WAG Choreography?

[samadams]

I hope that is a world renowned choreographer for that price.

 

[MaryA]

We can either pay the HC or a dancer that works with the gym to do it. Both charge $250. I'm sure that if we had a strong opinion about who we wanted to choreograph it (or if we wanted to bring in our own choreographer) that would be fine, but last year HC just divvied them up. I think the two choreographers listened to each piece of music and chose which ones they would prefer to do. She is using the same music/choreography this year, though now she ends up facing the wrong direction a lot of the time (2x turn instead of a 1.5, for example). I asked her if she needed to work with the choreographer again and she said, "No, I fixed it." Ok then... I'll be interested to see what it looks like...

 

[kitkat]

We are so fortunate to have a super choreographer right in our gym. But if we didn't I would be most happy to pay for a routine.
We have had routines in the past that are just "ok".
My daughter is Novice and I would pay what is required for that.
I am of the opinion that the girls should keep their routines for years and perfect them...but our club and most clubs change their music and routine every two years.

 

[catou]

We have an artistry specialist (aka an 1996 olympic silver medalist...). She charges 200$ for floor routines. 600$ is just crazy.

 

[gymdog]

Does your gym hire a choreographer for beam and floor or do your coaches design the routines?

We hire. Top people. And it is worth every last penny. A well constructed and choreographed routine does make a difference in the scores. It doesn't have to be "fancy" but it has to be clean and smooth and not have excessive elements that show off weak point in body alignment.

Some gyms have coaches capable of it but I've seen a slight bit of delusion in this regard from some coaches...like I said, a good choreographer who can evaluate what will work for a gymnast is worth every last penny. $600 is a bit high but I could see that for say NYC or the Bay Area because around here it's $400-500.

 

[raenndrops]

We actually had a "team camp" this summer - by levels. The girls in the Optional levels had to write down their requirements... then decide on the skills they wanted to use to meet the requirements. They also got to pick their own music. I brought in a CD of about 50 choices in case somebody didn't have music picked yet.
The girls choreograph their own routines with input from the coaches and other girls. If they are clueless about what to do, then a younger coach listens to the music with them and they try some things out. It works and it doesn't cost anything

 

[Bajanswife]

There's a young dancer who works with the team girls on Fridays for 45 minutes on dance moves, paid for by the gym and covered by our normal gym fees (i.e. no extra). Now that there are about 8 new floor routines to choreograph, she is also coming a couple of other days to work with those girls. The gym pays her, I assume, and doesn't charge that cost back to us. HC is also involved in the choreography, making sure that the gymnastics skills are appropriately positioned throughout the routine, and she makes suggestions based on how the routine is looking. The girls themselves also have input - I have watched them make suggestions and try out things that were then put into their routines. Our HC believes in keeping the routines as close to each gymnast's natural movements - they are highly individual, which is why input from the girls is very important. At our gym the routines evolve over a number of weeks, and then when they are done they are tweaked as necessary.

The HC does the beam and bars routines.

 

[GymSurvivor]

On the rec team, the head coach choreographs and they usually end up looking pretty good.
The artistic team hires someone for floor, usually $200.
For a while a gym about an hour away had a Olympic gymnast working there and she choreographed some great routines for us at $200 as well. Unfortunately she just moved to another state.

For beam, the rec team choreographs their own and the HC approves them.
The artistic team (by artistic that just means they compete USAG) the head coach used to choreograph but she has a new baby so this year most are being done by the floor choreographer for $25

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

At my dd's gym they hire a person to do the floor routines. The girl who does it comes from about 4 hours away and it cost about 200$ a routine luckily this year I only have to pay for one since my younger dd is still compulsory. As far as beam routines go they get to make up their own with input from the coaches. Since the girl comes from so far the day the girls get the routine they start early In the morning and go till the evening getting all the girls that are getting routines done, done. We are at a small gym with not many optional girls.

 

[kandkfunk]

My DD just got her level 8 routine this weekend. We paid our two coaches a total of $100 for the choreography and teaching. It took her less than 2 hours to master. I think that is mainly due to her better dancing ability and the coaches picking dance moves that fit her. Her former coach would pick insanely difficult choreography that did not suit by DD's style or body type (she is not a ballerina!). This new routine is very clean and not overly complicated, but still very pretty and it really fits the musical choice which is pretty sassy. I am hoping she does well with it.

 

[aksaunders]

It will depend on you gym but at my DD's gym the HC will typically decide if the gymnast will get a new routine or recycle one from another gymnast who is slightly older. For example, my L7 daughter will be using a routine that was used by a gymnast who is currently a L9. Talk to your HC and ask for his/her input but don't be bullied into paying an exorbitant amount of money for a routine that may be used for a season or two. Good luck.

 

[acm1289]

At one of my gyms the coaches did it. Then we moved states. We only had guy coaches at first so we had a choreographer but my 2nd year there they got us a girl coach and she helped us choreograph our routines during practice, no extra fee.

 

[pamred4]

The HC choreographers ours but we gymnasts get some input too

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Blimey - this is news to us over here.

All our competition routines are individual, from the first competition you enter to the last. I have never heard of any gym charging for a routine. The coach and sometimes the older girls make the routines up. Now P&F is nine and has been round the block she and I made up a routine and then the coach and the other girls "tweaked" it to get all the elements in. I could never imagine paying nearly 400 quid for a routine !

 

[profmom]

DD's gym has an in-house dance coach who also serves as choreographer. The gym holds on to music and previously choreographed routines, and gymnasts get new routines every two years. If there's a routine in the vault that fits, the gymnast gets the "used" routine at a discount but the choreographer works with her to be sure it plays to her strengths. If the gymnast who last had it is still in the gym, she also comes to the first session to help the new gymnast learn the routine. DD's went that way and I think we paid $125 for the whole thing. If nothing really suits or the gymnast wants something different, a new routine runs $250. The girls' optional routines are all quite individual, running the gamut from light hiphop (two girls had routines along these lines last year) to classical (one girl who also does ballet did a beautiful Swan Lake and the girl from our gym who won her age group for L7 floor had something classical as well). They score very well. I love my daughter's routine and will be heartbroken when she has to give it up for a new one after this year, but I'm sure I will only feel that way until I see what they figure out for her!

For $600 I would expect a well known and excellent professional gymnastics choreographer to create an individual routine for my child. One advantage of the in house model is that the dance coach (who also does floor) really knows the girls' strengths and weaknesses by the time they are trying to figure out routines.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

We pay coach $450 for floor and beam, this includes the initial choreography as well as any additional sessions needed for "tweaking" and other changes throughout the 2 years of a routine's "life". Coach and gymnast work together to choose music and come up with a routine that works- shows off the gymnasts' talents while minimizing any weaknesses.

 

[eryes]

From what I've heard around my gym, the optional routines are between $500-750. I believe it includes cost of music, beam and floor, and all tweaking during season. I'm not sure who they bring in - but i know that I overheard HC talking about gym graduate who went on to D1 school (stellar college career) and choreographs routines for college program... thinking it could be her. My dd is not optional - so it's all hearsay.

 

[acm1289]

I've payed professional dancers to choreograph three minute pieces for me and it didn't even cost that much. Even if she is well known that's still too much. A floor and beam routine is not THAT much work...

 

[GymBee97]

Our first gym hired someone for both (very expensive too), our second gym one of the coaches was a dance teacher too and did the floor routines (extra charge) and the girls had to do their own beam based on the movements in their floor (with guidance from that coach). Our current gym - the girls do their own beams with coach having final say on the routine and one of the other coaches makes up the floor routines (I think she does and awesome job too) for a small fee.

 

[GymBee97]

Oh my goodness $70 sounds like a steal. We pay $600!

$70 I would be very happy with.
Ive paid $350 for a floor (2 hours time) and $250 for a beam (3 hours time) this year our gym only charges $100 for the floor