Questions to Ask in the Quest of a Quality Dance School

GWL_9077-2A high school friend contacted me a few weeks ago to tell me that her little girl was now four years old and she was looking for a good dance school in which to enroll her child.  She asked me the kinds of questions she should ask the potential schools in her area in order to find the best training.

I was so excited to get this question.  I cannot tell you how many people say to me, ‘Well, we just went with the closest studio to our home.  We know it isn’t the best, but it’s not like our kid is going to be a prima ballerina.’   I cannot imagine people saying, ‘I know this math teacher is the worst in the school district, but his classroom is right next to my daughter’s English class and it’s not like she going to be a rocket scientist one day.’  How is dance any different?  Besides, just because you do not think your child will want or be capable of dancing professionally, does not mean that they might not have different ideas when they get older and, by then, it will be too late.  Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

I first told her something that many people do not know.  Here in the United States anyone can open a dance studio.  You do not need to have a license, credentials or even any dance experience, which is frightening to those of us in the dance industry that realize how easily you can permanently damage children when you do not know what you are doing.

Secondly, I told her that there are many different types of dance schools including professional schools attached to professional dance companies, regional schools which are members of Regional Dance America, competition schools which compete at a local and national level and, what we in the business nicely refer to as recital schools, which perform only an end of the year recital and spend most of the year learning the dance rather than dance technique.  How does she weed out the good schools from the bad from the above choices? Well here are some questions I recommended her asking potential schools and the answers that I considered to be the best.

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Roasted Shrimp

2lbs of uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

Good EVOO

Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

  1. Preheat the oven for 400 degrees.
  2. Place shrimp on a sheet pan with 1 Tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat.
  3. Spread them out in a single layer and roast for 6 to 8 minutes until pink and cooked through.

 

These are amazing and so versatile!  You can add them to whole wheat or quinoa pasta with your favorite sauce, salads with vinaigrette or just eat them plain or on top of brown rice after squeezing some lemon juice over top.

Basil Pesto

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

4 cloves garlic (you can cut that in half, but I love garlic)

¼ cup toasted pine nuts (Just put them in a dry pan over low heat and toast until golden)

¾ c good EVOO

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (I just put a chunk in the food processor to speed up the process)

 

  1. Combine basil, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.  Add EVOO and process until smooth and season with salt and pepper.
  2. If you use it immediately for the week, stir in the cheese at the end.  You can keep it up to a week in the fridge, just make sure you put a layer of oil on top each time you use it to prevent it from turning black.  If not, freeze in a container with a layer of EVOO on top and stir in the cheese after thawing.

 

It’s so good for you and so flavorful; I use this pesto for everything.  I add some extra EVOO and whisk for vinaigrette; I use it as a sauce for pasta.  I pour it over chicken, steak or seafood to give the proteins an extra punch.  You can even use it as a vegetable dip.  Delicious and so healthy!

 

Comments about Comments

As many of you know, I started this blog to encourage open and honest communication about the dance and to give my dancers and their parents a bit of information about the much insulated and mysterious world we call dance.  However, unfortunately, some events have thwarted that conversation.

When I set up this blog, my computer software engineer husband insisted that no comment be posted without my approval.  This WAS NOT to eliminate negative comments from appearing on my site.  As many can see, I have posted both negative and positive comments to almost every article and responded to every single legitimate comment I have received.  I realize more than anyone that when you post your thoughts and opinions in a public forum, many people will agree with you and many people will not; that’s what makes for lively conversation which is what I wanted for my blog.

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The Stories of a Dance Teacher

About once a month, while my young students are stretching, I tell them the storyline of a ballet or about a famous dancer.  I think it is so important that my students know more than just technique, but the history of what they have chosen to study. I remember as a student just loving when a teacher would tell us a story.  However, some stories were all about themselves, had little to do with what we were doing and took so long that our muscles would grow cold listening.  I try to keep my stories short with lessons that are on topic, but I have found that my students not only love them, but learn important lessons in the process.   Here are a few of their favorites:

The time Miss Erin pulled the barre off the wall.  I was about ten and weighed all of 60 lbs.  One of my teachers asked me to take the advanced class, so I stood at a little barre by itself at the back of the classroom and was trying so hard not to embarrass myself in front of all the older students whom I admired.  I was doing rond de jambe en l’air when the small barre actually came off the wall in my hand.  My face turned beet red and I started to think, ‘Oh my goodness, maybe no one will notice, but what will happen when I come to center?  I’ll just have to put it on the floor and everyone will know!’  Right about then, one of the older boys started laughing hysterically and told everyone, ‘Look, little Erin pulled the barre off the wall!’  Everyone laughed and I was so mortified.  Tears came up and I was trying so hard not to cry.  I made it through the whole class without shedding a tear until I got to my mother’s car and then cried my eyes out.  I still like to think those older kids loosened that barre over the years, but I never sat in my heels again!

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