Tag: jazz dance

Posted on Posted by

February 2020 Recap

As we wrap up the month of love let’s show some love to all we have accomplished:

We started the month out with Buddy Boogie – a free and fabulous party for our 2-7 year old students and friends!  Due to space constraints half the students were invited to this one and the other half will receive an invitation to the one in June.  Check out a few pictures of the great time we had!

Our Sparkling Stars had another exciting month with sweet treat themed music.  We also incorporated bean bags as our small prop this month.  Bean bags can help with body identification (e.g. put the bean bag on your head), hand eye coordination (toss and catch the bean bag) and working to cross the body’s mid line as we toss with one hand and catch with another.

 

We also brought back out the crooked balance beam and hula hoops for our large prop.  It’s always exciting to see what shape we will put it out and practice our 2 footed jumping in multiple patterns.

Our large motor activity –  Exercise game #1 saw us moving all over the studio jumping, marching and crawling to name a few.

And lastly for our littlest friends we started working on cartwheels with our 4 and 5 year old students.  Some of them have gotten the coordination down nicely and are really kicking their legs up there!

All classes have been working diligently on their recital dances and I am happy to report most are 2/3 of the way done.  Costumes have been tried on and are currently extras put together along with packaging so they are ready to go home March 9th as long as March tuition has been received.

Our dancers that are going to Disney have started rehearsing their two numbers for their performances there. With a group of 9 dancers that spreads over 4 classes they have come together and worked so well and we couldn’t be prouder of them.  I cannot wait to see them shine down there.

Last but not least – a giant thank you to all who came and danced with us during Dance With Your Love week.  I hope you enjoyed getting a different peek at what we do every week in class and I know the kids truly enjoyed having you there.

Posted on Posted by

To Sign Up or to Drop In?

You may be looking at the offerings of our studio or other studios and see an array everything from a drop in class to classes that run a full year.  It’s enough to make your head spin!  So we are here to break down the difference between the two in our studio in order to make your decision easier.

 

Drop In Class Regularly Scheduled class
Commitment No commitment- come and go as you please. Typically a month to month commitment with the expectation you are going to try for the entire 10 months.
Lesson Plan Can vary depending on age of participants, will usually fall into a middle age category. Researched curriculum with a clear progression through the program, and consistent themes and prop rotation.
Participants Can vary from 1 to 10 depending on the week, so interaction and socialization amounts can vary. Set number of participants which helps foster connections, interactions and socialization among peers.
Price Is slightly cheaper, but there are no discounts for other events, no birthday party discounts, no free events or “fun weeks” that we have studio wide. Is slightly more expensive but includes discounts on studio events, discounted birthday parties, early registration for classes and events, free events for students, small appreciation tokens, and fun weeks at the studio.
Performance No Optional but all dancers age 3 and up are invited to be a part of recital.

To sum up drop in classes are meant to be a once in a while option when you are looking for something new to try, something to do or can not make a long term commitment, not in place of a regularly scheduled class.  Either way we hope you make it in and dance with us soon!

Posted on Posted by

Why do we perform

Dance is classified as a performing art since a big part of the art form is performing it for others.  But I’m not aiming to be a professional ballerina you may say, so why should I perform?  Read on and learn how performance can help everyday life.

Performing any art, not just dance, can help build confidence.  Nailing a routine, hitting the perfect pitch, finding the right cord can give anxious performers a much needed boost of self esteem. Couple that with an active audience that shows their appreciation through applause and cheers, and you have a winning combination.

Performing can help develop quick thinking.  Rarely does a performance go as planned.  Headpieces can fall off blocking routes on stage, music systems can fail in the middle of the song, another performer may not hit their mark, but as they say, the show must go on.  Performers must asses the problem and quickly adjust and find a solution all the while keeping the performance going.  This can translate into quick thinking during real life problem solving.

Performers who start at a young age do better with presentations and oral reports when in higher learning or at a job typically. Because they are used to presenting for a crowd, they remain calm and collected (at least on the outside!) when needing to speak in front of people.

Performing can provide another outlet to express emotions.  Giving your all to a performance that is emotionally demanding can be cathartic, helping those who may not be able to find the words to express what they are going through.

Tell us:  what is your favorite dance performance?

Posted on Posted by

4 Reasons Why it is Important to Warm Up

Before we attempt any strenuous activity we are always told we should warm up. But why?  Here we give you 4 reasons why it is so important to not miss your warm up in class:

  1. Warming up gently gets the heart rate up.  Walking, marching and jumping jacks are all a great way to start.
  2. Warming up increases the blood flow to the muscles.  This helps to get the muscles prepared for more vigorous movement as well as helping to loosed the joints.
  3. Warming up helps warm the muscles so they are ready to stretch.  You never stretch a cold muscle.  When muscles are warm they are much more pliable and stretch easier.
  4. Warming up can lessen the risk of injury and muscle soreness.  If are joints are looser and muscles more pliable the chance of moving wrong and overextending them leading to injury greatly lessens.

Tell us:  How do you like to warm up before an activity?

Posted on Posted by

Dance and the pre-schooler

Happy New Year! We got a little off track at the end of 2018, but we will be back better than ever with posts on the 1st and 15th of each month. To kick us off I’d like to start with the age group that is near and dear to my heart the 2-5 year old crowd.

Did you know? In the newest physical activity guidelines for Americans published on December 12th it is recommended that children get a combination of light, moderate and vigorous activity for at least 3 hours a day in a combination of structured and unstructured. Dancing can be considered a moderate or vigorous activity. Weight bearing activity such as hopping, jumping, and skipping all found in dance class strengthens the bones, while gymnastics, and exercises such as knee bends and calf raises strengthen the muscles.

As a side note: Adults need 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous activity a week.

But back to the dance class room. Children gain many skills from dancing that aren’t related to technique. In fact the preschool classes I teach explore movement concepts in a more round about manor using play and songs and short dances rather than a strict technique class. Basic skills gained in the 2-5 year old set of dancers include confidently separating from parents, socialization with peers, listening skills, learning the routine of the class, rhythmic and spatial awareness, development of large motor skills, body identification, hand eye coordination and following directions as well as building confidence, encouraging creativity and extending focus. The last three I would like to talk about a bit more.

In the class room one of the first objectives is to build a child’s confidence. It can be a scary place coming into a class with teachers and students you don’t know who are asking you to do all kinds of crazy things. We are always working towards new skills in class and every time one is mastered along with teacher support, their confidence grows, showing them they can achieve whatever they put their minds to.

Another fabulous benefit that comes from class is the child being able to stretch their creativity. In class sometimes we hand them a prop, like say a pool noodle, and ask them what we can do with this, or give them a task to complete – you need to get across the room with the noodle, but you can’t use your hands.

Focus, even as an adult can be the hardest skill to master. It may be in short bursts but we do work for focus in each activity. Through tone of voice, keeping our material fresh, and eliminating as many distractions as possible we work to have the children be present with us through each activity. We do change activities often which helps as well and we slowly build up to the full curriculum over 5 months or so, incorporating each activity at it’s own pace and adding another when they are comfortable.

As mentioned before skills are rarely accomplished correctly the first time.

As dancers get older dance class can help to develop perseverance and dedication, because harder skills rarely come naturally, problem solving and quick-thinking skills through guided classroom exercises as well as sometimes thinking on their feet during a performance. They also learn how to receive feedback and accountability for their actions. We consider getting a correction in class a great honor as it means the teacher noticed you. We also work to figure out what we may have done wrong and how to fix it in order to master a new skill.

Lastly, performing for an audience, whether it be of 2 or 200, especially at a young age helps to get performance anxiety out. That way when they get older and need to do public speaking they are used to being up in front of people.

Stay tuned to part 2 on the 15th where I talk about how you can incorporate dance and movement into your everyday activity!

Posted on Posted by

Why do we have a dress code?

Like many other studios our studio has a specific dress code that students follow.  There are several reasons for this:

  • For younger students a set uniform provides one less distraction in class.  Sure rhinestones and flowers are pretty adornments, but to a toddler they can take their focus away from the class and sometimes cause meltdowns when they like an outfit better than their own.
  • With a dress code we know there is nothing that is going to be worn that will inhibit full participation in the class.  Jeans do not always stretch, tops ride up and bottoms fall down.  None of that is a worry when we are all in dress code, allowing class to continue on smoothly.
  • In our older dancers, dress code allows us to see their alignment, allowing for more efficient corrections when the teacher can see what is going on,
  • Levels of dress code give everyone something to look forward to.  Who doesn’t want to be like the big girls?  Having a few different levels of dress code give everyone something to work for and be excited about!
Posted on Posted by

Did You Know They Can Dance?

I don’t know about you, but I love learning which of my favorite celebrities have secret dance pasts! Here are some celebrities I was surprised to hear are dancers:

CHRIS EVANS
Who knew that Captain America could pull of some really clean Cincinnatis?!

 

HUGH JACKMAN
Speaking of superheroes with tap dancing pasts . . . Okay, so maybe you already knew that Hugh Jackman was a dancer based on the movie musicals he’s been in, but did you know he could tap?

 

ELLE FANNING
I feel like we don’t hear about secret pointe dancers nearly often enough! Enjoy this video of Elle Fanning not only showing off her pointe skills, but also teaching you how to do a pique turn!

 

TOM HOLLAND
Sorry to go back to dancing superheroes, but how can I NOT include Tom Holland’s performance on Lip Sync Battle!?

 

 

MADONNA
I think Madonna’s history with ballet dancing is the most surprising to me. Who knew!?

So, how many did you know were dancers? Comment any other celebrities you were shocked to learn spent many years at the barre or tapping away!

Posted on Posted by

Why I teach dance?

Over the years I have been asked why I teach dance time and time again.  I wanted to share with you just a few of my favorite reasons:

  • The smile a student has when they accomplish a movement they have been working on is priceless.
  • It is a way to reach so many people and give them an outlet for expressing themselves.
  • I am lucky enough to be able to form lifelong friendships with many families and have the privilege of watching so many young children blossom into phenomenal adults.
  • I am able to give my students tools for living a healthy life through exercise and physical activity.
  • I am able to help my students appreciate the beauty not just in the harder technique, but in the ease and flow of the simpler movements as well.
  • And lastly, but not in any way the least, to be able to help the students create lifelong memories and experience they will carry with them always.

Dance was a huge part of my life growing up.  And though I may never dance on Broadway or perform Swan Lake I learned the value of hard work, time management and lifelong friendships.  If I can influence just one student in the same way my work is done.

Posted on Posted by

Two Truths and a Lie . . .

April Fools!!!

In honor of this silly holiday, here is a blog post based on the classic icebreaker. Two of the following dance law facts are truths and one is a lie. Can you figure out which statement is my April Fools joke?

  1. It is illegal to wear tap shoes in public on the streets of New York.
  2. Marathon dance contests are illegal in the state of Washington.
  3.  Unlicensed dancing in public is illegal in Sweden including ‘illegally moving your feet to music’.

Shout out to https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/top10facts/573570/Top-10-facts-about-dance for the dance facts! Check out that site for more facts, but not until after you make your guess about which statement is the lie!

Posted on Posted by

Why we close the door

Every studio is different.  Some have windows where parents can watch class, others cameras and closed circuit TV’s, others an open door policy where everyone is allowed in at any time.  Our studio has a semi-open door policy – parents are allowed in on specific weeks to watch all or part of class and even participate.  We also work with the parents to help with separation of the younger ones at their own pace.  But on a day to day basis parents are not in the room and here’s why.

Builds trust with their teachers Our students, especially our youngest dancers are trying to figure out this great big world and a large part of this is discerning who to trust.  By showing them you trust us they are taking that in and making the connection that it is ok for them to trust us too.  There are times they are really distressed as well, and by us bringing you back in they start to see that they can trust us to meet their needs.  This also encourages them to come to us if there is a problem, be it anything from an untied shoe to having to use the bathroom and everything in between.  Knowing they can come to us to meet their needs helps with trust greatly.

Encourages Separation By not having a parent in the room the students are learning that separation can be ok and that they can do a lot of things on their own. We work to foster that independence as they learn to accomplish tasks like changing their shoes and putting them away by themselves.

Let’s you appreciate their progress  You know how when you haven’t seen someone in a while changes like weight loss or hair color are much more apparent?  The same happens with dance class.  Though small progress is made each and every week you truly appreciate it when you can see the large gains  every 6 weeks or so.  It also creates excitement in the students for the special days the parents get to watch and they get to show off.

Encourages Socialization In our classes students are encouraged to interact with other students and teachers.  Sometimes children feel more free to do so when the parent isn’t in the room.

Makes others feel comfortable  Please remember for the most part we teach small dancers.  There are a lot of small friends that do not do well when there are a lot of big people in the room, especially ones they do not know.  They may also be sensitive to noise and as parents we want to call out and correct our child.  Multiply that by 10 or however many kids there are in the class and it can get chaotic.

Less Distraction The last reason is probably the most obvious.  Children are incredibly perceptive and pick up on the fact that there are windows or cameras with TV feed that their parents can watch.  This can lead to them sometimes worrying more about who is watching than what is going on in the class.  As our littlest dancers are learning how to concentrate as it is any extra distractions don’t help.

Please know that even with this policy we are 100% committed to keeping you up to date if there are any problems or concerns as well as when your star shines that day in class.  Communication is key to making everyone feel comfortable in the studio.