It’s Halftime: Mid-Season Dance Teacher Reviews
It’s halftime! No, I’m not talking about football (and I call the Packers’ mid-game break “intermission” anyway). I’m talking about halftime of the DANCE SEASON—the midway point for studio owners between the first days of class and the finish line of recital. By now you are far enough into classes to be past the busyness […]
Dance Studio Registration Tips – The Final PUSH
When I started my business, I started dance studio registration in June of each year and closed it in early November because that was when we measured students and ordered recital costumes. After that time we were technically closed to new students until summer brochures came out in March of the following year—a registration flow […]
Back-to-Dance Tips: How to Thrive
Does the thought of having to sub for someone on top of your already hectic schedule make you sweat? Does the idea of having to plan a holiday show keep you up at night? Is your laundry piling up at home while you teach plies at the studio? Are you having trouble keeping up with […]
10 Tips for a Confident Dance Teacher Contract
My five kids are all getting ready to go back to school in the next week and along with registration for school comes paperwork…lots of paperwork. Dance schools are no exception. In fact, among all the studio owners I have spoken with this year (and there have been hundreds), not a single one allows students […]
Dance Registration That Rocks
It’s THAT time of year again! Yes, you know it…. ZERO time. Zero time? Yes. That’s what I call the period after recital. In my world, it looks something like this: From eating out every day at rehearsals to ZERO food in the fridge at home the next week. From 800 students on the day […]
The Worst Dance Mom Ever
It’s official. The Worst Dance Mom Awards are out and the winner is (insert drumroll)…me. Shocked? Don’t be. Many dance studio owners and teachers have a unique ability to organize the competition and recital experiences of hundreds of children while seemingly forgetting about their own offspring. I think it must be a strange survival mechanism […]
Tips for a Backstage Bravo!
Some people think the “show” is what happens onstage at the spring recital, but every dance studio owner knows that the REAL show happens backstage! If you want to see a real symphony of choreography, watch the show from behind the curtains because that’s where the magic happens. Changing costumes, fixing makeup, getting kids lined […]
Dance Recital Ideas: 7 Ways to Produce a Dance Recital that Pays
Can you imagine the following? A house builder works for nine months with clients to build a beautiful family home. The builder communicates and plans; hiring subcontractors, building walls, insuring the project, financing the materials and making the finishing touches just right. The builder takes draws from the clients for expenses along the way, but […]
Seven Summer Savers: Summer Dance Camp Ideas and More
Remember this Broadway song? “Summertime….and the livin’ is easy. Fish are jumping and the cotton is high.” Well, that may be true for Porgy and Bess, but in my world summer can be tough. If I were singing that song, the lyrics might go more like, “Summertime…and the livin’ ain’t easy. Students are jumping and […]
Dance Recital Tips: 6 Ideas for Planning a Great Show
It may be January, but May is on my mind. For those of us living in “dance-land,” New Year’s means more than resolutions—it means recital is coming faster than we think! Costumes have been ordered, dates have been set and themes have been announced. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The real recital […]
6 Spring Dance Studio Enrollment Boosters
I live in a place affectionately called the Frozen Tundra. It’s not exactly the Arctic, but Green Bay Packer fans claim the whole state is pretty close to that from about mid-December to mid-March. No matter where you live, don’t let the colder weather or busyness of the season lull you into taking your foot […]
5 Ways to Get Last Minute Dance Students in the Door
Dance classes for most studios in North America tend to follow the school year schedule, beginning sometime in late August to early September and ending with a run of recitals or spring performances in May or June. By the time the calendar flips to October the rush of registration has calmed down and the daily […]
Plan Your Holiday Show NOW With These 5 Tips
As dance studio owners we live in a strange DUAL WORLD. At all times one part of us is absorbed in the demands of the day while the other part is 3-6 months out planning for the future. Your spouse, teachers and students may not realize it, but for every question you answer about today’s […]
Back-to-Dance Meetings Done Right
You may be ready for the new dance season, but are your teachers? Every year is a fresh chance to build on your strengths and shore up your weaknesses as a studio owner. Back-to-dance meetings are a prime opportunity to tweak policies, update curriculum, raise standards, communicate vision and re-energize your faculty for the long haul […]
