Like most things in life, you have options when it comes to choosing what you want. There are options for where to do your grocery shopping, where to buy a car, and who to hire to paint your bathroom. Getting a few estimates, visiting a few stores and finding the right people to do business with is time well spent on your part to ensure you get the best value and the best experience for your effort and money. Now that your daughter or son wants to dance, finding the right dance studio is just as important as everything else you have options for. There are several factors you should evaluate when you are looking for a place to call home for your ballet, jazz or hip hop dancer.
Smaller Size Dance Class
Just because a class or a studio has a lot of students, does not necessarily mean it is the best place for your daughter. With so many kids in a class, your daughter may not be getting the attention she needs to develop her skills and talents to advance with kids in her class. Being able to develop good technique is key to progressing on dance. If you, as a parent, can’t see your child during dance class, how is the dance instructor supposed to see her? If you can’t see her, do you think she can see the instructor? Choosing a dance studio that offers smaller class sizes will ensure that your little dancer gets the most of her class time and will learn the dance steps and routines she needs to learn to develop her skills and her enthusiasm for dance class!
Instructor is Good with Kids
Choosing a dance studio with an instructor that is great with kids is important for you as a parent and for the child who will be in class. Younger children have a tendency to like to please their teachers. They go out of their way to be liked and want the attention of other adults in the room. A dance instructor that is naturally good with children will help them to build a positive self esteem and they will want to go to class and participate. A child who fights going to class is telling you something. Either they are leaning in class and find it boring or don’t feel as though the instructor likes them and may shy away from going to class. Kids know when an adult likes what they do. They may not verbalize it, but they can sense it and will turn those feelings into a love for dance or a reason not to go.
Recitals Don’t Break the Bank
Recitals are a natural part of being a student in a dance studio. The more classes you take, the more dances your child will be in at the recital. Each dance requires its own unique costume to reflect the class and the theme of the music chosen for the recital. When evaluating dance studios, ask the owner about the average costs of costumes for recitals. Ask what the philosophy is regarding recital costumes. Many studios charge upwards of $100 per costume for each recital that is scheduled. For some parents, that may be enough to keep their kids from participating. Other dance studios do their very best to try and keep dance costume prices low so as many children as possible can, not only take dance classes, but participate in the recitals showcasing their skills.
Room to grow
As a parent of a younger dancer, you want to make sure that when your child is ready that there will be more classes for him or her to take so they can grow into the art of dance. A child who just starts out in dance may take one class for the first year or two but as they develop a love for dance and want to become more involved and increase their skills or ready themselves for a high school dance team, having other classes to try and develop as a dancer will be important. Again, having a smaller number of students in a class will also ensure that they are developing the proper technique and they have the eyes of the dance instructor on them much of the class to get proper feedback.
Choosing the right dance studio for your son or daughter is important. Like most things in life, you have choices and you don’t have to never settle for anything less than what you want. Look for a studio that has smaller classes, an instructor who is good with kids, dance recital costs that won’t break your bank and having room to grow as a dancer are all details that you should consider when looking for an excellent place for your child to learn and love to dance!
Being a child that experienced ballet, tap and jazz I often think back to all the fun I had. The one thing that sticks with me the most was being on stage. I think it is a great life lesson for children to overcome that fear and feel the excitement of it. A good dance studio with create so many great memories for the students they teach – just like yours!