Organic Relief: Relax Pack Review & Giveaway

A while back my friend Tammy over at Inside Ballet Technique encouraged me to check out a company called Relax Pack. Relax Pack is a “Woman Owned Small Business in Scottsdale, Arizona” that produces organic herbal therapy packs. The owner, Tiffany Buntin, suffers symptoms of chronic pain and fatigue and is diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The challenges she faces have inspired the creation of her own line of herbal therapy packs which are completely organic. I encourage you to read more of Tiffany’s story at the Relax Pack website.

Dancer Therapy

Many dancers utilize hot and cold therapy packs to relieve sore muscles and injury pain, not to mention dancers and teachers who suffer from chronic conditions. So, on Tammy’s recommendation, I did a bit of investigation and discovered two more great reasons to share Relax Pack with you.

1. Support of Small Business and Female Entrepreneurs — I like sharing products by folks who originate and believe in their own products. Tiffany developed Relax Packs to fill a need, she offers personal attention and has created a community of support for others like herself.
2. Organic Options — I appreciate Earth’s ability to provide what is often the best solution for its inhabitants. It just makes sense to me to reduce use of chemicals (particularly in products that come in contact with our skin) whenever possible. Each family and individual does what they can, but I believe in supporting companies’ “green” efforts whenever possible. Relax Pack, in addition to producing an organic product, makes an annual contribution to CarbonFund.org to help offset the company’s emissions.

So, encouraged by my initial investigation, I approached Tiffany about a possible review of her product on Dance Advantage. She generously offered several products for review and, in addition, has agreed to give away some Relax Packs to readers.

Three Packs, Four Formulas

Relax Pack produces three different packs, including a Neck Wrap, Body Pack, and Eye Pillow. Each of these are manufactured in four formulas: Pain Relief, Relax & Soothe, Revive & Awaken, and All Natural Unscented. I sampled all three of the packs and the three aromatic formulas.

For complete details on the ingredients of each pack and formula, please see the Relax Pack website.

My impressions

Construction – The stitching on each pack is consistent and seems quite durable. It appears to me that one would have to abuse these packs to destroy them, and each is packaged with clear and simple instructions for how to heat and cool the packs. The organic cotton feels soft, yet sturdy and is color-coded in fresh, solid colors according to the ingredient formula inside.
Revive and Awaken – I received a Neck Wrap in this formula. The design rests easily on my shoulders and I’ve quickly popped it in the microwave for heating on those early mornings when I manage to rise before my little one to get some work done. The aroma really does have an invigorating yet calming affect, and helps me focus my foggy morning brain for writing.

Pain Relief – The peppermint, spearmint, lavender, ginger, and eucalyptus in this formula is a really pleasing combination. I’ve used heat therapy “beanbags” that cool way too quickly. I tried the heated Body Pack for some soreness after dancing and was pleased to find that the flax seed inside the Relax Pack held the heat for a long time.

Relax and Soothe – I received this formula in both the Body Pack and Eye Pillow. For someone who stares at a computer screen a lot, the Eye Pillow is welcome relief. It is recommended for cold therapy and can be kept between uses inside a resealable plastic bag or container in the freezer. Again, it keeps its cool. This formula contains linden leaf and flower which, according to the handy cards packaged with the order, is said to ease painful cramps. I used the Body Pack on a day that I experienced cramping (of the female variety) and the heated pack did offer relief. The fragrant ingredients are a pleasant and comforting feature.

Cost – Organic does not always mean more expensive. I was pleased to discover that Tiffany’s Relax Packs are comparable (and sometimes less expensive) than other heat and cold therapy packs available even at WalMart and other big stores. They would make a great gift for yourself, for a teacher, or anyone else you know with aches, pains, or stress.

The bottom line: I cannot offer any negatives. I am very pleased with the packs and continue to use them regularly.

The Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed!

Tiffany is offering prizes to three winners on the blog. To enter the contest, all you need to do is comment on this post using the “Speak Your Mind” comment form below this article. Be sure to include the email address at which I can contact you, should you be a winner.

In your comment, tell us which formula you would most like to try (detailed descriptions can be found at Relax Pack) and why.

If you are a Dance Advantage email newsletter subscriber, be sure to write “I’m a subscriber!” in your comment and use the same email address with which you subscribe to the newsletter (they need to match, this is how I verify that you are a subscriber). For this contest, email subscribers (sorry no RSS feed subscribers this time) will receive an extra entry. If you are not already a subscriber, you can sign up before the close of the contest, enter with your comment, and still receive the extra entry.

Winners will be drawn from all entries using random.org. This contest is open only to those in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. My apologies to those in other locations.

The grand prize, offered to the 1st winner drawn will receive:
- 1 neck wrap
- 1 body pack
- 1 eye pillow (in any combination of formula)

Winner #2 will receive:
- 1 neck wrap (in any formula)

Winner #3 will receive
- 1 eye pillow (in any formula)

Entry comments will be accepted from now until midnight (EST) on Friday, March 19. At that point the contest will close, the drawing will be conducted, and the winners will be contacted via email. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or I will have to move on to the next name drawn. When all winners have been contacted and confirmed, I will update this post with the announcement. Further information can be found in the giveaway policy.

Update!

The awesome thing about reviewing products is that sometimes I find items that I like or use so much that I want to endorse them beyond the review. Occasionally I’m also able to earn a little something in return for my efforts. And so I’m pleased to let you know that now if you navigate to RelaxPack from Dance Advantage, any purchases you make will help support my efforts to keep free content flowing on this blog!

S.T.E.P. Your Way To Social Media Success

Dance Advantage is very happy to announce Suzanne Blake Gerety’s new column Studio Bizwax! To wax lyrical means “to talk about in an enthusiastic and effusive way.” I can’t think of a better description for the way Suzanne fulfills her role in the dance community. Not only is she the Vice President of her her mom’s very successful dance studio but she is the co-founder of DanceStudioOwner.com, a wonderful site for those who are exploring, starting, or growing their dance studio business. I am an affiliate for DSO because I have witnessed first-hand the care Suzanne has taken to make the site a a truly useful support for studio owners. I’ve found her to be a wonderful resource and she’s been a great friend as well so I am thrilled that she’ll be sharing her knowledge with Dance Advantage readers bimonthly.

-Nichelle

Here’s how you can S.T.E.P. your way to social media success!

#1. Share

Retweet other people’s posts, quote and link to great blog posts by others, share what you are reading, let people know information that could benefit from.

Be a connector.

Social media is about making connections.  One of the things we do with our dance studio fan page is to post about local theatre productions and community events.  Why?  Because we know that the hours of dance lessons that our young dancers have has a potential impact on local theater. We want to spread goodwill to our sister arts organizations.  See yourself as part of the thread woven between your arts community.

#2. Teach

Post favorite quotes, share your expertise, add value, be generous with your knowledge it does make a difference.

A crossroads for dance studios. Many dance studios today are still very protective, not only their class schedules, but tuition fees, competition schedules, studio policies and more. It’s the fear that the studio across town will take or steal information that would cause that studio to lose students. I completely understand the worry.

Here’s the reality. I also represent a demographic I like to call ‘busy mom’. I’m the target market for many dance studios, I have two young kids. First thing in the morning, I don’t read the local paper. But I do read the newsfeed on Facebook and I certainly check trending topics and updates on Twitter. Text messaging is the best way to reach me.

How will you serve this demographic by decreasing your presence, hiding a class schedule, or making registering for classes a challenge? Dance studios want more students; they want their current students to be loyal raving fans. Social media is a great way to achieve this if done well.

#3. Engage

Talk to people! Reply to them, help them, connect people, be social, have fun. Be yourself, let your personality shine through.

Take it one step at a time. Social media is not a race with a winner crowned at the end. You’re missing the point if your approach to social media for your business is all about getting more followers as fast as you can. Soon enough it will become commonplace for every business and brand to have some sort of social media outlet to connect with their clients, customers, and students. We all started with one fan or one follower.

If you are a studio owner (or are going to be), I highly recommend Dance Studio Owner. It’s membership includes studio owners from 44 of the United States and countries all over the world including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, People’s Republic of China, and Norway.

Let’s Get Moving! GIVEAWAY

This giveaway is now closed. Winners have been contacted!

The holidays are coming and I’ve got a gift for you!

‘Tis the season for giving, and giving big. So this time I’m bundling four great giveaway items. Each one presents a unique strategy for inspiring children to investigate different movement forms, including ballet, creative dance, and yoga. Great for families OR teachers, these products encourage creative ways for kids and adults to explore movement together and are sure to spark a child’s interest in the physical practice, art, and delight of moving.

TWO lucky readers will win the “Let’s Get Moving!” package which includes the four products featured below. Parents, teachers, all are invited to participate. All that is required for entry into the contest is a comment on this blog post. Scroll down for additional details.

Up, Down, and All Around

Up, Down, & All Around is structured like a creative movement class and feels very much as if creator Stacey Pepper Schwartz is leading a class in your living room. Over a period of about 30 minutes, Stacey directs her participants and viewers through warm-up, fundamental skill practice and movement exploration. She provides time for students to slow down with some yoga-inspired breathing and balancing, allowing the movers to refocus while building head-tail awareness in the spine and length in the body. The movement in the DVD is accessible to all experience levels. There is nothing pretentious about the material, the environment, or the contributors. There is even a bonus, create-a-dance activity which demonstrates choreography building through chance as the children pick out a random sequence of movements which are then performed and practiced to spirited accompaniment. Read the full review!

Creative Yoga Games for Kids

“Flash cards” for yoga and pilates are not new. However creator, Edna Reinhardt from Over the Moon Yoga & Dance Studio in Victoria, Australia, has created a unique educational kit, pulling the best from both yoga and creative dance practices to allow children to explore and create movement. The colorful set of 48 cards are big and bright with pictures of adorable children doing the described poses. Four of the cards offer activities to try, but Reinhardt has also packed a wealth of information and games into the accompanying booklet. She blends creative movement ideas with yoga in ways I never would have considered, yet they make a perfect pairing. Parents and kids will love the challenge and long-term benefits of combining yoga and dance in such a creative way. Teachers will love the clear instruction on incorporating these into their lesson plans.

My First Ballet Collection

My First Ballet Collection is a great choice for those wishing to nurture enthusiasm for ballet among children of all ages. Younger children will enjoy being introduced to colorful characters and beautiful dancing. Older children will benefit from the opportunity to sample a mélange of ballet specimens. Twenty-six ballet excerpts are introduced with a caption indicating the ballet’s title, music composer, and excerpt heading. The DVD also conveniently offers the option to view by chapter for easy navigation among the selections. The excerpts are highly accessible and are well-chosen to stand alone. Read the full review!

My Mama Had a Dancing Heart

This book is a personal favorite. I haven’t been asked to review it but I am happy to share it with you. I particularly love the earthy toned images of Raúl Colón’s etched watercolor illustrations. They dance on the pages to the musical “tip-tapping, song-singing, finger-snapping” text. The author, the late Libba Moore Gray, is a respected poet, actress, dancer, and high school teacher from Knoxville, TN. A mama herself, Gray’s children and grandchildren are accomplished dancers who continue to make their mark in Eastern Tennessee. In My Mama Had a Dancing Heart, a young ballerina fondly recalls how her mother’s unique energy and outlook has inspired her dancing. However, this frolic through the seasons feels universal in its celebration of the bond between a parent and child. A poignant reminder that we experience life through movement as much as any of our other senses, the lilting rhythms of Gray’s verse honor the everyday moments which shape and give meaning to our lives.

How to Enter & Contest Details

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me how you or your family get moving (It doesn’t have to be dance-related. Just describe what gets you up and active. If you are not as active as you’d like to be, you can talk about that too!)
2. Be sure your comment is linked to a valid e-mail address (very important if you want to win!) – Your email will NOT be stored except for the purposes of this giveaway. It will be seen only by the site administrator and you will not be contacted unless you are a winner (no need to place your address in the comment itself, just put it in the mail field when you leave your comment!
3. You have until Monday, December 7 at Midnight (Eastern Standard Time – U.S.) to enter.
4. I’ll do a random drawing, contact the winner, and make an announcement here on Dance Advantage on Tuesday afternoon, December 8.
   
5. I’m afraid I must limit winners to those within the U.S. My sincerest apologies to loyal readers beyond!

Dance parents, teachers and students, if you are new to Dance Advantage, I encourage you to look around. The posts found here are great starting points or just use the navigation bar at the top to find articles of particular interest to you. Contact me if you have any thoughts or questions and subscribe via RSS feed or email!

Winners of the Richard Maddock CD Giveaway Announced!

This is just a quick anouncement to say thank you to all who participated in Dance Advantage’s first giveaway! Nine winners have been chosen, contacted, and confirmed.

Congratulations to…

Amanda D., Heather, and Isabelle – winners of Music for Movement and Imaginations!

Mary Susan, Karen, and Sarah – winners of Ballet Studio Inspirations: Volume Three!

Amanda L., Jill, and Angel – winners of The Garden Within!

I am so happy to be sharing this great music with you!

If you did not walk away with a CD this time, be sure to check out Richard’s website (click the image below). You can preview many of his tracks and make purchases online. Plus he’s got even more new music on the way, so bookmark his page! Also, stay tuned here. There will be other chances to win in the future as I explore opportunities to give away free stuff to readers! Yay (look out Oprah lol)!

Richard Maddock Music — CD Review and Giveaway!

Richard Maddock is an accomplished musician as well as a seasoned dance class and exam accompanist. He is currently Head Accompanist at The Pia Bouman School of Creative Movement and Ballet, in Toronto, Canada and has written, performed, and engineered eight CD’s for dance in the last three years. I recently came across Richard online and he graciously offered five of these discs for review here, on the blog.

To top it off, he agreed to donate nine CD’s to give away to nine lucky Dance Advantage readers!

Music for Movement and Imaginations

Ballet Class & Creative Movement (for children ages 3 and up)

I’m not currently teaching preschool ballet, but this is a CD I wish had been around a few years ago when I was teaching younger children! Dance teacher and collaborator, Kelly Jones-Hart has developed a class structure that effectively blends the conceptual exploration of creative dance with basic ballet technique. And with over 40 tracks, there is plenty of material and alternatives to spread over many classes. The disc provides brief notes on each track explaining its possible uses in class. The notes are not a how-to manual. Some familiarity with creative dance methods would certainly increase the variety of ways you could use the musical material. However, plié, tendus, relevé, ballet walks, sauté – it’s all here – forming a cohesive lesson format whether you are comfortable with creative movement concepts or simply looking for a way to enliven your children’s ballet classes.

Musically, the selections are simple but engaging. Composer, Richard Maddock knows when to keep the beat “readable” so that young dancers can stay in time with the exercise. And, he is playful, adding flourishes and fun when trying to inspire little imaginations. There are a variety of “freeze” dance selections with random pauses, and a group of compositions designed for Enchaînment (combination of steps or concepts). These often switch tempo or meter and could be applied many ways to whatever you are working on with your students. Also included are seven “Dance-a-Story” arrangements. In these, the music changes and progresses in a way that suggests a plot or sets a scene. Two sample stories are included in the album notes and a general outline is offered for the others but, the music itself will encourage your own creativity.

Although this is most certainly music for young dancers, I appreciate that the musical cues and changes are subtle and that the compositions have an elementary sophistication compared to some of the “baby ballet” albums out there. Because of this, the CD could be functional for children’s classes well beyond the preschool years, extending the usefulness of this album.

For further detail or to preview some of the tracks, click the image above.

Ballet Studio Inspirations: Volume Two and Volume Three

Richard creates from a colorful palette of musical hues. His compositions for dance classes are expressive. It is easy to find inspiration in the material for the choreography of exercises because he paints attractive landscapes of sound. But, it is the lyrical quality of the songs that also make these tracks enjoyable to dance to. They encourage the student to perform the exercises rather than just complete them, which makes a teacher’s job easier in the long run.

Volume Two includes 14 compositions, beyond the 31 barre and centre selections, which are recommended for pointe work. And overall it has rather lengthy tracks, particularly for barre. As a result, this CD is probably more appropriate for advanced students than beginners. Containing an hour and 20 minutes of music, the disc offers plenty of selections to mix and match for different lesson plans. What I found unique about this album was its delicate orchestrations. Though the piano is the focus, there are textures added beneath which suggest the richer dynamics of an orchestra without overpowering the dancers during class.

Volume Three, on the other hand, is special for its purely piano sound. Recorded on a Concert Series Grand while corresponding class exercises were performed, this album more closely resembles the experience of having a live musician at your disposal, a luxury that few dance studios enjoy. Though in the notes it suggests that the music was composed to compliment a pre-professional level ballet class, I feel that this CD might be more adaptable to varying levels than the previous disc. The shorter tracks have much to do with this. The compositions, consistently featuring 64 bars of music, also seem more symmetrical overall.

On both discs, it is helpful that the selections are ordered and titled according to how they might be utilized in a class. However, the compositions could be easily rearranged (perhaps on your iPod or mp3 player) according to preference. I also appreciate that the liner notes include the time signature of the piece, how many bars (measures) are available, and note changes or breaks in pattern. Knowing these details can make choreographing exercises a much smoother process.

For further detail or to preview some of the tracks, click the images above.

As Creation Unfolds: Part Three and The Garden Within

While the first three albums are definitely designed for class use, these two albums include longer compositions more suitable for creative or improvisational dance, or composition. Again, I visualize landscapes as I listen to Richard’s work. Most tracks have a contemplative quality.

As Creation Unfolds Part Three is the shorter (i.e. fewer songs) of the two albums. However most of its tracks are well over four minutes long. A favorite on the disc is “The Newborn Fawn.” Its skipping rhythms make it the most dance-y of the compositions and, as the shortest track, it could certainly be used for a lilting ballet in your next recital. “Woodland Nymphs” is another standout. I instantly recognized this one as a great fit for a creative dance class. Beginning with gentle pauses and gradually increasing in tempo, I picture children making shapes and exploring in a scarf dance. Incorporating several changes in texture, the music seems to have “events” that could easily be turned into a story dance.

On The Garden Within, the selections “Oh What Wonders” and “Gently Guiding,” in particular, produced movement images and motifs in my mind as I listened. Their lyrical melodies and slightly more stirring tempos make them relevant for phrases or class choreography. My most pleasant surprise came at the end of this body of work, however. The final track, “Moving Forward” is underlined with percussive elements. This, coupled with its Asian-inspired gongs and chords, give the song a Cirque du Soleil vibe. What I find most compelling, however, is the tempo fluctuation in the piece. Of all the tracks on these two albums, this is my favorite.

The Garden Within and As Creation Unfolds Part Three are both filled with lovely compositions. They are a pleasure to listen or meditate to, making them ideal for relaxation, yoga, or stretching (inside or outside of class).

For further detail or to preview some of the tracks, click the images above.

All CD cover images are the photographic work of Kim Fiocca.

Here’s How To Enter:

Sorry, the giveaway is now closed!

Winners have been contacted

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Richard Maddock Compositions
Inspiring CDs for Ballet Class and Choreographic Work
www.richardmaddock.com