RecitalExpo Table of Contents
Articles are compliments of Goldrush magazine

Packing a Punch with Photos
By Nancy Wozny
Powerful images say as much about your school as words do.
Of all the arts, dance is probably the most photogenic. But many studios settle for posed, uninteresting photos. Dance is about motion—why not make the most of that fact through photography?

Ask Rhee
By Rhee Gold
This year I am celebrating the 50th anniversary of my school. I have loved every minute of the past 50 years and I want to make my recital something special, maybe do something totally different. Do you have any ideas?

Question Of The Month
By Rich Band
What's the best way to handle costume funds?
Q: I’m wondering, from both a business and tax perspective, what is the best way to flow costume payments through my business. Should those funds be put into the business account, or should I have a separate costume account? —Betsy

The Do-Re-Mi Of Performance
By Rosemarie Boyden
Preparation for performing on the stage begins with the atmosphere for learning that you, the teacher, set from a preschool-age child's very first class.

Putting The Moves On- Overcoming Choreographer's Block
By Nancy Wozney
Whether you’re a full-time teacher or choreographer or you merely dabble in dancemaking from time to time, at some point you’re going to hit a choreographic roadblock.

The Finishing Touch
By Kay Klausner
No matter how much work has gone into the technique and choreography, the overall production effects and the beautiful smiles help make a performance memorable.

Ballet Without Fear

By Jennifer Rienert
Here at New Hampshire School of Ballet our emphasis has always been on ballet and pointe, so the ratio of ballet classes to all other disciplines is about 2:1. Over the past 40 years we’ve learned how to produce fun, entertaining shows that are about 50 percent ballet. 

Limiting Your Liability
By Sandra Mihaloff and Davis Mullens
The rented hall is packed, and the buzz of the audience fades as the curtain rises. Everything is going great until a dancer falls, spraining her ankle. You take her offstage and seek medical care, and the show goes on.

It's Dance – But Is It Choreography?
By Tom Ralabate
As an artist and educator, I view the stage as a magical place that ripples movement across a specific landscape, allowing a journey to another place in time for both dancer and audience. And I view the dance studio as sacred ground, a working laboratory in which the seeds of this magical journey are planted.

Conquering Costumes!
By Charlotte Klein
My husband and I own two schools in Worcester and Westborough, MA, with a total of four recitals between both schools. Fifty years of experience has taught me a few things about how to be organized, efficient, and cost-effective with my costume orders.

Costume Solutions – Feedback from America's Costume Companies
I produce my recital in January because my school is open year-round. So when it comes to the costume catalogs, I feel like my school doesn’t fit in. I start to think about costumes in July, but the catalogs come to me in October and November, which is too late for the January performance. Do you have suggestions for schools that don’t stick to the normal?

From Studio to Stage
By Andrea Higgins
There’s an old saying: “Bad dress rehearsal, good performance.” I have always been suspicious of the motivation behind it, especially since the person saying it is usually the one who is running the dress rehearsal.

Recital Dreams
By Nancy Stone
I had my share of recital dramas—a fire at the theater that left the auditorium intact but destroyed the curtains and left a strong odor of burned fabric, costumes that didn’t arrive until the day of the show, children who forgot half of their costumes, and the time I broke my foot at a dress rehearsal.

Preparing Pointe Shoes for Performance
By Judy Rice
Ideally, a dancer should have at least two pair of pointe shoes that are broken in “to performance-perfect condition.” The amount of molding and manipulation to get the shoe to this condition depends on the quality of the movement being performed and the strength of the dancer’s feet.
 

The Sequin-Eating Boy
By Diane Gudat
...And other reasons not to panic about your recital. Anyone who produces recitals must experience their share of mishaps, and here are a few good ones.