Awesome Audience Etiquette
As you already know, our annual recital will take place on June 1st at Haddam-Killingworth High School. With the date fast approaching, we thought this would be the perfect time to share with you our tips for awesome audience etiquette! Following these tips will help us ensure an enjoyable recital experience for everyone involved.
Tip #1: When entering the theater take a quick note of where the exits are, just in case of an emergency.
Tip #2: Plan to turn off or silence all of your devices prior to the start of the show. The sounds and screens are very disruptive. Additionally, flash photography is prohibited. Those bright flashes can be blinding to performers. Please refrain from video recording so that everyone can enjoy the performance live!
Tip #3: It is courteous to applaud after each routine in the recital, but please avoid shouting or screaming as it can be distracting to both the dancers on stage and to other audience members.
Tip #4: There may be some high-energy routines where you are encouraged to clap along in time to the music; we invite you to do so.
Tip #5: Avoid entering or exiting the theater while there are dancers performing onstage. A good rule of thumb is to only move from your seat in between routines, if necessary. Please avoid crossing in front of the videographer during performances, unless you want to be in the recital video!
Tip #6: Following Tip #5, if you have a baby or young child who is sitting with you and they become disruptive, please exit with them quickly and quietly between routines.
Tip #7: Refrain from talking or whispering with other audience members while the dancers are performing. Quick comments in between routines are OK!
Tip #8: No eating or drinking in the auditorium. The Haddam-Killingworth High School Auditorium underwent a full renovation this past year with brand new seats and carpeting. The school has a strict no food or drink policy in the auditorium. Please finish any pre-show or intermission treats in the lobby. Your cooperation with this policy is much appreciated.
The Dance Corner has an excellent reputation for being well-organized, gracious, and respectful at Haddam-Killingworth High School. As members of our recital audience, your cooperation is much appreciated in helping us maintain this good standing! If you will be inviting other family members and friends to the show, please share these tips with them too.
As you enjoy the show, don’t forget that our students are dancing their hearts out for you, the audience! Show them your appreciation by following these tips and recognizing their hard work.
Please let us know if you have ANY questions before the big day!
Recital Expectations for Your Little One
Performing in the recital is a brand new experience for most of our young dancers. And while some will find it exciting, others might be a little nervous. In our experience, one of the keys to recital success is encouraging your child to do their best and reassuring them that you are proud no matter what.
So, what’s it going to be like when the big day rolls around? What’s reasonable for you to expect from your child? We’ve put together some of our best advice for a rewarding recital experience with your little one!
Remember that ….
Dancing on stage in front of hundreds of people is a pretty big deal! Some dancers are shy and others ham it up. However they react, all of our young dancers are gaining a tremendous amount of confidence by performing in front of a crowd. Through this process, they are learning about self-expression, demonstrating their skills, and gaining a sense of accomplishment.
Strong emotions might occur, and that’s totally OK! We’ve seen dancers who are so excited to perform they can hardly stand still, and others who suddenly become worried that they can’t see mom and dad way out there in the audience. In our experience, most of these big emotions dissipate after dress rehearsal. But we do have a few special tactics to calm and comfort our littlest performers when needed, so rest assured they are always in good hands!
Live performances can be unpredictable—and often in positive ways. But you may wonder whether your little one will forget the dance routine or if they’ll have a case of stage fright. Though those things do happen sometimes, they don’t mean your child’s future in dance is over. (In fact, far from it!) We know we can’t predict exactly what will happen, but we can guarantee that we are as proactive and prepared as possible.
Our curricula are designed to focus on gross motor skills and dance fundamentals. Our students are being taught age-appropriate movements that align with their physical development. Don’t expect your little one to perform with the same knowledge and skills of a dancer who is older or more experienced! Technical progress comes over time as each dancer moves through our class levels at just the right pace.
Success come in many forms, and we do not promote perfection as one of them! Instead, we talk in class about the dancers trying their best and having fun while they perform. Success is both the child who comes off stage beaming with joy AND the one who shyly admits she enjoyed it; it is both the child who remembered every step AND the one who forgot a few but worked super hard. We want to celebrate every version of recital success!
We hope you enjoy watching your dancer onstage at the recital and seeing how far they’ve come this year. All of us at The Dance Corner are super proud of our young dancers’ progress
Practicing at Home: Recital Edition
We absolutely love it when our students say they want to practice their recital dance at home. Their enthusiasm is contagious, and then everyone in the class wants to practice at home too!
But as a parent, how should you go about encouraging this? Is there such a thing as a too much practice? We’ve got all your practicing-at-home answers right here:
Should I make my child practice their recital dance at home?
The short answer here is no. We don’t believe practice should be forced, or it can become completely unenjoyable. But we do think it’s helpful for you to encourage it! You might say, “Why don’t you practice your dance for 10 minutes and then we’ll play freeze dance together … are you in?” (Of course, then you have to follow through on your promise to freeze dance!)
When my child practices, there seem to be a lot of forgotten or rushed steps. Does this mean she’s going to be a mess at the recital?
Nope. Keep in mind that the recital dance is a group dance, and so practicing at home is completely out of context. Your child is well-oriented with her group in the studio classroom, so remembering everything at home by themselves is a challenge. Remember also that every child develops memorization skills at their own pace. It will “click” for them in time!
What if my child expresses that they’ll be nervous onstage?
Know that this is completely normal and expected for nearly every dancer. Reassure them that it’s OK to feel nervous (that most people do) and their familiar classmates and teachers will be with them during the show. Talk with them about building up the courage to do their best and remind them that you’ll be smiling and clapping for them from the audience. Remind them that you’ll be proud of them no matter what.
Should I practice the steps with my child?
Not necessarily. We recommend that children practice on their own in order to build their self-reliance and confidence, without mom or dad swooping in to help. Practicing for the recital is not like studying for a test, where you might be able to cram the material into a short amount of time. We want the recital to truly reflect all of our students’ abilities and progress, not what they drilled at home.
What else helps with practicing at home?
Listening to the recital music is really helpful, even if it’s in the car on the way to school. Knowing the music is key to understanding the counts and rhythms in choreography, so the familiarity can make a big difference in your child’s learning curve and confidence. Also helpful? Encourage your child to ask questions in class if they’re not sure about a step! Our teachers welcome their communication so we can make sure everyone feels prepared.
The excitement for recital is HUGE for some dancers and a little scary for others. Keep the conversation going at home by supporting your dancer’s efforts to practice without any added pressure. We want to keep their spirits high and their insecurities low!
The Recital: What Is It and Why Is It Important?
You’ve heard us talking about it. You’ve seen it mentioned on our website and in our emails. You know there’s a lot of excitement around it … but what exactly IS the recital?
Just as soccer players have tournaments, football players have games, and gymnasts have meets, dancers have performances! More than a year’s worth of planning goes into our annual performance at The Dance Corner—better known to most people as “the recital.”
The recital is a memorable opportunity for our students to showcase their talents onstage. From learning the first eight-count of choreography in class to the final bow onstage, the recital is definitely one of the highlights of a dancer’s year!
Consider this blog post your “recital primer,” where we break down a few key elements of what to expect these next few months—and why it’s all so important.
- Choreography
Each class learns a particular routine to perform at the recital. The choreography is the series of steps, patterns, and formations the teacher creates for each unique routine. Your dancer will be learning and practicing this choreography during class time leading up to the recital. This repetition allows our students to grow their confidence as well as their skills. - Costumes, Hair, and Makeup
Because dance is a performing art, this is where the “performance” aspect truly comes together! As you’ve seen, each class will have a costume to wear onstage for their routine. Instructions regarding their hairstyle and stage makeup can be found in our Recital Handbook. These three things are the finishing touches that complete a performer’s look! - Stage Rehearsal
Prior to the recital, each class will have the chance to participate in our stage rehearsal. The stage rehearsal is almost like the recital itself, except it’s just for practice and we don’t wear costumes. It allows dancers to find adjust to performing on the stage and become familiar with their new surroundings. - Performance
This is it! After all the preparation and practice, this is each dancer’s moment in the spotlight in front of their family and friends. The buildup of excitement is huge. It’s like when an athlete performs at the Olympics … our students perform at the recital!
We understand that the thought of choreography, costumes, rehearsals, and being onstage in can be intimidating at first, so we’re here to show you what an awesome experience this journey can be. Stay tuned here to the blog for more valuable insight as we approach the big day!
The Benefits of Competition: Resilience
When it comes to resilience, the dictionary defines it in two ways: 1) the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity. 2) the ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.
At The Dance Corner, we explain resilience as a combination of both definitions. We like to think of it as the ability of a dancer to bounce back after being faced with a challenge, experiencing an unexpected outcome, going through a difficult time, or being stretched past where they thought they could reach.
For our competition team dancers, developing resilience isn’t just a perk; it’s a necessity. Throughout dance practices and competition events, we know there will be times when their ability to be resilient will be tested. There is a choice in those times to either give up or grow, and we’re teaching our students how to choose growth! With that in mind, here are some of the ways we are developing resilience in the team:
- Learning how to handle outcomes you didn’t think were fair
As a team, we discuss healthy ways for the dancers to express their disappointment when they don’t receive the award or recognition they wanted. An important part of this conversation is how they manage their expectations, remembering that our purpose for competing is not about the trophies; it’s about doing our best work. - Understanding the importance of your self-talk
We discuss how self-talk can build people up or tear them down. Our goal is to help the dancers recognize this influence and practice positive self-talk. A growth mindset comes from the self-talk that says every mistake or failure is an opportunity to learn. - Owning your behavior toward others
In moments of high emotion, it can be easy for dancers to lash out at friends (or other teams or judges) for problems that happened in practice or performance. As leaders, we are committed to teaching our students that placing blame doesn’t serve anyone well. It’s key for everyone to accept responsibility for their own actions and reactions. - Getting back in class or on stage with a clear mind
One of the hardest parts about developing resilience is letting go of past troubles. We’re striving to teach our students how to leave grudges behind and come into every rehearsal and performance with a fresh perspective and an open heart.
We want our students to know that you don’t become a resilient adult overnight; you must practice the behaviors that build resilience in order to reap the benefits. We’re proud of the way our competition team students are growing stronger in this way, and we appreciate all you do as parents to support these lessons at home. We are all in this together!
The Benefits of Competition: Artistry
Of all the benefits your child gains as a competitive dancer, artistry is arguably the one that becomes most personal to them. With The Dance Corner’s competitive team, called the Ensemble, we aim to teach the style and finesse that give performances their polish … but the true nature of being an artist comes from within the dancers themselves.
Along with a deeper understanding of dance, artistry flourishes as dancers mature. The way a student dances at age eight is certainly different than at age 12 or at age 16. The combination of technique, skill, and artistry develop in harmony over time, sometimes in striking ways and other times with more subtlety.
The advantage for your young dancer’s future is that dance combines athleticism with artistry in a way no other activity does! They are learning more than just the athletic feats and technical skills needed to become the best dancer they can be; they are unveiling their artistic potential.
With our competition team experience at The Dance Corner, we strive for our students to benefit from this artistic edge at every stage of their education. It allows them to become more comfortable with expressing themselves, it challenges them to be vulnerable at times, and it develops their humility. And what a bonus it is to also form bonds with their team members who are immersed in the same type of artistic experience!
Artistry isn’t something that can be taught in the same way as technique. With artistry, we must encourage our students to tap into themselves and connect with each other. They learn to go beyond the skills to reach emotions and details in their experience. Sometimes artistry is about big moments, like using certain facial expressions at just the right time. Sometimes it’s more about the stretch of your fingertips, or the energy from your core strength.
Discovering their inner artist means that each competition team student is also expanding their critical thinking skills individually and collectively as a team. They are cultivating a thought process where they might need to reflect on a personal experience, create a character or mood, self-edit, ask for specific feedback, or offer feedback to others.
If artistry sounds difficult to develop, it certainly can be! Some dancers find that artistry is quite tricky; others find it very natural. At The Dance Corner, we teach that there is no right or wrong way to become an artist in dance.
As a TDC Ensemble dancer, your child will notice this growth in their artistry each year as they gain more and more performance experience and apply what they learn. The benefit to them will be in their personal journey and progress, not in the awards they achieve. While it’s wonderful to be recognized, it’s the personal fulfillment that will keep driving each dancer forward as an artist.