weekly tips for an excellent performance by your dancers!
ask these questions weekly from now until showtime!
Asking these questions will train your dancers to know what to do in all situations onstage and off. Make a list, put it in your roll book and go over it every week!
It is your responsibility as their teacher to have them prepared for every possible situation that could happen. Prepare them so they are confident in how to handle any obstacle!
What do you do if your shoe falls off, your headpiece falls off, etc?
Keep dancing! Ignore anything that falls off and we’ll get it for them in the black-out. If someone else’s shoe falls off, don’t look at it, don’t pick it up, etc. Ignore it! Keep going, keep going! Practice having another students shoe fall off and allow them to keep going with the dance without stopping!
What do you do if someone gets on your number?
(THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO TEACH BABIES!)
If someone gets on your number, it’s ok! Just go find another one. It’s okay to find another one, keep dancing and don’t worry about it! Practice standing on their number when they come out and teach them how to go quickly and find a number that is vacant. The stage throws them off, if you have them trained to just find a number…you won’t have an issue if they go out and are mixed up!
What happens if you slip and fall onstage?
Get right back up! Nobody saw you, hop back up and keep going! The quicker you get up, the quicker you can get back into the dance and nobody will notice. Practice where someone falls (on purpose) and gets up really quickly.
What do you do if you are onstage waiting for the music and the wrong music plays?
Hold tight, don’t wiggle, don’t look at us and ask what’s wrong. We will fix it! Wait for the right music to come on. Heads stay down, stay in exact pose. Practice this with playing the wrong music occasionally.
What do you do if you have hit your ending pose and the lights take forever to go black?
HOLD WHERE YOU ARE! Do not move until the lights go completely black (not dim – black). No moving until you are absolutely sure it is black. Even if it takes 10 minutes to get the lights off, you hold your pose 10 min. Practice with them by having them hit their pose and holding, holding, holding, until you turn off the lights for a black out. No giggling, just freeze no matter how long it takes to get lights off.
What if your friend starts to run off the stage but you know you’re supposed to wait until the lights go all the way black?
You stay! Stay in your pose, don’t move a muscle.
What happens if you totally mess up onstage and forget one move?
It’s okay! That happens to everyone. As long as you don’t show it on your face; nobody in the audience will know. They may think it’s supposed to be that way! Don’t show it on your face – whatever happens, keep smiling!
What if your class is already out there for the dance and you are running late, the music is going and they are starting?
You WAIT! Don’t run out frazzled. Find a spot where you can “dance on” and make it look like that was supposed to happen.
When you are waiting to go onstage or dancing offstage for a particular part, where do you stand?
You always stand BEHIND the glow tape and behind the curtains. Remember if you can see any seat in the audience, they can see you. So go back as far as you need to so that you can’t see any seats. When you dance off for a certain part, go all the way behind the legs of the curtain so we don’t see your tutu hanging out onstage. Please train them to go all the way offstage so nothing is showing while they are waiting to go back on.
What does dress rehearsal mean?
It means “in costume!” When we have dress rehearsal, that means wear your costume.
IMPORTANT REMINDER:
Always keep in mind that parents (unless they used to be a dancer) - focus on the waist and up when watching the show. They are looking at the faces and upper body.
This is why we focus so much on arms and fingers. It makes all the difference for a clean recreational dance. **Again, this is for recreational classes only.