Cheer Choreographer: How to Hire All Star Cheer Choreographers, Compare Choreography Prices and Book the Right One.

A routine is the biggest single check most programs write in the off season, and it gets written with less information than a uniform order. Coaches pick a choreographer off one routine they liked at a competition, agree a number on the phone, and find out about the airfare, the hotel and the music bill afterwards.

This page puts the rate cards cheer choreography companies publish side by side, shows what the real invoice looks like once travel is added, and lists what to hand the choreographer before day one so the hours you pay for go into the routine.

Hiring a choreographer in six lines

Full routine: about $2,000 to $4,550 per team on published rate cards
Only one of four companies with public rates bundles travel
Install takes 8 to 19 hours on site depending on roster size
Revision visits: $600 to $1,000, or $200 an hour with a 4 hour minimum
Summer dates fill first, so book in winter or spring
Send a skills list per athlete before the first visit

Log every athlete's tumbling and stunt skills once, then export the team's skills sheet for the choreographer before install.

The short answer

Hiring a cheer choreographer for a full competitive routine costs about $2,000 to $4,550 per team on the rate cards choreography companies publish, and most all star quotes land between $2,500 and $3,500 before travel. Travel, hotel, rental car and music are extra at most companies, which can add a third to a single team booking. Install takes one to three days on site. Book the summer before the season in winter or spring, compare at least two written quotes, and send the choreographer each athlete's current skills before the first visit.

Published rates

What cheer choreographers charge, from their own rate cards

Most choreographers quote privately, which is why hiring feels like guesswork. A handful publish full rate cards, and they are the best benchmark available. The figures below come from each company's own pricing page. Two of the biggest names do not publish prices at all, so they are listed with how to get a number.

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Company	Full routine	Travel	Revisions and extras	Best fit
Cheerography (Dave Marquez)	$2,550 for 20 or fewer athletes, rising in steps to $3,750 for 41 to 45	Airfare, rental car, hotel and music extra. Flies from Southern California and links trips so teams can share airfare	Sections from $500 to $1,400. One third deposit with the contract, $375 of it non refundable on late cancellation	School and all star teams that want the price tied to roster size
Cheergyms.com	All star $3,000+, school $2,500+, youth and rec $1,800+. Without stunts and pyramids: $2,500, $1,800+, $1,500+	Music, hotel, flights or mileage, rental car and a meal stipend all extra	$200 an hour with a 4 hour minimum. Sections $650+ to $850+ for 3 to 4 hours	Teams that already have stunt material and want the rest built
AWARD Choreography	$2,000 small team, $2,500 medium team, about 8 to 10 hours over 2 days	Not included	Follow up and clean up $750 plus travel for 4 to 5 hours. Video review $50	Programs running cheer and dance, since dance routines are priced the same
The All Star Cheer Consultants	$3,000 without travel, $4,000 with travel, $4,500 with travel and two trips. Additional routines $2,700	Included in the $4,000 and $4,500 packages	Upgrade visit $600 for 5 hours. Prep routine $2,500, Novice $1,500	All star gyms that want one number and a second visit in the price
Spirit FX	Quote only	Staff travel to you, quoted per booking	Quote only	All star, school and international teams. Ask for the package sheet
Varsity V!ROC	Quote only, through Varsity	Quoted per booking	43 choreographers listed: 20 directors and 23 master choreographers	School and college teams already inside the Varsity camp system

Rate cards change every season, and a published number is a floor, not a quote. Treat the table as the benchmark you bring to the phone call. If someone quotes you $6,000 for a 22 athlete Level 2 team with travel on top, you now know that is well above what several companies publish for the same job. For a line by line breakdown of choreography, music and clean up budgets across a whole gym, see our cheer choreography cost breakdown.

Four pricing models

The same routine can be priced four different ways

Comparing quotes goes wrong when two choreographers are pricing different things. Before you compare numbers, work out which model each quote uses.

Per routine, by roster size

The price climbs with headcount because every extra stunt group takes placement time. Cheerography steps from $2,550 at 20 athletes to $3,750 at 45. Fair for big teams, and easy to forecast from your roster.

Per routine, flat

One number for the routine, usually with a small, medium or large label. Simple to budget, but check the hours included. Two days of 4 hours is a different product from three days of 6.

Inclusive package

Travel and sometimes a second visit are built in. The ACC charges $4,500 with two trips and travel covered against $3,000 without travel. Higher headline, fewer surprises on the invoice.

Hourly or by section

Used for revisions, upgrades and gyms that already built half the routine. Cheergyms.com charges $200 an hour with a 4 hour minimum. Good value for a fix, expensive as a way to buy a whole routine.

The real invoice

One 24 athlete team, five ways to pay for the routine

Take a 24 athlete all star Level 3 team that needs a full routine installed in June. Here is the published starting price under each company, and what is still missing from it. The travel column is the part coaches forget to ask about.

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Company and package	Published price	Still to add
Cheerography, 21 to 25 athletes	$2,800	Airfare, rental car, hotel, music. About 17 to 19 hours over 3 to 3.5 days
Cheergyms.com, all star full routine	$3,000 and up	Music, hotel, flights or mileage, rental car, meal stipend
AWARD, medium team	$2,500	Travel, and music if you need it
The ACC, ACComplish	$3,000	Travel
The ACC, ACClaimed	$4,000	Nothing for travel. Music is still separate

The spread in headline prices is $2,500 to $4,000. The spread in real cost is much narrower, because a round trip flight, three nights of hotel and a rental car can easily add $800 to $1,500 for a single team. That is why the inclusive package is not the expensive option it looks like on paper. The honest way to compare is to ask every choreographer for an all in number, travel included, for your roster size and your date. Gyms booking several teams should ask whether trips can be linked with other programs in the area, since at least one published rate card offers exactly that to share airfare.

Music sits outside almost every choreography price. A custom mix for a competitive routine is its own four figure line, covered on our custom cheer music prices page. Budget the two together, because the routine is built on the counts of the mix.

Choosing

How to choose between all star cheer choreographers

Price is the easy part to compare. The expensive mistakes come from hiring a choreographer whose routines do not fit your level, your roster or the rules your team competes under.

Ask for video at your level

A choreographer who builds great Level 6 routines may not build a clean Level 2 routine, where the difficulty ceiling is low and the score comes from execution and creativity. Ask for full routine video installed at your level and division last season.

Confirm they know your rulebook

All star routines are judged against USASF level rules, with a 2:30 cap in the Elite tier and 2:00 in Prep. A routine with an illegal skill or a few seconds over time is a deduction before the team takes the floor. Our USASF rules summary lists the limits per level and tier.

Get the hours in writing

Ask how many hours on site the price buys and how many days it is spread over. Two long days and three normal days are not the same experience for a Mini team.

Ask who actually comes

Larger companies send staff, not always the name on the website. That can be fine. Just know who will be in your gym and ask for their video too.

Read the revision policy

Athletes get injured and quit between June and the first competition. Find out what a revision visit costs, whether a video review is available, and whether the choreographer will rework sections if the roster changes.

Check the deposit and cancellation terms

Published terms vary. One rate card takes a third of the total with the contract and keeps $375 of it on a late cancellation. Know that number before you sign.

Before day one

What to send a cheer choreographer before they arrive

You are paying $150 to $250 an hour for the choreographer's time, whatever the rate card says. Every hour spent watching athletes throw back handsprings to find out who has one is an hour of routine you did not get. Coaches who send this list in advance get the routine built in the room, not the tryout repeated.

1. The roster with a skills line per athlete

Standing and running tumbling for each athlete, at the level you will compete, marked as consistent or still in progress. Jumps and flexibility for flyers. This is the single document choreographers ask for most, and the one most coaches build in a hurry the night before.

2. Stunt groups and what each group has

Which groups are set, who flies, who bases, and the highest stable skill per group. Include the alternates and which athletes can fill in, because the choreographer has to plan for the flyer who sprains an ankle in October.

3. Division, tier, level and routine length

Division by birth year from the age grid, the tier, the level, and the time cap that follows from it. A Prep team capped at 2:00 and an Elite team capped at 2:30 need different routines, not the same routine cut short. Check eligibility against the USASF age grid before you pay for an install.

4. Music status and the competition calendar

Whether the mix is done, ordered, or not started, and the date of the first competition. The routine needs to be clean before that date, which decides whether a clean up visit belongs in the budget now.

That list is exactly what cheer skill tracking produces. Coaches log each athlete's tumbling and stunt skills during summer practices, the roster stores birth years so the division is never a guess, and the team's skills sheet exports to CSV for the choreographer a week before install. The same record then drives practice plans for the weeks between install and the first competition, which is where routines get cleaned.

Timeline

When to book, install and clean up

Winter to spring

Contact choreographers and lock a summer date. Popular choreographers fill May through August first, and returning clients often rebook before the current season ends.

May to June

Teams placed. Send the skills list, stunt groups, division and music status two weeks before install. Order music if it is custom.

June to August

Install, usually one to three days on site. Film everything. Clean every section in practice before the choreographer leaves town if you can.

September to competition

Clean up or rework visit if the roster changed or skills came in. Video review is the cheapest option where the choreographer offers one.

School teams run on a different clock. Many book a choreography camp in July or early August before football season and need a game day routine and a competition routine from the same visit, which is worth telling the choreographer in the first email. If you are still picking the team, cheerleading tryouts come first, and the scores from tryouts are the first version of the skills list.

Questions people actually ask

How much does a cheer choreographer cost?

On the rate cards cheer choreography companies publish, a full competitive routine costs roughly $2,000 to $4,550 per team, with most all star quotes landing between $2,500 and $3,500 before travel. Section work runs $500 to $1,400, and revision visits run $600 to $1,000 or $200 an hour with a four hour minimum. Airfare, hotel, rental car and music are usually extra.

How do I find a cheer choreographer?

Start with the choreographers whose routines you have watched at your level and division, then ask two or three for a written quote. Choreography companies publish rates, Varsity runs its own V!ROC roster of 43 choreographers for school and all star teams, and most independents book through Instagram or a direct email. Ask each for video of a routine they installed at your level last season.

How far in advance should you book a cheer choreographer?

Book as early as the choreographer will take a date, and for summer install that usually means the winter or spring before. Established choreographers fill May through August first, and gyms that liked a choreographer often rebook for the next season before the current one ends. A September or October booking is realistic only for a mid season rework or clean up visit.

Does choreography pricing include travel?

Usually not. Of the four companies on this page that publish rates, only The All Star Cheer Consultants bundles travel into some packages, at $4,000 or $4,500 per routine. Cheerography, Cheergyms.com and AWARD all state that travel is extra, and Cheergyms.com lists music, hotel, flights or mileage, rental car and a meal stipend as outside the price.

How long does it take to choreograph a cheer routine?

A full routine usually takes one to three days on site. AWARD quotes about 8 to 10 hours over two days for a full cheer routine. Cheerography quotes 13 hours over two and a half days for a team of 20 or fewer and 17 to 19 hours over three to three and a half days for 21 to 25 athletes. Bigger rosters take longer because every stunt group has to be placed.

What should I send a cheer choreographer before they arrive?

Send the roster with each athlete's current level skills: standing and running tumbling, which stunt groups are stable and at what level, flyers, tossers and jumps. Add the division, the tier, the routine time cap and your music status. A choreographer who knows who has a back handspring before the first eight count spends the visit building the routine rather than testing athletes.

What is the difference between a clean up and a rework?

A clean up is a return visit to sharpen a routine the same choreographer installed. A rework is repairing a routine somebody else installed, and it costs more because the choreographer has to learn the material before changing it. One published rate card charges $750 for a half day clean up, $1,000 for a full day and $1,250 for a full day rework. AWARD publishes its follow up and clean up at $750 plus travel for four to five hours.

Is it cheaper to hire a choreographer for part of the routine?

It can be. Cheerography prices sections separately: cheer, jumps and baskets at $500 to $700, the opening, partner stunt and pyramid at $800 to $1,000, and dance at $1,000 to $1,400. Buying every section separately costs more than the full routine, so section pricing is only a saving when the coach already has most of the routine built.

Do cheer choreographers make the music?

Usually not. Most choreographers price music separately or not at all, and several state plainly that music is not included. The routine is built on the counts of the mix, so the order that matters is to know the routine length for your tier and have the music plan agreed before the choreographer arrives, even if the final mix lands after install.

Are all star cheer choreographers different from school choreographers?

The skill set overlaps, but the brief differs. All star routines run to 2:30 in the Elite tier and are scored against USASF level rules, while school routines follow the rules of the state association or competition and often include a cheer section with signs. Several companies publish separate all star, school and rec rates, and school routines are usually the cheaper tier.

Get more routine out of every choreography hour

Track every athlete's skills through the summer, export the team's skills sheet before install, and plan the practices that clean the routine before the first competition.

Takes 30 seconds. No credit card needed.