Dedicated dance instructors want their students to experience the highest quality education possible in the art of dance. How exactly to go about achieving that goal varies from instructor to instructor. Whether or not to engage students in competitions, how often they should compete, and at what level they should begin competition are all matters […]
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 […]
Transform Your Holiday Dance Recital From Predictable to Profitable, Part 1
If you run a dance studio, chances are that you’re always looking for creative new ways to make your business a success. One of the best potential profit-generating events you could host may catch you by surprise. It’s not a special fundraiser you’ve never thought of before that will take tons of extra preparation. It’s […]
Weighing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Dance Competitions, Part 2
We’ve already considered how competitive dance can help students develop positive peer relationships as well as become more focused and driven in their approach (see Part 1). In this article, we’ll consider some of the other benefits that dance competitions have to offer students who engage in them. These include networking, maturing in their character, […]
Dance Kinesiology 102
Every dancer should have a basic understanding of how his or her body moves. The study of muscular movement is called Kinesiology. When it comes to Dance Kinesiology, the first topic to master is that of Muscular Contractions; we looked at the two basic types of contractions in Dance Kinesiology 101. The goal of Dance […]
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 […]
Weighing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Dance Competitions, Part 1
In the realm of dance instruction, there are two different primary schools of thought when it comes to the topic of dance competitions. Some instructors, parents, and students are enthusiastic supporters of competitive dance. Others are adamantly against the practice. So who’s right and who’s wrong? There’s no simple answer to that question. Many people […]
Dance Studio Tips: Keeping Staff Members Happy, Part 2
Your dance studio will run so much more smoothly when you hire quality staff members and keep them happy! Not only will you as the director have fewer headaches associated with the fallout of high turnover rates — including hiring and training new staff members on a regular basis — but you’ll also appreciate the […]
Dance Competition Planning: The Importance of a Post-Season Review
Dance competition season has its perks, but it’s also quite demanding! As ready as you may be to stop thinking about competition until next year, you’ll be better prepared next time competition season rolls around if you take a little time now to evaluate this season and do a little pre-planning for next year. You’ll […]
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 […]
Dance Kinesiology 101
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. […]
Dance Competition Planning: Find a Theme that Shines
Your studio’s chosen dance competition theme offers two main benefits. First, it can make your dancers’ performance — and, by extension, your studio — more memorable. Second, it can make decisions easier by limiting your possibilities. And with all the choices necessarily part of competition season, you’ll be glad for that more limited selection. The […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]