February’s Blog Challenge, A Day In The Life, was a little more intensive than January’s photo challenge, but that’s what makes it fun. Check out our participants so far:
So what are you waiting for? Add your blog to the list and share what your life is like! And remember, you can post any time (not just February).
Share your dance life with us!
For those who work in the arts, every day can be so different from the next, but that’s part of what I love about my job and what makes it so much fun. It keeps me on my toes! (pun intended… groan.)
Here’s one of my more ‘typical’ days:
7am – Wake up. Contemplate exercising or yoga before I shower, but not today.. the blankets and snooze button are calling my name. Shower, eat breakfast, remember that I am going to take pictures for “Day In The Life” post today!
9:30am – Drive to the studio – weather’s looking a bit icy.. better keep an eye on it.
10:00 am – Admin time. Pretend to be Beyonce much to the chagrin of my office manager… “I’m all up in these costumes like my job… admin time”. Follow up on some back-ordered costumes and work on handouts. Dance party in the office to the hold music (hey Weissmans, at least you have some good tunes!).
11:00am – UPS delivery – hooray! The first of our recital costumes have arrived! Unpack, sort and label costumes.
And we have come upon our last Valentine’s playlist! Click here for previous weeks (tap, children, lyrical).
This week’s playlist is everything else I found that didn’t fit under certain heading – mostly for jazz or hip hop, with a little classical ballet mixed in at the end!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little series… have a great Valentine’s Day!
JAZZ
Stereo Love – Edward Maya ft Alicia 
Somebody To Love Remix – Justin Beiber ft. Usher
Seasons of Love – RENT
One Love – David Guetta
Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
Groove Is In The Heart – Dee Lite
Heartbeat – Enrique Inglesias
HIP HOP
Love Lockdown – Kanye West
Countdown – Beyonce
Good Feelin – Flo Rida
You Make Me Feel So – Cobra Starship
BALLET
DJ Got Us Fallin In Love – Sunny Choi
Love Story – Taylor Swift
The Heart Asks Pleasure First – Ahn Trio
 |
| Paul Taylor Dance Company; Photographer: Jordan Matter Source: Acts of Flight |
 |
| Paul Taylor Dance Company; Photographer: Jordan Matter Source: Acts of Flight |
Just watched a great video from Marie Forleo discussing the “friends and family discount” that could easily apply to any dance studio owner.
When you own your own business, your friends and family often want to support you, but sometimes they are looking for a discount in return. The message of the video below is whatever you choose, be clear and upfront about your policy.
If you can’t afford to give discounts because you’re just starting up or because you simply value your time, say so (in a polite way of course) and give them the opportunity to choose another dance studio.
Marie offers a script (around 2:14 in the video) to say to your family and friends when you don’t have a discount and I’ve adapted it so it works for dance teachers and studio owners.
“I’m so excited Susie wants to take dance. Know that I’d never expect you to choose my dance studio because of our relationship. Before she registers, make sure that our studio is the right fit for you because I don’t offer a friends and family discount. If you want to move ahead, here are the tuition rates and available classes.”
This gives them an ‘out’ if they were only looking for a handout and let’s you be clear in advance without all the uncomfortableness that would come if you let them know this AFTER she signed up for classes.
What’s your policy for friends and family? Share in the comments!
The Dance Buzz debuts its first video!
If you’ve ever needed to fade a song to fit a time limit or your choreography, the OS X program GarageBand has some great features that make it really easy to do.
GarageBand was made for recording music or making podcasts, but we are going to use it to end a song early and fade it out. This is one of the easiest and simplest edits to do.
For those who want technical nitty gritty: I’m using GarageBand ’11 (version 6.0.4) on my MacBook Pro, which is running OS X Lion.
Give me a shoutout in the comments if you found this video helpful or informative – I’d like to do a series of videos showing more complicated edits. Would you be interested in that?Video transcript and more tips (not included in the video) after the jump:
It’s that time again… time for another Dance Blog Challenge! If you want to read more about why I’m doing this, read this post. Then come back and join the fun!
This month’s blog challenge is “Day In The Life” post. Take one of your busiest dance days, bring your camera (or camera phone) and take lots of pictures from the moment you wake up until you return to bed. Or if you’re an overachiever, make a video!
This month’s challenge is a bit more involved than last month’s, but that’s what makes it fun. I will try to vary the ‘involvement’ of each post so if you’re not feeling quite up to the challenge this month, do an easier one like January’s photo challenge or wait to see what March brings.
Post your photos or video (with or without narration… its up to you) on your blog and leave a comment with the link here!
I can’t wait to see what everyone’s studios and dance lives look like! And if you’re not actively taking or teaching classes, you can participate too… I want to see what you do in your job or school everyday. And snap a quick picture of an arabesque in the hallway while you’re at it… the point is to have fun!
Just make sure if you do take pictures of other people that they are ok with you putting their lovely faces on the internet. Or use photo editing software crop or blur their faces 🙂
Think your life is boring or need ideas of what to document? Keep reading after the jump for ideas.
The Dance Buzz 