New Music Mondays: Preschool Playlist

Inspired by last month's post on Zooglobble, I set out to find artists featured on his blog to come up with a unique playlist for preschool dance that wasn't filled with Disney artists.  Here is my result:

Warm-Up Songs
One Tiny Light - Recess Monkey
Morningtown - Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem
C'Mon - Renee and Jeremy
Let Me Be Yours - Lucky Diaz
Funkee Flora de Fiesta - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke

Movin' and Groovin'! - directive songs
Constellation Conga - Recess Monkey
The Dance From Outer Space - Billy Kelly
Tennessee Wig Walk - Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem
Rocks & Flowers - Caspar Babypants
Stomp Stomp - Putumayo Jazz Playground

Other Fun Tunes
Going To The Moon - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke - this would be a fun sing-a-long
Dog Gone Gone Dog Gone - Caspar Babypants - this is just a fun song to listen to
Frenzy - Dean Jones - your body just starts moving to this song!

Enjoy!


Click here for other playlists

SOBuzz: A Competitor Who Stole My Ideas

Fantastic article by Therese Tucker (as told to Kathryn Hawkins) over at BNET:  "How I Beat a Competitor Who Stole My Ideas".

As dance studio owners, we have all been there.  You just put out a new ad (website, sign, brochure, etc) and two months--or maybe even two days--later you see a competitor using the same wording for their own business (class names, discounts, etc).  I've personally had a competitor copy and paste all of the wording from my website (which took me days to write) and pass it off as her own idea on her website.  How irritating!

What can we take away from this article for dance studio owners?

New Music Mondays: Zoo Globble

If you're looking for new preschool / elementary music, or if you're a parent of a little one, you will love the Zooglobble blog!  Stefan Shepherd, the man behind the blog, reviews preschool albums that parents can actually listen to on repeat without going insane.  Check out this post on the Best Kids Music for 2010.

While the site is not aimed towards teaching dance, music and dance go hand in hand, so it is a great resource for any preschool teacher.  I have found a lot of new music and sometimes the artists he features will offer free downloads.  The posts usually have some way to preview the songs, artists and albums they are reviewing, so you can see if it will work for you.

Even if you don't have room to add another blog to your reading list, at least bookmark the site for their huge list of children's music links on the side of their site.

Other ways to find Zooglobble:  Facebook  Twitter

Tips for Balancing

This is a great video on balancing created by The Anaheim Ballet (via BalletScoop):



I like the way they illustrate pushing down while pulling up - the one thing I always tell my students. This can be hard to visualize, so I am going to share this video with my students and see if it helps!

The other thing they didn't really touch on is focus - I find that when I tell my students to focus on something that is eye-level instead of looking around, they are able to balance longer.  Then as you get better at balancing, you can challenge them to move their head while balancing.

What are you favorite balancing tips?

Studio Owner Buzz: Music Licensing FAQ

After just receiving my ASCAP licensing fee invoice for 2011, I thought it might be a good idea to do a post about music licensing.  I dove into researching the topic and came up with the answers to my own questions along with some interesting other facts.

Full Disclosure:  I only researched copyright laws of the United States, so if you have any information about international music licensing, please comment!

So without further ado, here are some frequently asked questions about music licensing (after the jump):

The Search for Portable Ballet Barres, Part 2

Click here for  Part 1
EDIT: Here is Part 3, a review (two years later)

After much deliberation, I decided to order an 8-foot portable double barre from the Ballet Barre Store. I liked that the barres were advertised as lightweight and easy to put together.  I also was pleased to see they have a 30-day return policy -- I would just have to foot the bill for any shipping it needed to be returned.

Both barres are adjustable, and the higher barre can go up to a height of 45 inches.  Compared to similar style barres, the $135 price tag was fairly inexpensive. I did a bit of research on the company behind the barre, Vita Vibe.  They also have a 5-year warranty on their products for full replacement or repair, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

After placing the order through their site using PayPal, I received the barre in about a week (but it was during the Christmas rush, so its possible your order would get to you sooner).  The package was long a slim and barely fit in my station wagon!  For those of you ordering longer barres, it might be wise to ship directly to your studio if possible.

New Years Goal Setting (aka: Resolutions!)

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday... mine is still going on as we are having Christmas with my Dad's family tomorrow.  It was great to have a few weeks off and I feel refreshed and ready to take on 2011!

I wanted to share my New Year's resolutions with all of you, even though some are personal.  I am definitely a goal-setter.  I like to write down goals, post them somewhere I can see because what's more important than setting goals is checking in on your goals.  If you set them and then forget.. there is no progress or reminders.  Its important to check in and remind yourself what you want, whether its daily, weekly or monthly.

1.  Eat healthier
2.  Grow my business / find a building
3.  Continue blogging
4.  Attend a dance conference
5.  Plan a wedding