How to Build a Stage Plot for a Dance Show

A stage plot is a top-down, bird's-eye diagram of the stage. It shows where each performer stands, plus the set pieces and equipment. On the sound and lighting side, it also marks the positions of monitor wedges, microphones, DI boxes and power drops. For a dance show, the main use stays the placement of performers, the set, and the lighting plot: detailed sound notation matters mostly for concerts and contemporary music acts.

It should be distinguished from a related document: the input list, which maps inputs to channels on the console and serves as a patching guide. The two are complementary but distinct: the input list guides the console, the stage plot guides the physical organisation of the deck.

Live performance also relies on two further complementary drawings. The site plan (plan de masse) is a top-down view taking in the stage, the wings, the house, the catwalks, the fly bars and the movable equipment, with the stage's apron line and centre line. The section drawing (plan de coupe) is a side-elevation view of the house, the stage house, the understage areas and the fly bars. Together, they give a complete reading of the space.

French stage directions rest on four cardinal reference points: face (downstage edge), lointain (upstage wall), cour and jardin. The downstage edge is the front of the stage, closest to the audience; upstage is the back of the stage, farthest from the audience, marked by the back wall, opposite the downstage edge. These two axes structure how any placement is read.

The classic beginner trap is cour and jardin, which are ALWAYS defined from the audience's point of view, never the performer's. Côté cour is the right side of the stage as seen from the house (so the performer's left when facing the audience); côté jardin is the left side as seen from the house (so the performer's right). A French memory aid: "J.-C." as in Jésus-Christ, J for Jardin on the left and C for Cour on the right, as seen from the house. A performer's variant: "côté cour, côté cœur" (the heart on the actor's left, so cour to their left). These terms come from tradition: they appear when the Comédie-Française occupied the Salle des Machines of the Palais des Tuileries, around 1770, with one side facing the Louvre courtyard (la cour) and the other the Tuileries garden (le jardin); earlier they were called "the king's side" and "the queen's side," dropped after the Revolution.

If you work from English-language references, watch for the shift in point of view. In English, stage left and stage right are defined from the performer's point of view facing the audience (stage left = their left), so they're flipped for anyone watching from the house. Upstage means towards the back, downstage towards the front; this terminology comes from the old raked stages tilted towards the audience, where going "upstage" meant physically walking up towards the back. Centre stage is the central playing area, the most visible.

A stage plot must state a scale. In French-language live performance, the most cited scale is 1:50 (1 cm on the plot = 50 cm in reality); 1:100 (1 cm = 1 m) is also used, with working scales ranging from 1:20 to 1:125. In sound reinforcement and contemporary music, English-language sources tend to cite 1/4 inch to 1 foot instead. Scale is therefore a convention to choose and state clearly, not a single fixed rule.

The steps for building the plot: 1) gather the information (size and shape of the stage, fixed elements like doors and pillars); 2) set the scale; 3) draw the outline of the stage and its permanent elements, on graph paper or in software; 4) place each element with symbols and a colour code; 5) add a legend and a contact line (name, phone or email, date and version). Tools cited include Vectorworks, SketchUp, AutoCAD and dedicated online generators. Stancz, a web tool for placing and visualising formations in 2D, 3D and an audience view, can also be used to design and share performer placements.

A scaled plot has very concrete on-the-ground uses: transferring the lighting layout measured on the plot, distributing the legs, drawing sightline limits and the lines of visibility, calculating border heights and sound dispersion angles. The paper plot stays essential for measuring and marking directly on the deck. To place the frame: the proscenium is the fixed element that frames the opening between the house and the stage, with the forestage floor at its base; this is the opening the fire curtain can close. Behind it, the false proscenium (manteau d'Arlequin), also called the movable frame, adjusts the width and height of the opening to the size of the set.

The handoff workflow is codified. The venue supplies the section and site drawings of the stage, included in its technical rider; the company adds its set and lighting layouts to them. Combined, these documents become "the pivot, the indispensable element for technical teams on the ground." The stage plot is therefore not a standalone document: it fits into an exchange between the venue and the company.

The production manager uses the technical rider (venue plus company) to define the hosting conditions and oversee the load-in and the run. The venue's rider gives stage dimensions, the types of fly bars, the rigging load limits, the seating capacity and the equipment inventory; the company declares its needs in lighting, sound, personnel and set (motors, guy-wiring, etc.). On the lighting side, the lighting plot specifies the type, position, orientation, focus and colour of the fixtures, and the cue sheet lists chronologically the cues and effects to be executed during the show.

The technical rider must state the minimum stage dimensions and the machinery required (does the set fit? is the stage suitable?), provide a description and a photo of the scenic elements, and identify the company's technical contacts with their details. It is contractual: any omission financially binds the producer. The golden rule stated by the sources: keep it to the essentials so it's understood.