OMG! Just sat through 4.5 hours of a dance recital!

[DebD4T]

My DDs attend dance school and their recital is next Friday. My girls have been dancing for 13 and 10 years respectivly. The recitals are usually about 3 hours long.

When they were younger, they were in 2 - 3 numbers each. Now, DD#1 is in 11 numbers and DD#2 is in 7 numbers. I must say that while obviously I go to see my DD's dance, I love watching all the other numbers also. Especially the "Tiny Tot" class (3 year olds). They may not do the steps they are supposed to do, but they are always entertaining!! (and very cute!!)

 

[castleview]

I love dancing. But this is making me feel so good that my kids are no longer involved.

 

[Cruisin]

Amen!

As far as the older dancers- I don't want to watch them either. Sorry, but we're there to see our kids dance- not the lady down the street.

But my mother comes to watch HER kid dance in the recital.

Same thing as you watching yours dance. Just her kid is a bit older than yours is.

And no I never danced as a child, so my mother did not get to watch me when I was a kid.

I just think there is room for all dancers at the recital. It should not matter what age they are.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

The more I hear about other studios, the happier I am with ours.
Our dance studio has 5 studio locations. They dance 7 days a week in some of them. There are so many kids that they have multiple recitals. Your child's class dances in 1 recital. DD has 3 different classes and they were able to put all 3 classes into one recital. So that means we only have to attend once and I only need to buy one DVD.
Recitals run approximately 90 minutes in length. They start with the high school dancers that have auditioned and been selected. These kids dance in every recital and are truly amazing. Then they move into the little kids. They are so cute. And then the further it goes along, the older the kids.

We love the recitals at our dance studio. Some of the parents are complete and total idiots, but the girls are adorable. The dancing is sweet. And you are in and out in approximately 90 minutes. I always volunteer to be a back stage mom because most parents don't want the job.
And BTW, in order to have such a short recital they have approximately 19 different recitals EVERY year. They do a phenomenal job. The props are either specially made or rented. One year they rented the Wizard of Oz props from the Broadway production. This year is Peter Pan and the props are amazing!! They have a fairy treehouse and a pirate ship! Just amazing!!!

So for those dance instructors/studio owners, there are parents out there that truly appreciate everything you do. I know there is absolutely no way I could handle all these insane parents.

 

[DebD4T]

Amen!

As far as the older dancers- I don't want to watch them either. Sorry, but we're there to see our kids dance- not the lady down the street.

I respectfully disagree with you. If someone, whether they be 5, 50 or 100, pays for lessons throughout the year, then they have every right to perform in the recital.

Our dance school does not includes the soloists in the recital. These dancers are hand picked by the director and do their dances only in competition. I disagree with this. My opinion is if you pay money for lessons, then you should be able to perform in the recital. Never mind the fact that there are only 3 soloists in our school. The director says that she has gotten complaints from parents in the past about the recital being too long and that no one wants to watch solos.

(For the record, neither of my DDs are soloists)

 

[Mermaid02]

But my mother comes to watch HER kid dance in the recital.

Same thing as you watching yours dance. Just her kid is a bit older than yours is.

And no I never danced as a child, so my mother did not get to watch me when I was a kid.

I just think there is room for all dancers at the recital. It should not matter what age they are.

I respectfully disagree with you. If someone, whether they be 5, 50 or 100, pays for lessons throughout the year, then they have every right to perform in the recital.

Our dance school does not includes the soloists in the recital. These dancers are hand picked by the director and do their dances only in competition. I disagree with this. My opinion is if you pay money for lessons, then you should be able to perform in the recital. Never mind the fact that there are only 3 soloists in our school. The director says that she has gotten complaints from parents in the past about the recital being too long and that no one wants to watch solos.

(For the record, neither of my DDs are soloists)

Sorry- you aren't changing my mind. I want to watch the kids dance, not adults. I think they should have separate recitals. Or have the child part first and the adults later. Frankly, I would prefer to just watch the part of the recital my kids are in- those things are way too long.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I'll back those up who don't want to see the adults dance. I don't want to either. I don't watch Dancing with the Stars. I don't want to watch Dancing with the Lady Next Door.

I am an adult and I have been dancing at my studio since I was 3 years old. Every year, we have parent's from the studio ask us if we are performing in the recital because they look forward to watching us. I could care less if the parent's in the audience don't want to see me dance because I'm an 'adult' - I love to perform and I get to do it one night a year so if they don't like it, too bad.

My parent's have been there for every single one of my recitals - so they are there to watch their daughters too, even if we aren't 10 years old.

I love watching our recital - the little kids are so cute and I look forward to the older more experienced dancers who bring that little extra to the recital. So if you're at a recital this Saturday night and see a set of twins performing to "Don't Rain on my Parade", feel free to watch or not to watch solely based on the fact that I'm an adult.

 

[MELSMICE]

The more I hear about other studios, the happier I am with ours.
Our dance studio has 5 studio locations. They dance 7 days a week in some of them. There are so many kids that they have multiple recitals. Your child's class dances in 1 recital. DD has 3 different classes and they were able to put all 3 classes into one recital. So that means we only have to attend once and I only need to buy one DVD.
Recitals run approximately 90 minutes in length. They start with the high school dancers that have auditioned and been selected. These kids dance in every recital and are truly amazing. Then they move into the little kids. They are so cute. And then the further it goes along, the older the kids.

We love the recitals at our dance studio. Some of the parents are complete and total idiots, but the girls are adorable. The dancing is sweet. And you are in and out in approximately 90 minutes. I always volunteer to be a back stage mom because most parents don't want the job.
And BTW, in order to have such a short recital they have approximately 19 different recitals EVERY year. They do a phenomenal job. The props are either specially made or rented. One year they rented the Wizard of Oz props from the Broadway production. This year is Peter Pan and the props are amazing!! They have a fairy treehouse and a pirate ship! Just amazing!!!

So for those dance instructors/studio owners, there are parents out there that truly appreciate everything you do. I know there is absolutely no way I could handle all these insane parents.

If you don't mind me asking, where does your DD dance? I'm wondering if it's with one of the studios I was at a conference with last summer.

Sorry- you aren't changing my mind. I want to watch the kids dance, not adults. I think they should have separate recitals. Or have the child part first and the adults later. Frankly, I would prefer to just watch the part of the recital my kids are in- those things are way too long.

I don't have adults in my show, but I do have adults that have asked me if I will hold a special class for them next year.

I also must chime in that I did dance with daughters this past weekend. It was the first time I did it & I did it for my dad because he told me he had always wanted to see us dance together. The last time I performed on stage was over 10 years ago.

While I really balked at it & contemplated just blowing it off I'm so glad I did it. I got so many compliments on the dance. I know I'm the owner & that's part of people wanting to see me on stage, but I don't believe that no one wants to see the adults dance.

Do I think they enjoy the little kids more - sure do, but some of those mature dancers have been dancing for years since they were younger & they can blow the socks off of some of the teen dancers - especially in a pair of tap shoes!!!

 

[Cruisin]

Sorry- you aren't changing my mind. I want to watch the kids dance, not adults. I think they should have separate recitals. Or have the child part first and the adults later. Frankly, I would prefer to just watch the part of the recital my kids are in- those things are way too long.

I wasn't trying at all to change your mind, just stating why I thought us "old timers" should be allowed to participate too

As for having a separate recital. That would be very expensive and pointless for our studio.We are a small studio and only have 3 dances that the adults do on their own.

As the previous poster stated, we also get quite a lot of positive comments after we dance.

But if you are not interested in watching us, please feel free to have a little nap during our dances. It might make it easier for you to sit thru the rest of the recital

 

[Mermaid02]

If you don't mind me asking, where does your DD dance? I'm wondering if it's with one of the studios I was at a conference with last summer.


I don't have adults in my show, but I do have adults that have asked me if I will hold a special class for them next year.

I also must chime in that I did dance with daughters this past weekend. It was the first time I did it & I did it for my dad because he told me he had always wanted to see us dance together. The last time I performed on stage was over 10 years ago.

While I really balked at it & contemplated just blowing it off I'm so glad I did it. I got so many compliments on the dance. I know I'm the owner & that's part of people wanting to see me on stage, but I don't believe that no one wants to see the adults dance.

Do I think they enjoy the little kids more - sure do, but some of those mature dancers have been dancing for years since they were younger & they can blow the socks off of some of the teen dancers - especially in a pair of tap shoes!!![/QUOTE]

If I want to see adults dance I will go to a ballet or see a show. I'm not interested in seeing a 50 year old woman dance to New York New York.

 

[MELSMICE]

If I want to see adults dance I will go to a ballet or see a show. I'm not interested in seeing a 50 year old woman dance to New York New York.

Well, this almost 47 year old "old woman" danced to "Give Me Some Rhythm Daddy" by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. One of our preschool classes of 3 & 4 year olds danced to New York, New York.

 

[Cruisin]

Well, this almost 47 year old "old woman" danced to "Give Me Some Rhythm Daddy" by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. One of our preschool classes or 3 & 4 year olds danced to New York, New York.

good for you.

This 53 year old dancer is doing tap to Ballroom Blitz

What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger

 

[MELSMICE]

good for you.

This 53 year old dancer is doing tap to Ballroom Blitz

What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger

LOL - and good for you too!

 

[golfgal]

That is love because I would not sit thru 5hrs of recital unless it was my own kids.

I wouldn't even sit through that for my OWN kids. DS15 took hip hop for a few years. Being unschooled in the ways of dance recitals, we showed up at the beginning and stayed until the end, 3 1/2 hours later. The following years we had him let us know about when he would be on, came just before that, left after he was done. There were people coming and going (not during the actual dance but between so we weren't the only ones). This is also why we never invited any relatives to these things. My sister invites us ALL THE TIME. Um, nope, sorry.

 

[DebD4T]

good for you.

This 53 year old dancer is doing tap to Ballroom Blitz

What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger

Oooh!!! My DD#1 is doing her tap routine to Ballroom Blitz!! Dress rehearsal is tonight and I can't wait to see it!!!

(BTW I love to watch all dancers, no matter what age )

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

If you don't mind me asking, where does your DD dance? I'm wondering if it's with one of the studios I was at a conference with last summer.

She dances at Gotta Dance in Central NJ. If you attended a conference mid-summer last year in NYC I know some of the teachers were there. I work in NYC and was taking a walk and ran into her teachers. She had just finished a 2 week dance team and couldn't stop raving about it so I had to stop and tell her teacher. They were just finishing lunch outside so I stopped, told her how much my DD had loved the dance team for 2 weeks and that she would have killed me if I hadn't stopped to say hi. I told DD that I had run into Miss Linda in NYC and the first words out of her mouth were "Well did you stop and say hello?" She was petrified that I had diss'ed her dance teacher. I guess I have no manners.

I am truly pleased with everything they do. They have a huge organization and they really do try to make everything fair and equitable for all. I have no idea how they deal with all those crazy parents.

 

[MELSMICE]

She dances at Gotta Dance in Central NJ. If you attended a conference mid-summer last year in NYC I know some of the teachers were there. I work in NYC and was taking a walk and ran into her teachers. She had just finished a 2 week dance team and couldn't stop raving about it so I had to stop and tell her teacher. They were just finishing lunch outside so I stopped, told her how much my DD had loved the dance team for 2 weeks and that she would have killed me if I hadn't stopped to say hi. I told DD that I had run into Miss Linda in NYC and the first words out of her mouth were "Well did you stop and say hello?" She was petrified that I had diss'ed her dance teacher. I guess I have no manners.

I am truly pleased with everything they do. They have a huge organization and they really do try to make everything fair and equitable for all. I have no idea how they deal with all those crazy parents.

I thought maybe you were talking about the Perna School of Dance (I think that's the name).

The conference I attended was in Orlando (couldn't miss it, just due to location ). It was the Rhee Gold DanceLife Teacher Conference & it was amazing. If she did not go tell her it is the best conference she will ever attend.

Next summer it is at the Phoenician Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm pretty sure that DD & myself were the first two signed up last Thursday when he announced the venue & the fact that registration was open.

I wonder if she was at the NYCDA conference when you ran into her?

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I wonder if she was at the NYCDA conference when you ran into her?

Hmm, don't know. All I know was that it was mid-town at the Hilton towards the end of July. Other than that I felt like I was stalking them.

 

[nenner1]

I guess what I'm saying is that it's one or two days a year - a couple hours is nothing in the scheme of things and it would make your loved one's day that you were there supporting them. It still hurts me that my aunt would sit through a game that lasted at least an hour twice a week, but wouldn't sit through a dance recital that lasted a couple of hours once a year.

I would love to come see you and Beth dance, Amy!!!

Add us to the list of those who have recital split into multiple shows over multiple days. I love it- that way I can volunteer to be a backstage mom for some shows and still be able to watch my DD's main show (she is Company so she is in all of them, but her core classes are usually focused in one show) from the audience. They last about 2 hours with intermission. Siblings are almost always in the same show. Finale's are company only, so the little ones can leave after their number is over. Solos are allowed for graduating seniors only, and most of the competition numbers aren't thrown in there either.

It is always a top notch show, well themed and moves along quickly. I love to watch but even so, no way could I handle 4.5 hours...or 7 hours like a PP mentioned!

 

[Art 1]

I have sat through 10 or 12 over the years for my daughter, it's just something you do.