Archive for the ‘2009 | 07 | July’ Category

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Ask Rhee Gold
2 Tips for Teachers
A Better You
On My Mind

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Teacher in the Spotlight | Joan Lewis Meade
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Feature Articles
Ballet Scene | Vibrant Violette by Steve Sucato
Trim and Financially Fit by Misty Lown
Tiffany’s Dance Empire by David Favrot
Dancing With the Spirits by Vanina and Dennis Wilson
What’s in a Title? by Melissa Hoffman
Nonprofits: Filling a Need by Lisa Traiger
View From the Front by David Favrot
Put Some Show in Your Biz by Hedy Perna
Small But Mighty by Maureen Janson
Holiday Show Potpourri

Advice for dance teachers

Dear Rhee,
I am a ballet school owner who has been in business for 21 years. Recently a student’s mother told me that her daughter would not be returning in the fall because they feel that I am old-fashioned. (I am 44 years old.) The mom said that requiring my students to wear a black leotard and pink tights to ballet class was “out of style” and that her daughter wanted to wear colors that would look better with her complexion. She also told me that it was ridiculous to require my students to wear their hair pulled back.

Students sometimes quit because ballet isn’t right for them or because they want to try something else, but I’ve never lost a student because I was “old-fashioned.” My dress code has been in place since I opened my school and I have never had a complaint about it.

What really concerns me is that this student is very popular at school and among my other students. She and her mother are badmouthing me, and I am afraid I will lose other students because of the dress code. I am so upset that someone would leave my school because of something that has nothing to do with the quality of my training. Should I eliminate my dress code? Please help! —Mariah

Hello Mariah,
Please don’t give in to this ridiculous mom and student. There are parents and kids who don’t understand or appreciate dance like those who have the passion do. It’s OK; we will not win everyone over all the time. But we are the spark that lights the fire for those who choose to discover the dance in their soul! It’s sad, and hard to understand, but some students look in the mirror and notice their complexion and not the dance spirit that is looking them in the face.

If you don’t already do it, I suggest that you include a statement about why you have a dress code in your literature or handbooks. When students and parents understand that there’s a reason for the dress code, they are more likely to accept it without question.

If you are “old-fashioned,” so am I and so are thousands of other dance educators who read Dance Studio Life. I will wear that badge proudly, and I’m sure others would too. You are to be applauded and appreciated! —Rhee

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Dear Rhee,
My dance studio is in its tenth year of business. It is fairly small, but I keep trying new things to attract more students since two other studios are nearby. Since I am older than most studio owners just starting out, I have younger teachers working for me. All of them were my students.

One of them, whom I have known since she was a baby, is in her early 20s, and her mother is my receptionist. Occasionally I get complaints that she is too strict with the students, and I have to defuse the situation with the parents so as not to lose a student. Then there are students whom this teacher gets really close to—she babysits them, drives them to and from the dance studio and competitions, and takes them on outings.

At a competition this teacher told one of my students that she was getting too close to one of the team members and needed to be friends with all of the members. The girl was devastated and her mother complained to me. We have had some clique-type trouble at the studio, but I felt that a competition was not the place to take care of this. When I told the teacher that she should have let me deal with this situation, she went crying to her mother. Every time I try to discuss problems with her, this is what happens, and then her mother becomes angry with me.

I can sit down and discuss problems with my other teachers like adults. Is it a problem that this teacher and her mother get so close to the students? I feel it compromises the student–teacher relationship and that other students might see the behavior as favoritism. How should I handle this? —Ashlee

Hi Ashlee,
The first thing that comes to mind is that this teacher is not mature enough to be teaching. If she were, she would understand that a proper teacher–student (or teacher–parent) relationship should be professional at all times. That means that teachers don’t hang out with their students. This teacher should baby-sit only children who are not her students, and she should not be taking her students on outings.

There is another conflict here: the teacher’s mom works for you and gets mad at you for telling her daughter (one of your employees) what you expect as boss and owner. This teacher and her mom don’t understand the professional side of the relationship.

The fact that you have to deal with one ounce of stress when speaking your mind to an employee is a situation that you need to change. Employees who cry when they are told how they can improve or what is expected of them are not emotionally ready to be teaching.

Yes, you are the one who should be handling the clique issues you described and a competition is not the place to do it. Have one last talk with this teacher and her mom, and if things don’t change, then it’s time for you to initiate the change that has to happen. I wish you luck. —Rhee

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Dear Rhee,
We are having a big problem at the school where I teach. It is early registration time for next year, and suddenly people don’t want their children to be in the same class as some other students. The owner of the school is very good at letting the students know that that they belong in the class she has put them in. I know parents want their children to be in a more advanced level, but that isn’t so much the problem. It seems like people think they are better than one another and don’t want to be in class with them.

This idea is so far from the studio culture the owner has created. Our students are diverse—all ages, races, religions, and sizes. It is truly a melting pot and everyone is accepted for who they are. The philosophy of the school is making sure that every student who walks through the door feels loved and accepted. The owner is always on her game and nips any gossip or negativity in the bud, so we can’t figure out where this is coming from.

Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. If I learn nothing else from this experience, I am learning how, if I ever become a parent myself, not to behave. —Annabelle

Dear Annabelle,
Although the behavior of these parents goes against your school’s philosophy, it’s obvious that they feel comfortable enough to express their opinions. So in order to solve this problem, you and the school owner need to figure out why this has happened. Has one mom spread her opinion to other parents, causing them to jump on the bandwagon? Could it be that the parents have been allowed to express their opinions on similar things in the past and so they feel perfectly comfortable telling you who should or should not be in their child’s class?

The parents need to be told that the school owner is the only decision maker regarding class placement and that their input will not be considered. She is the person who knows which students need a challenge and which are not ready for it, and she is a professional when it comes to those decisions.

It’s time for her to make changes so that parents don’t feel comfortable enough to tell her how to run her school. My first instinct is to say something along the lines of, “I appreciate your opinions, but decisions on class placement are based on my professional knowledge. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to listen to an inexperienced parent who thinks your child isn’t capable of being in a particular class.”

Talk to your boss about how you can keep fighting for what you believe is the right culture for the school, and tell her I said not to let anyone tell her how to do things. All the best to you. —Rhee

By Mignon Furman

In traveling to many cities on my audition tour, I have become more aware than ever of many young dancers’ inability to turn well. Look for more tips on improving this aspect of technique next month.

Tip 1
The first thing dancers must understand is that to turn, one must be able to balance. Therefore at the end of barre exercises, teachers should introduce the concept of balance through the understanding of weight placement. Have the children practice rising onto demi-pointe with all toes evenly placed on the floor, hips over fully stretched knees, shoulders over hips, and the weight forward over the balls of the feet.

Tip 2
Practicing the use of the head and eyes in spotting is important. Have students shuffle around quickly, keeping the feet together with legs parallel, or skip around. Introducing turning steps at a fairly young age helps students grasp the feeling of turning. Changement, soubresaut, and échappé are a few steps that can be turned; young children can accomplish quarter- and half-turns.

Combine anatomy and imagery to make port de bras sing

By Suzanne Martin, PT, DPT

Nothing is more beautiful or exhilarating than a port de bras. I love the saying “The legs dance the music and the upper body sings the movement.” But getting to the point where your dancing sings is not always easy. Often the problems are obvious to teachers, but what a correction really means or where the work should be happening might not be so evident to students. This month we examine some tools to guide corrections related to the upper body, and in the next few columns we will sequentially dissect the lower body and that all-important turnout.

A port de bras reveals much about a dancer. Wooden arms are a giveaway for lack of dancing expertise, no matter what the style. In my opinion, achieving the detailed perfection we expect from advanced dancers is far harder in the arms than in the legs. Arms should développé just like the legs.

An entire region of the brain is devoted to the coordination of the eyes, head, and arms. In a class on motor control I learned that for every degree of range of motion, it’s likely that 19 muscles are in action. Some of those muscles function as stabilizers and some as movers of the action. But how do you coordinate all that?

It helps to think of the upper body as three parts: the head and neck, the ribcage and its spine, and the shoulder girdle. An amazing fact is that the shoulder girdle (the breastbone, shoulder blades, collarbones, and arms) free-float on the ribcage (see Observe in “Visualize, Observe, Exercise”). The girdle attaches to the rest of the skeleton only where the collarbones meet the breastbone (sternum) in the sternoclavicular joint. This joint, among the strongest in the body, holds so well that in falls, the collarbones tend to break before this joint will become dislocated.

Musculature Stabilizers
We can categorize the deep muscles of the upper body by observing the surface anatomy of the body.

First find the stabilizers, what I call the “upper core.” These muscles balance and control the head and neck and anchor the shoulder blades. They can be visualized in the ribcage: Look at the bottom of the sternum. See how the ribs create an inverted V? By squeezing this V together and deflating the ribs below the breasts, you can activate the upper core.

The diaphragm, oblique abdominal muscles, and intercostal (between the ribs) muscles create a foundation for head balance and arm use. The action of the diaphragm, the big, horizontal muscle that divides the upper and lower portions of the body, is easy to observe: Simply place a hand just below the breasts at the midline and sniff a few times.

Strengthening the upper core prevents sway back, a very common dancer posture.

Shoulder blades
Learning to anchor the shoulder blades into the ribcage provides the leverage needed for optimal control of the arms.

A common complaint among teachers is that when students raise their arms past horizontal, they lift their shoulders. The shoulder muscles that attach at the ribcage in the back of the armpit area (the teres major, teres minor, and serratus anterior) work to anchor and elevate the heavy arm. You can find them by lifting your arm a bit to the side and reaching under the arm to feel around at the tip of the shoulder blade. To enhance the feeling, lift and lower your shoulders. Learning to operate the arms from this area prevents the upper shoulders (the upper trapezius muscles) from dominating the movement. Plank exercises, especially when done on the forearms, promote strength in this area.

Chest
All dancers want to appear larger than life onstage, and a big part of presentation is being able to project. When dancers hear the commands “Open the chest” or “Bring your shoulders back,” they may either splay the ribs in front or pinch the shoulder blades together. Accomplished dancers know to use the middle and low trapezius muscles, which essentially “tack down” the shoulder blades against the ribcage, opening the chest and lifting the face toward the light. (A sunken chest tends to pull the face down, away from the light.) These muscles are difficult to see or feel unless they are well developed (see Exercise 3, “Visualize, Observe, Exercise”).

Triceps
Teachers often tell students not to let their elbows sag, which results in “chicken arms,” but they need to teach them to engage the triceps, the muscles on the back of the upper arm. A common triceps exercise in fitness training is the kickback. The upper arm is held parallel to the floor, and the elbow is bent and straightened while holding a weight in the hand.

The kickback is not enough for dancers, who need to engage the long head of the triceps that originates in the armpit; that’s what gives that floating-arms effect we like. Two Thera-Band exercises (see Exercises 1 and 2, “Visualize, Observe, Exercise”) promote the use of the triceps in dance. Doing these simple exercises before class can enhance sensation in the arms and boost coordination in combinations.

Alignment of the face and neck
If the upper-core foundation is intact, the head and neck will float on top of the shoulders. Teachers may give the command to not look down, which is good advice since the rest of the body will follow where the eyes go. Also, for optimal mechanics in turns and elevation in jumps, the weight of the head must be over the center of gravity in the pelvis.

Communication
What we say to students makes a big difference in how corrections are implemented; see “New Ways to Correct” for new approaches. Take these tips into the classroom and you and your students will be exhilarated and inspired by the improvements in their port de bras.

I have faith in you.

Visualize, Observe, Exercise

Visualize: Arms développé
Imagine starting from one imaginary back hip pocket and breathing out into the opposite armpit, like you’re filling a balloon with air. Imagine a golden ring passing around the upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, and then the palm. You’re sure to see a beautifully shaped and elevated arm.

Observe: Free-floating shoulder girdle

Shrug your shoulders up to your ears. See how the collarbones create an angle and feel how your shoulder blades slide up on the ribcage.

Exercise 1: Triceps
Hold a Thera-Band with both hands, roughly 10 inches apart, at your sternum, with the elbows pointing straight out to the sides. Straighten one elbow so that the hand goes out to the side and then return the hand to the chest, all while keeping the upper arm horizontal to the floor.

Exercise 2: Triceps
Hold the Thera-Band overhead (shoulders down!) with hands about 2 feet apart. Pull one end down and sideways toward the hip. You’ll feel the stretch in the elevated upper arm, pulling on the long head of the triceps.

Exercise 3: Trapezius
To strengthen the middle and low trapezius, lie on your abdomen and slowly move the arms from high fifth to second position and down to first. Concentrate on making a V with the point reaching down the middle of your low back as you move your arms from first to fifth while keeping the shoulder blades wide.

New Ways to Correct

1.  Old school: “Press the shoulders down.”  New school: “Lengthen the turtle’s neck out of the shell” and “Breathe out from the armpits.” Pressing the shoulders down may incite a painful grinding action of the shoulder girdle on the ribcage. What’s really needed is to hold the upper core and hold the arms from the armpits, not from the shoulders.

2. Old school: “Hold your ribs.” New school: Encourage students to engage the upper core this way: Place one hand below the breasts and the other on the sternum and gently pull the flesh in opposite directions. Then lift up by imagining that a pole that runs through the ears is moving toward the ceiling.

3. Old school: “Open the chest.” New school: “Widen the back” and “Breathe out into the arms.” Telling dancers to open the chest may lead them to pinch the shoulder blades together or splay the ribs in a sway back. Instead, students should use the back of the shoulders to anchor the arms.

4. Old school: “No chicken arms!” New school: Ask your students to fire up the triceps by lifting their elbows.  Tell them to imagine that the arms, in second position, create a ring around the back, with a sloping line extending from the shoulder through the elbow, wrist, hand, and fingers.

5. Old school: “Don’t grip your jaw.” New school: It takes practice not to grimace or tighten the jaw during difficult exercises. Challenge your students to part the lips as they dance; doing so softens the face and neck and unlocks the jaw. Take it to the next level by telling them to smile softly through the eyes. The image helps them relax and open the line of the head and neck.

6. Old school: “Don’t be so wooden!”  New school: Imagine that golden ring (see “Visualize”). In an adagio, tell the students to breathe out from the spine in opposite directions and reach the arms to second position starting from the armpits. Tell them to imagine that a drop of water is rolling in a smooth motion down the top of the arm to the third finger.

Words from the publisher

By Rhee Gold

Many school owners are experiencing a bit of trepidation about how the economy might affect registration for the fall season. This year, the customer loyalty that you’ve developed will be more important than ever. If you can hang on to most of last year’s enrollment (and hopefully add to it), the upcoming season should be a successful one. In all of the marketing research I have done, one message appears constantly: It is 10 times more expensive to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. So what can you do to encourage your current clientele to re-register this fall?

Establish a relationship with your clients that fosters loyalty. Parents will do all they can to include dance lessons in their family budget if they believe in you and your school, and if they believe that what you offer is good for their children. You might assume that if you are the best teacher you can be, customer loyalty will follow. You could be right, but there may be more to it. As hard as it is for dance teachers to understand, good training is not always at the forefront of the parents’ minds. What can be just as important —or even more so—to parents is having their children feel like they belong to something special.

This summer, consider sending thank-you cards to your students and their parents. Make them personal by writing them out and signing them yourself. Address them to the students; kids love to get mail, and the parents will be impressed that you made personal contact with their child. Thank them for being part of the studio “family” and let them know how much you look forward to seeing them in the fall. Take it one step further by mentioning something that you appreciate about each child in your note. And it’s not a bad idea to send birthday cards to students with summer birthdays.

An additional strategy is to take that personal contact a step further with a phone call. The phone is a personal and effective way to touch base with your clientele. The fact that you took the time to call impresses parents, and these phone chats allow you to gain a deeper understanding of what’s important to them.

Be sure to stay on your clientele’s minds by sending a couple of summer newsletters, either by mail or email. Include pictures (especially ones that have lots of students in them) and news about your students. Parents and kids will hang on to the newsletters, and each time they see one it will remind them of how much they love your school.

In this economy, saving dollars is a huge incentive in building loyalty. Think about offering last year’s students one class at no charge (in a dance form they do not already take). Not only will the parents appreciate the free class, but the students may decide to add the class to their curriculum, which could generate more income in the long run. Another great way to help the parents save money is to offer a free leotard or pair of shoes when they register.

Whatever your plan for maintaining customer loyalty might be, you can be sure that satisfied customers make for satisfied business owners. You owe it to yourself to keep your clients—and yourself—happy.

Words from our readers

I just saw your [August] 2007 article “Who Is Dolly Dinkle?” and thought I would share what I have learned. “Dolly Dingle” (different spelling, similar pronunciation) was a famous paper doll of a chubby, pink-cheeked young girl, which may have been considered a put-down by professionally trained ballet teachers when referring to the numerous amateur dance schools (classes were usually ballet/tap/hula/Charleston/baton, all in one hour) in competition with them, where hordes of the little darlings got to perform in cheesy recitals and in some cases got to take home plastic trophies.

However, my first ballet teacher remembered Dolly Dinkle as a well-known dancing poodle act in vaudeville in the 1920s. The dog wore a pink tutu, hence the pejorative association with unprofessional ballet training.

Interesting subject for more research!

John Mello
Sacramento, CA

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You were right to tell the teacher whose family had left and taken others with them and were doing her choreography at their new studio to cut their losses [“Ask Rhee,” January 2009]. I had the same situation last year. The atmosphere in the studio immediately improved greatly. It did impact me financially, but in every other way it was positive. Everyone in my studio was much happier, including me!

Cynde Lomonte
Cynde Lomonte’s Dance Dimensions
Missouri City, TX

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That article [“Dianne McIntyre: Modern dance’s beam of light,” March/April 2009] is fantastic! It is so thorough and so true. [Nancy Wozny] got everything right and had a way of weaving my stories and the observations of other people into a beautiful tapestry. I hope it will be intriguing to the youth and teachers in dance studios to think of branching out into the territory of modern dance at times—or at least understanding it. The photos are great too. What a delight!

Dianne McIntyre
Cleveland, OH

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I always flip to Rhee’s advice first. This last issue [March/April 2009] especially touched me. Six years ago a teacher left my studio to open one in the same neighborhood, and this past year two more teachers left my studio to open theirs. Reading the words “ethical capitalism” and knowing that Rhee recognizes that this is a major problem made me feel so much better! I am sure there are many teachers who need to hear from other dance professionals: It is not OK to work for my studio so that you will have students for your new business!

Emily Thompson
Carole Dance Studio, Mount Vernon, OH

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 I love the new column “Humor & Heartstrings”! The things kids say are some of the richest moments in a dance teacher’s life. Thanks also for a stellar magazine. I always feel connected to other teachers when I read it.

Jeanne Szkolka
Columbia Dance Academy, Columbia, MO

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Just completed reading the April/May issue—wonderful and inspiring is all I can say. As an ethnic/world dance instructor for almost 30 years with a ballet, jazz, and modern background, I am excited and thrilled to finally read about our dance forms with integrity and recognition. Your articles are well researched and well written and deserve kudos. I save every issue in its entirety. They are treasures of information.

Morwenna Assaf
Art/Dance Academy, Oceanside, CA

Director, Joanne’s Dance Studio 4, Castle Rock, CO

NOMINATED BY: Carrie Sullivan, student: “Joanne has been an inspiration to me. She has no restrictions for age or ability in her classes. It doesn’t matter if her students are young or old, experienced or beginners, graceful or clumsy. Joanne makes them feel both welcome and capable of doing extraordinary things. This ability to inspire students to do their best, combined with her concentration on technique, has paid off. Her students routinely take home honors in local and regional competitions. In addition to building confidence and learning the correct form, Joanne says that ‘the benefits to students [from her teaching] reach beyond the function of form to include self-discipline and posture, and enhanced mind and memory performance.’ I have become a stronger person, mentally and physically, and learned insights about myself through working with Joanne. The positive, supportive atmosphere in Joanne’s studio nurtures a dancing ‘family’ of dear friendships.”

AGES TAUGHT: 3 to 75.

GENRES TAUGHT: Beginning, intermediate, and advanced tap and ballet, as well as ballroom and preschool classes.

TEACHING DANCE FOR: 60 years.

WHY SHE TEACHES: I love it; I love to teach. It has to come from the heart; you can’t do what someone else wants you to do. My mother thought I should major in music, but I was always dancing.

GREATEST INSPIRATION: Annette Van Dyke, my teacher at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where my mother was a German professor. As I grew older, I realized that she had given me a fantastic foundation in dance. Also, I studied ballet with Michel Fokine’s son, Vitale, and had tap with Jimmy Slyde and Charlie Morrison and jazz with Gus Giordano.

PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING: I would like to be an inspiration for students. I tell them that not all of them will see their names on a marquee, but that it’s enough that they grow up to be a good person.

WHAT MAKES HER A GOOD TEACHER: It’s because of the training I’ve had. People who want to do something seriously come to me, because that’s what I do. Also, I had the experience of dancing in the corps of the San Carlo Ballet in Naples, Italy, in 1955.

FONDEST TEACHING MEMORY: My fondest memory is of my days as a dance teacher at Millikin in the 1960s. It was a real challenge. There was a lot of work, because I also taught eurythmics.

BEST PIECE OF ADVICE FOR STUDENTS AND/OR TEACHERS: The young people today don’t always have the focus that they should, and one reason is that their mothers like to interfere. I don’t let them do that. I’m very strict. They can only visit classes the first week of the month.

WHAT SHE WOULD DO IF SHE COULDN’T TEACH DANCE: I would teach piano. I did that for 15 years. Also, I write. I’m working on my autobiography, Destined to Dance.

MORE THOUGHTS ON DANCE AND TEACHING: I try to let students know that if they aspire to be a dancer, they have to be in here for every class. Showing up for just one or two classes a week—that’s not enough. I don’t think some of these young people realize this. Also, I encourage them to go on to college, because if the dance career doesn’t work out, they have that to fall back on.

DO YOU KNOW A DANCE TEACHER WHO DESERVES TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT? Email your nominations to David@rheegold.com or mail them to David Favrot, Dance Studio Life, 10 South Washington St., Norton, MA 02766. Please include why you think this teacher should be featured, along with his or her contact information.

By Heidi Landgraf

How do I see with fresh eyes every day? How do I challenge myself to be awake, to really see what’s happening in front of me, in my life, within my routine?

Every day we wake up and go through a series of rituals. I am making a sweeping assumption; however, even the most chaos-making artists have some kind of routine: Turn off the alarm, brush teeth, hit the shower, grab some coffee. How do I prevent myself from falling into a trance and missing it—missing the morning, the week, the year, my life?

One way I like to challenge myself is to see art everywhere and be ready for the day’s little synchronicities. When I prepare myself to be at the ready, so often I am met halfway by what I call “the universe.” Sometimes those synchronicities are dance or movement specific and happen by chance, in the flash of a moment. I live in San Francisco, and every so often I’ll make a left-hand turn at an intersection while the driver directly across from me is also turning left. Seeing the lane available, the person or (if I’m really lucky) persons kitty-corner to me are making right turns. This can be a swift and beautifully choreographed event, a rare moment that raises the hair on your arms if you are awake to it.

It can also happen when the windshield wipers coordinate perfectly with the music that is playing in the car. Everyone knows that one. But what if (and to our amazement) it lasts for a minute or more? That is another little gift from the universe to remind us that we are alive, right now, in this moment.

Have you ever been thinking of a song only to hear it in a coffee shop, at a friend’s house, or on the radio? I especially love it when these moments are accompanied by goosebumps. Wow! It’s like a direct message from a knowing and loving force outside of myself telling me, “Hey! You’re on the right track! Keep going, keep going!”

One of the ways I like to challenge myself is to see art everywhere and to be ready for the little synchronicities that can occur on any given day.

Have you ever had an idea for a dance and then someone gave you an object that you later used as a prop? How about when a friend who did not know about your idea tells you a story that fits the theme perfectly? Or perhaps as you begin to work on the dance, an opportunity to perform it appears before you’ve even had a chance to look for one, or a catalogue falls open to reveal the exact costume you were envisioning.

Sometimes life goes along, ho-hum, and we can feel burdened by the sameness of it, the mundaneness of another set of tendus or chaînés across the floor. At these times it is good to remember that if we look and listen, the world around us is ready to respond in kind. Living can be a co-creative act, a dance with what surrounds us. Sometimes we can step outside of the studio for a change and literally dance with the wind in the trees, or see the synchronicity in hearing the music we’d just been thinking of. Or we can notice a kind of choreography in an intersection. (Merce Cunningham would be thrilled that we discovered the chance occurrence in that moment.)

But I question whether it is chance or if perhaps a greater force is working on our behalf. Perhaps it is both. I like to be reminded of the aid and assistance I receive when I am open to it. I keep a quote on my wall at home, by W.H. Murray in The Scottish Himalayan Expedition (1951), to remind me to be grateful and watchful for these events: 

“. . . The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”

Are you awake and looking for that moment? Are you ready to receive it?

Former ballerina Violette Verdy takes a multifaceted approach to teaching

By Steve Sucato

“Everybody needs to be in a room with Violette Verdy,” says Patricia McBride, Verdy’s fellow former New York City Ballet star and longtime friend. “She is like sunshine.”

Verdy’s effervescence and unwavering positivity have come to characterize not only her personality but her approach to her life and career. While her successes as a performer, author, and administrator have been many, it is perhaps her career as a dance educator and coach that has proved the most far reaching and enduring.

“In a way, I learned to teach when I was learning to dance,” says Verdy, now a distinguished professor of ballet at Indiana University in Bloomington. “When your teachers are really great, they are teaching you to be a teacher.”

Verdy was born Nelly Armande Guillerm in Pont-l’Abbé, France, on December 1, 1933, to a shopkeeper father (who died when she was a year old) and a schoolteacher mother. She survived childhood illness and the German occupation of France during World War II to become an icon in the dance world and one of France’s greatest exports (see “Verdy’s Fast Stats”).

A former dancer with Roland Petit’s Les Ballets de Paris, London Festival Ballet, La Scala, and American Ballet Theatre, Verdy is best known for her two decades (1958–77) as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet (NYCB). A former director of Paris Opera Ballet and Boston Ballet, she also choreographs and has written several books, including two for children.

Of Verdy’s numerous teachers, she credits Carlotta Zambelli, a Milanese ballerina who danced with La Scala and the Paris Opera, and Madame Rousanne Sarkissian, a pre-revolution Russian dancer and teacher, as her greatest early influences. “They broke down ballet exercises into their component parts and reconstructed them gradually to get to more difficult tests and results,” says Verdy. “You were made to understand what you were doing and why you were doing it, giving you full command of each element that made up a step or phrase.”

It is Madame Rousanne’s positive demeanor as an instructor that Verdy most emulates in her teaching approach. Add to that the incomparable influence of Balanchine, and the seeds were sown to make Verdy one of the most sought after and respected ballet teachers working today.

Verdy says she takes a non-imposing approach to teaching, preferring to bring out the qualities of her students through suggestion rather than force her will on them. “I give them the pleasure of discovering what they have if they do not know it, and if they do, how to use it and how important it is,” she says. “As teachers, we are only like midwives—we deliver.”

Verdy sees ballet as a calling and those students who come to it as deserving of kindness and nurturing. “Ballet, or anything else a student might be doing, is only an attempt at self-realization and happiness,” she says. “[Students] want to be loved, recognized, admired, and respected. If they choose ballet to get that done, they want to be treated well, because ballet is a very hard road to take.”

“There is lots of love and good spirit in her classes,” says Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, another New York City Ballet alum and the director of the Chautauqua [NY] Institution summer dance program, where Verdy taught for 19 years. “She is an amazing communicator and is as comfortable teaching at Chautauqua as she is at the Bolshoi or Royal Ballet schools. Her classes are so well constructed and have so much purpose.”

A good ballet school is a cross between West Point and a seminary, Verdy recalls the late New York City Ballet co-founder Lincoln Kirstein saying. “He is exactly right,” she says.

While Verdy does not impose a dress code in her classes—she prefers to take her students as they are and as an expression of who they are, as long as they can be seen properly—she believes that “ballet is law and order.” Consequently she also believes in a strong work ethic and obeying proper rules in executing ballet exercises.

“In-class tension is very negative, but intensity is very desirable,” says Verdy. “Intensity is concentration, talent, and the control to do work that obtains a legal result, [which comes from obeying the rules]. When dancers have it too easy, their training tends to not carry weight, depth, or consistency. When they are challenged, something deeper comes.”

Like many of her own teachers, Verdy teaches the core elements of ballet, breaking them down and relating to her students the reasons for them.

“She will give us very simple ballet exercises that work on technique,” says 20-year-old Juliann Hyde, a third-year ballet major at Indiana University. “They are so simple that they are almost hard for us, because they require so much concentration.” Verdy also believes in training dancers to be great artists as well. Says Hyde, “She brings out our artistic side. Sometimes people are more interested in who can do the most turns or lift their leg the highest. She helps us see that there is much more to ballet than that.”

“In a way, I learned to teach when I was learning to dance. When your teachers are really great, they are teaching you to be a teacher.” —Violette Verdy

Verdy describes the style she teaches as a mixture of everything she has learned, with perhaps an emphasis on Balanchine’s teachings. But music is at the foundation of her signature teaching style. “I danced because of the music,” she says. “It is my number-one subject and what I rely on in my classes to teach timing.” She likes to use a wide variety of music in her classes, which she says is enjoyable for her, her students, and her accompanist. “If I have a good pianist in class, we go to town,” she says.

Verdy’s approach to teaching is like that of a chef, says Bonnefoux. “She comes to class as if to prepare a great meal with a little bit of this and a little of that.” According to McBride, Bonnefoux’s wife and a Chautauqua faculty member, Verdy calls it “cooking up a class.”

Food analogies and metaphors are commonplace in Verdy’s classes, says former student Carrie Burns Frase. “She would tell us to ‘whip our eggs,’ referring to the way she wanted us to do a double rond de jambe en l’air, and that the physicality of a plié should be chewy, like fondue.”

And when Verdy isn’t describing ballet exercises along gastronomical lines, she conjures up equally descriptive images for her students, such as describing the angle of the head as “resting it on a pillow and showing your little cheeks.” By saying, “Ride high on your horse,” she emphasizes that the effort happens from the waist down and that the upper body should appear calm.

“She uses language fully in painting mental pictures for her students,” says Michael Vernon, chair of the Department of Ballet at Indiana University.

Verdy takes a hands-on approach to “cooking” in her classes, guiding students with touch as well as with her voice. “There is compassion in the way she holds a hand or places one on the shoulder of a student,” says Bonnefoux. “That physical contact with the students makes the information pass.”

NYCB ballet master in chief Peter Martins once told Verdy that she was like a good detective in that she could see dancer talent sooner than most. “I am a really good scout for talent,” says Verdy. “I can see it in two seconds, as well as the character of a dancer. This is one of the things that helps me to go to the things they need sooner.”

For Verdy, talent is literally “the entire atmosphere the person has.” The game, she says, is that often the best talents don’t come in bodies with the most facility; that is when dance instructors have their work cut out for them. “If dancers did not have challenges, they would not be great,” she says.

The 75-year-old Verdy’s detective instincts have led her to believe that ballet as an art form may be in danger. She sees a shift in tastes, increasing demands on people’s time, and changing attitudes as threats to ballet’s future. “I need to teach as long as I can because people are getting lazier all the time; they do not want to work that hard, and probably ballet is not going to survive,” says Verdy. She does feel, however, that as long as audiences want to see ballet, there will be people to carry on its beauty and tradition.

As much sought after as a coach as she is as a teacher, Verdy brings to the rehearsal studio the same effervescence and passion she brings to the classroom. Whether it is helping students or professionals tackle a Balanchine masterwork or one of her own works, Verdy believes that good coaching lets dancers become unique in what they are doing. “You don’t put on them what you do [as a dancer]. You encourage them to discover who they are and to be who they are,” says Verdy. “People think coaching is telling them what to do and forcing them to do something that is unnatural to them. It is the complete opposite.”

Whether teaching or coaching, Verdy exudes wisdom that is recognized by many who work with her. It is the wisdom that comes with decades of learning from and working with great teachers, choreographers, and dancers. It is also the wisdom to put the needs of those who look to you for guidance first and to treat them with dignity, caring, and respect.

“I think Violette is an icon,” says Vernon. “She is the spirit of ballet.”

Verdy’s Fast Stats

• Roles created include George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux (1960), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1962), and Jewels (1967); Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering (1969) and In the Night (1970)
• Director of Paris Opera Ballet 1977–1980
• Co-director of Boston Ballet 1980–82; director 1983–84
• Honors include the French Order of Arts and Letters, a 1967 Dance Magazine Award, and most recently, France’s highest decoration, Chevalier (Knight) of the National Order of the Legion of Honor
• Books: Of Swans, Sugarplums and Satin Slippers: Ballet Stories for Children; Giselle of the Wilis; Giselle: A Role for a Lifetime (co-author); Getting Started in Ballet: A Parent’s Guide to Dance Education (with Anna Paskevska)
• Films: The French feature Ballerina (1949); and two documentaries, Violette et Mr. B (2008) and Violette: A Life in Dance (1982)

A new DVD, Violette Verdy: The Artist Teacher, due to be released July 29, will give everyone the opportunity to “be in a room” with Verdy and experience her personality and teaching style. The 40-minute video, recorded at the Chautauqua Institution and directed by Nefin Dinç and produced by Sara Lundine, features a look at Verdy’s career, footage of her in the studio, and interviews. It will be available through the Chautauqua Institution’s bookstore and online from vaimusic.com.

15 fab money-saving ideas for your school

By Misty Lown

Looking for ways to trim costs? These simple solutions will help you put money where you need it most—in your bank account.

1. Email newsletters instead of printing them. My estimated savings for this year: $4,500 in printing, postage, and man-hours.

2. Redeem frequent-flier miles for cash. I did this on two business credit cards and got $1,500. I’m not flying anywhere, so I might as well take the cash.

3. Put registration materials on the school’s website. My estimated savings for this year: $1,500 in printing and postage.

4. Trade for cleaning. We “donate” space to local dance teams in exchange for cleaning the studio, especially the mirrors. It takes me about 8 hours to clean them, but a team of 16 can whip them out in about 30 minutes. Before I started doing this, my monthly mirror-cleaning bill was $60. Estimated savings for this year: $720.

5. Review your cell phone plan. I lowered my bill by $50 per month by actually looking at it. Business plans are not always a deal. Estimated savings for this year: $600.

6. Notice which forms of advertising have the best yield. Track new customer calls to find out where they heard about you. Maybe you don’t need that $300-per-month Yellow Pages ad if 90 percent of your business is coming from referrals.

7. Patronize competitions that offer rebates. Last year I saved/earned about $800 through rebates, which covered all of my staff’s travel expenses.

8. Order costumes early. I saved about $5,000 last year by having my order done in time to take advantage of early-bird discounts. I used this money to pay someone to do all my costume measuring, ordering, distribution, exchanging, and altering, which also saved me a big headache (priceless!).

9. Buy costumes from the closeout catalogs. This works especially well for performing groups since you know who is in them at the beginning of the year when those catalogs come out. Estimated savings: $1,000.

10. Sublet your space when not in use. I do it during times when the school is already open so that there is no additional overhead (heat/electric/front desk staff). I’m subletting one of my studios, which sat empty during class hours, three hours per week at $25 per hour. Estimated savings for the year: $300 per month, or $3,600 per year, on rent.

11. What are you driving? My studio owns my van, which saved me from personally having to buy it and gave me a great deduction. If you use your own vehicle for studio business (everyone does, without realizing how much), you need to reimburse yourself for mileage (currently 55 cents per mile). You can either write a check to yourself each month for the mileage and expense it monthly or itemize it at year-end.

12. Shop around for business banking. I used to pay $70 per month for online banking access. By switching my account to one that requires a higher minimum balance, I now get online banking for free. Estimated savings for the year: $840.

13. Trade services where you can. I trade office space (during the day, when we are not in) for an ad in a monthly parenting newspaper. Value: $100 per month or $1,200 per year.

14. Price shop for necessities like insurance, lawn care, snow plowing, carpet cleaning, and credit cards. Almost all of these expenses or fees are negotiable, especially maintenance items. Most dance schools are empty and available for maintenance during the day, whereas traditional businesses have to have service work done after hours or at night. That flexibility alone should garner a discount. Be sure to shop around for credit card machines and fees. My machine broke last year, and the cost for a new one was $800. I negotiated a free machine in exchange for renewing my contract.

15. “Make do, redo, or do without.” That’s a Depression-era quote from my great-grandma. Does your team really need new leotards, jackets, and warm-ups every year? Is iTunes a service or an addiction? Are you paying a commercial service to clean your studio when the front desk staff could do it? Are you paying all teachers to be at all rehearsals when they don’t all have classes at the same time? Sometimes the easiest way to save money is to stop spending it!

Do you have a money-saving idea you’d like to share? Send it to arisa@rheegold.com or Arisa White, Dance Studio Life, 10 South Washington St., Norton, MA 02766.

A day in the life of one woman, her husband, and seven studios

By David Favrot

Think you’ve got your hands full running a dance studio? Now imagine running seven. We’re talking 2,500 students taking 600 classes a week from 20 teachers. Think of the scheduling, the payroll, the phone calls . . .

Welcome to Tiffany and Paul Henderson’s world. Their company, Tiffany’s Dance Academy, has seven California studios: six in the San Francisco Bay Area and a seventh in Costa Mesa, roughly 400 miles to the south. They began in 2000 with a studio in Livermore, where they live, and expanded to sites in Pleasanton, San Ramon, South San Francisco, and Costa Mesa, adding Tracy and Fremont studios last August.

How do they do it? To find out, Dance Studio Life followed Tiffany around for a day in mid-March.

9:00 a.m. Paul Henderson answers the doorbell at their two-story stucco house in Livermore, about a 5-minute drive from the studio that serves as their home base. Tiffany has been up since 6:30. She’s checked her email and gotten their two children—Jack, 9, and Halle, 6—off to school. (She carpools twice a week.) On a typical morning she’d be at the studio by 8:30, downing her third Diet Coke of the day. But first, she and Paul fill in some of their background.

Tiffany’s from Santa Clara, California, and grew up with a dance studio next door—her father bought her a pair of dance shoes when she was little so she could tap along with the class on a wooden picnic table in her backyard. She was a scholarship student at the Joe Tremaine Dance Center in Hollywood, earned a BFA in dance from the University of Arizona, and was a soloist with the La JAZDANZ troupe in Shreveport, Louisiana, and later in Pleasanton.

Paul, born and raised in Arizona, isn’t a trained dancer, but his mother owned dance studios, “and that turned into running a dance store” for her in 1996, the year he met Tiffany. Paul went on to sell software systems to dental offices, but he’s been acting as general manager of Tiffany’s schools since 2003. “In the beginning there wasn’t much money coming in, so I supported us on my salary,” he says.

The Hendersons now have a deep-pockets investor: a top official of a high-tech firm who is a partner in five of the studios. His daughter was one of Tiffany’s dance students, and he became a family friend. In casting about for investment ideas, he wound up committing $250,000 to become a 50-50 business partner with the Hendersons.

“If you want to expand as quickly as we did,” Tiffany says, “you would need a chunk of cash. You have these operating costs for the first few months where you don’t have any income.”

“He provides the money initially and we do everything else,” Paul says. “He’s great because he just doesn’t care” about day-to-day details.

“He hasn’t taken anything out [in profits] at this point,” Tiffany says. “He’s pretty much a silent partner.”

Tiffany explains her management style: She handles curriculum, quality control, and teacher issues. When she launched her first studio, “I had no idea how much management I’d have to do. It’s all day, every day.” (She teaches only at Livermore, where she puts in 9 to 10 hours a week on three afternoons.) “I enjoy the balance of teaching and being in the office,” she says. “I don’t think I’d want to teach 40 hours a week or even 20. Still, I have to dance each day or I’m not the same person.

“The challenge of having more locations is monitoring the quality,” she says. “I don’t want to just be a dance mill.” In the coming year, she has resolved “to review video of all the recital rehearsals. That’s probably the most time-effective way to do this.”

She admits that she’s “not a micromanager” and relies heavily on her regional manager, Robbie Teruya. “If she ever quits, we’re selling it all,” Tiffany says. “A lot of the things she does, I don’t even know how to do.” Teruya manages day-to-day operations as well as the 120-student performing company. She also supervises scheduling for recital rehearsals. Also, Tiffany’s mother is the Hendersons’ accountant and the couple had a nanny until last year to ease the domestic demands.

Tiffany holds monthly conference calls with the South San Francisco staff and visits the school two to three times a year; the remaining Bay Area studios are closer to home and get monthly visits. She drops in on the Costa Mesa school once a year.

How did they wind up with a studio so far from the other six? “Someone contacted me who was selling a dance studio,” Paul explains. “It turned out to be a studio for pole dancing. We had seven to eight studio managers interview with us while in the background somebody was giving a guy a massage.” After sinking $10,000 into renovations, they opened the studio in 2005; it now has about 400 students.

In some ways, the one-room Costa Mesa school is “the easiest location I have,” Tiffany says, citing her confidence in the site’s manager, Christie Stong, who also teaches there. “It’s not like I have to go down there and check her registration records and look at her books because it’s all in the computer; it’s a Web-based system,” she says.

By having multiple studios, Paul says, they are “diversifying the risk from teachers who quit and take your kids. If you only have one studio, that can wipe you out.”

10:20 a.m. Ready to leave, Tiffany hoists a huge dance bag, jam-packed with makeup, comfortable shoes, socks, a laptop, jazz and tap shoes, a scheduling folder, a brochure from a marketing person, an invitation to a child’s birthday party, medals won by her students, a “Miss Tiffany, born to dance” toy, a hairbrush, underwear, and a water bottle. It weighs about as much as a 12-pack of Diet Coke.

10:30 a.m. Off to the Livermore studio, sandwiched between a liquor store and an Italian restaurant in a strip mall. Adjacent to the pastel-blue lobby is a clothing shop; sales are a big part of the Hendersons’ business plan. Paul invented their online costume ordering system, CostumeManager.com, which lets studios search all vendor catalogs, assign costumes to classes, and accept customers’ payments online.

“We’ve taken a lot of the work [involved with costumes] away from the dance studio director,” Paul says. “Parents can buy stuff online and pick it up in the studio or have it mailed to them.”

In part, Paul was spurred by the memory of his mother’s struggle to make a go of her dancewear shop. “I learned a lot from my mom’s mistakes. She could never make money,” he says. “That retail experience made me realize that if you don’t have a lot of inventory and you require people to buy certain things and the price is right, you can make money on dancewear as a studio.”

11 a.m. Tiffany’s in her office, checking email. She usually gets 15 to 17 overnight and 75 to 100 per day. A dozen dance trophies crowd the top of a filing cabinet and the floor beside it.

Tiffany has reservations about competitions, despite her students’ successes. She’s wary of the “me first” attitude that the quest for trophies can breed. Dancers on her competition teams don’t get solos, she says. “I allowed kids to do solos the first year and at the end of that year I said, ‘No mas!’ When we were at ADA [American Dance Awards] we got a special award from Diane Gudat for dancing as a team. She could see that we shared the stage.”

Competition can also bring out parents’ dark side. “I had a parent attack me at one of my competitions. She got upset because she thinks I don’t pay attention to her kid. She said, ‘You never come to the rehearsals.’ And I said, ‘I can’t get to all the rehearsals.’ Then she started to cry and said, ‘I just want a piece of you.’ ”

11:10 a.m. Tiffany plays a video of her choreography for very young children. “This music will make you want to poke yourself in the neck with a pencil, but it works for little kids,” she says. “Over nine years I’ve invented a curriculum for every year up to age 6. I do all the baby choreography” for 2- to 4-year-olds, and it’s put on video as a training aid to teachers. “The baby program, hands down, is what the parents come for. It’s non-competitive, non-threatening, and convenient, and the teachers are knowledgeable.”

When she began teaching this age group, “I barely knew what a baby was,” she says, noting that working with kids can be tricky. Four years ago, back when she left teaching preschoolers mostly in her staff’s hands, she says, “we had this class get onstage and they had no idea what they were doing, and there were all these parents and grandparents watching. It was about eight kids. We ended up giving that whole class a full year’s tuition free.”

11:40 a.m. Tiffany confers with teacher Bonnie Fisk about Fisk’s next class schedule, which Tiffany calls up on her computer, with different time slots highlighted in red, yellow, blue, and lavender. “If you wanted to work one day in Livermore, I could just switch you and Sarah,” Tiffany says. “We’ll just leave a question mark here. . . . I know what you’re saying. I think you want to do more jazz than tap. This is the most advanced group we have, and I want you to do hip-hop. Can you do hip-hop?”

Later, Tiffany reflects: “The hard part about doing the schedule is anticipating what you’re going to need next year.” Classes start August 3 and run through the end of June. “We’ve never had summer programs that could pay for themselves,” she says. “Karate and gymnastics—they go year-round. So I asked myself, ‘Why can’t we start in August?’ ” In addition to shortening the low-income summer time gap, she also found that the backlash she feared—from parents upset at the infringement on prime family-vacation time—failed to materialize.

With seven schools to staff, retaining skilled teachers is a priority. “The benefits have been one of the biggest ways that we keep our teachers,” most of whom have dance degrees, Tiffany says. The Hendersons cover 50 percent of employees’ HMO premiums, up to a certain point, and also provide a 401(k) retirement savings plan with a 4 percent employer contribution match.

“We start our teachers at $25 [an hour] for the most part,” Tiffany says. “It averages about $30. We have a few teachers who make as much as $50. Other studios will pay you $50, but they won’t offer benefits.” Teachers are paid hourly and must put in 20 hours a week to get benefits, which Tiffany says motivates them to teach a range of age groups. (Administrative staff must work 40 hours a week to qualify for benefits.)

Later, Fisk says that benefits didn’t weigh heavily in her decision to take this job, which she’s held for four years. She’s at the studio because a cousin taught there and because “the staff’s really good,” she says.

However, a colleague says the benefits swayed her decision. Loree Kenagy, who teaches jazz and tap, works two days a week in her second year as a full-time teacher for Tiffany. Kenagy attended the University of Arizona, Tiffany’s alma mater, and says, “Tiffany found out about me from one of our teachers. She kept calling and saying, ‘Do you understand that you get benefits?’ When I ran the numbers I saw what a great deal it was.”

12:50 p.m. Time for a staff meeting. Nine people crowd into the anteroom to Tiffany’s office, with the South San Francisco site teachers on a conference call.

Tiffany reminds teachers that evaluations are due. For preschoolers, she says, “comments are meant to inspire and support. Older kids should get specific suggestions.” She notes that parents will be observing classes next week. “Please go out in the lobby and say: ‘Are there any parents who would like to come in?’ ” She advises teachers, “If parents talk, stop the class and keep the kids quiet until the moms shut up. And remind parents to turn their cell phones off.”

Tiffany discusses the start of registration on March 31. Parents who register that day will get a $50 gift card for dancewear and shoes; those who register in the week that follows will get a $35 card.

More nuts-and-bolts notices follow. “The preliminary fall schedule has been sent to teachers—check to see what you’re doing,” Tiffany says, before asking how the recital choreography is coming along. “If it’s not working, change it,” she says.

Paul appears with two large pepperoni pizzas. They’re gone in minutes. Tiffany moans, “I can’t believe I ate three slices.”

1:30 p.m. The meeting’s over. Tiffany’s back in her office and on the phone.

2:30 p.m. Tiffany calls a parent who has been complaining about having to pay for costume alterations and griping to other parents about online billing. Later Tiffany says, “She denies she said it. Both she and her husband are without income, but she swears she’ll be back next year.”

2:50 p.m. Halle, who had arrived with her dad and brother an hour earlier, comes in the office in tears. She doesn’t want to go to class. Tiffany is gentle but firm—she’s going. On a typical Wednesday, Tiffany explains, she picks up her kids at school and brings them to the studio, where they take class and do their homework before heading home around 7 p.m.

3:30 p.m. Tiffany has changed into gray pants and a turquoise T-shirt to rehearse her competitive group. She reminds the 11 girls, ages 9 to 15, of a weekend rehearsal. Two more girls appear, and soon everyone is moving to the Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance.” “Everything matters,” Tiffany tells them. “You need to tell a story. Every time you do it, it has to be more.”

5:00 p.m. Off to the Pleasanton studio—a 2,300-square-foot facility in another strip mall—with Tiffany’s son, Jack, where Tiffany observes classes and adjusts the choreography during a Daddy-Daughter rehearsal. James Thordsen is in his third year with Daddy-Daughter; his daughter Kyra is 9. “This is mostly a chance to spend some time with my girl,” he says.

6:45 p.m. Tiffany and Jack arrive at the San Ramon studio, where Tiffany chats with waiting parents and watches teacher Tori Allen lead a tap/jazz combo class.

7:40 p.m. As we’re leaving, Tiffany asks, “Did you see that mom I was talking to? She’s the one I told you about, the one who attacked me at the competition.” Apparently fences have been mended.

8:10 p.m. Tiffany pulls into her driveway in Pleasanton. The Hendersons head off for a late dinner.

Halloween themes make frighteningly good performance options

By Vanina and Dennis Wilson

“From ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night, preserve us Good Lord!” implored a medieval Scottish prayer. Perhaps this sentiment was understandable in an era when life was more frightening and much shorter than in the present. Today, however, people seem to seek out a good scare, and Halloween, with its ghosts, witches, monsters, and black cats, is more popular than ever. Can dance studios take advantage of this popularity by attracting audiences to Halloween-themed shows?

A popular holiday for all ages
Not so long ago, Halloween was for children who went trick-or-treating from door to door. Today, however, adults, especially young ones, celebrate Halloween by dressing in increasingly elaborate costumes and attending ever-larger Halloween-themed parties.

According to MSN Money, Halloween is the third-biggest party night of the year (behind New Year’s Eve and Super Bowl Sunday). The National Retail Federation estimates that the spooky holiday ranks behind only Christmas in the amount of money spent on decorations, and says that consumers spent an estimated $5.07 billion on Halloween activities in 2007, up from $3.29 billion only two years ago.

The growing popularity of Halloween may reflect a desire to take a brief break from reality and focus on the imaginary. And the desire to enter the world of the imagination is one reason that people attend the theater, including dance performances. That means that Halloween represents a potential mixture of theatrical and seasonal illusion for dance studios.

Spooky topics
Options abound for Halloween performances, since many classical ballets involve supernatural characters and themes. In Act 2 of Giselle, for example, Albrecht and Hilarion confront the Wilis, the spirits of maidens who died before their wedding day, betrayed by their lovers. The Sleeping Beauty features Carabosse, an evil fairy who casts a spell on Princess Aurora. Swan Lake is the story of a maiden placed under a spell by an evil sorcerer, von Rothbart, who transforms her into a swan. Dracula recounts the legend of the “undead” Count of Transylvania and his victims. And Firebird involves a sorcerer, an intrepid prince, and a supernatural bird, set in a magic garden. Studio directors who seek themes for a Halloween performance may use scenes from these ballets and many others.

Moving beyond classical ballet, it’s easy to find inspiration in popular entertainment. The Wizard of Oz is one of the best-loved American movies, featuring good and wicked witches, a living scarecrow, a tin man, an adolescent girl, and even a dog, not to mention flying monkeys, a talking lion, and a wizard. The popularity of the Harry Potter novels and movies also illustrates the attraction of the supernatural and the possibility for its incorporation into dance. The Star Wars movies, although science fiction, involve use of “the Force,” both for good and evil. And Michael Jackson’s enormously popular “Thriller” video features dancing zombies and Michael’s own transformation into a “werecat.”

In planning a Halloween show, school owners and choreographers will find themselves limited only by their imaginations. Ghosts, goblins, witches, black cats, and even pumpkins (good roles for small children) all can be made the subjects of entertaining dances. Even trick-or-treating can be an appealing subject for choreography.

Options abound for Halloween performances, since many classical ballets involve supernatural characters and themes. Plus, it’s easy to find inspiration in popular entertainment.

The availability of costumes and decor is another reason for considering a Halloween performance. Background decor is easy to devise; the exterior or interior of a haunted house and a graveyard are obvious candidates. Costumes can be made relatively easily and complemented by store-bought trick-or-treat costumes.

Drawbacks
But like Halloween itself, Halloween-themed performances have a “dark side,” resulting mostly from the holiday’s timing in late October. If a holiday-season Nutcracker or other kind of November or December show is planned, a Halloween performance is out of the question, since auditions and rehearsals for those performances usually begin in September.

Even if a Nutcracker isn’t a factor, the rehearsal schedule for a Halloween performance could be demanding. Dance schools often begin their autumn schedules after Labor Day and enrollment frequently does not stabilize until the second or third week in September. Choreographers would have to use “raw material” since there wouldn’t be much time for students to make progress in dance technique prior to a Halloween show. Rehearsals might begin as early as the second week in September, and the more advanced students who wished to participate (and their parents) would have to be warned of the necessity for an intensive rehearsal schedule.

The problem of limited time for Halloween-themed rehearsals can be eased if a school has a core of experienced dancers. These dancers might begin rehearsals as early as August, in a “mini-intensive.” Some routines could be fully choreographed during that time, while others could accommodate students who enroll in September without too much difficulty.

On the plus side
The timing of a Halloween performance does, however, offer an advantage: It is over by the end of October and school directors will not find Thanksgiving and Christmas activities competing for their students’ time. The school’s staff might be able to relax and enjoy the holidays a bit more.

Tips
The weekend before Halloween is probably the best time to stage the performance. Do not schedule it on Halloween itself, since you will be competing with trick-or-treat activities or parties.

Halloween-related costumes and props can often be purchased at substantially reduced prices in clearance sales just before or after October 31, for use the following year.

Make it clear to your clients that a Halloween-themed performance will be family friendly. Parents with small children may fear that some Halloween costumes or themes may be too frightening. Stick to conventional witches and ghosts and leave Freddy Krueger (the stiletto-fingered villain of Nightmare on Elm Street) or Jason Voorhees (the hockey-mask–wearing villain of Friday the 13th) to horror film directors. In a similar vein, reassure devout religious families that the performance will be a “fun” celebration of Halloween, without occult, neo-pagan, or Goth themes.

A Halloween-themed dance performance represents a chance for dance studio owners to capitalize on the growing popularity of an ancient Celtic event. This year, consider “dancing with the spirits” on Halloween!

Employees vs independent contractors: Knowing the difference matters to the IRS—and you

By Melissa Hoffman

Do you know the difference between an employee and an independent contractor? Does it really matter which way school owners in the United States classify and pay their staff teachers? The answer is yes. It matters to the Internal Revenue Service, and that means it should matter to you.

When I began teaching, more than 25 years ago, I was always paid as an independent contractor. Thus, when I opened my studio I did the same with my teachers, simply because I knew no other way. Not until I received a registered letter from the State of New Hampshire unemployment office informing me that I owed a substantial amount of money in back taxes did I learn otherwise. Here’s what happened: One of my teachers, who had a full-time job elsewhere, filed for unemployment and needed to list me as an additional employer. This prompted the unemployment office to ask if I employed independent contractors. When I reported 15 people whom I paid as contractors, that sent up a red flare.

After a nerve-wracking hearing with my attorney with five years of business records in tow, it was determined that my teachers are employees, not independent contractors. I was lucky, though, because I did not have to pay back taxes and penalties from the previous years, which could have put me out of business.

What saved me was that six years earlier, a representative from the unemployment office had questioned me about the fact that I had numerous independent contractors. Based on our conversation, he determined I had paid them properly. Because I had documented that conversation, the unemployment office had no basis for collecting back taxes. However, I was told that the advice I had received was incorrect and that all the teachers who worked for me on a recurring weekly schedule were employees.

Responsibilities with employees
This change in my teachers’ status meant that I was responsible for putting all employees on payroll and withholding all the appropriate taxes. On my accountant’s recommendation, I signed on with a payroll service. Though there is a monthly fee, it takes care of all tax filings, quarterly and annually.

Once my teachers were on the payroll I quickly learned why some business owners like to keep teachers on as independent contractors: Having employees is more expensive. As the employer, not only do you withhold payroll taxes, but you also pay into Social Security, federal, and unemployment tax funds. New Hampshire has no state income taxes; therefore there is no state withholding. However, if you choose to do payroll on your own, be sure that you understand the laws in your state.

As an employer you are responsible for workers compensation insurance as well, and the rate is calculated annually based on the previous year’s total payroll. In other words, if your payroll is high, your rates for workers compensation will be correspondingly higher than those for employers whose payroll is low. Because having employees is more expensive than paying contractors, school owners may feel forced into decreasing the base pay rate to offset the taxes being paid.

But there is also a positive side to having employees. For me, the biggest advantage is the loyalty I feel from my employees. Not only do they know they have a steady job and, according to our policy, cannot be terminated unless the school has three poor reviews on record, they also know that I rely on them throughout the year. That’s an important factor, especially in today’s economy. My employees and I work as a team and don’t feel uncomfortable asking for a hand with something extra. This extra help does not go unrecognized. I might buy them dinner or give them a stipend after a competition weekend, and I pay them for rehearsals and staff meetings.

With a payroll system, my school not only pays into the teachers’ Social Security benefits, we are also able to offer a 401(k) plan. Dance teachers who have always worked as independent contractors may not have had an opportunity to plan for their futures, and offering them such funds can be of great benefit to them. Our employees now can collect unemployment benefits during the summer months if they choose to, which they could not do as independent contractors.

Defining the difference
The IRS defines an independent contractor as someone who has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not the means and methods of accomplishing the results. Some examples of contractors in the dance education business are master teachers who are hired for summer programs; former students, now working dancers, who return to a school to fill in as temporary teachers; or choreographers who are hired to set works on your students.

If you hire someone to work as an independent contractor, it’s wise to document each factor you used in determining that person’s status. That way, if you are ever audited you will have concrete reasons for your decision.

In contrast, an employee is someone who can control what will be done and how it will be done; the important distinction is that an employee has the right to control the details of the services being performed. For example, at my school there is a Pre-Ballet I class every Monday at 3:00 p.m.; it uses the same syllabus as all the other Pre-Ballet I classes and the same dancers come every week. Within that structure, my teachers can make their own decisions; thus they control the details.

Common law rules
Common law rules can help you determine whether you have employees or independent contractors. The common factor in these rules is the amount of control you have regarding what, when, and how classes are taught.

Advantages

• Behavioral: Does the company have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job? In my school’s case the answer would be yes, depending on the level of the class. The teachers of the younger classes work via a syllabus, and although I don’t give exact class plans, I do ask them to accomplish a certain goal by year’s end.
• Financial: Are the business aspects of the job controlled by the payer? Again, in my case the answer would be yes since I alone control the business of signing up dancers and collecting tuition.
• Type of relationship: Are there written contracts or employee-type benefits (such as pensions, insurance, vacation time)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business? This one was harder for me to answer because I do not use contracts and it was not until we went on payroll that we had employee-type benefits. However, I could answer yes to the second part of the question since each teacher brings something different to my school and each is key to its success.

Documentation and communication
If you hire someone to work as an independent contractor, it’s wise to document each factor you used in determining that person’s status. That way, if you are ever audited you will have concrete reasons for your decision.

For many school owners, the thought of increasing expenses by putting teachers on payroll is overwhelming. However, not doing so and having the IRS or the state determine that you do indeed have employees could put you at great risk of owing back taxes and penalties. If you have determined that you should be paying your teachers as employees and need to adjust your rates to compensate for the increase in your expenses, sit down with your teachers and explain the situation. They should understand that having Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld ultimately benefits them.

For more information, visit the IRS website, irs.gov, and go to the small-business section to learn about your state’s unemployment policies. We encourage you to get an accountant’s or tax lawyer’s help if there is any doubt about whether to treat your staff as contract workers or employees.

Tips for Independent Contractors        

By Caroline Batson

Many young dance instructors come and go because of their lack of experience in dealing with studio owners. Don’t be your own worst enemy!

Appearance. Don’t dye your hair four different shades and wear all of your piercings. Watch what you wear. Don’t show your midriff, and if you are going to don those booty shorts, wear tights for the sake of the dads who come to watch their children’s classes. You need to find a look that is attractive to the studio owner and the parents of the children you will be teaching. Find a style that is all yours, but shoot for the conservative side.

Say yes. You’ve landed your first job; now what? Make yourself available to try new things. Teach the preschoolers? Why not? Read everything you can on child development. You can’t always start off teaching the competition team, and if you won’t take the job unless you can, you are shooting yourself in the foot.

Be there. Don’t start your new job by taking days off. If you’re hired in the fall, you should stay on the job steadily until after Christmas; too many substitutes can cause some of your students to leave. Be consistent; you’ll be assigned to more classes the next season.

Be on time.  Some teachers think that being a contractor means they can come and go. Wrong! You signed a contract saying you’d be there. Show good character and arrive a half-hour before class. Get organized, chat with the studio owner, and engage with the children as they arrive. The more you bond with your students, the more they will want you to teach them next year.

Be memorable. Help the owner with whatever she needs. Finish your recital dances by mid-April; be positive and encouraging; and when other teachers don’t show up, step in for them. Give your best, and payback will come in the form of more classes and a good reputation.

Leave your troubles at the door. Come to the studio with a smile, ready to change the world. Keep your eye on the goal: You are there to teach, not to tell your students about your life and hard times. Say, “Isn’t it a great day to dance? Let’s get to it.”

Love the work. Love to keep learning. Love the students, the crazy backstage moms, the studio owner, and that older teacher who keeps tabs on you. (She wants you to have a job next fall.) Enjoy the ride!

Tax-exempt status offers opportunities to students and benefits to communities

By Lisa Traiger

Nobody gets into teaching dance and running a dance studio solely for the money; there are dozens of less physically, intellectually, and interpersonally demanding professions to choose from. Ask any number of dance teachers and studio owners why they do it, and without pause they’ll say it was for love, not money. If, along the way, they earn a living and make a profit, that’s practically a bonus.

While most dance studios around the country operate as for-profit corporations, not unlike the local Starbucks or car dealership, some studio owners choose to incorporate as not-for-profit entities. That means the organization must fulfill a social purpose and benefit the community—in this case, by providing an education

Nonprofit status
In the United States, corporations—whether for profit or nonprofit—are overseen by each state, according to William Rattner, executive director of Lawyers for the Creative Arts (LCA) in Chicago. Each year Rattner’s organization helps hundreds of artists with legal issues that range from nonprofit incorporation to copyright advice, contract negotiations, and more.

“Setting up a not-for-profit corporation in any of the 50 states is very easy,” Rattner explains. “It can be done very cheaply, very simply.” But for most nonprofits, that’s only the first step. Being nonprofit does not make one tax exempt and eligible for deductible contributions and government grants. After incorporating as a nonprofit, one must then apply to the IRS for tax-exempt status, known as a 501(c)(3) for arts and other charitable organizations.

For tax exemption, says Rattner, “There’s a lengthy application form that goes into tremendous detail. You have to be certain about what you’re going to do and not do, and there’s a great deal that the IRS says you can’t do. They look at your governance, your purpose, how you operate, your board. It’s very complex and takes a long time to fill out and get it back from them. That’s the hard part.”

In many cities and states, organizations akin to LCA or Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts offer legal services on a sliding scale for artists and arts organizations, among them dance studios and companies. Some of those organizations might give advice on nonprofit incorporation and tax-exempt status; however, some businesses might be better off consulting a full-service lawyer with expertise in these areas. Budget size doesn’t affect nonprofit status: A nonprofit can be a small studio with a board of directors made up of parents and community members, or it can be a large independent or company-affiliated school with multiple locations, programs, and a board of directors with a national scope.

Big school, big budget
The Musical Theater Center (MTC) in Rockville, Maryland, serves about 1,800 students with classes in tap, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, voice, and acting. Executive director Rex Bickmore reports an annual budget of $1.3 million, 75 percent earned from tuition and ticket sales and 25 percent raised through grants from local government agencies, private foundations and corporations, and parents.

“We’ve never been able to meet the expenses” solely through tuition, explains Bickmore, a former dancer with The Joffrey Ballet and other companies and a one-time associate director of The Washington School of Ballet under its founder, Mary Day. He notes that the high cost of renting space in the Washington, DC, suburbs makes fund-raising essential: “Running as a nonprofit makes us eligible for funding and donations. If you’re not a nonprofit, your donors can’t deduct contributions they make to you. Also, if you’re going to receive funding from the county, as many organizations do here in Montgomery County [Maryland], you must be a 501(c)(3).”

MTC, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, didn’t go nonprofit until 1990. That switch has made a tremendous difference, says Bickmore. Among other pluses, donations enable MTC to offer about $15,000 annually in scholarships, according to Bickmore. Nonprofit status also allows the studio to offer a performing arts program that visits county public elementary schools on a regular basis.

Small school with a mission
“I believe that any child should have the opportunity to dance,” says Nela Niemann, artistic director of Blue Ridge Studio for the Performing Arts in Berryville, Virginia. “When I was growing up, especially the ballet classes were limited to the people who could afford it.” When she opened her studio, Niemann, mother of seven and the daughter of two teachers, vowed “not to turn down a student, regardless of ability to pay.”

But getting from her desire to serve her hometown community to a legal nonprofit entity was a challenge. “It’s a legal procedure that’s fairly complicated,” she says. “I [wanted] to go nonprofit to support the students and the scholarships. People are more likely to donate to organizations that are nonprofit.”

“Running as a nonprofit makes us eligible for funding and donations. If you’re not a nonprofit, your donors can’t deduct contributions . . .” —Rex Bickmore, The Musical Theater Center

A parent of one of Niemann’s students volunteered legal services to help the school owner apply for nonprofit and tax-exempt status. Although Blue Ridge Studio would be able to request grants, Berryville, about 60 miles west of Washington, DC, doesn’t have a town or county arts council that funds nonprofit arts organizations.

Niemann’s studio is a one-woman operation: She manages, administers, and teaches about 140 students with a few part-time teachers to help out. She knows she hasn’t taken full advantage of development opportunities through grant writing and other fund-raising activities and hopes to one day hire an administrator to help with fund-raising. “There are grants that are more easily accessible to nonprofits. That’s an area I have not tapped into in the way I would like to. I know that there are funds available to nonprofit organizations like mine, dedicated to the arts.”

But in the meantime, she continues to say yes to students who want to dance, even when increasing numbers of parents come to her about their own layoffs and financial troubles. Niemann says that in 2007–08 Blue Ridge gave away about $10,000 in full or partial scholarships to needy students, and for the 2008–09 season that nearly doubled to $19,895. That amounts to about 16 percent of Niemann’s operating budget.

“The scholarships are solely need based,” she says. “I don’t have a difficult procedure for getting a scholarship. I might have a child who can afford to take one class a week, but not two. Others might be on half or quarter scholarships. Parents will come to me privately and express interest in a scholarship. I find out what is comfortable for them to pay. It’s as simple as that. Do I get taken advantage of? I imagine sometimes I might, but I don’t think I get taken advantage of very much at all.” And often, once parents are more financially secure, they are able to pay back scholarships or donate to the studio.

Dancing the difference
Students don’t have to be religious to attend Celebration Street Christian School of the Performing Arts, but the studio’s practices reflect the religious faith of the owner, Laura Ruiz. She and a cadre of volunteer teachers, who receive classes and offsite training for free in exchange for their time, instruct about 110 students in Roseburg, Oregon. “We say we dance the difference. That difference in our studio is that we pray before each class. That’s about all. We don’t do a lot of preaching, and people come to us who never go to church, have no interest in going to church,” says Ruiz. “But they know that their kids will be well dressed, that the choreography will not be sleazy, and that they won’t be yelled at or treated harshly in any way.”

For Ruiz, a former Walt Disney World dancer, and the instructors at her 11-year-old studio, teaching by example and in a religiously inspired manner is more important than attracting hundreds of students or winning competitions. Her older students perform in the community and at local functions, churches, nursing homes, and rescue missions, but she never charges for their services.

“I wanted our dancers, our studio, to be low production in the sense that if somebody wanted us to dance in front of the store on their street, our event would be high quality, but we wouldn’t need tons of lighting, backdrops, and props,” Ruiz explains. “Anywhere, anytime, when we get the call, we go to dance. We take dance straight to the community. We don’t charge. Sometimes we take ‘love offerings’ [donations] and if someone offers, we don’t say no.”

Celebration Street became nonprofit about five years ago, but before that, for the studio’s first few years, Ruiz didn’t pay herself. She says that more than 50 percent of the studio’s income is from tuition, but at times she and her teachers chip in to cover additional costs of costumes or other necessities. “All of the money goes right back into the studio. If we have a need, we put it in the newsletter and say we have some dancers who are having problems, especially in this economy, or we need some costumes for the recital. People will come through and write checks. It’s amazing how giving people are.”

Ruiz doesn’t do a great deal of grant-proposal writing, but she does approach local businesses and community organizations and often has found them willing to donate money or services. She has also found, among other advantages for nonprofits, that the local school system will distribute marketing flyers for classes and performances for free, a service not available to for-profit studios.

With about 10 percent of her students on full or partial scholarship, she notes that she expects full participation and model behavior. “We do ask sometimes that they help clean the studio. Other times the scholarship is a gift. It depends on the child’s situation. We do require that they be in class. We ask that they follow the dress code and sometimes even that’s a challenge, so we help by buying shoes and tights.” Otherwise, the nearest dance store is 60 miles away.

“It’s been quite the sacrifice,” Ruiz admits, to keep Celebration Street stable in the declining economy, “but when you see the kids and their parents, it’s a sacrifice that’s worth it. Sometimes they come from other studios and just ran out of money. Here we will scrounge, sacrifice, write a letter, anything we can do—but we will find a way to get those students in so they can continue their dance education.”

We asked studio managers to speak their minds—and did they ever

By David Favrot

Your studio manager answers the phone, hands out Kleenex, placates grumpy parents, and wipes the nose of the occasional sobbing 3-year-old—but what does she really think about her job?

Well, now we know. And most of the news is good. In mid-January Dance Studio Life sent questionnaires to office managers at 248 dance studios across the United States and Canada. We asked them:

• What are your major job responsibilities?
• What is your biggest challenge? Your biggest reward?
• What one thing does your studio owner do that makes your job easier or more productive?
• What could he or she do to make your job better?
• How many hours per week do you work?
• Does your job include traveling to competitions or conventions?
• What’s your hourly pay rate or salary?
• Are you asked to work overtime?

Here’s what they told us.

What they do
First, they’re busy folks. Almost all cited paperwork—school and competition registrations, collections and accounts receivable, ordering costumes and office supplies—as a primary task, along with customer service. The latter included answering phones, staffing the front desk, preparing their studio’s newsletter, updating its website, and handling sales at their studio’s dancewear boutique.

But for many, their job involves much more. Twenty percent said their job included work at recitals, such as painting props backstage and running the box office, and 9 percent said they were responsible for cleaning the studio’s restrooms and keeping them stocked with supplies.

Not all their tasks were so unappealing. Fifteen percent said they scheduled classes. Eight percent were involved in planning conventions, and an equal proportion reported that they designed and implemented their studio’s marketing strategy.

Working with the boss
Whether discussing what they liked about their rapport with their studio owner or what needed improvement, managers across the board stressed their desire for clear communication and direction. Here’s how they described the bosses who make their jobs easier:

• “Provides ‘to-do’ lists and makes it very clear what she needs, wants, and expects.”
• “Keeps everything organized and everyone well informed of what is going on at all times.”
• “Good communication, positive atmosphere, flexible attitude to program management.”
• “Makes sure I have the supplies needed for the tasks at hand.”
• “She makes a list of tasks that she needs me to accomplish or gives me a task and lets me complete it by myself from beginning to end.”

Communication issues also loomed large when managers discussed how their studio owner could make their lives easier. Among the responses:

• “Just let me do my job!”
• “Stay consistent.”
• “Be more direct. Say what you want or how you want it done.”
• “Do not micromanage everything.”
• “Focusing on the job at hand—not deviating from what I think is most important at the time.”

Other managers had specific issues. One proposed: “Hire someone to assist during busy seasons (August/September registration and May/June recital).” Another asked for “four to six daytime office hours that are not at peak studio hours to facilitate more accurate account management and project work without interruptions.” Another offered a similar plea: “Have more hours available to train.” Finally, one suggested: “Get rid of a few families. Just kidding!”

Problems and rewards
Customer relations—mostly with parents—was the biggest job challenge for 40 percent of the managers. They had these complaints:

• “Dealing with parents, especially those who have delinquent accounts.”
• “Communication with parents for whom English is a second language.”
• “Dealing with the parents and wild, unattended children.”
• “Trying to make sure people pay the tuition on time.”
• “Remembering all the students’ names and their parents’ names and which classes they are in.”

For 15 percent, time constraints were the largest irritant. “I have two jobs—sometimes there is not enough time in the day or week for all that needs to be done,” one manager wrote. Another said, “My biggest challenge is juggling all of my tasks at hand and prioritizing. I wear many hats!”

Other complaints ranged from “Dealing with the landlord” to “Biggest challenge is the computer.” And one studio manager raised an issue of simple respect: “Not being a dance teacher myself, I have a hard time communicating with the teaching staff. Jobs that need to get done, such as cleaning, don’t get done because I’m not an authority in the teaching staff’s eyes, whereas senior teachers don’t find the importance in such issues.”

Job satisfaction was a much more clear-cut issue. One manager spoke for 55 percent of her colleagues when she cited as her biggest reward: “Seeing everything that the kids have learned (both dance and life lessons) and watching them grow into young adults through the years.” Others cited “the smiles and thank-yous from the children and their parents” and “knowing I make a difference in kids’ lives.”

Satisfaction in a job well done ranked second for managers, with 25 percent offering such comments as “making everything run smoothly and getting tuition on time” and “successful completion of large projects.”

Pay and overtime
Twenty percent of managers report that they make $10 an hour, and an equal proportion are paid $15 an hour. Seventeen percent make $12 an hour. A clear picture is hard to draw because not everyone reported pay in comparable terms. For example, one manager reported earning $2,500 per month, while another said she received $105 for a six-hour evening shift; they didn’t say how much time they worked in an average week. And nearly 8 percent of managers—typically retirees or relatives of the studio owner—reported drawing no pay at all.

Nearly half the managers reported that they have been asked to work overtime—most often during their school’s busiest times, such as studio and recital registration. Nearly 70 percent of those who worked overtime said they were compensated. Only 10 percent of that segment said they received above-scale pay for overtime work, but among the remainder, more than half reported receiving such benefits as free or discounted tuition or costumes for their children and free meals.

Who responded
Fifty-three percent of the managers who responded work in suburban studios, with the rest evenly divided between rural and urban areas. A little more than half the studios have enrollments of 300 to 600 students, with 30 percent ranging from 100 to 300 students and the rest scattered.

Thanks to all the managers who took the time to fill out our questionnaire.

For one number, the dancers carry large gift-wrapped boxes that they eventually assemble into a big Christmas tree. (Photo courtesy Hedy Perna)

Original costumes and props add pizzazz to holiday performances

By Hedy Perna

As you start thinking about your school’s annual holiday show, you’re probably focusing on interesting choreography and entertaining ideas. But how about some spectacular props and costumes? Putting the “show in your biz” doesn’t need to be an expensive venture if you are creative.

If your long-range plans include an annual or semi-annual holiday show, consider purchasing holiday costumes and renting them to your students. That’s what many schools and dance troupes do, especially those that do a Nutcracker. At my studio, Perna Dance Center in Hazlet, New Jersey, students who participate in the holiday troupe are charged a performance fee that includes all rehearsals, a troupe sweatshirt, and costume rental and cleaning for five to seven performances.

For hygiene reasons we no longer rent personal items such as tights, socks, or gloves. Instead, to ensure a uniform look and keep these items looking tidy for each performance, the studio purchases all personal items and includes the cost in the holiday troupe fee.

Economizing without compromising
Many parents are financially stressed during the holidays, and asking them to purchase a costume for their child could be a burden, one that might prevent some students from participating in the holiday show. Consequently, many studios economize by putting students in a simple outfit like a red sweatshirt, scarf, and Santa hat, but such costumes rarely enhance a performance. School owners want to showcase their students in the best atmosphere possible, and that includes an appropriate outfit or costume. Even the youngest performers deserve to feel like “professionals” at every performance, and a special costume can help them feel that way.

Building a wardrobe of rental costumes takes the financial pressure off parents while giving you creative costuming options. My studio owns more than 200 holiday costumes, which are cataloged, stored, and ready for use each season. In most schools, storage space is limited, so think vertically. We installed bars overhead in the back office and storage area, where all the costumes hang, covered for cleanliness in dry-cleaning bags or inexpensive garment bags. When we use them again, we freshen them with a spritz of Febreze.

Often we don’t purchase “holiday” costumes; instead, we find a costume or accessory that we think will work and then we make it work.

Each costume piece is numbered so we can record which costume is assigned to each student. Costumes are distributed at the final rehearsal, with detailed information sheets attached. Students are responsible for keeping them clean, pressed, and ready for each performance.

Managing the money
There’s no need to invest a huge amount of money by purchasing all the costumes and accessories at once. We buy them as needed, whenever costume or dancewear companies offer significant discounts or send out sale catalogs. Often we don’t purchase “holiday” costumes; instead, we find a costume or accessory that we think will work and then we make it work. For example, if a top or dress is sleeveless but we want sleeves, no problem—the students wear a turtleneck underneath it. Since our students often perform outdoors, we take the need to wear layers under the costume into consideration when making a purchase.

Every few years we invest in replacing costumes as needed. For example, our Wooden Soldier pants—white satin trousers with black sequins on the outside seam—always needed replacing every few years. No matter how well we took care of them, they tended to yellow and lose their crispness after a few years. After replacing them multiple times during the last 20 years, we decided to purchase well-made, good-quality black poly-and-wool–blend dress pants. What a success, and worth the investment. After only one season, we can tell that these pants will last for a long time.

Fun and durability
We purchase only high-quality costumes. We can’t and won’t skimp on quality because we need “workhorse” costumes that can take heavy use—and even abuse—for many years. And they must be able to be laundered or dry-cleaned. Maintenance and care are key. Our original costumes from our first holiday performance, 21 years ago, are still in use and look fabulous. They are worn every year for five to eight performances and we’ve made only minor replacements and repairs.

When we can’t find what we want or need, we enlist the help of our seamstress. She makes costumes from scratch or helps us adjust a purchased costume to fit our holiday theme. Sequined spats, a bit of holly, or some red and green sequins go a long way to make the kids feel special. No one can believe that our seamstress made our three-piece Christmas Tree costume—a decorated hood, vest, and skirt worn over a green turtleneck leotard—using embossed green felt tablecloth fabric. These unusual and fun costumes are 21 years old, and we continually get compliments on them.

You can also build on basic costume pieces. In a dance called “Christmas Chaos” the hip-hop dancers wear an outfit from Costume Gallery—a simple, spaghetti-strap top and loose capri pants. We added green sequins to the top, purchased a “coiled” Santa hat at the dollar store, and our seamstress made sequined elf spats to cover their sneakers.

Fitting kids to costumes
We have a limited number of costumes for each routine, which means that although all students are invited to participate, they’re included on a first-response basis. Our holiday troupe includes 130 to 150 participants every year. Students are assigned to their routines based on age, ability, and dance subject. If we have 24 Gingerbread Kids costumes but 30 students of the required age and ability respond, we may need to move some of those dancers to another routine. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out who will be in which routine for that season, but it always works out.

Returns to inventory
We designate one day for costume returns. Students come in with their costumes and we check off all the items on our list for each routine. Then they are dry-cleaned or laundered and repaired or replaced if needed. No costume is stored until it is ready for distribution the following year. Costumes that need an unreasonable amount of repair or are soiled beyond normal wear go to our seamstress, who assesses the damage. Cleaning or repair costs are then collected from the students. (Our performance agreement, signed on admission to the holiday troupe, states that the students are financially responsible for their costumes.)

Props on parade
Sometimes it takes more than costumes to enhance a holiday performance, so consider using inexpensive yet effective props. Whether you purchase or make them, you’ll want them to be durable enough to last for many years.

In our township’s holiday parade, groups of students carry props such as flags, garland wreaths, candy canes, and snowflakes for a colorful display. Then, when Santa arrives on the fire truck as the parade ends, the entire community is invited to my school’s holiday performance at the local high school.

The festive atmosphere gets everyone in the holiday spirit, and we’ve discovered a way to include those students who wanted to participate in the holiday troupe but were unable to commit to the rehearsals and performance dates. They march at the front of the parade as “Holiday Greeters,” carrying placards (two pieces of foam board covered in metallic paper and trimmed in garland) with letters that spell out “Happy Holidays.”

A photo of the “greeters” usually makes it onto the front page of the local newspaper. It’s great publicity for the studio and a real boost for students who would have been excluded from the school’s holiday festivities.

Props onstage
Onstage, some of our props do double duty as stage sets. In “Christmas Chaos” the dancers carry large gifts that they eventually assemble into a huge Christmas tree. I purchased gift boxes at the dollar store and glued them shut. Since I couldn’t get enough boxes of the same design, I devised a pattern for how they would fit together to make the Christmas tree. Practicing placing the boxes in the specific pattern (some go horizontally, others vertically) took a long time to perfect in only a few counts of music. But the final effect is excellent. If you want to see how this effect leaves the audience wondering how it was done, check out our sample clip on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=eKUU6bBvg8Y.

With a little creative thinking, you can have your dancers utilize set pieces in imaginative ways. Our Rag Doll dancers tap around and on top of large wooden boxes that look like children’s blocks. Spread across the back of the stage, the boxes add color and interest and eventually rotate to spell out “Happy New Year.”

Simple props add performance value to a show. Tots can hold telephone receivers while dialing up Santa, hip-hop dancers dressed in stripes might carry candy canes for “I Want Candy,” and mini-Rockettes could dance with holiday wreaths.

Just use your imagination, and don’t forget to make those props and costumes durable!

In a town of 1,400 people, Spring Into Motion is thriving

By Maureen Janson

Ask visual artist Dianna Stamness if she had ever dreamed of opening a dance studio and she’s likely to respond, “Not in a million years!” But four years after she moved to Spring Green, a small town 40 miles west of Madison, Wisconsin, that’s exactly what she did. Struck by the beauty of the rolling green hills, picturesque farms, and seemingly endless skies, she thought it would be the perfect place to focus on her painting and raise her two daughters. There was only one problem: Her daughters wanted to dance, and the town didn’t have a dance school.

Spring Green, population 1,400, plus or minus a few, has long been an attractive, friendly, artist-filled community surrounded by farmland, not far from Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Taliesin training school for architects. As in many rural Midwestern towns, the business district consisted of a café, an antique store or two, a gas station, and grocery store. Not the kind of place where you’d typically find a dance studio.

But since 1998, under Stamness’ thoughtful and dynamic guidance, Spring Green has been the home of Spring Into Motion, a thriving studio that brings jazz, ballet, tap, and hip-hop dance to the Wisconsin countryside.

Explanations for the studio’s success vary. Some parents and students are impressed by the teaching staff, headed by Stamness’ daughter April. Other parents cite the lack of dance options nearby. And still others say that the reason they send their children to the studio is the contemporary approach taken by the mother-and-daughter co-owners and the creative options it provides for children.

Stamness moved her family from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 15 years ago when her husband’s job required a transfer to the Madison area. To allow her girls to continue their dance training, she enrolled them in classes at a small studio in Avoca, Wisconsin (population just over 600), about 25 miles away. But after a few years she tired of the long commute and felt that her daughters had outgrown the tiny studio.

“The roads to Avoca are not so good. I wanted less time traveling and more time with my kids,” she says. “I had first considered opening a gallery, and that original idea, along with a lack of things for kids to do in the area, made me consider something different. It occurred to me that I could create a dance studio/art gallery combination here in Spring Green.”

Stamness found a downtown rental location with a big, open room, and since she had no background in dance or running a studio, she consulted with a dance teacher friend in Sioux Falls. “She helped me get started with the business aspect of things and with some particulars, like what kind of dance floor to install,” the school owner explains.

In the early days of her business, Stamness operated an art-framing business out of the dance studio, and the dance classes focused on young students. She stayed in close touch with her friend in Sioux Falls and hired her then 15-year-old daughter April to teach the children’s classes. April’s former dance teacher in South Dakota coached her, via phone, through the teenager’s first venture into teaching.

“Students love April; she is naturally gifted with them,” says Stamness. “When we first opened, she was a big reason that our business began to grow.” Her younger daughter, Jessica, also works at the studio, assisting her sister with large classes. “She’s not a teacher yet,” Stamness says, “but she has grown up with the business and may move into it.”

Though Stamness stills paints and exhibits her work, the art-framing business tapered off. But the studio grew, and the school owner brought in guest teachers from Madison to teach more advanced classes and further her daughters’ training.

As April progressed in her teaching, she wanted to be more involved with the studio. And since Stamness had limited knowledge about teaching and dance artistry, she asked her daughter to become a business partner. April, then 18, realized that committing to partnership in the studio would limit her own opportunities as a dancer. Still, after months of pondering, she accepted her mother’s offer.

The partnership creates occasional friction, but mother and daughter agree that it mostly works well. April insists that she gets her way 70 percent of the time, to which Stamness laughs and responds, “I let her think she’s right 70 percent of the time! Sometimes she forgets to separate the mother from the business partner.” They concur that defining their individual roles from the start has been the key to working well together.

As director of dance education, April (“Miss April” to her students) coordinates the three other members of the teaching staff, teaches the advanced classes and plans the annual recital. “She does all the dance stuff,” says Stamness. “We intersect when decision making has to do with both business and dance. I am the director of operations and handle registrations, customer service, and money stuff.”

“Mom stays out of the studio,” adds April. “We are for the most part pretty good together because we are working toward the same goal.”

April loves the rural town and feels committed to staying there. Like her mother, she continually seeks out creative ways to improve and grow. For example, while maintaining a heavy studio teaching load of up to 30 classes per week, she took university courses online and earned a degree in psychology.

April Stamness admits that the only way to refresh her teaching and stay updated on current trends in dance is to leave town, at least temporarily. So every summer she trains in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago.

April’s interest in personal growth extends to her work as a dance teacher as well. She admits that the only way to refresh her teaching and stay updated on current trends in dance is to leave town, at least temporarily. So every summer she trains elsewhere—in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago—focusing mostly on expanding her tap and hip-hop experiences. “I believe in studying with many different teachers, and that’s the only way I can do it,” she says. “I try to bring the best of all of my training back into my teaching.”

Winters in Spring Green can be long, but for April burnout never sets in because she feels refueled by the energy of her students and by discovering new music. “I try not to watch videos or YouTube; I don’t just want to copy things.”

And the harsh winters have not kept dedicated parents from helping Spring Into Motion survive and grow. Some of them make the trek with their children to Spring Green from as far away as Mineral Point, 30 miles to the south by way of narrow and hilly county roads, more than once a week.

“Because I have three girls who all love to dance, I am at the studio every night of the week, and sometimes twice a night,” says Michelle Johnson, who commutes 10 miles each way. “April is the key to the studio’s success, and Spring Green is so lucky to have such a gifted artist here.”

Attracted to the studio’s friendly, open atmosphere, Ellen Wermuth has enrolled her 13-year-old daughter, Kelsi, every year since the studio opened. “Kelsi loves to dance,” she says, “but being a part of Spring Into Motion has taught her discipline and also helped her overcome her shyness.”

Over the years many commuting parents would do their grocery shopping or browse in the public library while their children danced. Spring Into Motion offered some adult classes, but with only one studio space, the focus was on children’s classes. Being able to offer classes only during limited hours meant few options for other classes. “People are not generally willing to come before 4:00 p.m. or after 9:00,” says Stamness. “They are driving from too far away.”

With a mind toward expansion, Stamness considered creating some options for adults. She approached her landlord about renting the empty storefront adjoined to her studio. “When I heard the rental price, I thought, ‘I could buy the building for that much money!’ So I made an offer to purchase the building. A few weeks later, the owner had decided to sell.”

Stamness planned to open a second studio, then discovered that her plan to knock out one of the walls of the new space would be impossible. She hatched a new plan: Convert the empty space into a fitness center where parents could work out while their kids took classes, and build an additional 2,700-square-foot studio. In 2008 the studio addition opened as part of the school’s 10th-anniversary celebration.

Riding the momentum of this expansion, Stamness recently began to explore the idea of opening a branch studio on the west side of Madison. She moved forward with her usual gusto until the economy declined. “Yeah, we’re concerned,” she says. “We had hoped to open our new location in the fall of 2009, but those plans are on hold now. We don’t think the current economic state makes it a good time. But we never have considered closing our doors. Since our beginning, we’ve experienced steady growth.”

Along with the economic woes, last year another dance studio opened down the street from Spring Into Motion, offering less expensive classes that lured some students away. Even so, more than 180 dancers pass through Spring Into Motion’s doors each week.

Despite the school’s recent ebbs and flows, April says she is not concerned. “We’re going to keep on doing what we’re doing, which is offering high-quality experiences. I plan to do this my whole life. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Art of Motion Dance's holiday show includes ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and musical theater. (Photo by Shelly Beech)

Creativity adds spark and sentiment to nontraditional shows

It may be July for the rest of the planet, but for dance studio owners it’s time to think about snowflakes—and Santas and Sugar Plum Fairies and the other ingredients of December holiday recitals. How, you may wonder, do I compete with the studio across town that’s three times the size of mine? How do I breathe fresh life into my show when I’m watching every nickel I spend? What can I do that will have parents’ jaws dropping in delight, not in yawns?

Dance Studio Life asked studio owners across the United States and Canada for innovative holiday recital concepts. Here’s what five of them had to say.

Holiday Surprise
Rhonda Foote, owner, Rhonda’s FooteWorks, Evans Mills, NY
Since I opened my studio in northern New York in 1987, community outreach has been important to me. Now, as mom to a child with a serious ongoing medical condition, I know how important it is to work as artists to help such children. It is my personal mission to “pay it forward” through our outreach shows.

We performed our first version of “A Holiday Surprise” in a local school to a full house in 1988 and raised about $2,000 for cerebral palsy. Since then our shows have raised nearly $20,000 for organizations such as the local branch of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and for many local children with medical needs.

I was an English major in college, so writing a script and altering it to fit the needs of my studio was fun, but you don’t need to be a writer to make this work for your studio. I have two scripts, both involving children who are lost in a snowstorm—one set in New York City and one at the North Pole.

For the older, more advanced students, the New York theme works best. It includes homeless people appearing from boxes and cans in the aisles, a Rockettes-style kick line, and sparkling baby snowflakes. For the younger students, the North Pole scenario is a better alternative. We have hip-hop reindeers, preschoolers as Santa’s elves, and middle school dancers as the “lost children” who sing, speak, and dance their way through the show.

Both shows feature a visit from Santa prior to intermission. The younger dancers run to meet him and children come up from the audience, too.

We start rehearsals after Halloween. Each class is assigned a part in the show. The instructor choreographs their piece and assigns speaking parts in which students introduce and follow dances with scripted, in-character comments. I choose the leads from dancers in the school’s company and seek local musicians and vocalists to appear as street vendors, angels, or Santa’s helpers. This format means we need only one rehearsal on the day of the show to put it all together.

A silent auction and 50/50 raffle (in which half the proceeds go to the family of a medical-needs child and half to the prizewinner) include more of the community and build the audience. We don’t charge at the door. We have a donation basket and accept contributions during the finale. I change our finale each year. For example, the show has closed with a Rockettes-style kick line (children and families are reunited at Radio City Music Hall) or with “The Christmas Shoes” (as the lost children reunite with their families at a department store, dancers go through the aisles collecting donations in wrapped shoe boxes). I have discovered that many people won’t pay to attend, but they give generously if moved by the show.

The gifts from “Holiday Surprise” have been many: the looks on my dancers’ faces when they realize they performed in a “real show” and raised money for children (many of whom they know), plus their understanding that dance can be an integrated art form. Our holiday show gives them the opportunity to sing, speak, act, and dance. Plus, people in the community remember that we helped someone they know. And we get great publicity, support, and goodwill, as demonstrated by the vast array of donated items for our silent auctions.

Creating a story line and altering it to fit your needs is no more difficult than lining up acts at the local mall. We reuse props, costumes, and set pieces each year. Parents are wonderful about helping with this show and often appear onstage when adult performers are needed.

Our studio’s commitment to community outreach is best demonstrated in our annual “Holiday Surprise” production. It includes the entire studio and our community, and the cause we are supporting is the focus. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays.

Bartlesville’s Christmas Spectacular
Shelly Beech, artistic director, Art of Motion Dance, Bartlesville, OK
Ten years ago there were limited opportunities for my dancers to be involved with local Christmas productions. Those who performed with other organizations were forced to miss their regular dance classes to meet rehearsal schedules. I knew there had to be a better way.

So I began planning. I inventoried music, bought clearance costumes, searched for ready-to-go choreography, and chose recital costumes that could be easily revamped for use at Christmas. Then I took a leap of faith by signing a contract for the theater.

I tapped my network of friends in the dance world for music suggestions—from classics to obscure remakes to trendy new pieces—and many of them offered to share their choreography.

Then, on a trip in mid-July, I drove six hours through Kansas in 103-degree weather, armed with more than 200 Christmas CDs, including such obscure ones as A Very Brady Christmas and House of Blues Christmas Collection. The tollbooth operators got a kick out of me. What developed was a modern-day variety show incorporating Santa Claus, angels, and even The Nutcracker’s Sugar Plum Fairy. Each dance is like a LEGO block that can be placed anywhere in the show. Ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, musical theater—they’re all included.

Having the luxury of an in-house soundman—my husband—has spoiled me. He can edit any piece of music down to a 2 1/2-minute nugget. He also arranged and recorded a cover version of “You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch” with his band. It’s a signature piece in our show, along with our version of the classic “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.” We’ve had the Peanuts gang tap dance to “O Tannenbaum,” and Christmas presents have come to life in “Holly Jolly Christmas.” In “ ’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” mice start out by rapping the poem, then switch to a tongue-in-cheek version of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” and end with an old-school hip-hop number. We’ve even used Rosie O’Donnell’s “Gonna Eat For Christmas” as an opening number.

The show started with 24 pieces; now our Christmas repertoire has about 60 pieces and grows every year. Each year we introduce a new piece and retire an old one, and we give the recurring dances a fresh look by restaging them or changing the costumes.

The show is one night only. Students do all their rehearsing during their dance classes. Dress rehearsal is the day before the show and never lasts more than two and a half hours. (Busy families appreciate having only one outside rehearsal.) Streamlining the show keeps everyone happy. The dances are stage ready when we walk into the theater; dress rehearsal is strictly to let our technical crew work out details and dancers choreograph those backstage quick changes. We take our semipermanent dance floor to the theater so that our dancers enjoy the security of dancing on a familiar surface.

To ensure easy in and out at the theater, we keep set pieces and lighting to a minimum. A lighted garland stretches across the apron and two large Christmas trees flank the proscenium arch. Gobos and color washes on the cyclorama set the mood of each dance: Santa in flight, snowflakes, and a star-filled night sky give the show bang for little effort. We use only one “special,” at center stage, and one spotlight to feature the Grinch and Rudolph. The performers dance on and off to cut down on time between dances. Blackouts are used the rest of the time, and the curtain drops only at intermission and after the finale.

I take meticulous notes and document everything with a videocamera. I back up all my notes on the computer and try to never reinvent the wheel. The show comes out of storage annually and runs as smooth as silk!

Nutcracker Redux
Nancy Green, director, The Dance Emporium Inc., Middletown, NY
We’d been doing a holiday show for seven years, but last year, with people cutting back on extras, I decided to try something different that
would keep the spirit of the season without breaking the bank.

Our usual show included music from The Nutcracker, Christmas carols, international holiday songs, and classic music of the season. We thought we’d get the best draw if we featured only Nutcracker music, so we created “Scenes from The Nutcracker.”

We decided to do everything in our studio. We already owned all the costumes for the usual holiday show, and since we had used the music in our previous shows, it was ready to go. But we needed choreography that would fit in our studio. For each piece—Chinese, Chocolate, Dance of the Flutes, Sugar Plum Fairy, Waltz of the Flowers, Trepak, Arabian, Snow, and Carol of the Bells—I determined the fewest dancers needed to convey the story without compromise. Solo pieces went to my strongest dancers, who had done the choreography before, and the smaller dancers learned the parts for Chinese. We had about 15 dancers in all.

For the program, I took digital photographs of the costumed dancers and made 5-by-7-inch booklets that featured pictures of each piece, with corresponding pages for autographs and photos. That way people could take pictures with the performers afterward and go home with a scrapbook of the event.

The biggest challenge was the staging. Since we have three studio spaces, we moved the audience from “scene” to “scene,” which allowed us to set up one part of the process while another was going on. The largest studio served as the stage and auditorium. We draped the mirrors with fabric to look like curtains and dressed the stage with Christmas lights and decorations. For seating, we borrowed folding chairs from a local church.

To open the show, I read a synopsis of The Nutcracker. When the 20-minute performance was finished, the audience moved to our second studio, where Christmas music was playing, for refreshments. For 15 minutes I mingled, getting people’s feedback. Everyone was positive, saying how nice it was—small and intimate—and how the dancing got them into the holiday spirit.

When the audience moved to our third and smallest studio, the dancers were waiting, still in costume. They posed for pictures, signed program books, and answered questions from the children. After 20 minutes everyone got a chance to see Santa, waiting in the lobby, on their way out.

Our $7 admission fee included the booklet and refreshments. Two performances drew about 30 people each. Everyone had a good time and the parents seemed to enjoy a performance that didn’t take up their whole day. I’ll definitely do it again.

The Nutcracker—All Jazzed Up
Lisa Yarwood, owner/director; Eilleen Mallary, ballet director, Lisa’s School of Dance, Bartlett, IL
This year will be the fifth anniversary of our holiday production of “The Nutcracker—All Jazzed Up,” an annual community event produced by Lisa’s School of Dance and the Bartlett Park District.

For years our competition dancers performed a brief holiday show at the local mall. To enhance their ballet and pointe training, we began teaching them variations from The Nutcracker. We started with the Sugar Plum Fairy, then added more variations, including Russian, Chinese, and the Party Scene Galop. We then approached the park district about producing a full-length Nutcracker and our production was born.

“We now have a full Nutcracker wardrobe. Younger dancers who are cast in multiple roles usually try to wear a piece of each costume. Where else could you see a mouse with angel wings?” —Lisa Yarwood and Eilleen Mallary

In our Chicago suburb, audiences have several Nutcrackers to choose from. We have created our own niche by adding different styles of dance and shortening the production to make it more family friendly. We do use (and credit) Cathy Roe’s reworking of the score to include hip-hop and techno flavors but have created our own story line and choreography and added chunks of additional music.

Our jazzy twist on the story opens with a fast, upbeat party at Clara’s house on Christmas Eve. Clara and her friends perform several jazz dances and then are treated by her Uncle Drosselmeyer to tumbling Harlequins, a high-kicking Soldier Doll, and a Columbine Doll on pointe.

After Clara falls into a deep sleep, she is attacked by the exceptionally cool Mouse Queen and her pint-sized mice minions, who dance/battle with a platoon of hip-hop soldiers. The Nutcracker then takes Clara on a magical sleigh ride to meet the Ice Princess (a pointe solo in lieu of the pas de deux) and through a corps of ballerina Snowflakes and their Snow Queen.

Finally they arrive in the Land of the Sweets, where Clara is treated to a saucy Spanish fan dance, a jazzy Chinese number, a lyrical/acro Arabian duet/trio, Gingerchildren who appear from a giant gingerbread house with two lead Gingerbread Men, and tapping Russians, complete with a Rockettes-style kick line.

At first we had a hodgepodge of recycled recital costumes, but each year we replaced some of them, and we now have a full Nutcracker wardrobe. Younger dancers who are cast in multiple roles usually try to wear a piece of each costume. Where else could you see a mouse with angel wings?

Dancers from neighboring studios and park districts join our dancers, which we feel builds strong ties within our dance community and breaks down competitive barriers. The dancers get to experience a professional production outside of recital, including technical rehearsals and hitting lighting cues.

Students audition in June and rehearsals are held weekly from September to November. Younger roles rehearse every other week until close to November, while older roles and larger corps parts rehearse every week. What started with 40 students in one weekend performance has grown into two casts of 100 and two weekends of shows! The choreography changes every year as the dancers’ ability levels rise, which keeps the show fresh for returning families.

We perform in a park district theater and while we do some advertising, most of our ticket sales are through word of mouth. Our students pay a registration fee that includes a cast T-shirt and two tickets to a performance.

Not only is the show a great way for families to enjoy the performing arts, but the entire community is involved in the production. Volunteers serve as backstage moms, crew dads, set builders, concession-stand workers, and ushers. Many local businesses sponsor specific costumes or set pieces or props each year.

Our performances always feel like the start of the holiday season. After five years, for us the best part is watching the younger dancers as they gaze from the wings, dreaming about the parts they will be dancing in another five years!

The Night Before Christmas
Janice Lynn Brougher-Roos, owner, Studio ’91, Grantham, PA
In 2001, I decided that it was time for a holiday-based production. The dilemma was that several regional ballet companies perform an annual Nutcracker, and I wanted to do something different. I also wanted to showcase my tap and jazz classes and inspire my instructors and students.

My instructors and I brainstormed how we could develop an innovative holiday performance that would also benefit my “specialty class students,” who receive instruction at least two times a week. One of the senior instructors suggested that we take a traditional Christmas story and incorporate our own interpretation through dance and narration. We chose “ ’Twas the Night Before Christmas” and were well on our way.

In our production, Mrs. Claus narrates the journey of a live family immersed in the story, depicted in dance and music—in effect, creating a multifaceted spectacle. Additional characters—an Elf as well as Santa himself—round out the show. With a plethora of props and special effects, we take full advantage of the professional-quality stage we’ve used for the past six years. In one performance highlight, a full-size sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer dancers crosses the stage.

Since each dance—including Ratz, Toy Soldiers, and Chimney Sweeps—is based on a particular skill level, the roughly 115 participating dancers are driven to advance during performance years (every other year). Studio instructors often join in the production in their own dance, adding to the fun and excitement.

In our most recent showings, we added live music featuring the Enola Emmanuel United Methodist Church choir, singing and using hand bells. We have also incorporated live instrumental pieces performed by local musicians on flute and violin, as well as a solo vocalist who performs a powerful rendition of “Still, Still, Still.” We have also used Irish step dancers and plan to include ballroom dancers this year.

From our first performance in 2002, when we used the small auditorium of a local middle school to entertain only about 250 guests, the show has evolved to a full-fledged production held in the Cumberland Valley Performing Arts Center, which seats nearly 1,000. This level of success has allowed us to offer discounted tickets to senior citizens, Scout troops, and other groups.

While the resources we have add value to the production, it is the creative latitude that empowers the show. We hope that the fresh content and growth that comes from our creativity will keep audiences coming back year after year.