Shhhh... *spritz spritz*

"Quiet Spray" - found at The Lemonade Stand blog.  As they suggest: "...spray the ROOM to signal children to get quiet.  Or you can just leave the bottle empty.  Mine love the mist in the air....I do not condone spraying a child!  As much as you might want to!  Ha!"

I thought this was a cute idea, even though I don't have too much trouble with talking in classes (knock on wood...), but every so ofter there is a class that is just the right mixture of personalities to create the chit-chatty class.  Sometimes it only takes one or two chatterboxes to make you want to reach for the quiet spray...especially in my high school classes :)

On second thought, maybe I should make some interchangeable labels:

"Pointe-Your-Toes Spray"

"Choreography Cleaner"

"Insta-Turnout"

"Dance Bills-B-Gone"

"Spotting Spray" (NOT to remove spots, but to add spotting to turns!)

Any others you can think of for when you're having "one of those days"?

Dance Etiquette & Advice

Kind of loving this post at These Are The Lives We Lead about dance etiquette.  My favorite parts:

Love dance!

• "NEVER mark. Why pay for a class and mark until you get into groups? Groups occur for MAYBE 10 minutes. Most of which you’ll spend trying to figure out the parts you’ve been marking."

• "Touching your toes and sitting in a grande plie 2nd for a minute does not a sufficient warm up make."

• "Be hungry to know everyTHING about your art; ESPECIALLY its history. you would not be here without those that came before you."

• "If you don’t make the youtube video, don’t get the job, or don’t get called out for the “special” group; it doesn’t mean you stop coming to class. In fact, the very opposite. You KEEP SHOWING UP. perseverance and SHOWING UP is often how a job is booked."

• ".. know that dance does not come over night.  Or over months.  Or even years.  It happens throughout a LIFETIME process that is to be adored despite struggle.  Love every second of it for genuine reason and you will probably find yourself doing all this naturally."

I wish all of my students read and understood this.  Good advice for getting the most out of your classes!