Friday, April 7, 2017

IT'S TIME TO PLAN FOR THE UPCOMING DANCE YEAR

Believe it or not, NOW is the time to start planning your summer intensives, fall workshops, choreography, and for the next dance year as a whole. You may be in the midst of competition season and preparing for your upcoming recital, but you must think ahead. It is time to audition for next season's competition/performance group, and you need start selecting music for choreography. The time has come set dates with outside choreographers and guest teachers. Summer camps and class schedules should be in the works, if not already available for registration. Recital hasn't even happened and you need to think about next year's theme, as well as next year's teachers and class schedule.
Here are some tips and things to consider when planning your upcoming dance year. Remember: no one plans to fail, but they do fail to plan.
  1. It's time to advertise those summer camps and classes! If you are new to the summer camp idea, or need fresh ideas, begin searching online. Parents love to have activities scheduled for their children when they are out of school!
  2. It's never to early to start thinking about music! No one knows your dancers like you. Even if auditions haven't occurred yet, you still know what works best for your dancers. Start compiling your music selections now. If you do, and you book outside choreographers, you can tell them what music you are already using. If you haven't held auditions already, get them scheduled so you can get the word out.
  3. If you are booking outside choreographers for your competition teams, or guest instructors for classes, workshops, or intensives, contact them now! Prime dates for guest artist are July and August. These dates, and even September dates, go very quickly.
  4. When booking outside work, remember that the cost isn't just for their time at your studio. The cost includes preparation time and work hours, including finding music, editing music, watching videos that you may send of your students to help in the perfect selection of materials, choreography prep, and any scheduling and correspondence time they may spend working on the job. It may look expensive for the time spent physically with your students, but they spend HOURS, DAYS, AND SOMETIMES WEEKS preparing to come and work with your students. Don't forget you should be paid too! You are the one handling all the details, and you will be the one at the studio working the entire time the guest is there. You should be paid as well. Sometimes parents forget this important fact. You may not be teaching the class, but you are working and have spent hours working to make it all happen.
  5. YOU are your students' weekly teacher. YOU train them. YOU clean all the dances. Outside choreographers and guest teachers just supplement your students' education. Guests in your studio are just that: guests. Guest cannot magically transform your dancers. This is important to remember. Supplemental education is also important. Having your dancers experience a different atmosphere, different teaching methods, extreme conditions of working incredibly hard in a short amount of time, and having the opportunity to work with others besides their weekly teachers is a positive! It not only adds to their knowledge, it helps with work ethic and determination while building character.
  6. If it's not broke, don't try to fix it. As I stated above, no one knows your students like you do. It takes SEVERAL YEARS of someone coming into your studio as a guest to REALLY GET TO KNOW your dancers. Having consistency is a positive thing. If someone only comes once, and you like them but it's not exactly perfect, give them another shot. You have to remember they are coming to create and/or teach students that they do not know. This is a difficult task. If you have had someone for years but are looking for some newness, you may want to still bring in the "old" because you know what you are going to get. Everyone is comfortable with each other. You know it will be a positive experience. You never know what will really happen with someone new until they are there. You may want to shift around choreography or classes, but you can never go wrong with familiar...if all parties are deep down happy. Remember, bored and unhappy are two different things.
  7. Be honest, completely honest, with those coming to work with your students. Telling them what you wish they could do instead of what they really can do will never work in your favor. It is always a good idea to send a current video of the dancers in class and a video of them performing the style you wish the outside instructor/choreographer teach.
  8. Ask questions!....all kinds of questions. This is your studio and these are your students. Feel people out before bringing them into your business. Always be upfront with your needs expectations. If you don't ask, mention it, or discuss it, the person on the other end has no idea. Outside teachers and choreographers are not mind readers.
  9. All the points above has been about competition and special classes, but it's also time to think about recital. Plan your theme now and start working on those music selections. If you do this, you can already think about your program design and t-shirt design. Get ahead of the game!
  10. The sooner you make your fall class schedule the better! When potential clients contact you, you will be able to give them all the necessary information for the new dance year! Also, remember how long it takes to find and hire good, loyal, and qualified teachers. If you know you need new teachers for next dance year, look now!
In full disclosure, I owned a studio. I had all of the normal studio responsibilities and recital stress. I brought guests into my business, so I understand all of that and what I had to do to make it happen. I currently travel as a guest teacher and choreographer. I can honestly say "been there, done that", on all levels. All of these things can bring on anxiety, but with early planning, upfront and honest communication, it can all be so much fun and incredibly rewarding for your dancers!
Cheers to next dance year!
Dance hard. Dance smart.
Meredith

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