What Is Choreography in Cheer?

Quick answer: in cheer, choreography is the full plan of a routine - every stunt, toss, pyramid, tumbling pass, jump, motion, dance move and formation change, mapped against the music count by count, for every athlete on the team. It's much more than the dance section.

What It Is

Choreography in cheer covers the design of the entire routine: when and where each stunt group builds, who tumbles in which pass, how the team moves between formations, what everyone else is doing while one group performs a featured skill, and the motions and dance in between. Every athlete has a specific job on every 8-count.

Who Creates It

At many All Star gyms, routines are built by a professional choreographer - often brought in for a few intensive days at the start of the season - working with the team's coaches. Other teams are choreographed by their own coaches. Either way, the coaches keep adjusting the choreography through the season as skills improve, athletes change or score sheets show where points are being lost.

How Choreography Is Built

Start with the team. List the skills the team can perform consistently at its level, and how many athletes can do each.
Plan the sections. Decide the order of stunts, pyramid, tosses, standing and running tumbling, jumps and dance.
Map it to the music. Build the routine in 8-counts, usually alongside a custom music mix with sound effects that land on the big skills.
Design the transitions. Work out how every athlete gets from one formation and skill to the next - often the hardest part.
Clean it. Rehearse until every motion, angle and count matches across the team.

What Makes Good Choreography

Shows the team's strengths and hides its weaknesses - for example by putting the strongest tumblers in front.
Meets the score sheet, including the number of athletes and variety of skills that earn credit.
Has smooth, creative transitions, so the routine flows rather than stopping between sections.
Keeps energy high for the whole routine, with visual effects that build to big moments.
Is realistic, giving athletes time to set up safely for stunts and tumbling.

Judges often credit this as part of routine composition, creativity and overall impression on the score sheet.

Rules That Affect Choreography

Choreography must follow the level rules for every skill and the routine time limit - 2 minutes 30 seconds for USASF Elite teams. USASF rules also require choreography and music to be suitable for a family audience, and judges can give warnings or deductions if they aren't.

The Dance Section

Most routines include a dedicated dance section near the end - a fast, high-energy sequence built from motions and footwork - where the whole team performs together. See Cheer Dance Explained.