Preparing for the end of the year concert is something that many dance teachers give up, simply to avoid the stress of it all. We, on the other hand, do it because our students love it. It is the highlight of their year and it is tradition in our studio to put on a show just before the students go on vacation, just to keep them working and motivated until the end of the year.
Some studios choose to do a show once every two years and do a big production out of it. We have given this option some good thought, but found that we cannot allow our students to take time out of their exam work to put on a perfect show. We focus most of our attention at the beginning of the year on exams, then festivals and badge tests, and only use the last two or three months of the year to prepare students for our end-of-year concert or show.
Our concerts are never overly rehearsed, but our goal is to let the students express themselves and, above all, have fun, while gaining the experience of performing in front of an audience, which is very important in the life of any young dancer. . After all, isn’t that why most kids start dancing in the first place, being on stage? We also put a lot of focus on keeping the audience entertained. The idea of a year-end concert is not to have a perfect performance, but rather a performance that everyone can enjoy together, including irate parents who have been pushed away from their sport to come watch their children dance.
Although our students don’t have much time to prepare, we start preparing a year in advance. First, we choose a topic to work on. Having a theme gives the concert some continuity, rather than jumping from one element to another at random.
Once we have decided on a theme, we spend a great deal of time putting together the right music and throwing our dances according to the type of dancers we have in the studio. Fortunately, our concerts are very varied, as we teach many different forms of dance, so it is relatively easy to entertain the audience.
Here are some tips that you may find helpful when planning your end of the year program.
Try to start the show slowly and slowly increase to a high note just before the interval. After the interval, try to stay away from too many slow numbers, as this is where the audience will start to fidget. Work through your upbeat numbers in the second half and end the show with something extra special that will make your audience feel good coming out of the theater.
Try to keep your speeches short, sweet, and direct. After all, the audience wants to see a dance performance, not listen to the formalities all night.
Make sure all your music is properly cut, edited, and flows well from one number to the next. Try to get your show flowing. Instead of closing the curtains after each number, try combining one number with the next. This will also teach your students how to enter and exit a stage gracefully.
Finally, you must remember to have a lot of fun. The last quarter of the year is exhausting for us, but we also have a lot of fun with our students. We introduce new things and even let them try to invent their own steps.