Blog

As a dance industry business and active participant in the world of competition dance, we’ve had the opportunity to work with some exceptional, dedicated and professional dance studios.

The flip side to this sadly, is that we’ve also experienced the not-so-exceptional and the ‘used to be great’ variety. But more on that shortly…

Let’s face it, dance schools are a business. The cost of their service is going to represent a significant financial commitment on your behalf. Whether your daughter gives it a ‘try’ for a semester, or goes on to perform, compete and pursue a career in dance, you will be handing out cash like a dodgy ATM machine on pay day.

The question is, are you getting what you’re paying for? Or is the service that you are currently paying for no longer being provided?

As a ‘business’, does your dance school invest in quality, qualified dance teachers? Not just ‘visiting’ teachers (who you’ll undoubtedly be asked to pay more for, as part of a special ‘vacation program’ or workshop) but a core-staff of experienced and professional teachers who form the backbone of the studio.

Equally important, is your school still passionate about dance?! Does the owner, the manager, the teacher still get the same thrill seeing your daughter perform as you do as a parent? Is your child being nurtured through disciplined teaching, education and genuine care?

We have seen, first-hand, schools deteriorate in service and student relationships, due to business practices and over-extension. The first sign of this is often cost-cutting such as the overuse of ‘Student Teachers’ — that is, senior students without teaching qualifications, training or experience.

The extremely knowledgeable editors at Ausdance make an astute observation and we couldn’t agree more (great info and all credit to http://ausdance.org.au/articles/details/choosing-a-dance-school-for-your-child):

“Be wary of studios that rely on their senior students to teach classes — good dancers/students are not necessarily good dance teachers. Young students pick up both good and poor attitudes and technique from their teachers. Poor technique can ultimately lead to injury and take many years to ‘unlearn’.

“Check whether the student teacher has received appropriate teacher training such as a CUA30311 (Certificate III in Assistant Dance Teaching) or the Ausdance skill set for Teaching Dance.

“A well-managed school will keep parents and students informed about fees, events, student progress, etc. and will make it easy for students and parents to ask questions.

“Parents should look for sound teaching qualifications, good communication skills, a thorough understanding of safe dance practice; an appropriate and safe space to dance in; knowledge of basic First Aid and OH&S obligations; awareness of age-appropriate activities and sound lesson structure; and a positive, joyful and nurturing learning environment; clearly defined assessment procedures.”

We hope this helps a little with your dance school decisions. Please feel free to share this article with your friends.

Stay tuned as we ‘spot light’ some of our favourite Dance Studios over the next few months.

REEDLE

Reedle Dance Tip

Competition Dance is a little like the dreaded school assignment and its scoring is generally broken into separate categories such as technique, engagement and deportment.

Your costume shapes your appearance and is expected to enhance the style and storyline of the dance.

So how do you buy a pre-made costume for a very specific dance? Not so easy…

Unless you’re extremely lucky, you’ll end up having to choose something that ‘kind of’ has the right cut, colouring and effect to match the theme and choreography of your routine. ‘Kind of’ is never ideal…

A regular dancewear designer will generally measure you up with a tape measure, ask about colour and stick you with pins!

A GREAT dancewear designer will ask you about the style of dance, storyline or character, type and tempo of music (always have this handy), presence of stage props, lighting and most importantly the choreography. This skilled dancewear designer will make sure your costume stays in place and enhances your ‘dancer’s form’ throughout the routine while giving you freedom of movement. She will probably still stick you with pins though…

To pick up those extra winning points, the end result should be a costume that is unique to both the dancer and the routine, while adding to the storyline of the performance. And it must be BEAUTIFUL!

If this little tid-bit has helped – please share it with your friends.

If you need advice on your next performance costume, get in touch with us at REEDLE. We are contemporary in our design ideas and have created many winning performance costumes with our high quality materials and expert seamstress experience.