Posts Tagged ‘rennie gold’

Anti-bullying show makes Gold School kids feel like they can change the world

By Joshua Bartlett

Growing up in a dance family, Rennie Gold, owner/director of The Gold School in Brockton, Massachusetts, always felt comfortable in the studio. It was getting there that was the problem.

“When I was in the seventh grade, a kid was waiting for me outside school and slammed me with a two-by-four across my stomach,” says Gold. Similar repeated incidents, all related to the fact that he danced, deterred him from leaving school when everyone else did. “I found a history teacher who used to let me hang out in his room until everybody left,” he says. “Nothing was ever spoken. Sometimes he would even drive me to the studio because I was usually going there from school.”

Dance students and teachers from around the country have expressed support for the positive, self-affirming message in “. . . accept ME.” (Photo by Jason Greenleaf)

Those traumas eventually led Gold to create “. . . accept ME,” a concert-length dance-theater piece about the causes of and solutions to bullying, performed by dancers from The Gold School. The first performance took place on April 1, 2011, at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, with a cast of more than 60 dancers, ages 6 to 18, from the school’s intensive performance division. The nearly two-hour concert, which uses dance, spoken text, and visual media to inspire awareness and discussions of bullying, has been performed five times, including a sold-out concert at The Joyce Theater in New York last July.

In a serendipitous follow-up, four of the school’s dancers—Matthew Gilmore, Kyle Scanlan, and twins David and Jacob Guzman—were invited to perform on a live special segment on male dancers for ABC’s November 15, 2011, episode of Dancing With the Stars. (The producers had seen a DanceLife TV segment about The Gold School’s boys and, subsequently, a portion of “. . . accept ME.”)

The memories of persistent bullying—because he was a boy who danced—haunted Rennie Gold for 35 years. In October 2010, a video surfaced on YouTube of councilman Joel Burns of Fort Worth, Texas, advocating for legislation to make schools safer against bullying. When Burns spoke about the rash of suicides of teen bullying victims (including Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge after being outed via videocam by a classmate), Gold felt like he’d been hit by that two-by-four again. “I watched that video over and over,” he says, and felt strongly motivated to do something positive about it.

He decided to make a dance about boys who had been bullied and/or committed suicide. “I got together with five boys from my studio. Their assignment was to go out and find stories of these boys themselves,” says Gold.

With the help of online resources, they found their stories. Eighteen-year-old Kyle Scanlan reported on Matt Epling, a Michigan eighth-grader who had committed suicide after being targeted in a high school hazing incident. (His father, Kevin Epling, became an activist against peer-to-peer violence and pressured the Michigan legislature to pass Matt’s Law, which requires schools to implement anti-bullying policies.) “Within the first minute of him talking about this boy, I lost it a little bit,” says Gold. “It brought all this stuff up in me that had been smashed down for years. I thought we could make a whole show out of this.”

As they worked on the piece, the students started sharing their own stories and began to incorporate speaking into the choreography. The rap sessions expanded to include more students. One session even included a Skype Q&A session with Kevin Epling. “They started to discuss their issues,” says Gold. “A 12-year-old boy told us about having his head slammed into a locker. A girl in the group had lost a friend to suicide. Kids started sharing because I started sharing. When they said that coming to the studio is a safe place for them, I totally understood. This whole experience has been mind-blowing because it changed the way I look at these kids.”

Gold posted on Facebook that he wanted to do a performance piece about anti-bullying and needed a name for it. An old friend sent him a message saying that she had done a piece of choreography called Accept ME about girls who obsess about their appearance and keeping up with each other. “I wrote her back and said it was absolutely perfect,” says Gold. “That’s how we got the name of the show.”

The choreography and text of “. . . accept ME” took shape from the stories that the students researched and shared. In one dance titled Bully, six boys play out various scenarios in which kids (not all of them dancers) are dangerously cornered by their peers. A gang of five menaces one referenced victim, a 15-year-old boy who tried to commit suicide after being scorned for being a dancer. The violence implied by the choreography resembles the dangerous undercurrents of rumbles in West Side Story. As the mob beats the victim, one boy comes to his aid and a cast member yells, “Sometimes someone just needs to say, ‘Stop!’ ”

In a solo titled For Matt, 17-year-old David Guzman jumps, spins, and slides through the pulsating choreography, danced in front of projected images of Matisse-like artwork painted by Matt Epling. It’s a powerful yet sensitive testament to an artistic voice needlessly lost.

Fifteen-year-old Matthew Gilmore has been taunted by fellow students more than once. One put an X over a picture of him in his school locker and wrote, “Dance is for girls. Pick another sport.” “To bring it to an audience, first we had to understand what we were dancing about,” says Gilmore. “I think ‘. . . accept ME’ brought us together as a family. It’s a message to people who don’t really know what bullying is about.”

“People didn’t expect anything but a dance show,” says Scanlan. “But there were tears of happiness and joy. It made it that much more meaningful.”

“I’ve been bullied my whole life because I’m a dancer,” says Jacob Guzman. “I was always happy dancing. People made the assumption I’m gay. There’s nothing wrong with being gay, but it wasn’t who I was, so I didn’t feel right when people called me that. I felt disrespected.”

One day he was having a bad day and confessed to a female friend in high school that he “just wanted to dance it off.” She made fun of him, saying, “Ooooh, I just wanna dance. Oooh, I just wanna dance.” And the teasing persisted. “She thinks it’s funny, but she’s the only one laughing,” he says. “I don’t think she’s gotten the message yet.”

Still, Gilmore feels that the way “. . . accept ME” puts audiences on an emotional roller coaster bolsters the accessibility of the message. “The show isn’t all gloomy,” he says. “It’s happy one minute, sad the next. I think that helps get the audience’s attention so they get the message.”

There are still many points of ignorance around bullying and “bullycide,” a word coined to connect the link between bullying and suicide. Usually people lash out as bullies because of their own insecurities. “They need as much help as the kid being bullied,” says Gold. “There were cast members who said, ‘I was a bully.’ It’s not that we have to kick them out and get rid of them; they need help too. I think kids, especially teenagers in junior high, all want to be the same. So when kids stand out because they are different or unique, they’re attacked. It was that way for me and for the kids.”

On June 14, 2011, the Oliver Ames High School Gay/Straight Alliance in North Easton, Massachusetts, invited the cast of “. . . accept ME” to perform an hour-long version of the show as a benefit with a Q&A session afterward. “It was a very mixed crowd—lots of families, different kinds of people,” says Gold. “At the end, nobody clapped. Then within a few minutes they were cheering and on their feet. During the Q&A, a transgender kid started talking about his life, and the openly gay and lesbian kids starting talking to the audience about their experiences. A cop talked about how prejudiced he used to be, but now his son is gay and his life has changed.”

The Ames High principal later asked the cast to perform the show during school hours for all 1,200 students.

Unfortunately, says Gold, “some schools don’t want the word ‘suicide’ mentioned, because some parent committees think it will make kids think about it. That blew my mind.” One junior high school, after seeing an excerpt on YouTube, invited The Gold School students to perform “. . . accept ME.” However, school officials asked to see the script and returned it to Gold with passages censored. “I talked to the cast and they said they didn’t want to do it,” he says.

The concert, which uses dance, spoken text, and visual media to inspire awareness of bullying, has been performed five times, including at The Joyce Theater.

Gold wants to include more junior high and high schools on the performance schedule, but even with a pared-down cast the logistics make it difficult, since most schools want to present the concert during the school day, and the dancers must get excused from their own schools. He is working on organizing central locations where schools can attend after-school shows and Q&A sessions so his dancers won’t miss classes.

At last year’s American Dance Awards nationals, held in Boston in July, The Gold School’s performance of one dance from the concert (called . . . accept ME) won the 2011 George Lon Memorial Award, a $5,000 prize, as the highest-scoring entry in the 13-and-older category. That cash laid the foundation for Gold to pursue a performance opportunity in New York. He posted on Facebook and Twitter that he needed sponsors to produce “. . . accept ME” at The Joyce Theater in July. He quickly got the backing—more than $10,000—and the performance sold out.

For the performance on Dancing With the Stars, the producers decided to feature Kenny Wormald, a Gold School alumnus and the star of the remake of the film Footloose, and four boys who would dance using Wormald’s style. The segment focused on what male dancers have to overcome in society to pursue their art. Gold choreographed a quartet for the boys, and Lacey Schwimmer, one of the show’s professional dancers, choreographed a section of the dance pairing the boys with four of the show’s familiar female dancers. They danced to the song ”How You Like Me Now?” by The Heavy.

When David Guzman was told he would be dancing on the popular TV show, he initially didn’t grasp the scope of it. “I thought it was some small thing in Boston,” he says. “Then I realized it was national TV. It blew my mind.”

Since appearing, the boys have gotten more respect from their peers. “Before, when I told my friends I couldn’t hang out because of dancing, they were put off,” says Scanlan. “Now they are a lot more understanding of the time and the commitment.”

Dance teachers and dance schools all over North America have been excited by the Dancing With the Stars appearance and supportive of the “. . . accept ME” performances. “They all referred to how positive the message was and what an anti-Dance Moms thing it was to do,” says Gold. “One Canadian teacher said, ‘You don’t know how close this hits me. My 13-year-old son quit dancing this year because they call him a faggot every day at school.’ ”

Gold’s next concert for his performing group, Project Moves Dance Company, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is “One Human Race,” which expands on the “. . . accept ME” theme. He also wants to keep sharing with other dance teachers his experience of linking being unique with being successful.

“You don’t have to follow the trend,” he says. “And this is so far away from the way most dance studios are trending these days. The excitement about the “. . . accept ME” performances has been through the roof. The kids go to the competitions now and all they want to do is the dance on bullying and get the message out there. They don’t care about the trophies.

“They believe they can change the world,” he continues, “so I believe they can change the world. I am more optimistic at 50 than I have ever been in my life.”

Four teenage boys from Massachusetts are getting ready to experience something most dancers only dream about: national television exposure on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, according to The Boston Globe.

The Gold School students—twins David and Jacob Guzman of Brockton, Kyle Scanlan of Brockton, and Matthew Gilmore of Canton— will dance live on the show tonight (November 15), according to a spokeswoman for ABC, as part of a segment about male dancers.

A camera crew recorded interviews and dance footage of the boys in Massachusetts, and they flew over the weekend to Los Angeles for the live appearance. Their teacher, Rennie Gold, said the show took notice of the boys last year after they appeared in a video on DanceLifeTV.com. ABC called him in September last year, but talk of a 2010 appearance never came to fruition. This year, Gold sent DWTS producers a video of the boys dancing in “Accept Me,” a piece his studio produced that deals with bullying, including the teasing and negative attitudes sometimes faced by boys who dance.

After receiving the video, DWTS called again this fall, and Gold was thrilled to tell four of his students they would be going to Los Angeles.

“I was initially shocked,” said Gilmore, who just turned 15. “I still can’t believe it right now. I don’t think I’ll believe it until I’m actually dancing on that stage Tuesday night.”

For the show, Gold said he will choreograph something for the boys, and he’s been told that Lacey Schwimmer, a professional dancer who was paired with Chaz Bono until they were eliminated recently from the competition, will choreograph a dance that pairs the boys with female dancers.

To read the full story, visit

http://bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/south/2011/11/13/local-talent-tapped-for-dance-lifetime/r3i3OVRuPwsiD5VcSueY7N/story.html?s_campaign=sm_fb.

Four students from The Gold School in Brockton, Massachusetts—male dancers who shared their stories about the struggles of pursuing dance in the DanceLife TV “Male Voices” video series—will be performing November 15 on Dancing with the Stars.

Gold School director Rennie Gold announced that crews from DWTS will be visiting the studio this week to film Matthew Gilmore, David Guzman, Jacob Guzman, and Kyle Scanlan in class and rehearsal. The footage will be part of an anti-bullying segment that will run on the November 15 DWTS, which will also feature a live performance by the students.

“The producers have been pushing to have those boys on the show for over a year now. They have been talking to me about this since the DanceLife TV ‘Male Voices’ videos came out. They are also working to add Kenny into the mix,” Gold said, referring to Kenny Wormald, the star of the recently released Footloose remake. Wormald, a Gold School alumnus, danced on DWTS several weeks ago with his co-star, Julianne Hough.

The four dancers, along with the rest of the Gold School’s Project Moves intensive division, have been involved for the past year in a dance project known as “Accept ME,” a show of dance performances, spoken word, and video with a strong anti-bullying message. They have performed the show locally for public audiences, at schools, and at the Joyce Theater in New York City.

For updates and information, visit the Accept ME Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Accept-ME/143947105670152.

Open auditions will be held June 18 for the Project Moves intensive division of The Gold School in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Project Moves dancers study with industry professionals on the Gold School full time faculty and guest artists, maintaining a rigorous and challenging training program throughout the school year. Technical classes include ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary, tap, musical theatre, hip-hop, conditioning, and Pilates.

Audition times: ages 6 to 9, 10 to 11:30am; ages 10 to 12, 11:30 to 1:30pm; and ages 13 and up, 1:30 to 4:30pm. For more program and audition details, visit www.thegoldschool.com/MOVES_fall.htm.

In other news, Project Moves will be bringing an hour-long version of its “accept ME” dance concert to the Oliver Ames High School, Easton, Massachusetts, on June 14 at 7:30pm. A benefit performance for the Oliver Ames High School Gay Straight Alliance, the concert will be followed by a Q & A session with dancers and the audience.

The show was inspired by the anti-bullying activist work of Kevin Epling, who lost his son Matt to bullycide in 2002. Through “accept ME,” director Rennie Gold and the dancers of Project Moves created a mixed art, multimedia event with the goal of giving voice to all those wounded by the bullying epidemic.

Tickets are now on sale for the evening-length “accept ME” concert, which will be presented by the Project Moves dancers July 24 at 7:30pm at The Joyce Theater, 175 8th Avenue, New York City. To purchase, visit www.brownpapertickets.com/event/178494.

In episode #1 of Male Voices, we discovered that many young male dancers need strength, determination, and a good support system in order to build the confidence needed to overcome the stereotypes imposed on them by our society. Within that support system, fathers play a key role. Episode #2, titled ‘Acceptance,’ offers a fascinating look at how important a dad’s role can be in the life of his dancing son. And you’ll gain some surprising insights into the struggles some fathers face when their sons choose dance over sports.

See more of the Male Voices 6 part documentary series at www.dancelifetv.com

The Gold School’s Project Moves dancers will present Accept Me, a night of dance performances to promote anti-bullying tolerance and acceptance, April 1 and 2 at 8pm at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Accept Me (Image courtesy The Gold School)

Dancers ages 6 to 18 from the school’s intensive performance division will use dance, spoken word, and visual media in a series of dance pieces designed to create awareness and inspire anti-bullying conversation. The dances tackle subjects from the warm memories of a first friendship to the harsh reality and devastating effects of bullying.

Kevin Epling, co-director of Bully Police USA, will conduct a Q&A with the audience and cast after each performance. Epling was one of 150 people invited to participate in the first anti-bullying conference at the White House on March 10. Epling’s son, Matt, 14, took his life after being victimized by bullies in 2002.

Proceeds and donations from Accept Me will go to The Trevor Project and PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, and fund a scholarship for the Matt Epling Creative Arts Competition.

Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for students and seniors, and are available at www.thegoldschool.com. For information, call 508.586.4653, or visit Facebook pages for The Gold School and Accept Me to view video previews of the show.

Project Motivate: small in size, big on ideas

By Karen White

The studio owners and teachers filling The Gold School studio had a million questions—about marketing techniques, dealing with problem personalities, balancing work and family, providing quality education, and making money.

Rennie (left) and Rhee Gold dole out advice during a breakfast Q & A session.

One new owner admitted she’s worried about dealing with it all and not losing her mind. “What should I do?” she asked.

Rhee Gold’s answer was short and sweet. “Quit!”

The teachers laughed, but they also learned plenty during the three days of Gold’s latest Project Motivate, held at his home studio in Brockton, Massachusetts, last July. Unlike Gold’s DanceLife Teacher Conference, which attracts upward of 600 studio owners and teachers, Project Motivate (DLTC’s precursor) is cozy, with more than 60 attendees at the event. The long weekend included lectures on web-based marketing, Q&A sessions, discussions of revenue-generating and recital ideas, sample dance classes taught by Gold School instructors, and a performance by Gold School intensive program dancers. And, of course, lots of encouragement from Rhee.

“I’m really liking this intimate atmosphere,” Gay Barboza, owner of AMJ Dance Center in Attleboro, Massachusetts, said. “I like the juxtaposition of the classroom and the business ideas. People are willing to share; there’s no stress here; and it’s close to my hometown. Could this be any more fabulous?”

Owners from 15 states and Canada mingled and chatted, traded marketing materials, and commiserated about the frustrations of running a dance studio business. “I love that we get to choose the topics,” said Ann Marie Frank, president of AMA Dancers & Co. in Des Plaines, Illinois. “I find comfort in learning that so much of this happens to all of us—that it’s not unique to my studio.”

The weekend was laced with Rhee’s brand of tough love—nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams, he said, but it’s going to take a lot of work. “Know that everything you do has a piece of you in it. You have to give a bit extra to get the job done. We have the ability to say, ‘I am not going to leave any stone unturned.’ ”

Certainly no stones were left unturned—and nearly no topics unmentioned—by the studio owners. They asked about inspiring dance team members and firing inefficient teachers, satisfying parents and protecting quality, increasing revenue and reducing gossip. Many shared their secrets for success. Others lamented hurdles they can’t get over or goals they’ve yet to reach. One studio owner admitted that her seemingly great success—930 students—is overwhelming her life.

While “you can make a darned good living” owning a dance studio, Rhee said, it won’t make you a millionaire. Instead, what connects dance teachers is their lifelong desire to dance. Teachers should fully appreciate the impact they have on the lives of students. A studio’s best dancer, he said, is not always the most advanced team member, but “the preschool kid with the enormous smile on her face.”

A dance studio is about more than just training dancers, according to Rhee—it’s about what goes on in the heart and soul of your students. “Look at every kid who walks in the door and say, ‘I can make a difference in this kid’s life.’ Even if they have a size 13 foot, or weigh 300 pounds, or have a mother who’s a maniac.” He added, “This stack of money will grow because you are [touching kids’ lives] so well.”

Owners also heard plenty of solid business pointers. One seminar covered communication and advertising, with Rhee describing how to use e-newsletters, Facebook pages, and websites to keep in touch with current clients as well as attract new ones. Websites should be inviting and arranged in an easy-to-find-information format, especially for parents whose children may be new to dance. Pictures should illustrate the studio’s personality but also emphasize fun classes and happy students.

One of the biggest advantages of social media, he said, is the ability to track viewership—to tell almost instantly, for example, whether a Facebook advertisement is gathering any attention. A communications program such as Constant Contact will keep you updated about who is opening (and hopefully reading) notices or monthly newsletters.

There’s power in positive advertising—such as an ad showing a grinning toddler. Those scenes happen every day in every studio, he said. Rennie Gold, Rhee’s brother and owner of The Gold School, said he keeps a camera in each studio and takes snapshots when students are changing shoes or at other downtimes. Occasionally he walks around the studio videotaping class or rehearsals. He uses the images in advertisements or “commercials” found on the studio website.

“I’ve been listening to Rhee and Rennie for years. They’re teachers’ teachers. I came here hoping to network, but this is just so inspirational.” — teacher Barbara Ostromecky

Even if your school has an excellent record training top dancers, Rhee said, it’s not always wise to show images of advanced dancers on pointe, emphasize competition awards won, or rave about teachers’ professional qualifications. Most parents want a once-a-week, fun dance experience for their children. Intimidating customers is never a good idea.

Nicola Kozmyk, owner of Pure Motion Dance Co. in Calgary, Canada, said learning about marketing tools is one of the top reasons why she enjoys Rhee’s conventions and workshops. “After the Orlando [DLTC] convention, I went home and revamped my studio website,” said Kozmyk, who has owned her studio for three years.

Katie Hignett, owner/director of Dance Innovations Dance Center in Greenland, New Hampshire, said she was also on the lookout for marketing and advertising tips. “I started with 69 students. Now I have 150, and I’m putting in the floor in my second room. I’ve doubled my clientele by word-of-mouth, but now I need to advertise.”

In-classroom expertise was also on display. Kathy Kozul, a former member of Boston Ballet and current Gold School ballet instructor, ran through a detailed description of how to encourage proper alignment through floor barre exercises. If the exercises strengthen the back and abdominals, she said, they will improve turnout. Teachers need to make sure that students use correct muscles and proper hip placement when doing floor exercises such as développé à la seconde or rond de jambe.

While several studio owners took to the floor to feel the alignment for themselves, the next day’s classes were for viewing only. Rennie Gold taught sample classes to two levels, preteens and advanced dancers. He explained the finer points of his method (one point is calling all students “dancers” to create a professional atmosphere) and how he allows even the younger dancers to contribute to the choreography with small sections of improvisation.

The studio owners seemed most amazed by what happened at the end of each lesson—all the students surrounded Rennie to say a personal “thank you” before exiting the class.

It’s common practice at his studio. “If it’s a bad day, [that personal contact] gives you a moment to look that child in the eye so he knows you’re not mad at him,” he said. “Parents love the fact that their children are so respectful.”

That comment was indicative of the weekend’s theme—that the personality of each studio reflects its owner. When the discussion turned to dealing with negative comments from disgruntled moms or sullen students, Rhee asked his audience to consider their own in-studio attitude. “Everyone will dance to the same beat. If you walk into the studio depressed, upset, or not into it, that will be the atmosphere of the entire building,” he said. “Your parents and kids will be just like you. Instead, make sure the energy you bring into the classroom is positive.”

Forget about that one negative comment after a stellar recital, he said. Believe you are smart enough to know what to do in every situation. Have confidence in your own abilities. “If you fear losing students, your fears are holding you back. If you’re not doing well financially or you’re not happy, that’s a lack of confidence,” Rhee said. “It all starts with the person whose dream it was to start this studio. Have the guts to go for it, and run your school that way.”

This sort of talk is what brings Barbara Ostromecky back time and time again to Gold’s events. “I’ve been listening to Rhee and Rennie for years,” said Ostromecky, who runs a dance program for Girls Inc. of Worcester, Massachusetts. “They’re teachers’ teachers. I came here hoping to network, but this is just so inspirational.”

Also inspirational was a performance by The Gold School Project Moves intensive dancers, which ended with a lyrical piece inspired by the passing of a beloved local dance teacher who urged dancers to “come to the edge.” As the piece neared its end, one dancer spoke: “They came. He pushed. And they flew.” Many of the studio owners in the room were in tears.

The weekend ended on a high note, with several teachers describing creative ideas for recitals or finance-generating performance teams. Rhee started the conversations but always handed off the microphone to the studio owners, asking what they do well and what works for them.

When Rhee chipped in, it was to offer solid advice earned over his lifetime as a studio owner’s son, title-winning dancer, master teacher, convention director, and motivational speaker: Dance is evolving faster now than ever, and studio owners need to be on top of it with innovative ideas and a willingness to change. You need to find your strength—perhaps it’s preschoolers or recreational kids—and “go ballistic.” Work hard if that’s what makes you happy, and if you reach a goal, take time to savor your accomplishment.

Some advice may be tough to hear (“If you can’t take a kid peeing on the floor, you’re in the wrong business!”), but it always comes with Rhee’s full understanding of what it means to be a dance teacher.

“The day when that little girl comes up and says, ‘I love you’—you will never remember much about the money, but you will remember that. If you’re not surrounded by people who believe [in what you do], get rid of them,” he said. “Give it all the passion you’ve got. Know you are going to make a difference and that you are going to be remembered because you made a difference.

“How cool is that?”

The Gold School’s Project Moves dancers will be featured as the opening act of the BoSoma Dance Company’s fall production, “In Direction,” on November 5 and 6 at the Boston University Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA.

The intensive division dancers from the Brockton studio will present a new piece “This Bitter Earth.” Also performing are guest artists Synthesis Dance Project and Unyted Stylz.

BoSoma Dance Company was founded upon the belief that dance should be an accessible art form and transcend borders of social background and culture. The company, which also collaborates with local musicians and visual artists, believes it is mutually beneficial for arts organizations to work together and develop meaningful partnerships.

Tickets for “In Direction” are $20 ($18 students and seniors) and can be purchased by calling the box office at 617.358.2500. For more information, visit www.bosoma.org.

Creating artists through dance at The Gold School

By Karen White

At a Dance Masters of America competition last March, the students of The Gold School got a standing ovation, and it wasn’t just for their technique. It was because of their artistry. Seven years ago, when Rennie Gold, director of the Brockton, Massachusetts, school, decided to scale back from the competition scene and showcase his students through a series of benefit concerts, his goal was to create artists through dance.

Serious study in both ballet and modern allows Project Moves dancers to soar during pieces such as In and Out of Chaos, choreographed by Nailah Bellinger (Photo by Jason Greenleaf)

Apparently he succeeded. “It was the second-to-last number in the entire [DMA] competition,” Kristen Bullock, mother of a Gold School dancer, says of “Heart Hand Hug Heal,” an ensemble piece about living with cancer. “And there was not a dry eye in the house. It was so powerful, with so many emotions in one dance. What an incredible gift to be able to learn that artistry.”

Gold’s students know competition success. He’s trained numerous competition title winners, and his dancers have had success regionally, nationally, and beyond. Gold School dancers headlined the U.S. Tap Team (made up of dancers mostly from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York) that took first place at the International Dance Organization World Championships in 2001 and 2002 in Reisa, Germany.

But then Gold (brother of Dance Studio Life publisher Rhee Gold) made the decision to do less competing. Instead, he decided to develop an intensive-study program that would celebrate artistry along with technical prowess. His students still attend two competitions a year. But what they really get excited about are the two full-length dance concerts the school stages annually, which raise thousands of dollars for charities such as the Boys & Girls Club, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and Save the Children.

But that’s now, in 2010. Back in 2003, the first concert was a financial bust. Gold had to dip into his own bank account to cover expenses and send a donation to the show’s chosen charity, the American Cancer Society. But that didn’t deter him. The next year the school produced two concerts.

“I stuck with it because I believed this could grow and attract a general audience,” Gold says. “I was willing to go this route with my own money because it was part of the [educational] program I was trying to build.” It took three years for the concerts to pay for themselves and raise enough money to make sizable donations without Gold’s financial help.

Last spring’s concert, “Change My World,” ran two nights and raised almost $1,500 for Hugs for Healing, a charity founded by Kristen Bullock after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and $2,200 for the Sherry Gold Foundation, a scholarship program named for Gold’s mother.

This was no recital. Each of the concert’s 30 numbers captured a mood, made a statement, or told a story. Pieces blended seamlessly into each other, sometimes with dancers staying onstage to begin the next piece with the new group. Video projections and lighting were used to full effect. The 63 performers, ages 10 to 24 and members of Project Moves, the school’s intensive division, danced to music, to spoken word, even to their own breath.

Along with Gold, Broadway veteran Larry Sousa and other faculty and guest artists choreographed dances that ranged from the stylish Broadway of “Swing It Sisters” to the heart-wrenching modern of “Mandela’s Dream,” from comedy numbers to elegant lyrical pieces to high-powered, jump-off-the-stage jazz.

 The night ended with “Heart Hand Hug Heal.” Dancers quoted statements made by children dealing with cancer, then moved through poignant images of the struggle, pain, and hope that define life with cancer: the fear of isolation, the embarrassment of losing hair, the warmth of a friend’s embrace.

“All through rehearsals they told us, ‘It’s not just doing the steps to do steps; it’s what you feel, how you give back.’ It makes the dances more powerful.” —Emily Bullock, Gold School student

“All through rehearsals they told us, ‘It’s not just doing the steps to do steps; it’s what you feel, how you give back.’ It makes the dances more powerful,” says Kristen Bullock’s daughter Emily, an eighth-grader who has danced at The Gold School for nine years.

Competitions typically look for and reward the best technical dancers, and the pieces that take top awards often are designed to please judges—certainly not bad things. Emily explains the difference: “In a competition, we’re paying the judges to watch us. In a concert, the audience has paid to watch us. So we want to give back more.”

Today the concerts attract a wide-ranging audience, from residents of a nearby assisted-living center to students of other area dance schools. “The concerts are about pleasing a general public that knows nothing about dance, and who doesn’t necessarily love you because they are your parents,” Gold says. “A dance company in the real world has to make an audience feel something, to laugh or cry. If you can pull that off, you’ve done your job as an artist.”

 As the school’s focus changed, Gold warned his students that the concert-style pieces they would now be presenting (rather than the standard competition fare) might not be met with enthusiasm from competition judges. “Sometimes they go over, sometimes not,” he says.

Take a piece called “Ancestors,” with simple movements and loose white clothing. The dancers thought Gold’s choreography “was the most beautiful thing we’ve ever seen,” says former Gold School student Kellie Grant, a 2010 graduate of Emerson College in Boston. “But it was long and not flashy. It just didn’t translate to the judges.”

The dancers are OK with that. “We stood apart as dancers,” says Katie Kozul, a freshman in the Ailey/Fordham BFA program in dance, about her 12 years as a Gold School dancer. “It was all about the story, not about putting in a turn because we needed points. Competitions are good—we got inspired by other studios—but this gave us the potential to grow as dancers.”

 Ross LeClair, a freshman in the New York University dance department, joined the Gold studio three years ago and noticed the difference in approach. “Especially coming from somewhere else, this was a big change,” he says. “[At The Gold School] we learned what art is and what it can do for us.”

Kellie Grant says the focus on artistry encouraged her to become a choreographer. In Across the Universe, a piece she created for the “Change My World” concert, she wanted to show how people connect through communication and relationships. She used imagery such as links and chains, hand holding, and even sign language to make her point.

“Rennie always gave us lots of opportunities to make our own decisions as dancers,” she says. “As a choreographer, [when] the students develop that, it helps your ability to put your vision on their bodies. We say what we want, and the kids understand how to put it on their bodies.”

Unlike recitals or competitions, the concerts teach the dancers how a professional dance performance is put together. Preparation for each show includes a tech week of onstage rehearsals, during which the kids are exposed to the setting of light cues, sound checks, and stage managing details. “This is an experience most kids their age never get. Because of this, they know a lot about how a real dance company works,” Gold says. “This has all paid off because I’ve watched a generation of my kids grow up with this, and I’ve seen what it’s done for them compared to the kids who never had it.”

 Gold believes the combination of a strong technical base (at least three ballet and two modern technique classes a week), the emphasis on artistry, and the concert experiences is a winning one for his students. Many have been accepted into dance departments at prestigious schools such as Juilliard, Fordham University, and New York University, while many others dance professionally.

In a way, these concerts mark a return to The Gold School’s roots. When Gold was a child, his mother (and the studio’s founder), Sherry Gold, organized her best dancers into a troupe that did benefit shows. But over the years, as competitions became the rage, the benefit performances faded away. When Gold took over the studio upon his mother’s death, he says, “I just did exactly what she did.”

 Gold’s thinking about the purpose of performing changed when a student showed him his application to Juilliard. One question—“When did you first discover you were an artist?”—struck him. “I had never looked at it that way,” he says. Then one day at a competition, a teacher from another school made a telling comment. “She said, ‘You should be doing your work for the general public,’ ” Gold says. “It got me thinking about the benefits we used to do.”

 After the first lean years, the school learned how to harness the power of technology to promote the concerts. Gold knew that attracting the public to the concerts—not just parents—was the key to financial success. Last spring, five “video commercials” showing the dancers in rehearsal ran on YouTube, and the studio’s Facebook page was buzzing. With so much interest outside the dance studio, ticket sales skyrocketed. “We always had a bank account, but it would end up empty,” Gold says. “Now it has money in it. It’s an awesome feeling.”

 This year, the power of dance to reach people and change lives took center stage at The Gold School. Throughout the year, the Project Moves dancers embraced the concert’s designated charity, Hugs for Healing, raising money through sponsorships. The charity donates tote bags filled with fun and helpful items to cancer patients, including the Hugs for Healing signature item—a sweatshirt sporting painted handprints representing “hugs” from family members.

In addition, parents held special fund-raising events. A “Yoga Day” at one mother’s yoga studio raised $700, while another mom’s “Pampered Chef” party brought in $600.

 The most memorable moment happened in January when 11-year-old cancer patient Lexi Williams and her family met with the Project Moves dancers to talk about the reality of living with cancer. “It made me appreciate life more,” Matthew Gilmore, an eighth-grader, says.

“She just wants to go to school, but there’s so much craziness with the cancer, she’s just happy to get up every day,” says former Gold School student Kelsea Strucki, now a freshman at Marymount Manhattan College.

 “It was one of the best days ever at our studio. It was a huge reminder to our kids about how lucky they are,” Gold says, adding that he and his faculty used Lexi’s experiences for choreographic inspiration. “Anytime a kid in rehearsal is looking tired, I say, ‘Remember, remember.’ And it works.”

At their two competitions this year, The Gold School dancers took home many of the top awards. But when interviewed for this story, all they wanted to talk about was the concert when Lexi and her family sat in the front row.

“In the concerts, you connect with each other and the audience,” Kelsea says. “I didn’t realize how much until I saw them in the front row, and the audience was crying. They understood what we were dancing.”

“Thinking Out Loud” is the name of a new series of episodes from DanceLifeTV.com. Like the Dance Studio Life department of the same name, it will explore the varied perspectives of selected people in the dance world. In this pilot episode, Rennie Gold shares his views on the pros and cons of the dance competition experience. With a history of growing up participating in competition and now participating with his own dancers, Gold offers throught-provoking views on having the right mind-set when it comes to the competition experience.

Back to DanceLife TV viewer guide

The DanceLife Teacher Conference has announced faculty members and curriculum offerings for its sessions in Scottsdale, Arizona, from July 30 to August 2, 2011.

The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona

The conference is produced by Rhee Gold, a well-known motivational speaker, former dance studio owner, and publisher of Dance Studio Life magazine. It was last held in 2009 in Orlando, Florida.

Faculty members booked thus far, in addition to Gold, include Susan Biali, Maureen and Tony Corso, Sandi Duncan, Bill Evans, Ellen Ferreira, Rennie Gold, Melissa Hoffman, Geo Hubela, Laurie Johnson, Kathy Kozul, Misty Lown, Roni Mahler, Hedy Perna, Art Stone, Ashley Stone, Nancy Stone, and Joe Tremaine.

The curriculum promises tips on maximizing studio income; marketing and packaging Mommy & Me programs; concepts for children’s summer camps; and the latest in online marketing.

In addition, technique classes will be offered in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, contemporary, and hip-hop, along with practical advice on working with male students and preschoolers and other teacher concerns.

The conference will be held at Scottsdale’s Phoenician Resort, where attendees will receive a sharply discounted room rate. For registration, call 888-i-dance-9.

Contemporary dance might get boys through the door, but to keep them dancing you’ve got to let guys be guys

By Brian McCormick

The world of contemporary dance is luring boys like never before, glamorized by movies and TV shows like High School Musical, So You Think You Can Dance, and Glee. Guys who are taking modern classes are doing it because studios are making it part of their overall package, and they’re making it attractive—sending graduates on to conservatory dance programs and professional careers in which well-rounded dancers have the best options. 

Male students at Dance Dynamics are give the chance to be "what they want to be," says artistic director Dori Matkowski. (Photo by Mark Matkowski)

But getting boys into your studio is only half the battle—you’ve got to keep them. The three studio directors in this story have developed effective ways of doing both. 

The holistic approach
Dori Matkowski, artistic director of Dance Dynamics in the Detroit suburb of Walled Lake, Michigan, has been training boys for 27 years. About 100 guys take classes at her studio, and out of the 80 dancers in the performing company, 16 are men. 

Matkowski attributes the success of her program to her own training. “I was trained by a strong masculine teacher and have always had a personal knack for teaching guys,” she says, adding that she picked up additional tips about teaching boys at Tremaine Dance Conventions. 

Her 24-year-old son has always danced, and Matkowski found that he could help bring other boys into the studio. “When he was in sports when he was young,” she says, “I’d pay him $5 for every boy that he could get to come to the studio. It kept him in dance and the business exploded. We’ve had 60 to 100 guys at a time every year since.”             Matkowski encourages all boys who come to Dance Dynamics to take an all-male class at first. “Once they are comfortable,” she explains, “we encourage them to take both all-guys and co-ed intermediate classes.” Although 3- to 6-year-olds are all in classes with girls, Matkowski says, “we make sure all the boys are in the same class together. We don’t want them to feel isolated.” 

She makes sure that the studio holds appeal for males of all ages. “We don’t teach only one class for boys. We have male teachers,” including the vice president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Matkowski says. “He’s a great role model, and it’s absolutely important to have those. We try to get a male demonstrator in the classes.”

Matkowski’s attention to the boys goes beyond classes, so that they are as comfortable onstage as in the studio. “We make sure the choreography is appropriate for the guys—that they don’t do the same things as girls and are not just props,” she says. “Some guys come in dancing like a girl because they’ve been in classes that have them doing the same things as the girls. We put them in workshop classes where there can be more male influence.” 

And then there’s the masculine culture outside of the classroom and the stigma of dance as a feminine activity. Matkowski understands that boys often have a hard time socially because of their dancing. At her studio, “all the guys have mentors,” she says. She pairs them with older male dancers who have experienced the peer pressures and can help the younger boys navigate some of the social and emotional stuff associated with the stereotypes.

“To be honest, more time is spent in therapy about being a male in the entertainment world than on technique,” says Matkowski. “Dancing through middle school can be a dreadful experience in a Detroit-area suburb like this one. A lot of the boys can’t tell their friends at school [that they dance]. What they go through is horrible. When they get to the studio, we have to train them to let it go, to come in and be what they want to be. There’s a lot of nurturing.” 

One way Matkowski tends to the boys is by working with their fathers. “They are dealing with some of the worst stereotypes,” she says. “We let them know there are other things their sons can do, that dancing can lead to careers in entertainment, improve coordination, and even improve abilities in sports.”

As a way to get the fathers more involved, the studio has a group called “Dancing Dads,” which provides comic relief and helps with technical support. An average of 24 dads and grandfathers participate each year. “It’s a very tight group,” says Matkowski, “and some of the men have developed lifelong friendships through their involvement.”

Matkowski says having the men present and actively involved sends a strong and positive message for her boys. They can also offer constructive criticism when it comes to moves some might consider too “girly,” and that helps reinforce the school’s overall masculine image.

The comprehensive program at Dance Dynamics includes requirements for choreography and teaching proficiencies that have to be fulfilled by high school—what Matkowski calls “survival skills.” Each class at Dance Dynamics includes some modeling, acting, improvisation, and public speaking. These exercises are designed to help build self-confidence and prepare dancers for real-life situations. Some classes also include an introduction to commercial theater and film and auditions, plus other tips about how to get into show business. “Advanced boys,” Matkowski says, “need overall training so they can get jobs in everything.” She holds her son up as an example of what the studio can produce: “He’s booked out for master classes, has worked at Disney, is currently working with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and he has also worked in film.” Recent male studio graduates have gone on to study at Juilliard and New York University and dance in West Side Story on Broadway.

“In the beginning, we only had a few guys,” Matkowski says. (The studio opened in 1982.) “Now, guys move here to train [at my school], and guys who are already out there working come in to take intensives and to be exposed to our really strong, really masculine program.” But, she adds, “our boys are not treated like they are special or king of the studio. Most of the time, boys transfer here because they want to go into show biz, and they like to be treated normally. When my son started working as a dance captain and swing assistant, he told me, ‘It’s a good thing we don’t treat our guys as special.’ They are more ready for the real world.” 

Start them young
The Gold School in Brockton, Massachusetts, founded in 1964 by the late Sherry Gold, has been under the leadership of her son Rennie (twin brother of Dance Studio Life publisher Rhee Gold) since 1996. The studio offers classes in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and “a lot of modern. We have lots of kids who want to go into college programs,” Rennie Gold says. 

 “In our lobby you won’t see a lot of pink and pointe shoes. For classes, in the beginning, the boys wear soccer shorts and T-shirts, so they can be comfortable as boys.” —Rennie Gold

Arguably the studio’s most famous male progeny is Juilliard graduate Kyle Robinson, who was named “Mr. Dance of America” in 2005 by Dance Masters of America. He dances with Aszure Barton & Artists and has performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov as part of White Oak Dance Project. “It doesn’t get any better as a teacher,” Gold says, beaming with pride.

“Right now in the intensive program, we have 18 boys, from age 9 through seniors in high school,” says Gold. “We do what everyone in the Dolly Dinkle world says you shouldn’t do. We sell combo classes—ballet, modern, jazz, tap. There’s no ‘I don’t take this or that.’ And by the time they’re 10, they all wear tights in ballet class.”

According to Gold, schools can build their enrollment of boys “if [they] can get a few in the door, start them young, and keep them.” Keeping them means making them feel comfortable, he emphasizes. “In our lobby you won’t see a lot of pink and pointe shoes. For classes, in the beginning, the boys wear soccer shorts and T-shirts, so they can be comfortable as boys.” 

Gold doesn’t offer separate boys classes. “That environment isn’t so great for learning,” he says. “But we also try to avoid having only one boy in any class; having just one other boy in the class can make a big difference.” 

Like Matkowski, Gold recognizes how important it is to please the fathers. “There’s no Lycra or sequins; that would be too much for the fathers,” he says. “We do a lot of performances in street clothes. One day a mother complained, ‘I want my son to have a real costume!’ Even in my mother’s time—and there were less boys than we have now—she would deal with the fathers. Mothers would come in and say that the dads didn’t want their boys taking dance classes. One mother, a few years back, didn’t want us to call the house. Those experiences have made me very conscious of the father factor.” 

Break the rules
Amber Perkins opened Amber Perkins School of the Arts in her hometown of Norwich, New York, “right out of undergrad” and has been going strong for 12 years. She has a second studio in nearby Vestal. 

When the studio where Perkins got her teaching certification closed, she took over the space and about 85 percent of the students, almost all girls. Around the same time, she took over the choreography for the high school play—West Side Story—as part of her internship. To bring boys into the world of dance, Perkins got her brother, “a jock type with artist friends who also played a musical instrument,” to get his friends to try out for the show. She also brought them into the studio to take classes. 

“Partnering class was horrible. The boys would march from one end of stage and pick up the girls. We had to work with what we had. In the beginning, we broke all the rules. These were guys who played football and basketball. We were either going to do it the way they could do it, or we weren’t going to have them. So in class they don’t have to wear proper attire, and they don’t have to take ballet.” This tradition continues to work.

Perkins’ brother Mikey and his friends started taking classes at 16 and 17 years old. “One of his best friends, who used to play football for Empire State College, is now in Pilobolus,” Perkins says. The school also has graduates in Garth Fagan’s company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and others who have performed at Radio City.

Perkins’ studio has more than 20 boys now, “including a quarterback and guys who are strict dancers. They all take technique, and we’re a heavy modern [dance] school,” she says. Male teachers and choreographers, including Perkins’ brother and his friends, strengthen the masculine image of the studio. “Our men are modern choreographers, so the work is more athletic, and the guys grab onto that,” Perkins says.

Despite the number of boys at the studio, Perkins still allows the jocks to break the rules. “They’re great partners, they move well, and we get them once a week. If a girl has an opportunity to dance with a boy, especially if it’s a duet, we do whatever we have to,” she says. “Meet them where they’re at, break the rules, and put them in a costume that makes them feel comfortable. They don’t want to wear a dance belt, so put them in dress pants; do whatever you need to do to make them feel comfortable.” 

With the fathers, Perkins says, emphasize the athleticism of dance. “If you can make them feel like [dance will] make their boy a better basketball player, that can be huge.”

In this episode of Danspirations from DanceLifeTV.com, Rennie Gold, director of The Gold School in Brockton, Massachusetts, shares his thoughts on choreography. You’ll discover who inspires him and he’ll share some of his choreography tips for both the advanced and recreational dancer. For Gold, choreography isn’t about putting steps together, but about creating a work of art.

Back to DanceLife TV viewer guide

The Gold School in Brockton, Massachusetts, will present Change My World, a benefit dance performance for the Hugs for Healing Foundation and the Sherry Gold Foundation, on March 26 and 27 at Bridgewater/Raynham High School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

The school was founded in 1964 by Sherry Gold and has been led since 1996 by her son Rennie Gold (whose brother Rhee is the publisher of Dance Studio Life).

VIP tickets cost $25, with general admission at $15 and tickets for students and seniors at $12. To order, call 508.586.4653 or visit www.thegoldschool.com.

The school also is accepting applications for “Mind Body Soul,” its summer intensive, to be held from August 2 to 13. It’s offered for students from 10 to 24 years old, who will be assigned to junior, senior, and pre-professional divisions.

The curriculum includes ballet, contemporary, modern (Horton- and Limón-based), jazz, musical theater, hip-hop, improvisation/composition, and body conditioning. To register, visit the school’s website above.

Directed by Rennie Gold, the Gold School in Brockton, Massachusetts, is proving that dance is as much about the life lessons passed from teacher to student as it is the technique that is taught. Be moved by this up-close and personal interview with Gold as well as his faculty and students. In this episode you’ll discover how dance can make a big difference—and sometimes all the difference—in the lives of young people.

Back to DanceLife TV viewer guide

Change My World

Coming March 26 & 27, 2010, 8:00 pm

Bridgewater/Raynham High School

Proceeds to benefit The Sherry Gold and Hugs for Healing Foundations

More info: www.renniegold.com

 NEW! Studio Edition at The Gold School, Brockton, MA | July 23-25

 An intimate business and motivational seminar for dance school owners/teachers
Limited to 50 attendees (minimum age 18)

For the first time, Rennie and Rhee Gold join forces to bring the dance education field a unique inspirational experience. Rhee’s business and motivational seminars along with Rennie’s classroom and choreography concepts will bring attendees a continuing education experience like no other. Their passion for the art of dance and education is evident in all that they do.

Having grown up in a studio under the direction of their mom, Sherry Gold, and served as leaders in the dance community, Rennie and Rhee offer attendees unique perspectives about the business, the classroom, and the life!

Whether you want to generate more income, learn new strategies for 21^st-century marketing, become better organized, learn new teaching and choreography concepts, or simply get the inspiration you need, this seminar will change the way you look at your business and the life of a dance teacher . . . guaranteed!

Who should attend?

Curriculum for this Project Motivate seminar will be very much focused on the school owner who is also working within the classroom. It is not a seminar for assistant teachers or teachers who want to take many classes. The curriculum for the classroom is presented as demonstrations. Note: Please no late arrival or early departure. 

Project Motivate Curriculum

The Business

OBJECTIVES: Improve your enrollment and help you to generate more income and become a smarter business person.

Innovative 21^st-century marketing concepts include social networking, websites, e-zines, and a ton of sample print materials that will improve your studio’s image and your income.

You’ll discover new ways to improve student retention and organize your business, as well as the tools to analyze where YOU are really making a profit (and where you may not be).

Sample employee policies and contracts will be presented and discussed, along with tips to determine who on your staff is an employee and who is a subcontractor.

If it has to do with the business of owning a school, it will be touched on at this seminar.

Classroom & Choreography Live!

NEW! This concept will offer attendees the opportunity to view Rennie Gold in action with his students.

Two classroom demonstrations with different age groups (approximately 9-12 and 13-plus). His focus will be on building a dancer from the bottom up, both technically and emotionally. He’ll offer techniques for motivating students to be the best that they can be, while emphasizing that they can’t be satisfied with what they accomplished yesterday. Rennie will also share various warm-ups, progressions, combinations, and more.

Rennie will create a piece of choreography for a group of young dancers, demonstrating how to involve students in the creative process and how to generate a teamwork attitude. He’ll share secrets related to utilizing formations and patterns and eliminating the tricks!

All presentations will include a Q&A session.

Rhee Gold’s Motivational Seminars

Rhee Gold’s frank, revealing, and often humorous presentations have been inspiring dance educators worldwide for more than a decade. His presentations are designed to inspire you to become the best teacher, business person, and mentor you can be. Gold’s experience as the son of a school owner, student, teacher, choreographer, master teacher, industry leader, author, publisher, and the dance field’s first motivational speaker will leave you with a renewed sense of passion and confidence.

Area Hotels

Courtyard by Marriott, Stoughton, MA: 781.297.7000
Residence Inn by Marriott, Brockton, MA: 508.583.3600
Radisson-Brockton, Brockton, MA: 508.588.6300

Airports

Boston’s Logan International
T.F. Green Airport, Providence

Seminar Fee: $349.00

Includes: All three days, the Project Motivate manual, marketing samples, continental breakfast, lunch, and so much more! Note: The seminar is limited to the first 50 applicants on a first-come, first-served basis. We expect that it will sell out.

Registration

888.i.dance.9 (local: 508.285.6650), 9 to 5 EST weekdays.
Register today, space is limited!

Our family school started by my mom, Sherry Gold in the basement of our family home in 1964. Today it is located in a 10,000 square foot facility, directed by my twin brother Rennie. It is a place where the passion for the art is #1. Enjoy–Rhee

Dance teachers share their great ideas for the classroom and the office

 Too often we hear about the competition between dance teachers or school owners. But with all the great ideas out there, we’d all be better off (and so would our students) if we shared our collective wisdom instead of keeping it to ourselves. Take advantage of your fellow teachers’ generosity in sharing these successful practices—you just might find that a few of them fit you and your school perfectly.

Communication and Awareness

“Bring Your Dad to Dance” Week
All students are invited to bring their dads (or uncles, brothers, grandpas—it just has to be a male so that the other dads aren’t embarrassed to be there) to class with them. The dads do part of the class with us (warm-up and stretching), observe what their students are working on, and then learn a daddy/student dance. The students love showing their dads what they do and sharing this aspect of their lives with them. I knew the students would love it, but what surprised me is how much the dads do. I always get so many positive responses after class and have received countless cards, letter, and emails thanking me for allowing them to be involved in their children’s lives this way.

This is our third year for this program, and it has become my favorite week of the year. It is a great tool to educate dads about our program. Many times it is just the moms who come to parent visitation week. Even though the dads are involved in the decision about whether their children should continue their dance education, most of them have little information; they have little idea of what goes on in class and often just see all the checks written to the studio. —Angela Schneider, Encore School of Dance and Gymnastics, Aurora, NE

Parent conferences and progress reports
I have done parent conferences ever since I opened my school six years ago. I was an elementary school teacher before I opened my dance school; if parents and teachers need to communicate on a student’s progress, attitude, and personal growth in the academic setting, why should dance class be any different?

These conferences are a great opportunity to make personal contact with the parents and concentrate your attention (even for only 15 minutes) on each child. As dance teachers we rarely have time to speak with parents, and when we do, often it is when there is a behavior issue or a parent corners us unexpectedly. So this dedicated time for the parents has been very good for my studio.

During one week of classes in January the students stay home and the parents come in. I put signup sheets on the bulletin board a couple of weeks beforehand and let the parents schedule time slots every 10 to 15 minutes. I offer some slots in the morning for nonworking parents; the rest are held all afternoon. I ask the teachers to write a couple of notes on each child—at least one positive comment and one suggested area of improvement. It is interesting to see how each student works and behaves for each teacher.

I always start by asking the parents how their children like dance so far. I then speak of my personal experience with their children and review the teachers’ notes. After the conference, the parents are asked to review the notes with their children and let them know how proud we are of them for what they are doing well and what we want them to work on. Many times the relationships between parent and teacher and student and teacher improve because everyone knows where everyone stands.

This year I added a progress report for my competition students only. The reports went out to the families in November, and we followed up on them with the January conferences. I wanted to show the parents that we would hold the students accountable for what’s expected of them. —Beth Fagan, Main Street Dance, Hammond, LA

Personal postcards
I designed postcards with our school logo and had 1,000 of them printed very inexpensively. Each week I send postcards to 10 students, with a quick note from me to make them feel special. I always do it if something negative happened or if they weren’t smiling in class. I am still refining this system to make sure that everyone gets a couple each year. It’s a “feel good” practice that encourages student retention. —Angela Schneider, Encore School of Dance and Gymnastics, Aurora, NE

Business Practices

Dealing with small classes
When do you cancel a class because of low enrollment? If there are only three or four kids in a class, combine two classes. In small classes the energy is low, and you’re working twice as hard. Big classes can be good—the energy is usually high. However, if you keep a class of three or four students going through the season, you’ve usually locked them in, so it’s successful in the long run (even though you’ll lose money in the short run). —Rennie Gold, The Gold School, Brockton, MA

Advertising advice
Run ads even if you don’t need more enrollment—you need to keep your school’s name out there. Also, put something in the ads that creates a sense of urgency—make people feel they need to enroll now! For example, say that classes are closed or there’s a waiting list. —Rhee Gold, publisher, Dance Studio Life

Student Interaction

Classroom dance buddies
Give second- to fifth-grade dancers a buddy to go across the floor with. Buddies help each other remember the rules and etiquette, and kids love to show somebody else how good they are. Let them clap for each other. Also let them make up combinations for their buddies to try.

This also helps when you have different levels in a class. The kids who need to be challenged more can come up with or be guided to more difficult combinations, while dancers who need to work on technique can practice that. That way the whole class is not watching them and they have the support of their buddies. Try changing buddies frequently or pairing a weak dancer with a stronger one. The instructor or instructor’s assistant can work as a buddy as well. —Colleen Rudnicki, Dancin’ Feet Dance School, Andover, MN

Peer corrections
For cleaning competition choreography, I partner up the kids and have them watch each other to note areas that need improvement, as well as areas they are excelling in. It’s amazing to hear the detailed critiques they give one another, and it avoids me having to sound like a broken record. Sometimes having another voice give the correction to a student can make a difference. It’s also a self-esteem boost to get a compliment from a peer. —Rhiana Hoffman, Starz Dance Studio, Becker, MN

In the Classroom

Favor the “bad” side
Years ago I had a left-handed dance teacher. She taught everything from the left side first, and I noticed that my “bad” side became much stronger. I use that method today in all my classes, from age 3 to adult. By learning the movement on the less-coordinated side, the students must concentrate harder and make more effort in order to master the movement. The end result is a well-rounded dancer who does not have an obvious weak side. —Suzanne Goodman, Easley Dance Conservatory, Easley, SC

Recycle lesson plans
Keep detailed lesson plans for each age level and save them from year to year. Referring to them can be a great refresher when you need to spice up your classes—that creative movement game you created in 1999 (and forgot about) might be just the ticket for your current class. —Rhiana Hoffman, Starz Dance Studio, Becker, MN

Teaching vs. demonstrating
When teachers demonstrate combinations and then continue to do them with the students, the students are not challenged to remember the steps. I prefer to demonstrate a few times and then ask the students to do the combination for me while I watch. I will help them by calling out the steps or dancing a small portion with them if necessary. But after several attempts I’ll ask them to do it without my prompting.

When it’s time to dance to music, I sing the rhythm of the song before they dance the steps. That aids the dancers in staying together and with the music. —Linda Kalnen, South East Dance Academy, Wilmington, NC

Teaching the shim sham
In teaching a basic shim sham (no break), this nursery rhyme makes learning the step easy: “This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb.” It mimics the actual terminology of shuffle step, shuffle step, shuffle step step, shuffle step. —Audrey Dascomb, Dance Expressions Unlimited, Tyngsboro, MA

Working With Young Students

Squaring off
For young students who are learning to keep their “ballet square,” I stick brightly colored circles onto their leotard, at the hip bones and shoulders. The students get a big kick out of correcting their own placement while looking in the mirror. —Erin Thompson Messenger, Erin Messenger School of Dance, New Liskeard, ON, Canada

Welcome rhyme for Tiny Tots
We do a welcome rhyme before our Tiny Tot classes. It is a wonderful learning tool in so many aspects, from participation to feeling important to learning names and patterns. We sit in a circle and the instructor leads all the dancers in patting their legs and repeating the rhyme for each dancer’s name. For example:

“Aubrey’s here today” (pat legs three times, once for each word),

(repeat) “Aubrey’s here today” (pat legs three times, once for each word),

“Aubrey’s here at dance today” (roll hands in front of you),

“Hip” (one hand on hip),

“Hip” (other hand on hip),

“Hooray!” (both hands up overhead).

As long as you keep all the children involved and keep the pace moving, they love it! —Colleen Rudnicki, Dancin’ Feet Dance School, Andover, MN

Technique pointers
As a fun way to help young students correctly rotate their legs in second position, I tell them they have a little light on their heel, just under their anklebone, which has to shine to the front to light our way. Then we do tendus to the side singing, “This Little Light of Mine.”

To help 8- to 9-year-olds become mindful of always pointing their feet, we do a silly game in which the children march around the room and the assistant teachers give out “tickets” to the unpointed feet. This age group finds the game amusing, and it still brings their attention to correct technique. —Nancy Whyte, Nancy Whyte School of Ballet, Bellingham, WA

In Performance

Recital-season refreshers
At recital time, we find that our young (3- to 5-year-old) dancers become distracted by the signs of spring. They have been working on their recital routines for a while, so they are sometimes bored. Consequently, we have developed Big Buddy/Little Buddy routines for our recital. We invite a class of older students (usually over age 10) to come to the preschool class and learn these routines. They are short and simple but add the needed simulation for this time of year. The little ones idolize their big buddies and the older students feel special. Because of this one-on-one attention, we are able to introduce the preschool dancers to new steps late in the season. It is also a good introductory lesson for the older children on how to interact and help teach. Often our student assistants grow out of this exposure. And the parents are thrilled because all these children get onstage one more time in our recital. —Wendy Holmquist, Dance Dynamics Studio, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada

Dynamic choreography
Keep the dancers constantly moving and the choreography constantly changing. Make the audiences work! Their heads should be moving constantly as things draw their eye. —Joe Tremaine, Joe Tremaine Dance Center, Los Angeles, CA

Do you have a teaching- or business-related idea that you’d like to share with other teachers and school owners? Send it to Jeff Warzecha at jeff@rheegold.com or to Dance Studio Life, 10 South Washington St., Norton, MA 02766. Write “Collective Wisdom” in the subject line of your email or on the top of your letter, and be sure to include your name, phone number, and email address, plus your school’s name and address.

“Toy Boy on the left, give me a real contraction, and keep your feet parallel!” yelled Gus Giordano during a class at his studio. “Toy Boy” was either my twin brother, Rennie, or me—Gus could never tell us apart, so he simply referred to us with that all-purpose nickname, identifying the object of his attention at the moment by who was on the right or the left. That was cool with me, because this man, this teacher, this legend was bigger than life to me and he could call me anything he wanted to.

When I heard that Gus had died on March 9 (see FYI, page 18), I began searching my memory for the first time I saw him. I think it was in the late ’60s; I must have been about 7 or 8. I wasn’t taking class, but my mom, Sherry Gold, was assisting him at a master class in Boston. I remember that Gus was wearing a gauzy top with matching pants and my mom was sporting one of those I Dream of Jeannie ponytails. Gus was teaching “Steam Heat” from The Pajama Game, and after the class was over he and my mom performed the choreography he had taught. I remember thinking, even though I was so young, that I wanted to be able to dance like that man someday.

My mother assisted Gus for years, and as Rennie and I got older she took us to many of the cities where they taught. We would take Gus’ classes, and every once in a while he would ask the Toy Boys to come up to the front of the class to demonstrate something. I always forgot the combination because I was so nervous that he was watching. I was scared to death, but in a respectful, “This guy is a genius” way.

Among the many lessons Gus taught me was the concept that all dance—not just the strength of the movement, but the emotion and the passion too—comes from the center. A simple port de bras wasn’t just an arm movement; for Gus it was your soul’s energy shooting out from your back and through your fingertips. It was something that you felt, not just something you did. And if you ever saw him dance, you completely understood what he meant, because he was the epitome of a dancer with soul.

Many excellent teachers refer to themselves as “masters,” but they come and go very quickly nowadays. It’s the fad mentality of a 21st-century world that brings these teachers to the forefront for a while and then leaves them behind as the dance field moves on to the next hot trend. But if you were to look up “master teacher” in a dictionary and find that the definition read “Gus Giordano,” you would understand exactly what a master is.

Over the last few weeks I have had many conversations with teacher friends who are saddened by the passing of this legend. But my response to them is to temper their mourning with thanks that they had the chance to be influenced by such a great man. Yes, we will miss him, but what he gave the dance world has influenced and will continue to influence every dancer who takes a jazz class anywhere in the world. The essence of Gus lives on in millions of dancers, and some of them don’t even know it. Forever changing an art form and leaving behind a living legacy is what great artists do, and Gus was one of the greats.

I am grateful and honored that Gus wrote the foreword to my book, The Complete Guide to Teaching Dance. In it he says that the fundamentals of dance, teaching dance, and living life were close to his heart. It seems fitting, then, that our tribute to this man’s passing, and the vibrancy of his life, happens to fall in our inspiration-themed issue. We may mourn Gus’ passing, but the words that continue to reverberate in my mind are these: “Gone, but never forgotten.”

4 days of career-building in Boston

During the first week of July (2007), Boston was home to hundreds of dance school owners and teachers, along with dozens of studio staff members and dance industry vendors. The event was the first DanceLife Teacher Conference, held July 3–6 at the Park Plaza Hotel in the heart of the city’s Back Bay district. With four days of business- and dance-track classes and seminars presented by top names in the field, there was something for everyone. Sharing the billing were presentations on marketing, selling a school, business brainstorming, summer camps, preschool and jazz curriculums; sessions on choreography, career guidance, and music; and dance classes that ran the gamut from ballet to Gyrokinesis® to hip-hop.

Gregg Russell teaches class. (Photo courtesy Recital Ready)

The guest faculty included Rosemarie Boyden, Joseph Giacobbe, Rennie Gold, Tom Ralabate, Joe Tremaine, Gregg Russell, Derrick Yanford, and many others. At the gala luncheon Ralabate and Shevon McBride delighted diners with a swing dance, and Russell tore up the stage with a tap dance. Lifetime achievement awards were presented to Nancy Bradford Lonero, who recently celebrated her 60th teaching anniversary, and Marjorie Sellers, who finished her 74th year. 

Teachers from 38 states around the country attended: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Canada made a good showing, with 24 schools represented, and a few teachers made the trek from such faraway places as Scotland, Singapore, and the Canary Islands.

Thank-yous and words of praise have been pouring in. Will there be a DanceLife Teacher Conference in 2008? You bet! See you next year!

 “I really enjoyed knowing I’m not alone. I feel like now I am a member of a secret society that only others in my field can understand. So many positive things were expressed that I feel like I can continue to teach until my body wears down.” —Janet Graham, Janet’s Dance Studio, Mexico, MO

“Wow, what a great week! I feel so full of new ideas and motivation! I only wish I could have taken all the classes offered—there were so many great choices.” —Barb Jackman, Dance Images by BJ, Moose Jaw, SK, Canada

“To be educated, to be informed, to be challenged, to be the best I can be—this is what the conference put in my heart. I had a marvelous and rejuvenating time. I discovered that at 51 years young, I need to keep dancing and teaching. That is priceless to me!” —Caroline Batson, Vicki Michelle [Studio], Spring, TX

 “The entire program was better than great! Your selection of guest teachers and presenters was unmatched! Motivation, inspiration, and over-the-top enthusiasm! Amazing!” —Jeannie Rizzo, Marblehead, MA

“Even after 29 years in this business as a studio owner, I walked away with a notebook full of ideas and suggestions to improve my business.” —Terrie Legein, Legein Dance Academy, Coventry, RI

Dance Studio Life readers sound off on the meaning of this common term for dance teachers

By Rhee Gold

When I raised the question “What is a ‘Dolly Dinkle’ dance teacher?” on our website several months ago, little did I know what a response I would get. Apparently the term means different things to different people, and readers spoke their minds emphatically. In its more generic use, it refers to the owner of a small, neighborhood school, often one with primitive facilities (low ceilings and tile or concrete floors, perhaps). But for some people the term has a negative connotation, signifying a poorly trained teacher who has no qualifications to teach others; for others who perceive it more positively, a Dolly Dinkle school has humble origins but is often run by a teacher with high standards and great drive and passion. Emotions run high in this debate, and it affords us an interesting look at personal biases in the context of the labels we use for others.

It all began with a conversation I had with a teacher friend of mine, who had trained with me at my mother’s school in Randolph, MA, some 40-odd years ago. She referred to another teacher in her town as a “Dolly Dinkle” teacher. All my life I’ve heard the term but I had never asked anyone what they meant by it—but this time I did. My friend replied, “It’s someone who hangs out a shingle and opens a school in her basement.” That didn’t sound too terrible to me. Then she added, “Who doesn’t have a degree in dance.” In a condescending tone of voice she finished her description with “Do you know that this teacher has no secretary? She actually collects the tuition and teaches her classes!”

Instantly I shot back with “Don’t you realize that you and I are the products of a Dolly Dinkle teacher?” I explained that she had just described my mother, our first teacher. When my mother began teaching, she hung up a shingle, taught in her basement, and had no degree in dance. She was the secretary and the janitor; she cleaned the mirrors, bathrooms, and floors and did all the other jobs that come with owning a school. My friend seemed very surprised at first, as if she thought I didn’t know what I was talking about, but she then realized that she had made a negative judgment about a teacher who was just like her own teacher. I think it made her do a bit of soul-searching.

My friend and I (and my brother) became dance teachers because my mother decided to pass on her passion for the art of dance in the only way she could afford to—with a shingle, a basement, and no support staff. More than 40 years later, my mother’s school is housed in a huge building, has a flourishing enrollment, a national reputation for producing professional dancers, and a successful recreational program, all under the direction of my brother Rennie. If my mother was a Dolly Dinkle dance teacher, I’m thinking we need more of them!

In response to my website posting, quite a few readers wrote in. Tracy Davenport of Performing Arts Centre, Inc., in St. Charles, MO, writes, “I had no idea ‘Dolly Dinkle’ was a universal term. This gal gets around! I have heard the term in reference to a stereotype of teachers who have had only a few years of training as a child or adult and then open a studio. They are not dedicated to the art form; teaching is just a business to them. These teachers are not continuing their own education, thereby passing on an education that leaves a lot to be desired.”

Several teachers say that based on my friend’s description they would qualify as Dolly Dinkles themselves. “Your description of Dolly Dinkle puts me right there,” writes Terrie Legein of Legein Dance Academy of Performing Arts in Coventry, RI. “I did the exact same thing 29 years ago. I think the only thing that sets us former ‘Dinkle girls’ apart from the rest is that we join an organization that can help us become better dance educators and work toward becoming the best we can in our field. I wouldn’t change a thing from my studio past—I think it’s what makes us better administrators and business owners.”

“I am a ‘Dolly Dinkle’ teacher and have been for 31 years,” writes Kathie Jamison Cote of Northern Lights Dance Arts in Maine. “I helped support our family of seven with studios in Florida for 16 years, and now that shingle hangs in three towns in Maine, where I continue to do my life’s work. [My parents] provided every opportunity for me to expand my knowledge as I was growing up in the remote state of Maine. Fortunately my teacher, Jheri McQuillan, recognized my passion for dance and mentored me with annual classes in New York City with some of the finest master teachers: Luigi, Gus Giordano, Danny Hoctor and the Caravan folks, Kit André, Melita Brock-Warner, Joey Puglisi, Frank Hatchett . . .” Commenting on the unfair judgment that is sometimes levied on teachers who do not have a degree in dance, Cote adds, “I share my passion, love, and knowledge lovingly with my dancers. They know their technique and terminology, and we are constantly questing to learn from those dancers and teachers, classes, videos, and books that set the high standards that the dance world enjoys.”

“I am one of those teachers as well,” writes Debbie Donaldson, artistic director of Dreams in Motion Performing and Fine Arts School in Gananoque, Ontario, Canada. “I had taken dance all my life; then when I had my three girls I started taking them to dance classes in the nearest city. I drove 45 minutes each way to watch them take a class for 45 minutes. At the end-of-the-year show, I sat there thinking, ‘I can do better than this,’ and my mother, who was sitting next to me, said, ‘You can do better than this.’ So the next year, with 17 students, I started a dance school in the basement of our house. Now, 22 years later, there are times when I feel I am not good enough, especially when I go into the [public] school system and [the teachers there] turn their heads the other way because I do not have a teaching degree. But my school has become a performing and fine arts school and a charitable organization. I love teaching dance and bringing the joy of the arts to this area. I belong to a dance teachers’ organization, and I do what I feel is right for my students. ‘Dolly Dinkle’ or ‘Debbie Dance’—that’s me and I am proud of it!”

If my mother was a Dolly Dinkle dance teacher, I’m thinking we need more of them!

Melanie Kirk-Stauffer, artistic director of Dance Theatre Northwest in University Place, WA, had never heard the name “Dolly Dinkle” before, but she can identify. “I started my school years ago in the basement of a nursing/retirement home in a donated space and in gratitude did numerous performances there. We still do several performances each year in senior-care facilities; it is a win–win for all. My school grew from nothing, and I guess I didn’t notice that much because I am so passionate about both dance and teaching.”

Suzanne Perdue of Dancers Edge in Marlborough, MA, writes to defend the argument that a “Dolly Dinkle” teacher is someone who should not be teaching dance. “They have had poor or no training, education, or performing experience when they start teaching, much like someone who decides to practice law without the necessary training. It doesn’t have to do with opening a studio in a basement or not having a secretary. Often it’s a student who says, ‘Hey, I can dance; I can do what a teacher does.’ Sometimes they have had no dance education beyond their own teachers (who also might have had no education beyond their own teachers); they don’t take classes or workshops to improve themselves or their studio; they put kids on pointe at age 8 or demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of what is developmentally appropriate for kids.”

She goes on to cite the example of a teacher with more than 20 years of experience who told a student preparing to take her first pointe class to “buy any pointe shoes and walk around in them during the summer. When the girl started classes in the fall, this teacher told her, she’d be on pointe. The girl was 10. She had had one year of ballet, one class per week. In her first class wearing the pointe shoes (after not dancing for three months), she dislocated her knee. I learned about this when she became my student the following year.” She mentions another teacher she knows who “studied with only one teacher and claimed she had no desire to do anything further in dance, including teacher workshops, but wanted to be a dance teacher. Never more than a beginning-level student, she became a dance teacher at age 14.”

So let’s make a proclamation that not all Dolly Dinkles are created equal. Excellent, dedicated teachers who enrich their students’ lives through dance and challenge themselves to learn and grow throughout their careers may start out in humble surroundings, but their “shingles” represent good training, passion for dance and children, and the desire to contribute to an art form. That’s a far cry from someone with the same roots who opens a school but lacks what it takes to shape a dancer—and a life. The next time you hear the term, or are tempted to call someone by it, consider what it might mean to them. Depending on the context, it could be an insult—or a compliment.