance routines for performances

Etymology: The word is the plural of "choreographer," and its history lies mostly in the first half. "Choreograph" is a back-formation: the noun "choreography" came first, and the verb was later derived from it, with "choreo-" drawn from Greek "khoreia," meaning dance. The ending "-er" is a very old agent suffix. It arrived in English through Middle English "-er" and Old English "-ere," and it traces back to Latin "-arius," a suffix for a person connected with a trade or activity, which is why it fits naturally onto "choreograph" to name someone who does the planning. Taken together, a "choreographer" is literally one who writes dance, though the "-er" here came from a Roman job-title ending that once named tradespeople and officials.

Synonyms: dance instructors, dance creators, movement arrangers, dance designers, performers