Preparing for Your First Dance Recital: Tips for Parents and Students

Written by Amy Rau – Office Manager and Music Instructor

Welcome to your first dance recital! We are so excited to be part of these wonderful memories with your family! We know you have sacrificed financially, emotionally, and transportationally bring your child class week after week this year. We thank you for investing in them in this way! It is our hope and prayer that they have received love, joy, and encouragement in class this year.

Now we are gearing up for the final performances and there is a lot of information coming at you. From Cavod, from school, from church, from sports, etc. and it can seem overwhelming. But it is our mission to make things as clear and easy for you as possible. We are here to serve you, the families, as well as the students.

We do this by putting everything in writing. If you’re busy when the email comes through you know you can always go back the next day and find the info. If your email is full of spam and things get lost,  you can log into your portal and you can always see all sent emails there in one place. We communicate everything by email and it will be there for you when you need it!

When you do get a chance to read your emails, we suggest you mark your calendars and put reminders in your phone at that time. Don’t rely on “Dance Concert Day You” to have a good memory! Do yourself a favor and put those reminders and notes in your calendar or phone at the time you get the information.

When the costumes came home with your student, there were instructions included. Here again, read them and make a note of them immediately! Take your costume out of the small bag it came in and hang it up and attach any accessories. Make a note of other things you will need (tights, shoes etc) and attach that note to the hanger. This is especially important if you have more than one class to keep organized.

We also go the extra mile to personalize your Dance Concert Info Packet and our staff highlighted your packet so you know exactly what class, what day, and what time you need to be at the venue. Please double check this info and put it right into your calendar! This Dance Concert Info Packet has the answers to most any questions you might have. If you have further concerns, just reach out before the Dance Concert and we will help you.

Our best tips for successful Dance Concert:

1. Read. We took the time to write, and if you take the time to read, you will feel supremely prepared and not frazzled.
2. Note. Make notes of what you need to remember, what days/times you need to be there, and anything else you don’t want to forget. Don’t rely on Future You to be able to handle all the details!
3. Label. Label everything your student will be bringing to the Dance Concert! Take inventory of what you brought and what goes home with you.
4. Prepare. Plan to leave earlier than you think you need to. Things usually don’t go 100% to plan! If you have a little extra time built in, you won’t feel rushed and stressed if things take longer than expected. And if you have some spare minutes, have a fun photoshoot with your student all dressed up in their costume!
5. Trust. Please trust us that the organization that we have set up is the best for everyone and we ask for your cooperation. You can trust us to take great care of your student backstage and to pray over them before they hit the stage and to high five them after they crush their performance. We are their biggest cheerleaders!
6. Enjoy. After you have accomplished the drop off you can sit back and beam with pride as your student takes the stage and tuck those beautiful memories away for a lifetime. We are proud of our families and so grateful that you are allowing us to have a small part of creating those dance memories!