Postcards from Paris...Is your recital memorable?

Next week is "Picture Night" at our studio.   My favorite night when the kids come to class and get their photos taken in their recital costumes.   We use it as a "costume and make up rehearsal" too.  Good chance to get all those last minute parents motivated to make final costume, tights and hair tweeks before our big events next month - the annual recital.

It's this time of the year when the business of being a dance teacher really sets in.  Promoting a show, selling tickets, finalizing payments for year end and trying to think about the next season of dance even though you are totally exhausted from the current year. 

Now is the time to think about marketing your dance school...your recital is your biggest marketing tool.  A successful show can mean new students, but most importantly it KEEPS students returning to you year after year.

I know, I know many people have told you this before, including me and Rhee Gold at Dance Studio Life, but your recital is  your moment to shine.  Make sure it's memorable, well run, and most importantly fun for your students and parents. Don't make it so long that it's even painful for dance enthusiasts to like it.  Do what you have to do to make it enjoyable and entertaining.

I have a good system that works for me, but I'm sure every dance teacher out there has their own "system".  For instance, my dress rehearsal is scheduled in chunks, so the entire dance academy doesn't have to be there all at the same time.  We do dress rehearsal the evening before the show.   And we do photos a month before that... like next week for instance.  I always contact the local paper and issue a press release about our event too.   This year we are using social media -Facebook page with invites to recital event.

I also try to create a show.  Not just a recital.  I do my best to stick with a theme and give our small town, rural customers a glimmer of what a real Broadway show might be kind of like... (insert "clear my throat" sound effect)

I've had parents tell me they love the recital "as much as Christmas".... which is a good thing I think. 

One of my surprises each year is the backdrop selection - for over ten years we've been using Backdrops Fantastic and I love them!!!   This is in no way a paid endorsement, just a real time word of mouth plug for a great company that is ready and detailed for busy studio owners like us.  The backdrop makes the stage stand out and it sets us apart from other studios in the area who don't use them.

This year our theme is "Postcards from Paris" - my spin on an international theme.  I tried something interesting... on LinkedIn I posted a call for postcards in one of the dance teacher groups... we've started getting postcards from around the world to display at the studio/recital.   I want to say Thank You to all those who are sending or have sent cards!  I can't read every one's handwriting or languages, but it sure is fun!  (if you want to send a card to us there is still time-  BHF Dance Academy, 804 23rd Street, Brodhead, WI, 53520)  Our show is May 19, 2012.

What do you do to make your recital memorable?   I'd like to hear from you... because quite frankly I'm having a hard time picking my theme for next year and I need some help.

Thanks for reading,
DeAnne
a Dance Teacher just like you!

Holidays are here - give yourself a break and your staff too!

Hopefully, you have set some time aside in your calendar for the holidays. Perhaps you just finished your holiday performances or are just gearing up for the spring show. Either way, as dance teachers it's really tempting to move your "to do list" into that small class break timeframe.

I want to encourage all dance teachers to take a break! Even it it's just a day or two. Take a real break. Don't do paperwork, don't choreograph routines, don't run errands, don't order costumes. Just stop.

Stop and listen to your heart. Stop and spend time with family. Stop and do something fun for yourself. Heck, just sit on the couch and watch the fireplace flames dance if you can. Relax and disolve your thoughts of work. It will be hard to sit still at first, as teachers we are used to going a million miles a minute in two different directions.

Taking a break, even a brief one, will help you be more efficient later. So schedule a break, set the day - time for it, write it on the calendar, program it in your phone. Tell people you have the day off.

Whatever it takes do it and protect it.

Consider it a gift to yourself. The gift of time. Enjoy!

P.S. This is easier than it sounds. I dare you to try it :)

Do what you love! Connect the dots later.

With the passing of Steve Jobs I took some time to look back at his life via all the posts, tweets and stories now circulating. One of the most popular items I found was his commencement address at Stanford University. It was an amazing message to the young graduates. Bottomline: he tells them to do what they love and waste no time doing it because death comes to all. How prophetic that now is.

This week was our first week back in the studio for our Dance Academy. I'll admit every single year I ask myself, "Should I continue with this Academy or not?" Steve Jobs told a story that every day he looked in the mirror and asked himself if he was in the right place, doing the right things that made him feel good. He said that it's good to always question what we do and if it doesn't feel right to change it. Because afterall life is short and definate.

So, as I'm in the chaos of the first night, fitting shoes, getting children into the right studios and trying desparately to remember names of the new dancers it hits me...I love what I do! Passing along the art form of dance is a gift that I give and I'm actually quite good at it - despite the fact that I never danced professionally nor got a degree in it. I graduated from college with degrees in Journalism and Psychology - both of which I use on a daily basis in the studio and at my day job as a Public Relations person.

Jobs, in his Stanford address, also shared a story of how he dropped out of college but "dropped in" to the classes he found interesting like calligraphy. It is why the MAC has so many cool fonts. So, I can say that I've "dropped in" to dance since I was in college taking classes at school, going to seminars, getting motivated by Rhee Gold, getting advice from DanceStudioOwner.com and attending Dance Master events to keep up my training. Recently, I purchased a set of CDs for teachers by Mary Lynn - it was a great refresher too.

When you do what you love you never stop learning simply because it's fun. And life after all should be fun. (Now I just need to remember that when I'm battling with a student who deparately wants to go on pointe or wants to move into another class with her friends)

In the end, year after year for the past 10 years, I've answered my own question of "Should I continue?" with a "Yes". Many times I tell myself that I do it for the kids, but the truth is it must be for me or I wouldn't keep working so hard to make it all happen. Dance makes me feel alive. Dance makes me happy.

So, do you LOVE what you do? If you do then celebrate the fact that you are one of the lucky people who get to do what they love and are good at it. If you don't, it's time to find a new direction because as we learned from Steve Jobs - life is short, don't waste it.

His advice in the closing quote of the address was to "Stay Hungry and Stay Foolish" -- now that's the best definition of a dance teacher I've ever heard.

Does your school have a Facebook page?

Everyone's on Facebook! This summer I'm watching my own two children keep in touch with friends and grow their fan base on Facebook at lightning speed. So, how do you maximize Facebook for your dance school? Well, you have two audiences, Moms and Kids. The Mom category is the fastest growing Facebook user category on line.

Consider these facts about Facebook from the Internet Strategies Group.
1. 7/8th of its members are older than 24 years old.
2. The fastest growing age bracket is 35 and older
3. The average person is spending 15 minutes per session and accessing Facebook 5-6 times per day!

Your Dance Mom's are on Facebook. Your dancers are on Facebook. They need to be FANS of your business.

Rhee' Gold this month in Dance Studio Life Magazine has a great list of ideas for marketing your business too, go read it! One of his ideas is that people like to belong to a "dance family" so make your business a "place to belong." Facebook can do that easily for you. He had other suggestions but I say Facebook is the way to go!

Create a page for your business. If you have Facebook account already you can add a business page. If not, get online and spend a couple of hours playing on Facebook. It only takes minutes to set up your page, but you'll get lost in the content (trust me on that one).

I'm considering letting my 12 yr. old manage our Facebook account for the Dance Studio... I know scary right? But she knows more than I do and she would learn a lot too. Who do you know that is a huge Facebook user? Call them ask them to help.

Once you are on, join groups, add to discussions, make comments and be social. The key to success on Facebook is acting like a human being, not just a stale business. Have fun. Get creative. You can even add video clips and photos of your recitals!

Baggy ankles and sequins

It's recital season. Dance teachers don't live by a regular calendar year we live by our business calendars. Registration time, back to school, nutcracker season, recital season and summer school... gee, when is it time for vacation season? I need another vacation. Recently I was lucky enough to travel to Las Vegas to the Dance Retailer News Expo for Releve' it was a good show. And I did take a mini-vacation for a day before the show. Las Vegas is fun; it's the place where sparkley dance teachers look right at home in thier sequins and high heels. You know what I'm talking about ladies... admit it.

A couple of observations from the show:

I observed there doesn't seem to be anything all that innovative in the dance world, just more of the same. Some new fabrics were kind of neat, and ballroom is still hot. I did run into a new company that makes barre' wraps, it's called Gypsywraps. She doesn't have a website yet, but maybe a distributor will pickup her products and it will be available soon to us. It's a velcro, terry cloth personal attachment for the barre'. I thought it was cool. I think I will approach her about selling with my Releve' posters too, heck I guess I could be a distributor for her.

I also observed that even in a fashion show models/dancers need to wear tights! Rhee Gold talks about this all the time in his commentary and I totally agree, all dancers need tights. Speaking of tights, I'm trying some new ones out this year at my studio, Revolution brand classic pink. They guarantee no baggy ankles, we'll soon see. I hate baggy ankles. I really do. Makes the kids look like 90 year old women. They already look 30 years old with all the make-up hate to make them grow up too fast with baggy ankles too.