Pep Rally Dance Routine in Three 8 Counts

Series Summary

Cheerleading was invented by a man in 1898, who first directed a crowd in cheering on the University of Minnesota. Since then, cheerleading has become a popular culture phenomenon and a sport. Cheerleaders began as male, but slowly females, who had few offerings for collegiate-level athletics, dominated the hobby. In the early 1970s, the Dallas Cowgirls changed professional cheerleading into simply dance, removing most of the stunts and tumbling in favor of revealing outfits and choreography. In the early 1980s, cheerleading as a competitive sport became popular, and stunts and gymnastics gained in popularity for high school teams. Now there are many official styles of cheering, both amateur and pro, and local spins.

In this free video series cheerleading coach Mandy Butler leads you through a pep rally or cheer dance routine that fits most pop songs. The routine uses three eight counts, with each count repeated once. Mandy offers demonstrations of the moves and tips to executing during a real pep rally. She also gives her advice on landing moves, keeping the squad together, and maintaining the style of your team.

Video Transcript

"I'm going to do demo a Spirit Dance for you, right now, that's perfect to use for Pep Rallies. You can put this dance to most pop songs. I'm just going to demo it to counts. Five, six, seven, eight. One and two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One and two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One and two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One and two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three and four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three and four, five, six, seven, eight. And that's the Spirit Dance. It's just three eight counts. They're repeated, twice, well, once each. So, you do each eight count twice, and that's the Spirit Dance. Like I said, perfect to most pop songs."