Increase your student enrollment and retention with Twinkle Star Dance

Ready to increase your dancer enrollment and retention? As we see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we are starting to rebuild our dance studio business beginning with our foundation - preschoolers.

Join us for “Time to Rebuild Your Preschool Dance Program” a free webinar event with Dance Studio Owner and Industry Expert, Tiffany Henderson. Tiffany shares how to market to new and returning students; how she increased dancer engagement and retention with updates to her preschool dance curriculum; plus revenue generators like her Spring Fling/Recital performance series.

Don’t miss this crucial information Thursday, January 28 at 1:30pm ET/10:30am PT. Register now: https://event.webinarjam.com/register/24/k3894i26

Solving Pandemic Problems: Spring Fling Dance Recital

As we look at pushing our recitals to the end of July 2021 due to California state and local guidelines, I am putting together a brand new in-studio performance opportunity called “Spring Fling” for dancers to be part of our performance series.  

“The promise of spring’s arrival is enough to get anyone through the bitter winter!” 

— Jen Selinsky

What is Spring Fling? 

To keep dancers engaged in their classes I am creating a “Spring Fling” mini-performance in March with dances about bugs, flowers, and rainbows. 

Why do Spring Fling? 

Spring Fling gives dancers a tangible goal to work towards in the early months of 2021. Because our local guidelines have closed our lobby, we are also using this to stay connected to dancers and their families and provide something to look forward to as we work towards “returning to normal.” 

How do dancers participate in Spring Fling? 

Dancers will opt into the “Spring Fling” mini shows and perform in the studio wearing their dress code and accessories either recorded or with a limited capacity audience pending our local guidelines. They will learn the routines for 10-15 minutes in class January-March. The fee to participate is included in their Recital Participation Fee for 2021.   

How to organize Spring Fling for your dance studio 

If you are already using a dress code at your studio, simply assign songs/routines to each age group. For example, all of our Twinkle Babies ages 2-3 will learn “Baby Bumble Bee” and receive a pair of antennae to wear with their pink Sparkle tutu dress for “Spring Fling.”  

Sample Twinkle Star Dance Spring Fling 

1. Baby Bumble Bee

2. Sound of Music 

3. Over the Rainbow 

Add extras 

Don’t forget to add extras like a “Spring Fling” participation ribbon; a recording of the performance and/or action photos; and a costume car parade (our dancers and families love these). 

Over 300 affiliated dance studio owners put Twinkle Star Dance into practice in their business.

Check out what some of them have to say: 

“Twinkle Stars makes it simple for us to offer a clear, concise and fun curriculum for young dancers! Implementing the suggested dress code has been a game changer.  Parents love not having to figure out what their dancer will be wearing to dance easy week and I love that it makes our classes look professional and  polished in an age appropriate way.”

– Lynne Meyer, MusicWorks! Studio of Performing Arts

“We have not done a holiday show in years.  With enrollment down we needed to bring in more income. By using Twinkle Star Dance we assigned each age group a dance and all the teachers are able to teach the same choreography, allowing us to easily combine classes for our show.”

– Carolyn Coskren, Dance Inspirations

“We started slowly with Twinkle Star Dance.  I have been a member for many years, but it took us a while to get our staff and even myself onboard.  Once we made the switch at our studio and satellite park district locations, we saw an increase in enrollment.  The following year we implemented a dress code, and eventually the use of Nimbly.  I believe the Twinkle Stars program presents a package to parents and students.  The branding makes a huge impact.  We have even carried the TSD colors through to the walls of one of our studios.  The videos are helpful in keeping all of our teachers on the same page.  The consistency is key.  Our studio has always been very family orientated and less competition minded.  We now focus on our niche in the community which is the Twinkle Star dancers.  We continue to offer more advanced programs, but concentrate on the programs that generate the most happiness and of course tuition.  Setting ourselves apart with Twinkle Stars and Show Stars has really changed how we were able to get through Covid.  With the ideas and sharing from fellow TSD studios and the TSD program, we were able to implement fun and engaging programs that helped to keep many of our students even through Zoom!”  

– Lisa Yarwood, Lisa’s School of Dance 

What are some of the creative ways you are keeping dancers engaged and having fun in your preschool and school-aged classes?  

Studio Owner OVERCOME Schedule

Studio Owner OVERCOME Schedule for this Thursday, January 14 to Friday, January 15.

All sessions will be recorded and shared with attendees for 30 days following the live event.

Check out class descriptions and register here!

Day 1

12:00pm-12:30pm ET/9:00am-9:30am PT 
Welcome and Opening Talk

12:30pm-1:30pm ET/9:30am-10:30am PT 
Guest Speaker - Sandy Coyte

1:30pm-1:45pm ET/10:30am-10:45am PT 
15 Minute Break

1:45pm-2:45pm ET/10:45am -11:45am PT
General Session - TSD Superpowers 

2:45pm-3:15pm ET/11:45-12:15pm PT 
30 Minute Break

3:15pm-4:00pm ET/12:15-1:00pm PT 
General Session - Time to Start Planning

4:00-5:00pm ET/1:00-2:00pm PT 
Movement Class

Day 2

12:00pm-1:15pm ET/9:00am-10:15am PT 
General Session - Creating Cashflow During Covid

1:15pm-2:15pm ET/10:15am-11:15am PT 
General Session - Performing Company

2:15pm-2:30pm ET/11:15am-11:30am PT 
15 Minute Break

2:30pm-3:00pm PT/11:30am-12:00pm PT 
Closing Session

GENERAL SESSIONS

Time to Start Planning

Preparing for new enrollments this season while successfully scheduling and marketing your recitals, summer camps, and new season. 

TSD Superpowers

Creative ways to train new teachers and assistant teachers for them to be successful in the classroom. 

Creating Cashflow During Covid

Revenue generators, Understanding and cutting Recital costs, Increasing student engagement and retention.  

Performing Company

Providing performance opportunities for your most invested dancers at your studio plus timeline for recruiting for next season. 

Want more inspiration?

Join us live for Studio Owner OVERCOME a two-day virtual conference experience presented by dance studio owner and industry leader, Tiffany Henderson, featuring intimate conversations with women business owners and experts.

Network from the comfort of your home! Studio Owner OVERCOME is scheduled for January 14-15, 2021 and will contain Live Q+A with Expert Panelists, Business Sessions, and Inspirational Keynote. We will be releasing the schedule and class descriptions for Studio Owner OVERCOME very soon.

Solving Pandemic Problems: Marketing to New and Returning Students

Both Marketing and Parent Communication are things we had to navigate in the changing landscape of Covid-19. In the beginning we decided to share all options for our postponed recitals and what that might look like. We were overwhelmed by the positive feedback we received for our honesty and thoughtfulness. This transparency allowed us to communicate with our dance parents in a new way. 

Marketing 

A silver lining of the pandemic was the creation of our Twinkle Stars Kits. The props were born out of necessity to help keep dancers engaged while they were socially distanced and unable to move around the room. Ultimately, the Twinkle Stars Kits increased our valuable Word of Mouth Marketing in our local community. 

Rethinking Recitals in the Spring lead us to creating a Holiday Show and a Spring Fling in studio performance/filming. These mini-performances provide our dancers tangible goals to work towards in their classes as well as an opportunity to connect with their families.   

In a traditional marketing sense we continued our monthly emails/calls to dancers who were enrolled pre-lockdowns, but have not yet returned. As well as offering 50% off new students registration fees or 50% off tuition of second class if they add a new class in January.  

Parent Communication 

With the Lobby being closed we continue to rely on Zoom Parent Meetings, Emails, and good old fashioned Phone Calls to keep them tuned in to what is happening at the studios. We share Photos and Videos paired with positive quotes from parents about what we are doing to keep kids safe on our website and social media accounts. 

Finally, we offer Dancily virtual only dance sessions and Hybrid dance class options to meet the needs of dancers who are not ready to return to the studio.

Over 300 affiliated studio owners put Twinkle Star Dance into practice in their business and here is what some of them have to say: 

Twinkle Stars makes it simple for us to offer a clear, concise and fun curriculum for young dancers! Implementing the suggested dress code has been a game changer.  Parents love not having to figure out what their dancer will be wearing to dance easy week and I love that it makes our classes look professional and  polished in an age appropriate way. 

Lynne Meyer, MusicWorks! Studio of Performing Arts

The previous owner started using Twinkle Star but never really implemented it. When I took over in 2015 I really overhauled our curriculum and grew my studio 300% in 5 years. Which gave me a nice base once COVID hit.  Twinkle star also helped me navigate the COVID world. My parents came back because of the protocols I had put into place. I was able to do this successfully with the help of TSD. 

Leah Brady, Brockport School of Dance

Twinkle Star Dance helped give me a way to start dancers as young as 2 years old.  It also gave me an easy way to bring on other teachers to help train and prepare them.  Showstars helps to constantly give fresh ideas for hip-hop, jazz and tap to help us stay current on the trends.  Having the outlined plans for summer camps has been very successful.  The Daddy Daughter Dance is always a hit!

Nicole L Eckles, Winterset Ballet and Dance Studio

Want more inspiration? Join us live for Studio Owner OVERCOME a two-day virtual conference experience presented by dance studio owner and industry leader, Tiffany Henderson, featuring intimate conversations with women business owners and experts. 

Network from the comfort of your home! Studio Owner OVERCOME is scheduled for January 14-15, 2021 and will contain Live Q+A with Expert Panelists, Business Sessions, and Inspirational Keynote. We will be releasing the schedule and class descriptions for Studio Owner OVERCOME very soon.

Solving Pandemic Problems: Recitals and Show Profits

In a typical season at our dance studios we announce our Recital themes and measure for costumes in October; we continue to sign new students up on a case-by-case basis until we close enrollment in February; dancers perform in the Recital early-Mid June and our season ends June 30. 

As of today we have yet to announce our Recital themes or dates for 2021. 

Because of Covid-19 our theaters are not allowing rentals until July 2021 so we are looking at pushing our recital to late July/early August. For Plan B, we have outside venues. For Plan C we have in studio filming and a virtual performance (much like we did for our Holiday shows). 

In talking with Twinkle Star Dance studio owners each week I know I am not alone when it comes to getting creative with Recitals this year. 

Recitals are an important revenue stream for our business as well as a tangible goal for our dancers and staff to work towards each season. Keep in mind with increased Covid-19 precautions like limited capacity (including performers) we will have to consider our expenses and how to cut costs to produce our shows.

Three quick cost saving Recital tips: 

1. Cut down on Recital expense and/or use your studio as a low cost alternative. 

2. Combining classes for Recital or performance experience will allow you to maximize expensive theater cost. 

3. Use Twinkle Star Dance choreography to cut down on back and forth (your valuable time and energy) with your teachers.

Over 300 affiliated studio owners put Twinkle Star Dance into practice in their business and here is what some of them have to say: 

“We have not done a holiday show in years.  With enrollment down we needed to bring in more income.   By using Twinkle Star Dance we assigned each age group a dance and all the teachers are able to teach the same choreography, allowing us to easily combine classes for our show.”

Carolyn Coskren, Dance Inspirations

“Ms Devyn loves the twinkle star and show stars curriculum, it helps her so much in preparing confidently for her littles and level 1 and 2 classes. She appreciates both the documents and the video choreography that is so helpful and time saving for her in putting together as many classes as she needs to prepare through the week.! It’s a plus that the program is so put together and easy to utilize. Also our parents appreciate knowing that the dance curriculum our studio uses is quality instruction and in progression for each students ongoing dance education.” 

Tanya Kimber, Apologia Dance & Martial Arts

Want more inspiration? Join us live for Studio Owner OVERCOME a two-day virtual conference experience presented by dance studio owner and industry leader, Tiffany Henderson, featuring intimate conversations with women business owners and experts. 

Network from the comfort of your home! Studio Owner OVERCOME is scheduled for January 14-15, 2021 and will contain Live Q+A with Expert Panelists, Business Sessions, and Inspirational Keynote. We will be releasing the schedule and class descriptions for Studio Owner OVERCOME very soon.