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 Dark Side of Inspirational Tales
As you consider a general theme — perhaps originating in a fairy tale or some other story — consider alternative perspectives and consider switching up the main character. Choosing to make a villain the central character — or at least to give her a more significant role — can help you put a new spin on a traditional theme. By allowing your choreography to reflect the darker side of the story instead of just the main parts, your piece will create a depth that defies descriptions like “overdone” or “tired.”
The Benefit of Theme Mash-Ups
No one wants a dance competition theme that’s seen as unoriginal or overdone; at the same time, though, trendy themes can seem risky. Why not let the two combine in a creative mash-up? Listen to some musical mash-ups for inspiration and consider how a traditional fairy tale might be combined with a pop culture icon or current movie trend. Princess apocalypse, anyone?
The Significance of Fabric Choices
You don’t have to go with costume design that’s completely innovative in order to exhibit today’s trends. In fact, a major trend for this year’s dance costumes is all about mixing two types of fabric: mesh and velvet. The great news is that this fabric combination can combine with just about any costume design! Leotards are making a major comeback this year, too, and they work well with understated designs. The main aim is to allow texture and geometric patterns combine with bright contrasts for attention-getting costumes.
The Place of Setting in Your Theme
In addition to a different perspective or a theme mash-up, one way to give a time-honored theme new life is to alter the setting. First, you can do this in an unusual time theme. Consider a fairy tale princess at home in the last century but then scurrying through various decades with music to suit each section. Feel free to play around with location settings, too: instead of New York, consider San Francisco or Chicago for an urban theme or instead of Paris, choose Venice or even Rome.
The Mastery of Music
As important as the theme itself, setting, and costumes may be, could anything be as significant as the music that you choose? After all, nothing informs the choreography of your competition piece like the music does. And if your musical selections don’t coordinate well with your other thematic elements, the effect can seem confusing or even ludicrous. So start with the music. Select a song and build a theme around it. Jot down the feelings and colors that come to mind when you hear it, and then consider other songs that elicit similar ideas.
By unifying your dance competition choices around a central theme, you’ll give your dancers an added edge, setting them apart from the competition.
From the Jackrabbit Dance blog:
• How to Choose the Right Dance Studio Management Software
• 5 Ways to Make Your Dance Instructors’ Lives Easier
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