Announcing The Social Smarts Live Chat

Today I am announcing something special and totally unique on this blog.

On Wednesday, June 23 at 2:30pm EST I will be hosting a LIVE chat with Suzanne Gerety of DanceStudioOwner.com and Marc Kirschner of TenduTV right here on Dance Advantage.

We will be chatting about a topic that is important to all three of us: Social Smarts

Have you noticed all the social media advice coming from every direction?

A lot of people offer it for free. Others want you to pay for it. But either way it can be tough, when you are the new kid on the block, to know who to trust and from whom to take guidance. Even as three participants who have been “socializing” online for a relatively long time, Suzanne, Marc, and I can give no definitive answers about what will help you reach your unique goals online.

Therefore, our purpose for this chat is not to tell you how you should be approaching or growing your presence via social media.

Instead, we want to share with you how we ourselves filter the incoming information and “expert” advice that pervades the Internet and the online dance community so that you might make smart choices in your very own decisions and feel confident in your approach as you grow your presence online.

Why this trio?

Suzanne, Marc, and I all “met” on Twitter around the same time in early 2008. Though Twitter had been around since ’06 it didn’t really make its mark until 2007. When I joined, I did so because bloggers were some of the early adopters of the platform and recommended it. No one else I knew used Twitter. It took practically another year before I was really even finding potential readers (dance teachers, students, parents) who were using it. But, I was very fortunate to connect with a few other dance bloggers and industry leaders, and even more fortunate to become friends with a handful of folks that were not only experts in their field but really great people.

“By the end of 2007, about 500,000 tweets per quarter were posted. By the end of 2008, 100 million tweets per quarter were posted. By the end of 2009, 2 billion tweets per quarter were posted. In the first quarter of 2010, 4 billion tweets per quarter were posted.” – Twitter (Wikipedia)

Fast forward.

The web is now a very social place. In fact, my Facebook story is not all that different from Twitter. I joined there in 2006, a while before my friends were and long before businesses were utilizing it publicly. In the last six months alone I’ve observed a flood of dance companies, studios, businesses, websites, and yes readers joining the fray on both Twitter and Facebook. So while Marc, Suzanne, and I have not necessarily been around from the beginning of it all, it is fair to say that we’ve been witnesses and participants for quite a bit of the social media explosion — more experienced than someone just starting perhaps, but still learning, using, and occasionally relying on advice from others when determining how to make the most of social media.

The three of us share a passion for dance and for using social media to contribute to and strengthen the dance community. Yet we approach social media with varying goals and perspectives, based on our different roles. In this way, I feel we three are a useful cross section of the dance community’s social media consumers.

We are happy to share with you what we’ve encountered and learned along the way.

We hope you’ll join us as I moderate and guide a Q&A with Suzanne and Marc and then open it up to questions from you!

We’ll see you Wednesday, June 23 at 2:30pm EST!

Streamlining Competition Registration with DanceSignUp.com

Twitter is a great way to discover emerging websites, services, and businesses within the dance world. It was on Twitter that I first encountered DanceSignUp, a web-based application designed to bring together dance competition organizations and dance studios to simplify many of the tasks that are cumbersome when it comes to competitive events, like registration, scheduling, payments, and communication. (Click here to visit DanceSignUp on Twitter) A lot of work goes into preparing for competition season. So, with a sneaking suspicion that you might be interested in something that could help streamline the process, and because I see a lot of potential in this this newly developed site, I chatted recently with Bret Robertson. His design company, Honu Studios, is responsible for bringing DanceSignUp to life.

Bret, you are a web designer and developer. Do you dance, too?

I’m proud to say I don’t dance, and if you ever saw me try you would be proud that I don’t dance either. My wife does hula and my business partner Brian and his wife took a dance class over the summer. Overall, we enjoy watching much more than we actually participate. We have a respect and appreciation for those who dance and dedicate themselves to the craft.

What has been like to find yourself in the “world of dance?”

It really amazes us how large the dance community is. Whenever we mention DanceSignUp to someone we’re surprised how often the response is “Hey, I used to compete” or “I’m a teacher”. We think it’s great that many are so enthusiastic and willing to share their passion for the art form. We’ve met some really great people, thanks to social networking sites like Twitter, who have been really encouraging and helpful with great advice and a wonderful spirit. We look forward to meeting more, as we feel like we’ve just started to scratch the surface.

Even I feel sometimes that I’m scratching the surface of a very large community, one which I’ve observed has grown tremendously online since I began Dance Advantage a year and a half ago. The culture that surrounds dance training and education, in particular, is broad and varied. Competitions are currently a big part of that culture, which brings me to your project and how it serves the dance community.

In a nutshell, how might the competition registration process improve for dance teachers and studio owners who register for competitions through DanceSignUp?

The biggest improvement is centralized management, everything is in one place.

Studios maintain only one roster of students for all the competitions they want to sign up for. Age eligibility is automatically calculated as are routine prices, so there’s no math involved! All registrations, schedules, and payments for every dance competition are kept in one place. There’s no longer the need to copy or print off each registration form for each routine then try and remember where you put each one six months ago when you registered. We also make it easy to change a routine in case a dancer gets hurt or needs to be swapped out, there is no need to call or email the competition.

Finally, we make payments for studios, groups, individuals, and competitions really easy. We’re using Amazon’s Amazon Payments service. The great thing is that most people already have an Amazon account so there’s no need to open a new one. Plus, neither DanceSignUp or any competition sees your credit card information. Amazon is known and trusted and completely PCI compliant. If the issue of a refund does come up, they can be issued just as easily in full or in part by the competition back to the studio’s account.

Without actually exploring your application, it can all sound pretty complicated. Let’s see if I’ve got this right. Studio owners/teachers can add students to a single roster (complete with details on their age). Then when registering for whichever competitions are of interest, dancers can easily be pulled from the roster to routines which are then submitted for registration. And studios pay the competition’s fees through Amazon, all from DanceSignUp. You must be charging a service or convenience fee, right?

No, teachers/studios don’t pay anything to use DanceSignUp. They only pay competitions to register routines within the application.

We do charge the competitions a small fee for each transaction. A transaction can include one or more routines. We looked at two pricing models, subscription and pay-as-you-go. Ultimately since dance seasons don’t last the entire year the subscription model didn’t seem too practical being that there are months where registrations may not be submitted. With pay-as-you-go small or large competitions have a level playing field, neither pay anything until they have registrations coming in.

I have had the opportunity to explore the site, and one of my favorite features is the “Coming to Your Area” section which appears on a studio’s dashboard when they login. Can you tell me more about this?

Sure, the “Coming to Your Area” section shows a list of upcoming dance competitions that will be hosting events near you. This is a great way to learn about new competitions, maybe sign up a few small groups, and check them
out.

The cool thing about this feature is that it levels the playing field, so to speak. It gives the smaller competitions a chance to compete with the larger ones. Now, we understand that there might competition and politics in the dance world. Naturally, you have large competitions and small competitions, large studios and small studios. It can seem like an uphill battle for smaller competitions to get their events out in front of studios and for smaller studios to make their mark at larger competitions. With “Coming to Your Area” there are no large or small competitions, just competitions.

We’ve talked about the advantages for studios but what are the benefits for competition organizations that get involved?

The benefits for competition organizers are numerous. The biggest of these are the savings of time and money. We eliminate the need for paper since everything is online. We’ve even done away with the need for Copy and Paste. On the registration side, you will no longer have to deal with illegible faxes, or attached email PDF’s coming in from all over the place.

Payments are handled securely and immediately online and give studios or individuals the option to pay with any credit card. No merchant account is needed, competitions only need an Amazon Business account. All payment records are kept for reference along with current event and season totals. Routine scheduling is quick and easy, routines can be sorted and ordered by any criteria. So if you want to view Small Group routines only, you can. Once scheduled and posted the schedule is completely online and available to studios, teachers, and parents. We’ve even formatted the schedule for mobile devices like the iPhone® so that it can be followed in real time during the event.

Finally, we understand that event programs are a fun keepsake but often are a pain to produce; especially when last minute changes come in and a deadline is looming. To remedy this, we’ve created the ability to export an event’s schedule that can easily be imported into your page layout application like Adobe InDesign or given to your graphics person.

For brevity’s sake we’ll just stick to these, but there are numerous small benefits and advantages, and many more in the works.

Speaking of what’s up your sleeve, I’ve got some other stuff going on at the site too. I’m pretty sure I saw that you are offering desktop wallpapers on your blog. What other fun things are you planning to add to the site?

“Fun” can be subjective; we find code fun, so for us it’s all fun. We do offer desktop wallpaper which is hopefully more fun than code; it’s just our way of expressing our creativeness and giving back to the dance community. We’re planning on offering a new wallpaper each month and would love to hear from the dance community through picture submissions. Otherwise we’ll have to resort to pictures of us dancing. Details can be found on our blog about how the images will be used, how credit will be given, as well as where to send them.

We’re also thinking about doing some giveaways, maybe something like a discounted fee event. And also bringing in some guest blog posters to write about what’s happening in the dance community.

Above all, I’ve found DanceSignUp easy to use. Like other familiar “Web 2.0″ applications, there’s a drag and drop feature and cool little windows pop up. Studios can also subscribe to a competition’s season feed, which means they can sort of “follow” them to easily discover when new events are added. Plus studios and competitions have their own profiles. They can “see” each other in a way that perhaps isn’t possible when dealing with a paper trail or other online registrations. Do you envision this going further? Will studios and competitions be able to rate or talk about the different venues? Will there be opportunities for teachers to offer feedback regarding competitions? Interact profile to profile? Hmmm, am I getting ahead of myself here?

We absolutely envision DanceSignUp going further. It is a web application which means it’s web-based software so there’s no downloading or updating that needs to take place on the user’s end. Consequently, updates can happen frequently, at any time.

Without giving too much away about our future plans, I can say that venue comments or ratings has been discussed and has a good possibility of showing up in a future update. One upcoming feature that we’re excited about involves enhancements for the judging process itself (for example more immediate posting of scores, and the upload/download of judges notes, as opposed to the old cassette tape system). In an effort to keep the application focused and simple we don’t have any plans to integrate any “social” features. Mostly because there are sites that do that already.

The site is fully functional right now but just went live in September. I’m sure you are looking for feedback from studios as well as competitions. Sign up is free so it’s easy to go in and look around. Can folks contact you with feedback or get support?

Absolutely, we’re completely open to feedback and looking for companies to collaborate with on existing and potential features. We’re constantly tweaking and adding features which is why we look forward to hearing from our users. We want to talk with competitions and studios. We want to find out what they want and need and build off of that.

Support is offered in several ways. Once you have an account we have a support ticket system that allows users to submit requests directly. We also have a growing library of help articles and screencasts that will walk a user through step-by-step how to do something. Finally, we have a special Twitter account to announce software updates and system status.

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As I mentioned, DanceSignUp is brand new. There are advantages for both competitions and dance studios to use the service but organizations from both sides have to come to the party. Currently, Bret and the folks at DanceSignUp are making connections and spreading the word. You can be a part of that by sharing the site with colleagues and competitions. I encourage you to visit DanceSignUp.com and have a look around. If you have thoughts or suggestions, you can contact Bret via the site or simply leave comments below.

“Being Together” Not a Misnomer

Earlier this evening, I had the privilege to watch and host Misnomer Dance Theater’s live broadcast of Being Together on Dance Advantage Interactive. It was truly an event and provided an opportunity for many viewers to “be together,” gathering to watch dance from their prospective parts of the world. The online audience outnumbered the capacity of the Joyce SoHo where the dancers performed, providing both greater exposure for the dance company (many of the online audience were unfamiliar with their work) and an opportunity to expose even young online viewers (kids as young as seven and eight years old tuned in for the show) to dance that they may never have seen otherwise. In addition to simply viewing the performance, online audience members were able to participate in a live chat, sharing their thoughts and general excitement over the opportunity to engage in such an event.

Aside from some technical difficulties during the last half of the performance, the video feed, camera work, and sound were of good quality. The experience was altogether different from attending a live performance in the traditional manner. I didn’t dress up, I didn’t have to find a place to park, I didn’t have to find a babysitter, and people, who could talk throughout the entire performance, came and left when they wanted! I look forward to a future in which more dance companies take their show online even if they can’t take it on the road.

As for the dancing, Misnomer’s performance was excellent. With a mix of Greg Brown, Chet Baker, and others, the musical score for Too Late Tulip was very enjoyable, as was the dancing and partnering work. As a fan of improvisation (especially in performance), I was particularly fond of Rock.Paper.Flock., details of which are written about here and here. I was a bit distracted from the final work Zipper because of a technical glitch that resulted in an obstructed view of the dancers, however I will have another chance to see the work at Misnomer’s website once the archived footage is posted. I encourage you to check it out if you were not able to see the performance live tonight. Teachers, please share this with your students and encourage them to visit as well! It is my understanding that the footage will be available soon and remain through December 31st.

Thanks to those of you that joined me at DA Interactive!

Misnomer Dance Theater LIVE on Dance Advantage Interactive

On December 14, at 8pm EST (7pm Central), Misnomer Dance Theater will be broadcasting their final performance of BEING TOGETHER online. This performance is  being presented at Joyce Soho in NYC and will include three new works, including Too Late Tulip, Rock. Paper. Flock., and Zipper, a show described by The New Yorker as “Wonderfully strange and unpredictable.” Misnomer was named one of the top ten dance performances for 2006 by The New York Times and as one of the “25 to Watch” for 2007 by Dance Magazine, and recently collaborated with Bjork on her video Wanderlust.

Swan Lake Samba girl recently reviewed the show on her blog, and says of choreographer Chris Elam’s work, “his movement language is so original, something I can’t say of many other choreographers… the creatures he creates can be funny, sad, pathetic, cute, always endearing.”

Here are some short video previews from Misnomer’s YouTube channel:

Good news regarding this special event…

On Dec. 14 you can pull up a computer, watch, and chat about this amazing event LIVE on the Dance Advantage companion network, Dance Advantage Interactive!

Events like this one are a wonderful opportunity for dance students to see live dance which they may not have the opportunity to see otherwise without leaving their own home. Misnomer’s work is accessible but highly creative and displays daring and inventive partnering work. I hope that you will tune in to witness this unique event and chat about your experience as it is happening. And, while you are there, I hope you will check out DA Interactive and join this new community of dancers, teachers, parents, and professionals.

I will be posting reminders on Twitter, so sign up to follow my “tweets.” To watch Misnomer Dance Theater on December 14 go to danceadvantage.ning.com. The show will be broadcast on the front page. Hope to “see” you there!

This performance is made possible, in part, by The Joyce Theater Foundation, which owns and operates Joyce SoHo. www.joyce.org.  Misnomer LIVE

Dancing with Conscience

One person can have a profound effect on another. And two people…well, two people can work miracles. They can change a whole town. They can change the world.

-Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, writers of the TV show Northern Exposure

Dancers have the power to change the world. Over the past few months Dance Advantage has highlighted just a few of the many dance/arts organizations that are on a mission to do just that. Links to these posts as well as some others are listed below. In addition, I recommend checking out an article by Wendy Garofoli that features additional groups that are Making a Difference Through Dance.

Something out of Nothing

In researching the subject of refugees, I quickly discovered the Ibdaa Dance Troupe, a group of girls and boys that are residents of the Dheisheh Refugee Camp near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied Palestinian (Israel’s) West Bank, who share their experiences and message through dance. According to their website, the dancers “perform Palestinian traditional folkloric dance, or debka, as an artistic way of preserving and sharing their culture and history while simultaneously voicing the rights and struggles of the Palestinian people.”

The dance troupe is just one of the arts programs offered to children and teens at the Ibdaa Cultural Center, which is a grassroots program that seeks to empower the women, children, and youth of the Dheisheh camp. Opportunities to explore art, dance, drama, and music are rare among the 59 refugee camps in the occupied region. The programs provided at the center offer young people the chance to express themselves and develop creativity in a positive and peaceful manner. It is a stark and refreshing contrast to the violence and uncertainty that surrounds them. Ibdaa, which in Arabic means “to create something out of nothing,” reflects the hope that survives among this community of people despite the tumultuous environment in which they live.

Read more about Ibdaa Dance Troupe, Palestinian refugees, and other organizations helping refugees around the world…

Dancers Fight AIDS

We recognized World AIDS day recently. On that day Dance Advantage offered a small collection of links to AIDS related organizations and Dance Outlook‘s post on the subject. Dancers are doing important work in fighting AIDS. In particular, there are two organizations I’d like to highlight here. The first is Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA), a fundraising program that holds events and organizes donation opportunities that help individuals in need and the organizations that support them. The other is Dance4Life, and international initiative that engages young people around the world to do something about the HIV/AIDS problem.

ASTEP Toward Ending Poverty

When people make a one-on-one connection with someone in need it can alter their lives (and consequently, the lives of others) forever. This was the case for Mary Mitchell-Campbell, a successful Broadway music director whose volunteer work in India inspired her to make an impact on worldwide childhood poverty.  She founded ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty), an arts-based nonprofit that works directly with disadvantaged children, seeking to empower them through the arts. ASTEP has been a work in progress since about 2001, but received non-profit status two years ago and currently leads programs in the U.S., Africa, and India, connecting “artists who wish to share their talents with children who can benefit from artistic encounters.”

An upcoming event in New York City will feature performances by Broadway’s hottest stars. All proceeds from the event will benefit ASTEP. If you live in the city or plan to visit during the holiday season, be sure to see A NYC Christmas on December 15.

Read more about ASTEP and other organizations taking action against poverty…

Think Pink

The Dancers Care Foundation raises funds for breast cancer awareness, prevention, and research and encourages young dancers to utilize their talents for the cause. By offering several ways that dance students and studios can get involved, they encourage young dancers to utilize their talents to support and improve the quality of life for cancer victims.

Coming into Being

Genesis: Sarajevo provides dance and artistic opportunities to young people throughout Bosnia-Herzogovina. Currently the project offers two-week workshops twice a year to students in Bosnia but has plans to develop a full-fledged company and seeks to expand their work to other war-torn areas of the world. Amy Danielson, the organization’s founder was featured this month (Dec 2008) in Dance Magazine (Dancing for a Cause, by Nancy Alfaro).

Changing the Community

The Center for Contemporary Dance in Winter Park, Florida is a nonprofit center for dance education and home to six contemporary dance companies. The organization also seeks to inspire their community to “act as imaginative agents of change” through their Dance For Change program. Their initiatives address race, tolerance, and social equality, provide arts education to underserved commuities, provide opportunities to artists that explore the theme of Global Peace in their work,  and invite young people to write about how they can impact the world. Those interested in their work can also find them on twitter, myspace, and facebook.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

- Gandhi

Today is World AIDS Day

Because of the holiday I could not produce an in-depth post on this subject, although it is one near to my heart. Selly at Dance Outlook has a provided a post for Bloggers Unite today, however. Head over there and check it out!

In addition, check out the following organizations and consider offering your support!

New!

Get Behind the Texas Ballet

Dance organizations in the United States are nearly always struggling.  There are lots of complicated reasons for this – government belt-tightening on arts funding, poor management of non-profit finances within the company, or an uncertain economy forces audiences to stay home and watch dance on tv rather than attend a live performance.  In addition to yearly pledges and donations from generous supporters, dance companies rely on funding and attendance to continue their mission, and many are falling short of their goals.

One such dance organization in Texas is in desperate need to raise funds.  The Texas Ballet Theater calls the Dallas/Fort Worth area home and Read more

Thanks for a successful Teach-a-thon!

Thanks so much, everyone,

for your participation and for reading! Students, I hope that you discoverd some fresh information that you can take with you into the new school year. If there is something that really hit home, something that you would have liked to have seen here, or you just want to say “hello,” please take a moment to leave a comment.

I would like to thank all of the wonderful dance bloggers who took the time to write or add their work to the listing. There are some really wonderful and generous people within this community and I am so glad to have “met” all of you.

In case you missed any of them, here are the links again.

Organize Your Life and Nurture Your Spirit: Dianne from Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes offers tips on dancewear, visualization, journaling, and getting back into class!

Scholarships for Dancers: Heading to college? Seniors, now is the time to start working on applications for school and financial aid. DanceHere offers great advice!

Strengths and Weaknesses: Everyone has them. Here are some tips and encouragement as you attempt to master your strengths and overcome your weaknesses!

Sarah at What a Wonderful World! writes about one of her favorite belly dance students. A heartwarming reminder that you’re never too old to learn something new!

Challenges In Professional Dance: DanceHere offers the first in a series about dance careers. If you are thinking about a career as a professional dancer, don’t miss this post!

Why The Competition?: A post about the reasons dancers compete. Carl, a lindy hopper, competes in partner dancing but his post is applicable to all forms of competitive dance.

Start The Year Off Right: Leslea, assistant director at Uptown Dance shares with students how to be prepared and productive in the coming year of classes. Written as though you were right there in her classroom, she hits all the highlights of the first month of classes.

Jobs in Dance Companies: Considering or researching a career in dance? Performing professionally is not the only option open to dancers. Check out this post from DanceHere.

What to expect from your first ballet class: If you are taking ballet for the first time, Selly from Dance Outlook offers a thorough article on how to prepare and what to expect, complete with some great video.

Negativity: Could your complaining, insecurities, and negativity affect others in your dance class? My experience with a student whose negative attitude was turned around with positive reinforcement.

Careers for Dancers in Media and Communications: Continuing their series, DanceHere highlights careers in film, photography, and more that combine an interest in or knowledge of dance.

Improve Dance With Your Eyes Closed: Sanna, a performance specialist who blogs with dancer, Janie at DanceMind, expresses the importance of sleep for dancers who want to be at their best.

Vertically Challenged: My own tips and suggestions for improving your technique, height, landing, and musicality in vertical jumping (or, sauté).

Additional posts for students can be found under the “for students” category!

Thanks again!

Teach-a-thon Coming Soon!

The Back-to-school Teach-a-thon is less than a week away!  I just wanted to remind everyone that is participating to send me your links once you have published your post.  It is ok to publish and then send me the links during the event.  They can still be added as they are received.  Plus, there’s still time to RSVP here.  Many of you are already ahead of the game.  If inspiration strikes again, feel free to submit more posts that fit our topic.  Need a review of what this event is all about?  Visit the Teach-a-thon Info and Questions pages.

If you’re not submitting a post but are awaiting all of the great info coming your way, be sure to tune in August 19 – 23!

Teach-a-thon: Questions

Some questions about the upcoming Teach-a-thon have been raised and I thought I would address them here in case others have been wondering the same things.

1. What kind of posts are you looking for? I’ve purposefully left this very open so that a wide variety of dance topics and styles may be covered. Your post could be about anything that might benefit or inform students of dance. Some examples: methods of improving technique, a “how-to” for a particular skill, ways to enhance performance, words of encouragement or inspiration, advice on dealing with problems dancers/students face, etc. The possibilities are endless!
2. Do I have to be a teacher to participate? No Read more

You’re Invited! (The Back to School Teach-a-thon)

Ready or not, summer is ending and a new school year is about to begin. Many dance studios, programs, and colleges will be making the transition from a reduced summer schedule to a new and busy season of classes. I know that many teachers use these days of summer to re-assess, regroup, refresh and prepare for the coming year. I’m sure that many of you have thoughts, advice, and reminders for your students that would also benefit our student readers here as they, too, prepare for the season ahead. Therefore, I have decided to host the first-ever Back to School Teach-a-thon August 19 – 23. Here’s how to participate: Read more

Celebrate National Dance Week

National Dance Week is approaching ( April 25-May 4, 2008 ) and if you haven’t already, now is the time to decide how you’re going to celebrate!  Obviously if you’re visiting this blog, you probably have an interest in dance and may already feel like you are immersed in its practice.  However, there are lots of ways you can observe this special week that will enrich your own or your school’s dance experience. And who knows, they may even spill over into the rest of the year, too!!

Sometimes in movement classes we are so focused on learning dance that we forget that appreciating and understanding the art form is just as important.  Of course, we learn to appreciate through doing, but here are some other ways to discover and embrace dance during National Dance Week and beyond.

• See dance – Attend or watch videos of professional performances (it doesn’t matter if it’s a style you are studying) or view video biographies of dancers/choreographers.  If there are no opportunities to attend a professional performance, try a local university with a dance program or a community group that performs ethnic dance forms.
• Discuss dance – Share observations about a performance, dance artist, or a significant event in dance history with your class, your friends, your peers, or your family.  An in-class discussion is great if you’ve experienced something as a group.
• Write about dance – Write a review or report about what you observed about a performance or learned about a particular dancer, company, or choreographic work.  You could share these with your dance class, in school, or even on your own blog.
• Read about dance – There are lots of books and online resources on dance history, dance vocabulary and technique, biographical texts, and dance criticism (reviews of dance performances).
• Make dance – Try your hand at your own choreography, guide your students through the basics of composition, produce your own dance performance (don’t forget to consider costume, makeup, and lighting if available), or share your knowledge of dance with someone else who has never experienced it.

Another important way to celebrate National Dance Week is to reach out to the community.  Many dance studios perform at local festivals, parades, and other events in honor of NDW.  Some other methods of reaching out would be to hold free classes or an open house at your dance school, perform at nursing homes or hospitals, or give workshops at public schools or boy/girl scout meetings.  Perhaps you could also organize volunteering opportunities for your dance studio during this week. Activities like road clean-up, serving at a soup kitchen, or collecting canned goods for a food bank, reflect that dancers, in addition to giving the gift of their art, seek to improve and strengthen their communities in other ways.

As we lead up to NDW, I want to discuss in more detail how teachers can celebrate by incorporating a little dance history, performance, and discussion into their classes; help you build a dance library for your school; and address why all of this is worth the effort.

What are some ways that you have celebrated National Dance Week?  Is there anything you’d add to my list above?