Forty and Fabulous

Well it happened I turned 40 this week. And in truth it wasn't all that bad. I guess it really is true, "you're only as old as you feel" - and I feel fabulous. My studio was decorated with window paint on all the mirrors much to my chagrin, but the kids really seemed to enjoy helping me celebrate my big day. Of course it helped that I brought birthday treats to share, just like they do for their special days.

I really think dancing will keep me young and I hope I can keep dancing for a long time. I had the pleasure of attending Ms. Virginia Davis' recital in Beleville Wis. last weekend. She was a dear friend of my own teacher Ms. Ginger, so she has seen me grow up in dance since I was a child. Dance has certainly kept her young- she looks amazing! The tradition of dance is so important, passing from generation to generation - teacher to student. I would encourage you to invite your former dance teachers to your own recitals, even if they are far away, you never know when a road-trip is in order. Think of the rewarding experience it would be to have one of your own students invite you to their recital 20 years from now.

Recital Success=Marketing Opportunity

As dance teachers each year we have a huge marketing opportunity- the recital. I'm proud to say mine went great this year. In our town of 3,100 people we had 1,500 people come to see our 3 performances! Now that's what I call community support!

I sent out press releases to all the papers in our town and those nearby to celebrate our sold out shows and highlight our program. We received a lot of press which should help with enrollment this year. In an economic downturn like we have now it's important to keep marketing, more than ever. Don't rest on what you did last year, increase your marketing budgets and get creative with public relations.

Last year two days after our recital I received a tragic call from one of my dance moms. One of our pre-ballet students, Isabella died the Sunday after our show while riding a bike. She had a brain aneurysm. At our first show this year we dedicated the performance to Bella and placed a photo and flowers on the corner of the stage so she could dance with us. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. It felt good to honor her, a bit of closure I guess for all of us.

This year we also did a ballet production which was actually our first in our 8 years because now I have the talent level I need in a variety of dancers to pull off a production number. It was fantastic and actually proved to be a great marketing tool itself. Now, the other dancers who had left ballet for jazz or hip hop want to return to ballet after they saw what the potential was on stage. That is rewarding to me. They love ballet! After years of hip hop getting all the attention it's nice to see ballet demand picking up again. Don't get me wrong, I've always had many ballet students, but mostly because I make them take it until they are 8 before I let them move to the other study areas like jazz, tap or hip hop.

I hope all of you out there also had great shows this spring! Now it's time for a quick breather. Make sure to take a few weeks off to decompress and renew your spirit. Creative work like teaching dance is demanding of the heart and mind- give your soul a break.

But keep a notebook close for those inspired moments when you hear a great song or catch a cool beat-- after all the next recital's less than a year away.

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.