Sports vs. Dance

Well, it's come full circle right back to my own kitchen. The discussion of sports vs. dance. Who would think that even the dance teacher's daughter would be so perplexed by this decision? My philosophy has always been to raise well-rounded kids. My own two girls play many sports and dance all the classes we can fit in - they are great athletes in the studio and on the playing field.

This year my youngest auditioned for the Madison Ballet Nutcracker and successfully earned a spot on the cast. It was a proud moment...for a while. Then, she said after studying the audition schedule for the part, "But Mom, I'll have to miss 8 basketball games and maybe even more." She contemplated for 2 days and ultimately decided not to accept the role. Basketball won this time.

I'm OK with her decision, in fact, I give the 11-year old credit for trying to figure out the audition schedule and matching up the game schedule - even I hadn't done the full evaluation yet. But it brings out a great point for all of us dance studio owners. Flexible scheduling is key. You must communicate to parents who are contemplating busy schedules just how to fit dance in with organized sporting activities.

It's tough to keep those high school dance/athletes in the studio, but it's so important to your overall program. I remember our first couple of years at our own dance recitals - with out a senior class- the show lacked a bit of the dazzle. I had to grow them from scratch. You need the older kids with the more advanced choreography to make a complete show.

This year I really looked at the school calendar at our local middle school to try to schedule class times for the older girls that would not conflict with basketball and volleyball games - it takes a bit of work, but we managed to keep all our 7 and 8 th grade students for one more year. Dance won this time.