In working memory, information decays rapidly unless rehearsed. I want to plaster this fact on the wall of every ballet studio. Practice not only makes perfect, it makes permanent. Memory access techniques have been recently defined. I find especially useful is chunking, or grouping information together.
Dancers often use chunking.
A pattern of steps becomes a chunk. In class, the teacher demonstrates a sequence once, twice, then off you go. My childhood terror in ballet class was learning new combinations. I was afraid I would not remember the steps and be left standing still while everyone else was moving across the floor. Others mumble or puppet their fingers through the patterns.