Introduce yourself at your recital please! And a few other promo tips for your show

Recital season has arrived. It's been awhile since my last blog post, but I'm still here!
Our theme this year is Elements of Dance - Earth Wind and Fire.  Should be a great show with fabulous costumes from Revolution, Weismanns, Dansco, and Curtain Call this year. Thankfully, all the costumes have arrived and we are set to go! I can't wait to get our backdrop from Backdrops Fantastic too!
With only 2 weeks left until our 13th recital, I still get excited about the whole experience and what this means for our dancers.  I've always positioned our studio as a non-competitive but performance focused studio.  I aim to have a great show (three recitals total, 1500 guests) for my students and their guests. It's been said many times but it's worth stating again your recital is your BEST form of advertisement.  With that in mind here's a quick check list for you:
Write a Press Release - tell them when, where and who will be performing and if any tickets are available.
Invite the media to come and take photos, give them a front row seat. (local paper etc.)
Post pre- and post- show news on your website and social media sites. 
Create a hashtag for your studio #BrodheadDance and tell your students and parents what Hashtag (#) to use - that way when they tweet and post they begin to create a set of posts with the same searchable Hashtag ie.  #BrodheadDance
Get a twitter account for your studio! The kids are all on it so use it!   Might want to get Instagram too while you are at it! 
And last but not least please INTRODUCE yourself and your staff - I attended a friends recital last week and the owner never told us her name... I guess I was supposed to figure it out by the name of the studio on the program but really?  Let's just remember the basics - Hello my name is (Insert your name here) I'm the owner and director of the (insert studio name here). I'd like to welcome you to our annual recital and be the first to thank you for being here today to support our dancers.  .... simple and basic. Just don't forget it okay?
Break a Leg everyone!  Remember, you make a difference everyday because you are a dance teacher.  Be Proud!
Ms. D

Anniversary Posters are Ready!

Remember I said I had a cool idea for my 10th anniversary show? Well I did it.

With the help of a parent with graphic design skills, we created a "Growing Up in Dance" poster for our students to customize with 3 photos of themselves growing up as dancers.

The theme of our recitial is of course "Growing up in Dance" with a garden backdrop from Backdrops Fantastic. (I can't wait to see it) So, in keeping with that theme we created a poster with three large flowers with the center of the flower blank (insert photo). When done the dancers will have a keepsake to hang in their bedrooms and remember how much they love to dance.

I wrote a cute little poem that runs up one of the flower stems. It says, "From my first little sprout to my long straight stem. I'm a dancer now and that will never end."

I hope they enjoy customizing their posters. We are going to display all 220 of them at the show in the entrance. I'll take a picture and post when I can.

Feel free to use this idea in your own studio. I'll let you know how it's received by the parents and students. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

If you need a printer/designer my friends at Kramer Printing in Madison, Wis. can work with you from anywhere in the USA.