Tag Archives: advice
July 2016 | Ask Rhee Gold
July 2016 | Collective Wisdom
Classroom Connection: Fun and Games: Games are often incorporated into classes for young dancers, yet just as often are eliminated as students mature in age and dance ability. However, games are a great way to refocus and reenergize even preteen and teenage students. Here are some I enjoy.
Reality Check: Progress Reports: Q. Do you do end-of-year progress reports for company members and/or recreational students? Do you keep copies or have the students return the originals to you?
—Catharine Skidmore
May-June 2016 | Ask Rhee Gold
March-April 2016 | Ask Rhee Gold
February 2016 | Ask Rhee Gold
January 2016 | Ask Rhee Gold
December 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
November 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
October 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
September 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
August 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
July 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
July 2015 | Collective Wisdom
“Classroom Connection: Ballet Challenge”: Once a year my 6- to 10-year-old ballet students play a game I call “Ballet Challenge.” For a week or two before the challenge, we review proper terminology and correct execution of steps. During warm-ups we go over terms like chassé, bourrée, etc.
“Reality Check: Advice”: Q: Has anyone had measurable success with advertising? We’re a successful studio and have been in business for 15 years, but have gotten almost no measurable results from advertising in Yellow Pages, local newspapers, Facebook, Google, Welcome Wagon, social media marketing, or a discount program with local employers. While Facebook raised our visibility, no new business came from any of our direct advertising efforts. Have you had different results? —Fred Mitchell
May-June 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
March-April 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
February 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
January 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold
December 2014 | Ask Rhee Gold
November 2014 | Ask Rhee Gold
August 2014 | Ask Rhee Gold
July 2014 | Ask Rhee Gold
May-June 2014 | Ask Rhee Gold
May-June 2014 | Straight Talk
Ever wish you could pick the brain of a competition judge? Sure, you pay attention to the critiques, but sometimes those polite comments don’t seem to scratch the surface. What do judges like? Dislike? Admire? Applaud?
March-April 2014 | Mail
I had to let some time go before I responded to “Happy Ending” by Amy Moy in your October issue [“Thinking Out Loud”]. The studio I work at is all about family as well. We support each other through the tough times, which hit home for me when I’d been on the wild ride of my mother’s illness. After the year-end show, I let my dancing ladies know that I probably wouldn’t have my mom much longer. The next day my mom went into the hospital for the last time; a week later I saw my dancing ladies at the funeral, and a month later they were at my home for our annual picnic.
March-April 2014 | Ask Rhee Gold
January 2014 | Ask Rhee Gold
December 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
What would you do about a student’s monthly tuition if she was injured (in athletics, not dance, and it required surgery) and out for a couple of months to recover? She is part of a team and her mom wants me to hold her place in the choreography. I’m on the fence about this since she cannot dance; the problem is that she was supposed to be in eight dances, and all of the teachers will need to remember to factor her in. I’m not opposed to waiving her tuition while she is out, but I want to make sure I don’t start something that snowballs with all the other “ouchies” in the studio. Thanks for your help! —Shelly
November 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
As an owner of a dance studio for many years, I wonder if it’s necessary to be at the studio every day. I’ve attended many of your conferences and I know your philosophy about how the owner sets the mood of the studio. I agree with that. But personal life has its ups and downs. I love the studio but feel burned out from time to time. I watch my customers take vacations as I work on the next project. Summer is a busy time preparing for the next season, so I feel like I don’t get a break.
October 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
The wife of one of the teachers who works for me was arrested several months ago. She received four years of probation for running a drug operation out of their house. The teacher hasn’t been implicated at all, but I feel like he is, in a way, because of their marriage. He and their child are staying with her, hoping to work things out.
October 2013 | On My Mind
A 7-year-old should not dance to “Love to Love You, Baby,” because she doesn’t know how to love him.
September 2013 | EditorSpeak
I volunteer in a program that offers support to high school seniors—all the first in their families to attend college—as they write their college application essays. At our second meeting a recent high school graduate and program alum, who has been accepted to the University of California–Berkeley, spoke to the group of 50-odd coaches and students.
September 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
I have worked as an instructor at the same studio for seven years. A year ago I was promoted to manage our recreational department; it has suffered over the past few years. I raised the numbers a bit, but our studio’s company has always made up the bulk of our enrollment.
August 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
I recently learned that my landlord has leased the space next to my school to a tattoo parlor. I’m devastated. I recently expanded my school, but I’m sure future business for me will be grim because people will see what’s next door and drive down the street to the next dance school. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
July 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold | Advice for dance teachers
I am having a difficult time. I run a small studio with only one room and one teacher, with around 150 kids. About five years ago we were kicked out of a mall because the businesses didn’t like the noise; about a year later my studio burned down. It turned out that our insurance covered losses only if we were the cause of the fire, and since the furnace blew and it was ruled that no one was at fault, we were out of luck and money. Then, about a year ago, my mother (and business manager) passed away from breast cancer.
July 2013 | Mail
I wanted to thank you for including me in the article on seniors [“Aging Boomers, Dance Boom,” May/June 2013]. I was so pleased to be interviewed with such an amazing group of instructors who have a passion for the same demographic. Thank you so much!
May-June 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
One of our competitive dancers told me she overheard a group of other competitive dancers (all are that fabulous middle-school age) making fun of another competitive dancer while watching a video from a recent showcase. We have our first competition of the season this weekend and would like to avoid tons of drama. All of these girls are in several dances together, and we do not want the ones who are not involved to suffer. This town is so small that anything that happens is news!
May-June 2013 | On My Mind
Recently I got a phone call from a frantic school-owner friend looking for advice. She had started a business selling dancewear to her students and the community, and she was panicking because she was still losing money after four years. She told me how she had worked so hard to make the business a success. And then she said, “I can’t stand the thought of failure.” She was worried about what her family or friends would think of her if she couldn’t pull it off.
May-June 2013 | Decades of Dance
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be on the far end of a 40-year dance career? How do teachers over the age of 60 adjust their teaching style? What lessons did they learn? To gain some insight and advice from people who have danced into their 60s or 70s, we asked three longtime teachers, all in the Oregon dance community, to share their thoughts.
March-April 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
I have a dedicated 14-year-old student who shows up for every class and rehearsal by walking or taking the bus to the studio. Her life has been one tragedy after another. Her mom died when she was 8. For a while relatives dropped her off and picked her up at the studio. They were always late with tuition and other payments, but I let it go. About three years ago her older brother was killed and recently her father had a mental breakdown. Now no one drives her to dance or pays her tuition, but she manages to get to the studio almost every day.
February 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
I own a school that was founded by my grandmother. I grew up knowing that someday I would take the reins and I always looked forward to it. I am proud of what we have built, but my children have their own interests, and they don’t include directing the family school.
January 2013 | Ask Rhee Gold
Do you have any advice about working with competition kids and determining who is in the front row, back row, etc.? These are 7- and 8-year-old kids in their second year of competing. It is only a group of 10, so the majority of times they’re in either the first or second row. I try to rotate them as much as I can, but there are always the stronger ones I need at that age. It bothers me because I always try to make sure they all feel important and a part of the routine. How should I base which dancers are in the front row—do I assess them or give preference to the kids who have been with the studio longer than the others?
January 2013 | Mail
I can’t begin to express what a beautiful job you did capturing the essence of our ballet scholarship competition [“Classical in Connecticut,” September 2012]. Thank you for bringing such exposure to the dance community and beyond. It also brought recognition to our CDA [Connecticut Dance Alliance] organization. I appreciate your quoting me on the educational aspect and opportunity it provides for growth. We want to continue to deliver that each year.
December 2012 | Ask Rhee Gold
I need some advice on an extremely sad, unfortunate situation. As a member of Dance Masters of America, I uphold a code of ethics. I respect my colleagues and do my best to maintain a professional working relationship with everyone. Recently, though, a full-time teacher of four years at a local dance studio got arrested for multiple instances of lewd and lascivious acts with minors. One incident occurred at a dance convention. The studio owner knew about it and still kept this teacher on staff for several months. When the owner finally let her go, she still planned to have the teacher choreograph privately for the school’s competition team. My problem is that this has lowered morale and trust in dance studios and teachers.
November 2012 | Ask Rhee Gold
Dear Rhee,
Today one of my teen students told me that she has to leave the school where I teach because her parents can’t afford the lessons, shoes, and costumes. She is such a good dancer, with a personality that cannot be beat. She’s at the studio all the time and I look forward to seeing her because she fills the room with joy. I want to ask the school’s owner to give the girl a scholarship, but I know he is having a hard time financially too. I was thinking of paying for part of the tuition myself, but I can’t afford to cover all her expenses. I am looking for advice on how I can keep this student in the classroom.
October 2012 | Ask Rhee Gold
Dear Rhee,
I teach for an amazing woman who built a big school with the help of her mother, who worked in the office until she died over a year ago, at a young age. It was stunning to all of us involved in the school because she really was the one who prepared and had everything organized for everything that happens outside of the classes. She died in the spring, so all the teachers and friends jumped in to help get through the rest of the year. It worked out fine and everyone bonded, feeling like they were part of the team. It was very rewarding. When the next season started my boss had hired a new studio manager to replace her mother.
September 2012 | Ask Rhee Gold
I don’t want my students or their parents to believe that I am not offering them the best training I can, but I know they are getting from my school what they need. And I know this girl should move on. Are my teachers right?
March-April 2012 | Ask Rhee Gold
I have been teaching for 13 years at a school owned by my best friend. We have been friends since middle school. She has devoted herself to her business and dance forever. Her dream was to own a school and my dream was to teach without the pressures of a business. The relationship has been pretty much perfect for many years.
February 2012 | Ask Rhee Gold
When an injury takes place, either at the studio or at a performance, you need to make an accident report. This means that you write down everything that happened in great detail, including what the injured party was doing when the accident occurred and everything the injured party says and does. In this case, I would have written down what the parents said at the hospital as well.
January 2012 | On My Mind
People write to me for advice on an enormous range of issues, and I usually feel that I can offer something useful because I’ve been in the dance field for a long time in a lot of different roles. But some letters, especially the ones that make me really feel someone’s pain, leave me asking myself: What do I say to this person?