Bird by Bird, Pose by Pose

It's still September. But soon it will be October, then November will whisk past, and then meet season descends.

The girls need beam routines. Some need floor routines. Some still look at me blankly when I ask if they've searched for music.

I've found a solution: the good old-fashioned assembly line.

Beam: I give them stations and take the first girl. We make up a mount. Send her to the next station and give the second girl a mount. We proceed in this manner until it's time to switch events. They all have at least a mount, a few poses, and one requirement (jumps, cartwheels).

Floor: is a bit harder. But I channel my old coach, who would listen to our music once and make up our routines. Always the routine fit the music. I was impressed then but really, unless you're hoedown dancing to "Requiem For a Dream," you can make the choreography match the music.

So I work it the same as beam. A starting pose, the first steps, a journey to one of the corners for tumbling. Sure, they don't all have music. Sure, one of the eight-year-olds wants to use an instrumental of "Teenage Dreams."

But it's either the assembly line or creating one master routine. While I know the latter would be faster, easier, it seems to me that the beauty of USAIGC is breaking away from doing the same routine as everyone else.