Advice for Dancers

Why We Love Improv at Prestige Dance Studio

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Improv Dance at Prestige Dance Studio

Dance improvisation (improv for short!) is the process of creating movement without a choreographer planning out the dance before it happens. It requires active and quick thinking on the dancer’s part, as they make decisions in the moment and express themselves with limited guidance. At Prestige Dance Studio, we love improv!  It is an essential tool for training smart and expressive young dancers.

Want to see our dancers in action? Check out this video we posted on Facebook of one of our dancers performing her improv. Beautiful!

We know that improv may not be everyone’s favorite part of class. It can be nerve-wracking and scary to have to think on the spot, especially when others are watching! For other dancers, it’s their time to shine and they LOVE it. Either way, it is so important for dancers to consistently work at their improv skills. A dancer is not a well-rounded mover if they can only perform choreography that others give to them. Their range of movement and sense of expression must also come from within themselves. Executing technical skills is just part of the equation. Dancers must be able to think and create as well!

Improv is an important skill as dancers to prepare to move beyond Prestige Dance Studio. All future teachers and choreographers will need to be extremely comfortable with improv! When improvising, dancers can often find themselves creating innovative moves or thinking of something that they’ve never done before. Everything you create while improvising then becomes part of your choreographic toolbox. Sharpening your improv skills is the first step in becoming a phenomenal choreographer!

Improvisation also teaches a dancer how to think on their feet, a skill that is CRUCIAL in the dance world. Whether it be a costume malfunction, a tiny stage you’ve never rehearsed on, or an injury that flares up in the middle of a dance, the show must go on. Improvisation gives your brain AND your body the skills to keep moving and make split-second decisions.

Lastly, we find improv incredibly freeing, and we love sharing that with our dancers. Because improvisation comes from within yourself, it is often seen as the best opportunity for dancers to express themselves. No one is feeding you the moves, it’s up to YOU, and only YOU. It is your time to shine and let everything inside be free. After improvising in front of people, it is almost inevitable that a dancer will gain confidence. It feels good to discover what you are capable of on your own!

We love watching our dancers improvise! We incorporate time for improv in our lyrical, jazz, and hip-hop classes as well as in our performance team rehearsals. The growth we see over the years as our dancers find their voices is so rewarding. Let yourself be free and find out what YOU can do with improv!

Web Round Up: Dance Inspiration

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dance inspiration At Prestige Dance Studio, our dancer’s growth is SO important to us. We want to help all of our dancers reach their potential both in and out of the dance studio. Inside our dance classes and company rehearsals, we are doing so much more than just drilling skills and running dances! We are working on our dancers’ mindset, helping them to develop a work ethic they are proud of, and teaching resilience.

As we head into the last portion of our school year session of dance classes, these skills become even MORE important. Dance (and life!) are not always easy. We want our dancers to have the mental strength to push through the hard moments so they can arrive at the finish line strong. Recital and competitions are even MORE rewarding when you feel confident about all the work you have done to get there!

Below we have rounded up a few links worth checking out with your dancer. Get a little inspired to finish this year strong!

Nastia Liukin Talks About Hard Days at the Gym

You can imagine that Olympian Nastia Liukin has had some difficult days at the gym. We LOVE her mom’s strategy for dealing with hard days. Such great perspective!

Dance is Just as Important as Math

The author of this article outlines the huge impact dance can have on students. Dance teaches students how to collaborate, cooperate, and be more accepting of one another. We can get behind that!

Learning to Dance in a Year

Tenacity and hard work pay off! This young dancer works diligently over the course of the year to become a better hip-hop dancer. The video of her progress speaks for itself!

Feeling inspired? We hope so! We are so proud of the hard work our dancers have put in this season. Their growth is what encourages and motivates US to be the best we can be. Have another inspiring article or video we should see? Share it on our studio Facebook page. We love sharing a dance inspiration with our studio families!

Tips for Your BEST Performance

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Tips for your best performanceWith our performance team’s seasons in full swing and recital right around the corner, we are in performance mode here at Prestige Dance Studio! We LOVE technique class and the work we do in weekly rehearsals, but there is something SO special about watching that hard work come together when our dancers step on stage. Performances are an opportunity for dancers to not only show off their technique but to show their personality and get valuable experience growing as a performer.

Just like dance technique, becoming a stronger performer takes practice! Today we have rounded up several GREAT articles that give dancers practical tips as they prepare to take the stage. We encourage you to share these tips with your dancers! With a little preparation and a game plan, your dancer will feel confident and ready to do their best when they step on stage.

Prime Your Mind to Perform

This article gives a lot of suggestions for things your dancer can do to prepare their mind as they get ready to take the stage. Our favorite tip- mental reps! Encourage your dancer to visualize themselves performing their choreography perfectly. This is a GREAT habit to encourage dancers to do daily. The more they practice, the more effective this type of  “rehearsing” becomes!

7 Secrets of Super Performers

Are you ready to take your performances to another level and become a super performer? This article outlines what “super performers” do when they are on stage. We love the reminder that you are never alone on stage, even in a solo! You have to find a way to connect with the audience. In a group piece, this means also finding ways to connect with your fellow dancers. It is all about intentional focus and energy!

7 Steps to Becoming Your BEST Performer

This article has a lot of great, simple tips for dancers. One reminder that ALL dancers need to remember is to stay open to feedback and criticism as they head into performance season. There is ALWAYS room to improve as a performer. Becoming a stronger dancer and performer is a journey!

We LOVE watching our dancers shine on stage. Seeing their confidence and growth year after year is just one of the reasons we love what we do here at Prestige Dance Studio.

Hopefully, these helpful articles leave you feeling excited and inspired heading into our recital, our upcoming performances, and our competition season. What tips are you excited to share and implement with your dancer? Tell us in the comments or share on our studio Facebook page!

 

 

 

How To Keep Your Dancers Warm In Class

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Staying warm as a dancer is always a challenge in the winter ESPECIALLY in Cedar Rapids, IA! Learn how in this post!

 

 

Now that it is mid-January, most people feel the thrill of winter start to slowly wear off. We have seen the snow, we have done our fun winter activities and now it is just COLD! Dancers in the studio get tired of throwing on all those winter layers to and from class too. They may start to think… is it really THAT important to stay warm anyways?! We are here to report that YES! It is that important to stay layered and warm before and in between classes, even as the excitement of wearing that favorite Prestige hoodie wears off.

What is the big deal you ask?? This article from IDTA does an amazing job explaining the benefits of warming up. Dancers need to prepare their bodies for what they are asking during class. Muscles need heat to stretch and move to their max capacity. Because the temperatures drop in the winter, it is even MORE important to be intentional with a warm-up.

In all of our classes at Prestige, we include a warm-up at the beginning of class and it is for the very same reason listed above. We want to make sure that your dancers move safely no matter what the weather outside is like. So what can you do to help when it is cold outside?

  • Talk to your dancer about why it is important to warm up before class.
  • Bring your dancers a few minutes early to get a head start on warming up. While dancers catch up with their dance friends have them get moving with some light exercises. This is especially important while recovering from an injury (Ask your physical therapist for a pre-class warm-up).
  • After class, bundle up to go outside. This is always a challenge with young dancers because they are hot after class but the cool-down is equally important. By bringing the body temperature down gradually, dancers can reduce muscle spasms and cramps.

Although these tips are especially important in the winter, they should be used all year long! Staying warm in dance class is a huge part of injury prevention, which is SO valuable to all dancers. Make sure your dancer knows the importance of it and let us know if you have questions. We are here to help and guide your dancer through it! The best part? Spring will be here before you know it!

How To Avoid Burnout

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Great advice for dancers in Cedar Rapids, IA on how to avoid burnoutLike young athletes, dancers have to be aware of and take steps to avoid burnout. The dance season is very long compared to other activities. We run from August to June and only take a short break before we jump right back into things for the summer session. It’s basically a year-long activity that is extremely demanding on the mind and body. As many of our Prestige dancers know, some of our dancers are in the studio for hours and hours every single week. We are approaching the mid-year mark and want to help our dancers avoid the dreaded burnout this year. Although we can’t control when burnout may strike, we can take steps to reduce the risk.

  1. Stay focused on goals. When you are tired, sore, and overwhelmed it is easy to forget why you are doing all of this in the first place. Try writing down one main goal and keep it somewhere visible.  By seeing your goal daily on a post-it note on your mirror, in a journal by your bed, on your school planner, etc. you will be more likely to remember the WHY. This will help push you through the more difficult times.
  2. Get feedback from teachers. Sometimes burnout can come from being frustrated. “Why didn’t I get the solo?” “Why is my teacher so hard on me?” “Why can’t I nail my turns?” Sometimes, dance is HARD. Like, really hard! We don’t always leave class doing things perfectly and that can make a dancer want to give up! By checking in with teachers on what can be done differently in class, you get answers. You won’t waste time on negative self-talk and you won’t get to that place of wanting to give up.
  3. Rest. Rest is SO important for dancers. Like we mentioned earlier, dance is demanding on the mind and body. If you start feeling overwhelmed or more stressed out than normal, make an effort to go to bed early (instead of going on your social media hehe!). When you have time off during your busy season, take that time off to rest instead of filling the space with other activities. We promise you will feel refreshed and ready to get back to work!
  4. Talk to your parents and dance teachers. If you start feeling overwhelmed or run down, don’t be afraid to say something to your parents and teachers. Your parents want you to stay healthy and positive and your teachers want that too. We can all work together to figure out a plan to get you back on track.

So what do you think? Can you make it through this year without reaching the point of burnout? By following these steps we are confident you will! We are also super confident that you will do AMAZING things this year,  we are already off to a great start!

 

 

How To Share Your Love Of Dance With Friends

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Share dance with friends! Free trial classes for cedar rapids dancers! Our Prestige dancers are SERIOUSLY passionate and that is one of the things we love most about our dance family. For a lot of dancers, it may start to feel like you have a whole secret life at the studio that your non-dance friends know nothing about. We want that to change! Doing something you love is great but it is an even better feeling to be able to share it with the people who are closest to you. That’s why we wanted to give out some excellent ideas to help your children share their love of dance with friends.

  1. Have a dance-themed sleepover. Get out the old dance costumes, pull out the dusty disco ball, and get ready to boogie! Your dancer can make a special playlist with all their favorite songs and help you clear a “dance floor” in the living room.  Your children’s friends will have a BLAST dressing up and dancing the night away together. Oh and don’t forget to have snacks and refreshments ready because your little dancers will need to refuel frequently hehe!
  2. Make up a dance together. Instead of playing that video game, make up a dance instead! There will be COUNTLESS laughs and giggles coming from the dance room for hours, it’s a guarantee. They may even put on a show for the parents later if you are lucky!
  3. Watch a dance-themed movie or musical. This may give friends a little perspective into what your dancer goes through at the studio. I mean really, who doesn’t like a musical?!
  4. Invite them to a performance. Friends will get a front-row view into what it means to be a dancer. They will sit in awe watching the result of all the hard work your dancer put in. It also feels GREAT as a dancer to step into the auditorium knowing you have your “crew” there to support you!
  5. Invite them to try a class at Prestige. If your non-dance friend is interested in learning more, what a better way to show them what it’s like than having them TRY it! Of course, we recommend having them try a class that matches their ability level. That may not always be the same class that your dancer is currently enrolled in. Our trial classes are FREE and we are still accepting enrollment in most of our classes up until October 31st.

Have any other ideas to share the love of dance with friends? We would love to hear about them!

To share dance with your friends, click here for more information on our free trial classes . We can’t wait to get to know your friends! 

Perks of Performing

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Perks of Performing

Have you had an opportunity to watch our recent Market After Dark performance? Our dancers performed beautifully! Anytime our dancers hit the stage we are SO proud. There is so much work that leads into a performance. Dancers spend hours in rehearsals. Teachers and choreographers work behind the scenes on choreography and costuming. Families drive their dancers to weekly technique classes. All this preparation for a few precious minutes onstage!

We pride ourselves on providing performance opportunities for our students. The sweat, the hard work, the stress… we think it is 100% worth it! When our students step on stage, they are not only getting a chance to showcase their hard work; they are learning life skills!

Live performance teaches our dancers how to handle pressure, the value of preparation, and how to quickly adapt to the unexpected. These skills are extremely valuable to dancers both in and out of the dance studio.

Today we wanted to dive into a few more perks of getting on stage. Performances are SO much more than make-up and costumes! Our favorite perks of performing:

  1. Performers gain confidence. It takes a lot of grit to step on stage  and perform in front of a crowd. Once you have danced onstage, tackling that school presentation or introducing yourself to a new friend doesn’t seem too bad! Dancers learn how to command the space and how to perform their best when in counts.
  2. Dancers learn how to be resilient. Live performance is not always predictable. The stage can be slippery. Music mistakes happen. Dancers forget their choreography. Performers learn how to recover from set backs. They get a TON of practicing dealing with unpredictable conditions. The show must go on! From a very young age, dancers are taught to KEEP going! Ignore that dropped prop!
  3. Performances require teamwork. Outside of solos, most dances require working alongside others. You have to learn choreography together, trust your peers to remember their parts, and depend on each other to deliver a solid performance. Any group of dancers has their strengths and weaknesses. Dancers have to learn to come together in a performance to do their collective best!
  4. Performances allow our dancers to share dance with their community. Performances force us to get out of the studio and into the world! We get the opportunity to share what we love with others. Maybe our performance will make someone smile or inspire an audience member to seek out a dance class. It is a privilege to be able to spend our time doing something we love- performances remind us of how lucky we are!

 

 

Back to School with Prestige Dance Studio

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back to school with prestige dance studio

Who is excited to head back to school this fall?? We are sad to see summer end of course, but there is a certain amount of buzz at the start of the new school year that is SO invigorating! Fresh school supplies, new backpacks, and first day of school pictures… what’s not to love?

We understand that our families at Prestige Dance Studio are balancing dance class schedules, work schedules, school responsibilities, and all the needs of their family members. We want to help our studio families start off on the right foot! We have already covered how to prepare for your child’s first dance class. Today we want to talk about preparing for the start of the school year!

We have put together a round up of helpful articles to help you get organized, inspired, and most importantly, excited for the start of another school year. Have any tips to add? Let us know in the comments.

We are thrilled to head into another GREAT year at Prestige Dance Studio! We can’t wait to see our dancers back in the studio and hear ALL about their first few days back at school!

  1. Back to basics. We love this helpful article from PBS. Great reminders of some simple things your family can do to make the transition into the school year a little easier!
  2. Get a plan in place for dealing with the paperwork! Be proactive about dealing with all the notes, reports, pictures, and memos that come home from school and dance. Love this method! All you need is a Tupperware and you are on your way.
  3. Are you ready to take your lunches to the next level? Bento boxes take lunch beyond ham and cheese. This gallery of lunch options is inspiring!
  4. Prep ahead! This article gives some great advice for ways to streamline your lunch making process. Doing a little prep work may make it easier for your kids to take a more active role in the lunch packing.
  5. Make sure to leave room for fun! This round-up of school supplies is SO fun! We have our eyes on the nail polish highlighter:)

Is Your Child Ready For More?

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Knowing to add another dance class is tough! The article will walk you through the decision for those dance studio parents.

Knowing when your child is ready for more can be a tough decision. Juggling activities with school and family time is a struggle with every family and each and every one has different needs. Some kids are able to do it all without breaking a sweat and others have a more difficult time balancing all that is going on. As a parent, you know your dancer best. You know when they get overwhelmed or bored and you know how to calm them down and challenge them. Nevertheless, deciding to put more on your dancer’s plate is not going to feel totally great until you give it a try and see the results. Luckily there are a few things you can do to make the transition a little bit easier for everyone.

Does your child constantly bug you to add another dance class? If yes, it seems they are hooked on dance and are loving every minute of class. Asking for more is often the first sign that your child may be ready to take another class at the studio. Once they start asking, it is important to evaluate how they are handling their current load. Do they spend enough time on homework? Are you happy with their grades? Do they often get overwhelmed? Are they getting enough sleep? If in any of these areas, things are not going so well, it may be a good idea to delay things a bit. When breaking the news to your dancer, talk about an action plan. What can they work on to add another class? This may help them understand your expectations and give you the opportunity to sit down and talk about how you can accomplish it together.

If everything is going ok with your dancer’s current work load, go ahead and give it a try! Before you start the newly added class, it is a great idea to talk to your dancers about a plan. When and where are they going to do homework, eat dinner, sleep, relax, etc. The more you can talk through a strategy that works for both you and your dancer, the better chance they will handle the transition positively.

If you are unsure about adding another class, please feel free to talk to us! We can give you a little perspective on what we see in class from your dancer and help you weigh the perks and drawbacks of adding more to your dancer’s plate. Adding more can be a challenging decision to make for parents. At the end of the day, I’m sure all you want is your dancer’s happiness. Luckily, that is what we want for your dancer too! We make sure to support ALL of our dancers, whether they are taking 1 class or many. We recognize that not every dancer is the same and we think that is one of the things that makes our Prestige Dance Studio family so great!

Still need to register for Fall?? Check out our schedule and register today!

How To Be A Star Student

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Great advice on how to be star dancer in class.

By now, most of us have mastered the in’s and out’s of how to be a star student in school. Students should do their homework, study for tests, follow directions, etc. Even if school isn’t your child’s “thing,” if they follow those simple rules they will do just fine. Luckily, dance class is very similar. It doesn’t take much to be a star student in dance class. The best part is that it has nothing to do with your dancer’s abilities, it’s all about the attitude! We encourage you to talk with your dancer about this list, either now or at the start of a new session. Although some things may seem obvious to you, it may not be to your dancer.

  • Practice at home. This could mean stretching while watching TV, going over new choreography before bed or having an all out dance class in the basement. At Prestige, we don’t expect our dancers to practice all day and night but if they are really wanting to nail a new step or learn new choreography, they may have to do a little “homework” from time to time.
  • Practice corrections. When a teacher gives a correction the most typical response is to say “OK” and that is great! To take things one step further, we love when dancers start practicing that correction right away. Dance takes practice and to just visualize the correction doesn’t always work. To physically apply the correction will help make sure that the correction sticks.
  • Work hard. This may seem like a no-brainer but sometimes working hard takes an extra little push. The kids that aren’t afraid to sweat, shake, and be tired are the ones to get the most out of class.
  • Have a good attitude. What does that mean? To stay positive, to be nice to classmates, and to be excited to be there.

That wasn’t so bad, was it? As you can see, it doesn’t take much to be a star student in dance class. In fact, all of our students at Prestige are star students in our book! We are so lucky to have such a great group of dancers!

We can’t wait to see them all in classes this fall. Still need to register?? Check out the schedule here!