The DDA way

Written by Jory Bowling DDA Instructor, bio here https://www.dreamsdance.com/team-bios This year I embarked on my 20th season of judging dance competitions! Wow time flies! I’ve gotten to see so many of our cities and states, do a lot of sight-seeing, rack up airline miles and make many close friends. Some years traveling as much as 13 regional weekends and a few Nationals over Summer. I started my career with Starpower and judged for them for many years as well as branching out to their sister companies Nexstar and Revolution. I eventually moved on to working for Starquest, where I’m in my 12th year and the new judges trainer, as well as Bravo and Applause for many years where I’m a “head” judge. All of these companies have given me the years of experience to give parents and dancers some insight on what happens “behind the scenes." First, it is important that everyone knows and understands; no two competitions are run exactly the same. They all have their own scoring syst...

Throughout my 12 years of teaching in different parts of the country, I have had serious gymnasts and ice skaters in my dance classes at every single studio I have taught. I find it extremely fascinating how dance can provide a deeper level of training for them and help them perform better in their field. In Texas, I taught at a studio across the street from a gym that trained Olympic gymnasts such as Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin. Having young students in my ballet class train across the street, all the other days of the week, made me wonder if one day one of my ballerinas would be an Olympian. I've also had ice skaters who would practice at 5am every day before school and then take dance a few nights a week tell me how ballet helped them in their competition routines. I love being motivated by my own students! Here at Dreams Dance Academy we have quite a few gymnasts and ice skaters take our classes. Ballet, lyrical, jazz, you name it! There are many key elements that gym...

What could be scarier than Halloween in the month of October? Well quite possibly the smell of your dancers dance bag. Have you ever wondered to yourself, “how could such pretty little feet make that smell ?”...... Here are some tried and true tricks to keep your dancers dance bag smelling fresh in between classes. Should be obvious, but take out dirty leotards and tights and wash them. Smelly shoes the problem? You can make shoe dehumidifiers by using old worn out tights. Simply cut off the feet of the tights, fill with dry rice, you can also add a few drops of peppermint oil to the rice. The rice will absorb moisture and the peppermint will leave a pleasant smell. Place dance shoes in a Ziploc bag and freeze them overnight. Freezing the shoes will kill the bacteria therefore, destroy the odor. Once a month take everything out of the dance bag and wash it in the washing machine. Canvas ballet shoes and canvas lyrical shoes can be washed in the washing machine on...

A student once told me, “I have to remember 500 things all at once to not look like a floppy fish while dancing, Ms. Geneva!” I responded, “It sure seems like it, right?! But don’t worry, soon you won’t have to think as much about all those things and friends at school will ask you if you are a dancer just because of the way you sit and stand!” Control, grace, holding balances, turning, landing from jumps, extensions, and looking elegant all comes from having beautiful posture that works individually for your body as a dancer. I say ‘individually’ because some students have medical issues with their spine, abdominals, and collar bone, etc. so teachers have to gauge what works best for each student. Pulling the belly button towards the spine, engaging the abdominals, lifting up out of the lower back, pulling the shoulder blades down, lifting up the back of the neck while keeping the neck long and high, is just the start of everything to think about! Once your body gets used to having go...

By: Katie Behrens Health Coach and Sports Nutrition Expert, DDA Instructor Certified By: The American Council On Exercise Let’s set the scene. It is the Friday night before competition. All of the costumes are packed and labeled, early morning alarms are set to get up to do hair and makeup. The last thing to do is create the fuel your dancer will need throughout the day so they can stay at their peak performance. Dancers bodies are like a fine tuned machine. I actually like to compare them to a race car. You cannot show up to the Indy 500 with a Porsche, put 87 grade octane gasoline in the tank and expect to win the race. Dancers must put high-grade fuel into their bodies to be able to perform their best. Let’s talk about what types of foods fuel an athlete like a dancer. Carbohydrates are what our bodies first look for when they look for energy. Some of my favorite portable carbohydrate snacks for quick energy absorption are: ● Grapes ● Apples ● Carrots ● Bananas ● Strawberries ● D...

Preparing for Competition Season & All It’s Benefits By Miss Janelle When I was younger I always used to tell people I loved competition dance because of the time I spent with my dance family & that feeling when you walk off stage knowing you performed the absolute best. You could feel the energy and passion with your teammates and I always thought that was the greatest thing. As I have grown older, I realize all the things you receive being a competitive dancer. Competition weekends teach you so much, most of the time when you are not on stage. Waking up at 5:00a to support teammates, helping someone during a quick change, getting back on stage after a big mistake, cheering for every routine even when you don’t get the results you hoped for; all these small moments make big impacts in the type of people we become. You learn to push through the pain, exhaustion, or embarrassment, to support every dancer for being brave enough to share their talent, and that it’s not all ...

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, and do more, and become more...you are a leader." I have had this thought at the end of every night since the new session began...these Student Ambassadors are amazing. Like incredibly amazing. We decided to expand on the responsibilities of our Ambassadors this season, after I heard some great ideas from other studio owners I network with. Every day we have Ambassadors on duty at various times; at our training last month many signed up for a one hour slot on the same day each week for one month. For example, Ella V. is responsible for Thursdays in September from 5-6pm (something like that, I don't have the schedule in front of me!) This teaches them consistency, responsibility, and dedication just like a "real" job would. They have a manual, they (not their parents) need to contact me when they will be gone or have questions, they sign in each day...and they receive a "DreamBucks" pa...