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.

Another Year Done.

Well, it's recital season and that means that dance teachers across the country are beginning to breathe a sigh of relief...another year well done! Whew!


You already know this, but your end of the year recital is your biggest marketing tool for the next season. I hope you remembered to invite your local newspaper in to take photos, sent a press release before/after with audience results, and included an annual summary along with your registration dates for the next season with the release. I also hope you put your URL for your website and Facebook contact info in your show program. These are just some simple steps to expand your marketing opportunities at no cost. (If you didn't, put it on your list for next time!)


This year our class photos were posted on our Facebook page which people really enjoyed. Also, I encouraged students/parents to post their own snapshots on our site and asked them "What was your favorite performance?" Asking questions in your Facebook account is very helpful to start discussions.


Of course parents love to show off their photos and dancers love to tag their photos and share with friends. Creating buzz after the show is important to keep your successful show at the tip of their tongue when they are socializing online or in the local cafe.


I hope you all get a small break before summer classes begin. Breathe! :) Congratulations on another successful year. I'll be off for the summer from teaching, but working on fulfilling orders from dance teachers around the globe of my Releve' Dance Posters.

Smile! Special moments for Mom

It's recital season - personally my favorite time of the year. Last week was picture week, so all the students and Mom's (and a few brave Dad's) arrived at the studio bursting with excitement, flashing their sequins and trying to make sense of the chaos.

The recital at our school is the icing on the cake. This year at picture night I was able to observe a little more than usual with my staff fully functioning and able to pose their own students and classes. I watched as Mom's and daughters cooperated, got frustrated, got happy and shared unique moments together. Recital time is like playing "Barbie" all over again for the Mom's. You get to tease hair, put on makeup and try your best to put clothes on "your doll". It's fun!

Since I had a few extra moments and cameras were out in force capturing the behind the scenes drama and groups of smiling friends, I took the opportunity to say..."Let me take a picture of you and your daughter" -- Mom's never get to be photographed, they are always the ones taking all the pictures-- they gladly handed over their camera or cell phones for a quick picture.

It was fun for me to connect with my customers by giving them a free gift - a photo of them together, happy and sharing a moment in Dance.

Enjoy your recital day Dance Mom's across the nation! Have fun playing Barbie with your little girls.

If you need a gift idea for your dance teacher or studio, consider giving them Releve' dance posters. They are a unique and useful gift that will help all the students and teachers alike.

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.