I've had trouble figuring out log-in credentials for this account. I've had things to talk about but could never figure out how to get back here. Tonight's conversations made me mad enough to figure out the account log-in, so here I am.
Two topics for tonight....finishing what you start and who are we really punishing here?
What happened to my generation? I've seen people my age FOR YEARS let their 4 year old rule the roost. When did toddlers get so much authority that they know what's best? Why do we let our preschoolers run our lives? I witnessed a woman I went to school with let her 4 year old decide 6 weeks before our year-end recital that she didn't want to dance anymore. We were 8.5 months in....she had paid for 9 months of tuition, 2 costumes and recital fees and then they walked away. I thought because I had gone to school with her from elementary school on that I knew her a little better than that and even confronted her about it. "I'm not going to make her do something she doesn't like." The thing was...the girl was fine in class & loved it. Toddlers don't know what they like. They don't like naps and yet they need one. They don't like turning the TV off & going to bed and yet I bet you insist that she does that. You couldn't have made her tough it out the last 6 weeks?
We've seen it so much that we now have "substantial penalties for early withdrawal". You giving in to your toddler just penalized us and every other child in that class. And if she was that unhappy, why didn't you quit 5 months ago when you could have got a refund? Who's the parent here?
And tonight...a mom says that they won't be dancing because her 5 year old won't clean her room. Nevermind she's already bought shoes and clothes and invested money in dance lessons that she's now withholding from a child who probably doesn't even understand why she can't go to dance anymore. We absolutely do not agree with that form of parenting. If you want to punish a child for not doing their chores, taking away a structured learning activity is not the way to go about doing it. Take away electronic time...take away play dates...take away fun activities until it gets done. But dance teaches discipline, so don't use that as a way to punish them!
The thing is....had the brother been going to karate, I would bet money that they would not have taken karate away as a punishment.
Who are you really punishing? Not the child...they don't even understand why they can't go back to dance. You're only punishing yourself for buying the shoes & the outfits & spending the money on lessons that she's now getting nothing out of.
If you don't want to continue in dance, don't make excuses. I'm tired of hearing it & I will fight back. Evidently, she didn't like that I fought back. Just waiting for her mouth to start running now.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Top 10 reasons your child should take a dance class
You probably have friends that take their kids to dance classes or even seen ads for a dance studio in your area. Maybe you thought it was just another activity & never really took the idea of your own children dancing seriously. But did you know how beneficial it could be for your child??
Dance is a fun learning activity and at our studio, even our youngest students start learning terminology and the basic core steps of dance. We know children are like sponges and while we don't expect our youngest students to execute the steps perfectly, we do want them to have a fundamental understanding of dance technique while still letting them be children!
Sure there is the cute dancewear, adorable little shoes and who could resist the enchanting tutus, not to mention just watching a little preschooler attempting the moves, but what are the real benefits of putting your child in dance?
Good posture & graceful movement. 50 years ago, young adults went to etiquette classes & finishing school. Who talks about posture anymore?? Dance teachers, that's who! Standing up straight, learning how to control core muscles and move your body without tripping over your own feet is absolutely essential in dance.
Motor skills. Can your preschooler skip yet? It's a skill they test for when they enter Kindergarten. We start working on this skill on their first class. Dance also helps promote other finer motor skills ... standing on one foot, manipulating their muscles to make the taps on their tap shoes make noises, controlling the muscles in their arms & hands to turn them into beautiful ballerinas.
Rhythm. There is a running joke that dancers can only count to 8, but that's because dancers are so good at counting music & knowing the rhythm of the steps they are doing & the music they are dancing to.
Listening skills. Dance is not learned by vision only. Dancers have to learn to listen & make corrections as they dance. When young students aren't listening, it may be necessary to say their name to get their attention. This is normal & so common and yet most parents think of it as a bad thing that their child's name is being said, but that's how they learn!
Social skills. This may not sound like such a big deal, but you would be surprised at how easy it is to tell which preschoolers have never been to daycare or which elementary kids are home-schooled. Dance is a great place for students to gain these skills if they have never been in any other school setting. They learn to take turns, stand in line, and to interact & be accepting to the other students in class.
Self Esteem. It's very gratifying to be able to learn to dance and especially to master difficult technique & steps. And it is SO self satisfying to be able to get out onto a stage in front of hundreds of people when it's time to perform.
Discipline. Not only do dancers have to learn disciplining & critiquing from their dance teachers, but it takes a great deal of self-discipline to accomplish new dance skills and to become more flexible.
Peripheral vision. Dancers develop their peripheral vision because they use it so much more than the average child! A dancer must be aware of the space and people around them as they dance while keeping their focus forward, which forces them to use their side vision more!
Teamwork. Dancers learn to work together when they have small group parts within a dance, when they have partnering steps and group lifts, and just by being together for their class. A good choreographer can make any dancer look good, but they can do so much more with the dance when the group works together, pushes each other to be better & works as a team. And a student of dance learns most sports much faster for this reason!
Fun & Creativity. Let's face it, dance is just fun! There are a lot of acting skills involved in dance too as dancers portray a character such as a cowboy/girl or butterfly or as they act out the lyrics of a song. Who wouldn't have fun doing that?? And it's an activity they can do with a friend, which always makes it more fun. Plus there's the cute dancewear, the cool shoes & awesome costumes. ;-) And it's something anyone can do. They don't have to have any experience, but they can't dance if they don't start!
Dance is a fun learning activity and at our studio, even our youngest students start learning terminology and the basic core steps of dance. We know children are like sponges and while we don't expect our youngest students to execute the steps perfectly, we do want them to have a fundamental understanding of dance technique while still letting them be children!
Sure there is the cute dancewear, adorable little shoes and who could resist the enchanting tutus, not to mention just watching a little preschooler attempting the moves, but what are the real benefits of putting your child in dance?
Good posture & graceful movement. 50 years ago, young adults went to etiquette classes & finishing school. Who talks about posture anymore?? Dance teachers, that's who! Standing up straight, learning how to control core muscles and move your body without tripping over your own feet is absolutely essential in dance.
Motor skills. Can your preschooler skip yet? It's a skill they test for when they enter Kindergarten. We start working on this skill on their first class. Dance also helps promote other finer motor skills ... standing on one foot, manipulating their muscles to make the taps on their tap shoes make noises, controlling the muscles in their arms & hands to turn them into beautiful ballerinas.
Rhythm. There is a running joke that dancers can only count to 8, but that's because dancers are so good at counting music & knowing the rhythm of the steps they are doing & the music they are dancing to.
Listening skills. Dance is not learned by vision only. Dancers have to learn to listen & make corrections as they dance. When young students aren't listening, it may be necessary to say their name to get their attention. This is normal & so common and yet most parents think of it as a bad thing that their child's name is being said, but that's how they learn!
Social skills. This may not sound like such a big deal, but you would be surprised at how easy it is to tell which preschoolers have never been to daycare or which elementary kids are home-schooled. Dance is a great place for students to gain these skills if they have never been in any other school setting. They learn to take turns, stand in line, and to interact & be accepting to the other students in class.
Self Esteem. It's very gratifying to be able to learn to dance and especially to master difficult technique & steps. And it is SO self satisfying to be able to get out onto a stage in front of hundreds of people when it's time to perform.
Discipline. Not only do dancers have to learn disciplining & critiquing from their dance teachers, but it takes a great deal of self-discipline to accomplish new dance skills and to become more flexible.
Peripheral vision. Dancers develop their peripheral vision because they use it so much more than the average child! A dancer must be aware of the space and people around them as they dance while keeping their focus forward, which forces them to use their side vision more!
Teamwork. Dancers learn to work together when they have small group parts within a dance, when they have partnering steps and group lifts, and just by being together for their class. A good choreographer can make any dancer look good, but they can do so much more with the dance when the group works together, pushes each other to be better & works as a team. And a student of dance learns most sports much faster for this reason!
Fun & Creativity. Let's face it, dance is just fun! There are a lot of acting skills involved in dance too as dancers portray a character such as a cowboy/girl or butterfly or as they act out the lyrics of a song. Who wouldn't have fun doing that?? And it's an activity they can do with a friend, which always makes it more fun. Plus there's the cute dancewear, the cool shoes & awesome costumes. ;-) And it's something anyone can do. They don't have to have any experience, but they can't dance if they don't start!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
More reasons your child should take a dance class
Whew, got busy this last week & haven't had time to post!
Thought of another reason to dance...
You can make dance part of a weekly routine. With many sports, you may have 2 practices (and the coaches rarely know exactly what time practice is going to be until a few days before) plus games every week, trying to cram everything in & get it done. It's all-consuming. And if you have more than one child playing on more than one team/league....that's all you do for 6-8 weeks. And after rushing around non-stop for 8 weeks, you & your child are suddenly sedimentary. Which sounds nice at first, only because sports has run you ragged for 8 weeks!
In dance, you know you have class at the same time every week. Yes, if you get into competitive dance it can mean more than once a week, but most kids aren't going to get into competitive dance right away. For the whole school year, you know that you can count on the schedule not to change.
Anyway, just thought of that & wanted to throw it out while I remembered. Already seeing posts from friends that have their kids in sports & their crazy schedules because of it.
One more reason to put your child in dance:
-Rhee Gold
Thought of another reason to dance...
You can make dance part of a weekly routine. With many sports, you may have 2 practices (and the coaches rarely know exactly what time practice is going to be until a few days before) plus games every week, trying to cram everything in & get it done. It's all-consuming. And if you have more than one child playing on more than one team/league....that's all you do for 6-8 weeks. And after rushing around non-stop for 8 weeks, you & your child are suddenly sedimentary. Which sounds nice at first, only because sports has run you ragged for 8 weeks!
In dance, you know you have class at the same time every week. Yes, if you get into competitive dance it can mean more than once a week, but most kids aren't going to get into competitive dance right away. For the whole school year, you know that you can count on the schedule not to change.
Anyway, just thought of that & wanted to throw it out while I remembered. Already seeing posts from friends that have their kids in sports & their crazy schedules because of it.
One more reason to put your child in dance:
Some kids are at the dance studio all day.
Some kids are hanging out all day.
Some parents spend hours driving their kids to "everything" dance.
Some parents spend hours driving around looking for their kids.
Some parents spend their hard earned money on dance classes, shoes, costumes, etc. for their children.
Some parents are spending their hard earned money on lawyers for their children.
As a teacher who has seen a couple of generations of dance kids grow into successful adults, I am confident that the $$$$ and time spent are the best investments a parent could make. And if you add to that the memories, friends, and life lessons . . . what more could a parent ask for?! Enjoy the journey!
-Rhee Gold
Monday, August 11, 2014
Top 10 reasons your child should take a dance class
You probably have friends that take their kids to dance classes or even seen ads for a dance studio in your area. Maybe you thought it was just another activity & never really took the idea of your own children dancing seriously. But did you know how beneficial it could be for your child??
Dance is a fun learning activity and at our studio, even our youngest students start learning terminology and the basic core steps of dance. We know children are like sponges and while we don't expect our youngest students to execute the steps perfectly, we do want them to have a fundamental understanding of dance technique while still letting them be children!
Sure there is the cute dancewear, adorable little shoes and who could resist the enchanting tutus, not to mention just watching a little preschooler attempting the moves, but what are the real benefits of putting your child in dance?
Good posture & graceful movement. 50 years ago, young adults went to etiquette classes & finishing school. Who talks about posture anymore?? Dance teachers, that's who! Standing up straight, learning how to control core muscles and move your body without tripping over your own feet is absolutely essential in dance.
Motor skills. Can your preschooler skip yet? It's a skill they test for when they enter Kindergarten. We start working on this skill on their first class. Dance also helps promote other finer motor skills ... standing on one foot, manipulating their muscles to make the taps on their tap shoes make noises, controlling the muscles in their arms & hands to turn them into beautiful ballerinas.
Rhythm. There is a running joke that dancers can only count to 8, but that's because dancers are so good at counting music & knowing the rhythm of the steps they are doing & the music they are dancing to.
Listening skills. Dance is not learned by vision only. Dancers have to learn to listen & make corrections as they dance. When young students aren't listening, it may be necessary to say their name to get their attention. This is normal & so common and yet most parents think of it as a bad thing that their child's name is being said, but that's how they learn!
Social skills. This may not sound like such a big deal, but you would be surprised at how easy it is to tell which preschoolers have never been to daycare or which elementary kids are home-schooled. Dance is a great place for students to gain these skills if they have never been in any other school setting. They learn to take turns, stand in line, and to interact & be accepting to the other students in class.
Self Esteem. It's very gratifying to be able to learn to dance and especially to master difficult technique & steps. And it is SO self satisfying to be able to get out onto a stage in front of hundreds of people when it's time to perform.
Discipline. Not only do dancers have to learn disciplining & critiquing from their dance teachers, but it takes a great deal of self-discipline to accomplish new dance skills and to become more flexible.
Peripheral vision. Dancers develop their peripheral vision because they use it so much more than the average child! A dancer must be aware of the space and people around them as they dance while keeping their focus forward, which forces them to use their side vision more!
Teamwork. Dancers learn to work together when they have small group parts within a dance, when they have partnering steps and group lifts, and just by being together for their class. A good choreographer can make any dancer look good, but they can do so much more with the dance when the group works together, pushes each other to be better & works as a team. And a student of dance learns most sports much faster for this reason!
Fun & Creativity. Let's face it, dance is just fun! There are a lot of acting skills involved in dance too as dancers portray a character such as a cowboy/girl or butterfly or as they act out the lyrics of a song. Who wouldn't have fun doing that?? And it's an activity they can do with a friend, which always makes it more fun. Plus there's the cute dancewear, the cool shoes & awesome costumes. ;-) And it's something anyone can do. They don't have to have any experience, but they can't dance if they don't start!
Dance is a fun learning activity and at our studio, even our youngest students start learning terminology and the basic core steps of dance. We know children are like sponges and while we don't expect our youngest students to execute the steps perfectly, we do want them to have a fundamental understanding of dance technique while still letting them be children!
Sure there is the cute dancewear, adorable little shoes and who could resist the enchanting tutus, not to mention just watching a little preschooler attempting the moves, but what are the real benefits of putting your child in dance?
Good posture & graceful movement. 50 years ago, young adults went to etiquette classes & finishing school. Who talks about posture anymore?? Dance teachers, that's who! Standing up straight, learning how to control core muscles and move your body without tripping over your own feet is absolutely essential in dance.
Motor skills. Can your preschooler skip yet? It's a skill they test for when they enter Kindergarten. We start working on this skill on their first class. Dance also helps promote other finer motor skills ... standing on one foot, manipulating their muscles to make the taps on their tap shoes make noises, controlling the muscles in their arms & hands to turn them into beautiful ballerinas.
Rhythm. There is a running joke that dancers can only count to 8, but that's because dancers are so good at counting music & knowing the rhythm of the steps they are doing & the music they are dancing to.
Listening skills. Dance is not learned by vision only. Dancers have to learn to listen & make corrections as they dance. When young students aren't listening, it may be necessary to say their name to get their attention. This is normal & so common and yet most parents think of it as a bad thing that their child's name is being said, but that's how they learn!
Social skills. This may not sound like such a big deal, but you would be surprised at how easy it is to tell which preschoolers have never been to daycare or which elementary kids are home-schooled. Dance is a great place for students to gain these skills if they have never been in any other school setting. They learn to take turns, stand in line, and to interact & be accepting to the other students in class.
Self Esteem. It's very gratifying to be able to learn to dance and especially to master difficult technique & steps. And it is SO self satisfying to be able to get out onto a stage in front of hundreds of people when it's time to perform.
Discipline. Not only do dancers have to learn disciplining & critiquing from their dance teachers, but it takes a great deal of self-discipline to accomplish new dance skills and to become more flexible.
Peripheral vision. Dancers develop their peripheral vision because they use it so much more than the average child! A dancer must be aware of the space and people around them as they dance while keeping their focus forward, which forces them to use their side vision more!
Teamwork. Dancers learn to work together when they have small group parts within a dance, when they have partnering steps and group lifts, and just by being together for their class. A good choreographer can make any dancer look good, but they can do so much more with the dance when the group works together, pushes each other to be better & works as a team. And a student of dance learns most sports much faster for this reason!
Fun & Creativity. Let's face it, dance is just fun! There are a lot of acting skills involved in dance too as dancers portray a character such as a cowboy/girl or butterfly or as they act out the lyrics of a song. Who wouldn't have fun doing that?? And it's an activity they can do with a friend, which always makes it more fun. Plus there's the cute dancewear, the cool shoes & awesome costumes. ;-) And it's something anyone can do. They don't have to have any experience, but they can't dance if they don't start!
(This is one of my most favorite ads for the studio that I've designed.)
Saturday, August 9, 2014
inspiration
Still can't get past the title of the entry I want to make & it's eating at me. I know I just need to start writing & the title will come, but call it writer's block ... it's just not happening.
I went to a musical last night with my business partner & her granddaughter, one of our pre-teen dancers. Totally gonna write off that trip since we're doing a similar theme for next year's recital & it was a great source of inspiration for me! And yes, we were doing tap steps in our seats during the show & I was mentally picturing how to use some of the choreography for our use!
I'm continuing to be amazed at the number of registrations we are getting this early. Completely thrilled! But it's also making me realize how far behind I am. We HAVE to get registration dates set so I can get flyers made, website updated, facebook posts made, etc. Flyers really need to go to daycares by Friday ... Thursday would be better. I can't say for sure that our weekly blasts naming our registered students is working, but we did get 3 more returning students since our last blast! Yay!
Well, I didn't really start this blog to be a diary of our daily lives in the studio, but I'm hoping that by seeing some of this insight, people will understand what we have to do to keep ourselves in business and that it's not all fun & games & money rolling in. (bwahahah, that's funny)
I need to get an ad done to post so I will stop now & really try to get past that writer's block I'm having.
I went to a musical last night with my business partner & her granddaughter, one of our pre-teen dancers. Totally gonna write off that trip since we're doing a similar theme for next year's recital & it was a great source of inspiration for me! And yes, we were doing tap steps in our seats during the show & I was mentally picturing how to use some of the choreography for our use!
I'm continuing to be amazed at the number of registrations we are getting this early. Completely thrilled! But it's also making me realize how far behind I am. We HAVE to get registration dates set so I can get flyers made, website updated, facebook posts made, etc. Flyers really need to go to daycares by Friday ... Thursday would be better. I can't say for sure that our weekly blasts naming our registered students is working, but we did get 3 more returning students since our last blast! Yay!
Well, I didn't really start this blog to be a diary of our daily lives in the studio, but I'm hoping that by seeing some of this insight, people will understand what we have to do to keep ourselves in business and that it's not all fun & games & money rolling in. (bwahahah, that's funny)
I need to get an ad done to post so I will stop now & really try to get past that writer's block I'm having.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Ramblings of an insomniac
This is not the normal hour that most dance teachers/studio owners are awake. If you're thinking about sending your studio owner a text or facebook message at this hour asking about what color tights your precious should wear for class tonight, please don't. We're normally just getting into a deep REM sleep about now. The only time I would normally see daylight at this hour is if I was attempting to pull an all-nighter trying to get things done, or up early for a dance competition.
I've been trying for 3 days to get my next entry written & can't get past the title, so here I am. Decided just to blow this one off, regroup & try again for next time.
But since it's hump-day, I'll post a little personal accomplishment. We registered a bunch of new kids this week! (A bunch, relative to us...lol) And so far, we've registered over 70% of our summer kids, which is huge. We've had years that we didn't get a single summer kid back for the fall, which is discouraging for a new season. But everyone seemed to enjoy classes this summer. It was so cute to see them overcome their first day jitters and the smiles on their faces at their last class last night was priceless. :-) And there's still time to get up to 100% retention. Not positive it will happen, but it's promising. :)
I started something last Wednesday that I'll continue today: publicly giving a shout-out to each dancer that has registered. I debated over doing this for many reasons, but I think it may have helped. I'm especially hoping it will help get last year's kids back ... and sooner than later.
Oh my gosh .... my mind is going a million different directions this morning. I've already abandoned this post once & did a bunch of photoshop work on the flyer that's going out soon. Just waiting to confirm dates before I have this finalized. But I'll wrap this up now before I get side-tracked again!
I've been trying for 3 days to get my next entry written & can't get past the title, so here I am. Decided just to blow this one off, regroup & try again for next time.
But since it's hump-day, I'll post a little personal accomplishment. We registered a bunch of new kids this week! (A bunch, relative to us...lol) And so far, we've registered over 70% of our summer kids, which is huge. We've had years that we didn't get a single summer kid back for the fall, which is discouraging for a new season. But everyone seemed to enjoy classes this summer. It was so cute to see them overcome their first day jitters and the smiles on their faces at their last class last night was priceless. :-) And there's still time to get up to 100% retention. Not positive it will happen, but it's promising. :)
I started something last Wednesday that I'll continue today: publicly giving a shout-out to each dancer that has registered. I debated over doing this for many reasons, but I think it may have helped. I'm especially hoping it will help get last year's kids back ... and sooner than later.
Oh my gosh .... my mind is going a million different directions this morning. I've already abandoned this post once & did a bunch of photoshop work on the flyer that's going out soon. Just waiting to confirm dates before I have this finalized. But I'll wrap this up now before I get side-tracked again!
You know, when we actually do sleep...lol
Monday, August 4, 2014
Yes Virginia, we're a real business
Now, most dance studio owners won't tell you any of this, but I think the first thing you should know about a dance studio is that it's a real business. Dance studios have rent to pay, have utilities to keep up on, supplies to keep on hand (TP anyone?), vendors to research and do business with, new clients to meet with, established clients to keep happy ... all the while, trying to make a living and bring home money to pay for all the household bills you pay for too. I've heard tons of stories about people who think because we mainly work with kids, that our studio isn't a real business or that we shouldn't be allowed to make money from them. I remember hearing colleagues talk about their friends who ask if they are "still doing that dance thing". [To which they promptly replied, "Yes, are you still doing that bank thing?" ;-)] And I have personally been bashed & laughed at for choosing this as my line of work.
It's not an easy job. And especially as a small studio, there are SO many things we do ourselves to keep our expenses down. We don't have a fancy website with someone that puts out a trendy new design every year. I designed and manage our website myself (after teaching myself how to write HTML & make a website work.) We don't have a team of advertising consultants that we turn to get the word out about the studio. I design all of our print ads, flyers, newsletters, emails, facebook page posts, t-shirts, signs on the walls, etc and often will print them myself too (or wish we were capable of doing it ourselves!) And the designs usually mean I have edited photographs or graphics to put in them. I just finished almost a solid week of editing photographs for our website!
We plan for our recital every year, which I can most closely compare to planning a wedding every year. You've heard of bridezilla? That's nothing compared to us at recital time! And then a few months later, we start all over with scheduling new fall classes, advertising, delivering flyers, ordering new dance apparel, measuring and fitting new dance shoes, taking registrations, placing new students in classes, making sure everyone receives the handbook we spent a week editing & praying that everyone reads or at least skims through!
We plan side performances ... parades, basketball games, nursing homes. We field phone calls from new parents, field questions from current parents, and we haven't even talked about the actual teaching of technique yet! Then comes choosing songs for the next recital, editing the songs for content & length so that dad doesn't have to sit thru a 5 minute song at recital. After the song is edited, the choreography starts and then we start picking out costumes to go with the song, the recital theme, a color that that class has never had, making sure we don't have a blue costume for the song "Think Pink!" and making sure everyone in the class will look good in the costume. We spend hours searching through costume catalogs, measuring the kids, placing the orders, calling to check on the orders, sorting the costumes when they come in and finally hanging each costume & getting it ready for parents to take home. We write up a booklet guiding parents thru the rehearsal, pictures & recital. And then the cycle repeats.
And along the way, everyone we come in contact with is trying to stay in business. The landord, the utility companies, the vendors of our dancewear & costumes, our advertising sources, the venue for the recital (WHAT? you mean they don't let you use the building for free???) The videographer, the lighting guy, the flower vendor, the janitors at the venue ... but I think I've gone on long enough.
Now, I didn't write these words to put anyone reading this on a guilt trip and many/most people reading this do know how much work & money goes into this business, but these are just some of the things we have to do & people we pay to keep our business operational. We are always riding a thin line between how much we spend on advertising vs. how many students we gain from it to pay the bills. And as I said, we are a small studio, and don't have a problem with that. In fact, I would rather have 30 students & be able to call them all by name than have 300 & not be able to say hi to most of them by name when we see them at Walmart. :-) My own personal view is that once you get much over 100 kids at a studio, you're not providing small, personable classes anymore. It then becomes comparable to a factory ... fill the classes, take their money, teach routines by rote (meaning they start learning the recital routine on day one & never learn any real technique), march them onto stage and they're done.
I mean, I get it...kids want to dance where their friends do, but between the big studios with the big production followings and the ones that are undercutting the rest of the studios in the area by more than 20%....it becomes harder every year to keep doing it. We worry about just getting enough students in the door to pay the bills & be able to continue putting on our small recital. But we keep doing it because we love it. Because we couldn't imagine not seeing those excited smiling faces coming in the front door every week. Not seeing the look of triumph in learning a new skill.
I just wish those smiles paid some of our bills. ;-)
It's not an easy job. And especially as a small studio, there are SO many things we do ourselves to keep our expenses down. We don't have a fancy website with someone that puts out a trendy new design every year. I designed and manage our website myself (after teaching myself how to write HTML & make a website work.) We don't have a team of advertising consultants that we turn to get the word out about the studio. I design all of our print ads, flyers, newsletters, emails, facebook page posts, t-shirts, signs on the walls, etc and often will print them myself too (or wish we were capable of doing it ourselves!) And the designs usually mean I have edited photographs or graphics to put in them. I just finished almost a solid week of editing photographs for our website!
We plan for our recital every year, which I can most closely compare to planning a wedding every year. You've heard of bridezilla? That's nothing compared to us at recital time! And then a few months later, we start all over with scheduling new fall classes, advertising, delivering flyers, ordering new dance apparel, measuring and fitting new dance shoes, taking registrations, placing new students in classes, making sure everyone receives the handbook we spent a week editing & praying that everyone reads or at least skims through!
We plan side performances ... parades, basketball games, nursing homes. We field phone calls from new parents, field questions from current parents, and we haven't even talked about the actual teaching of technique yet! Then comes choosing songs for the next recital, editing the songs for content & length so that dad doesn't have to sit thru a 5 minute song at recital. After the song is edited, the choreography starts and then we start picking out costumes to go with the song, the recital theme, a color that that class has never had, making sure we don't have a blue costume for the song "Think Pink!" and making sure everyone in the class will look good in the costume. We spend hours searching through costume catalogs, measuring the kids, placing the orders, calling to check on the orders, sorting the costumes when they come in and finally hanging each costume & getting it ready for parents to take home. We write up a booklet guiding parents thru the rehearsal, pictures & recital. And then the cycle repeats.
And along the way, everyone we come in contact with is trying to stay in business. The landord, the utility companies, the vendors of our dancewear & costumes, our advertising sources, the venue for the recital (WHAT? you mean they don't let you use the building for free???) The videographer, the lighting guy, the flower vendor, the janitors at the venue ... but I think I've gone on long enough.
Now, I didn't write these words to put anyone reading this on a guilt trip and many/most people reading this do know how much work & money goes into this business, but these are just some of the things we have to do & people we pay to keep our business operational. We are always riding a thin line between how much we spend on advertising vs. how many students we gain from it to pay the bills. And as I said, we are a small studio, and don't have a problem with that. In fact, I would rather have 30 students & be able to call them all by name than have 300 & not be able to say hi to most of them by name when we see them at Walmart. :-) My own personal view is that once you get much over 100 kids at a studio, you're not providing small, personable classes anymore. It then becomes comparable to a factory ... fill the classes, take their money, teach routines by rote (meaning they start learning the recital routine on day one & never learn any real technique), march them onto stage and they're done.
I mean, I get it...kids want to dance where their friends do, but between the big studios with the big production followings and the ones that are undercutting the rest of the studios in the area by more than 20%....it becomes harder every year to keep doing it. We worry about just getting enough students in the door to pay the bills & be able to continue putting on our small recital. But we keep doing it because we love it. Because we couldn't imagine not seeing those excited smiling faces coming in the front door every week. Not seeing the look of triumph in learning a new skill.
I just wish those smiles paid some of our bills. ;-)
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