This episode is all about your questions! Cindy and Ali respond to topics brought up in the Dance Coaches & Teachers Unite Facebook group, sharing strategies, stories, and encouragement for teachers and coaches at every level.
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[00:00:16] Hey everybody, welcome to Anything But Routine. I'm Cindy Clough and Ali Garretts and we haven't been doing this for a while. We've been so dang busy and tied down. We have been at camp for like three or four straight weeks. Yeah, it feels like, well I even went to some in June so it feels like the whole summer actually.
[00:00:36] But boy, there's so many, and we will be posting a lot of those videos from camp as we get going here because we did three classes a day at most camps. So yeah, there'll be a lot, three coaches classes and teachers classes as well as many other ones that we'll probably be able to post. So that'll be great.
[00:00:54] But to start out today, we're going to talk about questions that we got on our Dance Coaches and Teachers Unite Facebook. Before I say the question, I just want to say please try to like me at Cindy's still clicking and Ali at? A.S. Clough. A.S. Clough. C-L-O-U-G-H. Just so you can follow us. And we also do have an Anything But Routine podcast. So you could like us on that. Instagram. Instagram, I meant to say. Yeah, we do have the podcast.
[00:01:24] We're doing that right now. So I have a question from our Facebook that Damari Mahan posted, and they said, how do you get or what do you do to build buy-in from your community and school? We've had a team for 15 years now, but there's still a lot of community that doesn't know that we exist or have any real idea of what we're all about.
[00:01:49] And it was funny because right before we did this, I had somebody stop up and they said they were at the turtle races in our neighboring town of Nisswa. And they said, oh, we used to dance at the turtle races. And you had no idea of that because it was in my early years. And I think you got to do anything you possibly can do to get seen or noticed in your community. And that would probably be providing some community service to various. You could even.
[00:02:18] So we were just talking, too, about the county fair. Like, we have a county fair here. And one of our other teachers was like, oh, my gosh, we should be passing out business cards or flyers here to little dancers or kids that we think would be interested in dance because there's so many little kids there that maybe aren't in dance. So that is a great way. But you could also do that with your high school teams, like have them at the fair either dancing or passing out flyers. Like, come learn about our team or different things like that to try to.
[00:02:44] They usually have talent shows at those events or, you know. So anything you can do in the community to get yourself noticed or social media, I think, is always great as well. Right. So we'll get to social media. But let's talk your Tom. Like, could you perform in your homecoming parade? Could you perform in your Fourth of July parade? Could you do some routine, you know, on the Fourth of July right before fireworks, depending on what your community celebration is like? But get involved and get out there.
[00:03:13] I also think like I'm trying to think back to before we had social media. Right. We would actually go around every grade school and middle school and prepare our high school team. I'm talking and we wear many hats. Yeah. We run a studio and we also coach high school. So, you know, we want to get the awareness out there about our high school team so that kids would possibly join our studio. Yeah. So that would be one of the things. And now talk social media, though.
[00:03:44] Like, what would you do to get your team known on social media? Yeah. I mean, I think doing I feel like our kids did a lot of like trendy things last year. That's just fun and funny. Obviously, making sure it's appropriate. Your kids will probably know our kids. Yeah. Our kids did a lot of like fun, like asking teammates funny questions and that kind of thing. And I feel like that can kind of build it. Posting videos of them performing, different things like that.
[00:04:11] And then getting them to share it, like it, repost it, getting their parents to get involved so that other people, you know, that maybe don't know anybody on the dance team but might know somebody that's related to somebody on the dance team. So you're getting that build up of it as well. We also had our kids taught our teachers a dance and they did it at a pep fest. So the teachers. Oh, like the high school teachers. Yeah. The school teachers. The school teachers danced at a pep fest. And they got the principal and the athletic director, the football coach, different people.
[00:04:40] And that was a big community boost. We also, like next month during a yoga sculpt class, they're having the whole football team is coming to do yoga sculpt with our dance team. So it's just a fun way to bond the different athletics as well. And they find out how hard yoga sculpt is, especially hot yoga sculpt. So I hope that helps you. This episode is sponsored by the Just for Kicks teacher program. Your ultimate destination for all your dancing needs.
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[00:05:32] Visit us at justforkicks.com or call us at 1-800-450-DANCE to get started now. The next question we had was Jamie Lee Johnston asked, If you have dancers who are good at technique, that aspect, but they struggle to feel and excuse the emotion within the dance, what is your advice to help? I've always heard and thought that isn't something that can be taught. Well, I think it can be.
[00:06:01] But it can be hard when dancers are so talented, but they look miserable or bored on stage. Even though they aren't, they have trouble showing that they aren't. I mean, that's something I am really big on. I work on it often with my kids and we talk about it all the time. And I, you know, just like you would say, you're not allowed to not turn at practice. Like you want to let a kid come up to you and say, I'm not going to turn today because I'll do it at the competition. Like you don't allow that.
[00:06:27] So same thing with emotion, faces, performance, that has to be practiced and done all the time. And that they have, you can't allow them to say, well, I'll do it at the performance. And that's something that we talk about a lot and that it's, you know, it's a daily thing that we're discussing. Like you have to, to be able to perform and you have to practice it because you will grow and get better. And then, you know, you watch your dancers that do it so well and it is just a habit and they can't not perform. And that's where you want to turn on the music and they just plug in.
[00:06:57] Yep. And you want to get, get to that point where they like are learning choreography and they can't not do their faces. And that's where you want to get them to. A lot of it comes back to confidence, practicing it. The more you can implement improv, I think is a huge way to start learning how to remote and express. And I think just even like movement quality within your performance aspect as well. There's something else I just thought of when we were saying that too.
[00:07:21] I know one thing that worked for me a long time ago is I told a kid, I'm going to have to pull you from the dance if you cannot start emoting. And I go, think of somebody who really you're impressed with how they perform. And she named one of our dancers. And I said, then go into character and pretend you're that person. And if that will help you, I go, pretend you're in a play and you are acting out that person. It was an immediate fix with her. I'm not kidding. Then it always reminds me of the Beyonce thing. Yeah.
[00:07:50] Like Beyonce says, like that's her Sasha Fierce. Like she can't, she's actually like very introverted and doesn't really like to like have attention on her. So she has to go into character. And I think, you know, I tell kids too, like your job as a dancer, yes, it's to be great and have good technique. But your job is to entertain your audience. Like that is a big part of it, to make them feel something. Whether it's something happy and exciting or very like Broadway feel or emotional sad.
[00:08:17] Like your job is to make them be like, I felt something when I watched it. So you have to go, what am I going to do to get there? And you are an actor when you're dancing. That is a big piece of it is acting and getting into character. So doing different fun activities to get them into that place, doing what she just said, like pretending there's somebody that, that they really enjoy watching perform and pretending that that person can really help them get outside of their comfort zone.
[00:08:44] We even did something with our team last year where we had them make up their own stage names. I actually then with my fourth and fifth graders, I gave them stage names and they thought it was like the best thing ever. They loved it. And I actually was like, well, I was like, I'll have your stage names next week. And then I forgot. And then every day, well, then every day they were like, do you have your stage names yet? And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I'll have them on Thursday. But they were so excited about it. And it was just a fun, a fun thing to do with them. And they loved it. Well, the big thing I think about that is very funny.
[00:09:14] The big thing I think of is your, your competition score sheet. So much of it is your stage presence and your routine effectiveness. So I'm like, we're doing this for points. And, you know, I know a couple of years we edged out because of our faces and expression. So that's important to think about. Whenever you're in a practice where you can't get your kids to remote, do half sides. Oh, talk about the thing you did to our kids where you made them do it one at a time.
[00:09:41] Oh my gosh, this was, this is the best thing I think I've ever done. And I, after I did it, I want to do it forever and ever. But I was, you know, getting a little frustrated when I was watching one of my classes because I was watching some of the dancers that I felt like I know were stronger than they were looking when we were running our dance at class. So I just said, okay, I'm going to start doing this. And this was right at the end of the season. It was like the last week of class or right before our last cop. And I said, I'm going to put all of your names in a hat.
[00:10:10] And just every week at the end of class, I'm going to draw a name. And you have to do the entire dance by yourself. And they were like, okay. But then they got really excited about it. And this was like sixth to eighth graders. And I made it fun, but it was also still pressure and scary. And it was really fun seeing like the camaraderie between the kids too. When they did it, they were cheering and screaming so loud for the two kids that I drew their names. But I have not seen those kids like dance as hard as they did. And it was so cool to see it.
[00:10:38] And then I was thinking if I would have started this way earlier, that push. And when they don't know, like, is my name going to get drawn today? I think it's going to keep them way more engaged during class. Yeah. Whether it's on a learning choreography day, like maybe it's at the end. Okay. Who really knows the choreography? Like they might check in a little bit more. Well, I know we have a judge committed to camp. And so somebody asked the question like, well, how come if one judge could give us a six on our, our kick score?
[00:11:06] But the judge over here gave us an earth that the other judge gave us a nine. And the judge said, well, on your team, if you can think of individuals, are there people who are a six and you kind of want to hide them in the back row or whatever? And are there people that are tense? And it might depend where they're looking. So that's a good thing to ask your dancers is, are you an anchor? Would you hold us back? Or would you, would we be state champions if they were just judging you?
[00:11:35] And that's kind of what made me think of doing this because I was like, make them do it like it's a solo. Well, I hope that answered your questions from our Facebook group. Keep them coming because we love having topics to talk about. So anytime you want one, either email us or put them on Facebook. We love it.