A dancer’s body is her most important asset, and without her muscles properly working, she can never master her craft. When a dancer understands how her muscles work, she’ll be better able to confidently execute moves and combinations. Because of that, dance students all need a basic understanding of kinesiology, the study of human movement. Any study of Dance Kinesiology begins with … [Read More...] about Dance Kinesiology 101
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Dance Recital Planning, Supervised
No matter how skillful a dancer and instructor you may be, recital planning requires an entirely different skill set that takes time to hone. If you haven’t read the first three posts in this series on recital planning, we highly recommend you go back and read those, first: Dance Recital Planning, Simplified Dance Recital Planning, … [Read More...] about Dance Recital Planning, Supervised
Teaching Life Skills: Resilience, Part 1
The little people who enter your gym aren’t simply potential future gymnasts; more importantly, they’re future adults and contributors to society. And the skills they need in order to grow into that important role can be developed now in your gym. We’re not talking primarily about the physical skills you’ll be teaching your students, here — … [Read More...] about Teaching Life Skills: Resilience, Part 1
Dance Studio Tips: Keeping Staff Members Happy, Part 1
As a dance studio director, managing your staff is an important aspect of your role. Among the many responsibilities you have, the last thing you want is to have to take the extra time to hire and train new staff members more often than necessary. One way to encourage low turnover rates is to be sure to hire top-notch staff members. But there’s … [Read More...] about Dance Studio Tips: Keeping Staff Members Happy, Part 1
Dance Recital Planning, Settled
From venue and costumes to programs, the overall success of your dance recital relies not only on proper planning but also on careful preparation. As the event date gets closer, be sure to communicate repeatedly with parents to ensure they know when and where to have dancers ready. In addition to that all-important element, you’ll want to make sure … [Read More...] about Dance Recital Planning, Settled
Dancers: What It Means When Your Body Snaps, Crackles & Pops, Part 2
The constant movement involved in dance is a great form of exercise but can cause various body parts, especially joints, to make lots of different sounds. In Part 1, we’ve already looked at possible causes of and solutions for neck and back cracking and hip popping. Now we’ll turn our attention to the next joint down on the body: the … [Read More...] about Dancers: What It Means When Your Body Snaps, Crackles & Pops, Part 2
Teaching Life Skills: Resilience, Part 3
Many of today’s parents are afraid to allow their children to fail; but if kids never fail, they won’t be equipped to face difficulties later in life. They won’t have the opportunity to learn resilience (see Parts 1 & 2). Your instructors need to realize that they’ll be swimming upstream in a culture where many adults are afraid to let kids … [Read More...] about Teaching Life Skills: Resilience, Part 3
Dance Recital Planning, Streamlined
All the creative and amazing plans in the world can’t make up for organized preparation! Proper preparation will not only reduce the likelihood of last-minute disasters, but it will also give you the margin needed to weather any problems that may come up. As you simplify your recital preparations, you’ve probably already begun to sigh in relief. We … [Read More...] about Dance Recital Planning, Streamlined
Dance Studio Tips: Hiring Quality Staff Members
As director of your dance studio, you have a multi-faceted role that requires plenty of skills and oversight of many areas. Managing your staff is one of those areas you probably didn’t anticipate taking up so much of your time — especially if you have a high staff turnover rate. Not only does high turnover translate into the need to spend time and … [Read More...] about Dance Studio Tips: Hiring Quality Staff Members
Dance Recital Planning, Simplified
We’re not going to tell you how to plan a perfect recital; we’re guessing you already have that down. After all, choreography and costume coordination and all of that is probably your forte, as a dance enthusiast and creative professional. However, preparing for a snag-free recital week requires quite another skill set. Those organizational skills … [Read More...] about Dance Recital Planning, Simplified
Teaching Life Skills: Resilience, Part 2
Among many life skills your students can learn in your gym, resilience (see Part 1) is definitely among the most significant. Children start facing challenges early in life, and they need to learn to respond in a way that’s healthy. Every time they respond to even small daily challenges with resilience, they strengthen that life skill, helping them … [Read More...] about Teaching Life Skills: Resilience, Part 2
Dancers: What It Means When Your Body Snaps, Crackles & Pops, Part 1
If you’ve been a dancer for any length of time, you no doubt have noticed that your body can be a bit noisy. This is especially true when you’re practicing in the studio or performing on the stage. If you’re new to dancing, you may be alarmed by this phenomenon. Dancers Can Expect Their Bodies to Make Certain Noises Body noises often come … [Read More...] about Dancers: What It Means When Your Body Snaps, Crackles & Pops, Part 1