One of the most important steps in choreography is perfecting your routine. You can have the most dynamic choreography, but if your routine is not polished, your routine can easily end up looking like a disaster!

Alignment in your formations is critical. Make sure you practice on the performance floor and get each team member’s exact spacing in each formation. Encourage them to judge proper spacing off one another as opposed to markers in the audience or on stage. Practice moving from formation to formation with counts and with music. Improper spacing can be very distracting when watching a performance.

Synchronization is a major key in making your routine look great. This is where most of your efforts should be spent. Stamina is a must! The number of times you can repeat the routine from beginning to end is a major plus. This increases your stamina and improves your performance level. You will feel confident about getting through the routine and can concentrate more on your projection. After all, projection is what draws the crowd in and gets them involved in the performance.

Here are a few suggestions on how to perfect a routine:

• Break down the routine from beginning, and go 8-count by 8-count. Make sure everyone is doing the exact same thing. Do not go on until that 8-count looks good. Sometimes you can work on that one 8-count for an entire practice.

• Work on one section at a time. If they are having trouble with a specific step, continue to break it down into detail then drill it over and over again.

• Divide the team members into groups and let them perform for one another. This enables them to see how others perform and possibly learn from teammates’ mistakes. When working in groups, it may be beneficial to pair up the team members. The individual watching can focus on what the team member needs to work on and what she is doing well. This type of atmosphere teaches the girls how to take criticism appropriately, and it promotes team unity.

• Begin with one member of your team who has perfected the routine. Add another member and have them perform the routine until it is perfectly synchronized. Add another member, then another member, and so on until the entire team is on the floor. Talk about stamina and perfection!

• Videotaping is also an effective way to perfect a routine. The team can watch themselves on television and look for problems with synchronization, formations, individual mistakes, etc.

• Make sure the team is performing the routine full-out (this means smiles too). Marking the routine is beneficial when learning the routine. But when you’re perfecting, the best results come from practicing full-out!

• Practice makes perfect! But make sure it’s effective. Quality practice is more important than the quantity of practice when you’re trying to perfect your masterpiece!