Recitals are an important tangible goal for our dancers. They are also crucial to our business success.
This week, we are busy preparing for our upcoming Dancin’ Holiday Magic and Nutcracker shows. I make it my goal to get as many of my dancers to participate in two shows per season - holiday show and spring recital.
Here are some teaching tips to prepare your preschool and school-aged dancers for the stage:
Spatial awareness is as important as teaching the steps in the recital dance and will continue to be crucial in their dance training as they grow up. I recommend using the following:
Single line marley tape in the studio
Glow tape line onstage
Have dancers hold hands and pull apart until their arms are extended
Imagine a “Pretend dancer” in between each “real dancer”
Dancers practice in the same space each week in class
Practice entering and exiting stage in class
Sing the song with them with arms while seated before you stand up to teach the dance. Sometimes when they are standing and facing the mirror they become distracted and miss the choreography. They can only learn if they are focused. When standing they are also thinking about what their feet are doing. Learning the words with arms first is best.
When teaching them, talk through the dance until you see their attention start to fade. At that point do the dance with the music and continue past the section that you taught them. They should be able to follow along with you and do that dance.
They will give half of what you give them. When you teach babies you have to give 200% energy and enthusiasm for the movement as well as exaggerate your arms and steps.
Only work on the recital dance for 10 minutes max in each class. This should be a part of what they are learning and running the dance 2-3 times in each class will keep them excited and eager to come back to class the next week.
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On top of offering the Twinkle Stars and Showstars Curriculum and Choreography subscriptions, Tiffany strives to provide real-time business insights from her experience of owning and managing multiple dance studio locations. Each month she holds free webinars. Learn more: https://www.twinklestardance.com/webinars
Meet Tiffany Henderson
Tiffany Henderson is an industry leader and dance business expert. Tiffany owns and operates multiple Tiffany's Dance Academy locations in Northern California. Her video-based teacher training system and curriculum, Twinkle Star Dance, is currently implemented in 300+ dance studios worldwide.