SCORE a business plan for your school

Do you have a working business plan for your dance school or retail shop? If you are like most small business people the answer is yes and no. Yes- I have one (or should we say HAD one), when we started, but we haven't looked at it in a while. If it has dust on it you really can't say you have a business plan now can you?

The Small Business Administration has a very helpful website at www.sba.gov on it you can spend hours finding resources you may have never known you had available. One I'm excited about is SCORE. It's a group of retired, executives that will sit with you and build a business plan, or simply just talk through your most recent trials and tribulations. And I know as independent-minded dance teachers we often feel we are alone or maybe afraid to ask for help. Well, here's help and it's FREE. Recently, I visited our local SCORE office in Wisconsin to talk about my Releve' Dance Poster business and they were very helpful, so tomorrow I'm going back to talk about my dance academy.

You'd be shocked at how quick they can get to the root of your problem. Business is business and these people know the business of it all. I go tomorrow to review my "old" plan and make a new financial plan with a specialist in that area. Did I mention this service is FREE! If you are thinking of expanding, contracting or even selling your business I think they are worth a step on your to do list before the dance season goes back into full swing.

Another option is to certify your business as a women owned business, check for that on the SBA site too. Find your state's resources and use them, that's what your tax dollars have been funding you may as well get your money's worth.

Research shares benefits of early training age 3-4

I know most all dance schools provide pre-ballet/creative movement programs for young children, but until recently I hadn't read research to support WHY parents should select this for their children, other than the traditional, balance, poise, social and rhythm advantages.

Recently, I attended a 4-Kindergarten session from a local school district administrator in Wisconsin. While many schools in our area now offer 4K training in the school systems, many don't. So,they are still out there trying to convince taxpayers of the long term benefits of 4K. While I was listening it occurred to me all the same benefits imply for pre-K dance training too.

The Research they shared...

A child's brain grows 75-90% of it's adult size between age of 3-5.

85% of the child's intellect, personality, and social skills are formed by age 5.

There's more, but I guess I don't need more proof. Use research information like this to ADVERTISE your program. What parent can say no to dance class when they think about it this way? It's not about dance class being a "nice to do" its a MUST do when you look at this data.

As teachers we know this intuitively, we see the children progress in the classroom quickly and we can tell the kids that are in a pre-school program from the ones who are staying at home.

Dance training like 4K schooling is an important part of the development process. Especially for kids who are not in other training programs by age 3 - dance can make a big difference.

Another key differentiator was the income of the parents, and while I agree that dance typically tends to go to children in more affluent homes, there's great opportunity for your studio to reach out to low-income families with options to get their children in the studio too. Or maybe this will motivate you to reach out with efforts to your

Hello Spring, time to spruce up the dance studio.

I'm going to take a minute to remind all our dance teachers that spring cleaning isn't just for our homes. Busy schools start to look a bit worn and torn this time of year. If you have a spring break at your school consider investing in a little bit of paint and wall hangings to spruce up your space. I know we all usually wait until summer to do this, but consider that parents are going to be making resistration decisions soon and you want to make sure to have your best dress on, so to speak. Especially now in this financial turmoil many families are facing.

A fresh coat of paint and a few new interactive art posters from Releve’ dance posters can make the studio shine. And for less than $100.00 you can make parents and students see that you are investing in your business and in them. And make it a place they want to come to for a bit of a reprive.

Your walls talk. Do you know what they are saying about your business? Roll up your sleeves and let's get to work.

(if you want to order Releve' posters, go to http://www.instructdance.com/) Sorry, a little shameless self promotion for my company. These are the 5 positons for ballet and other dressing room type posters to get kids dressed right for class.

The little gifts a teacher receives

Had another "Smile" moment this week at class when a student gleefully pranced into my studio to give me a gift. She made it herself, a necklace of colorful beads made just for me - her Dance Teacher. She asked me if I'd wear it, so of course I did. She was proud as a peacock.

I love little moments like that -- the pretty drawings we get, the occassional wilted tulip or silk bouquet-- all are lovely just the same. Gifts from the heart. That's where dance comes from too, we've awakened a spot in thier hearts so bountiful they can't help but share it with us. That's truely something you and I can be proud of.

Enjoy the gifts my fellow teachers. The love always returns to us.

Experiencing the "Flow" - Create Your Happiness

Have you ever just listened to a piece of music and the dance just appeared in your mind? Maybe it was just a combination that struck you to a particular part of the refrain? I love it when that happens! It's called being in the "flow."



Over the years I've learned to wait for it. I'll listen to music that I need to choreograph for my student recital over and over again until the movement appears to me. Now, please don't stop reading because you think I'm crazy. It really does work for me. When people ask "how do you choreograph all those dances" I tell them that after awhile the dance sort of just "appears" to me. I can start to see it happen on stage, feel it as I move around and then I write it down quick. Does this happen for you?

If it does, psychologists would tell you that you are IN THE FLOW. You are linked with the moment, the motivation and the talent to make it happen and you are totally in sync with yourself. I think we all need to find more "In the flow moments."


You've heard the term "go with the flow" well this is a new look at that idea. It's probably where that catch phrase came from, now that I think of it.


Here's an excerpt from the research...There is a state that psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes about called flow. The Experience of Flow:

"My own addition to this list is the concept of the autotelic experience, or flow, and of the autotelic personality. The concept describes a particular kind of experience that is so engrossing and enjoyable that it becomes autotelic, that is, worth doing for its own sake even though it may have no consequence outside itself. Creative activities, music, sports, games, and religious rituals are typical sources for this kind of experience. Autotelic persons are those who have such flow experiences relatively often, regardless of what they are doing.

Of course, we never do anything purely for its own sake. Our motives are always a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic considerations. For instance, composers may write music because they hope to sell it and pay the bills, because they want to become famous, because their self-images depends on writing songs—all of these being extrinsic motives. But if the composers are motivated only by these extrinsic rewards, they are missing an essential ingredient. In addition to these rewards, they could also enjoy writing music for its own sake—in which case, the activity would become autotelic. My studies (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1996, 1997) have suggested that happiness depends on whether a person is able to derive flow from whatever he or she does.

A brief selection from one of the more than 10,000 interviews collected from around the world might provide a sense of what the flow experience is like. Asked how it felt when writing music was going well, a composer responded,

You are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don't exist. I have experienced this time and time again. My hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching in a state of awe and wonderment. And the music just flows out by itself. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, p. 44)

This response is quite typical of most descriptions of how people feel when they are thoroughly involved in something that is enjoyable and meaningful to the person. First of all, the experience is described as “ecstatic”: in other words, as being somehow separate from the routines of everyday life. This sense of having stepped into a different reality can be induced by environmental cues, such as walking into a sport event, a religious ceremony, or a musical performance, or the feeling can be produced internally, by focusing attention on a set of stimuli with their own rules, such as the composition of music.

If you are still reading, Congratulations! You made it through a college course on flow. It's a bit of a tough read, but its interesting and note how old the research is...this is not new stuff. I bet I was in pre-ballet class when this research was written.

So, go find your flow! I bet it's some place with music and an empty stage nearby...

Dance Online. What will the New Year bring?

In just the past 5 years alone the Internet has impacted our profession like nothing before. There are so many cool sites now providing resources for teachers and students alike. And don't get me started on Youtube what a site for sharing dances and inspiring young dancers the world over!



Someone told me in 2005 when I was starting my Releve' dance poster business that dance teachers we not online yet, they were slow adopters. Well, that may have been the case in 2005, but it's all changed now. I'm hoping that all dance teachers now have access to the web and are using it to build their business and communicate with their clients. If you don't have a site yet, there are many places to go. I did a very simple site for my studio using http://www.vistaprint.com/, give it a try.



I've encountered a few sites I thought I'd share with you...

Dance Advantage http://danceadvantage.net/

Dance Advantage Interactive Companion Network http://danceadvantage.ning.com/

http://www.zazzle.com/ - you can build a shop and have logoed items to sell to your dancers.

http://www.gendance.com/ - for the hip dance crowd





http://www.dancemedia.com/





http://www.danceteacherweb.com/- a paid subscription site, but worth the price.





http://www.danceartfx.com/- t-shirts,tickets and more for your shows.







There are thousands of other sites, if you have one you like post it in the comments and share it!