I am teaching a ballet/tap combo class for 4-6 year olds (new thing for the studio) and I'm wondering if I should teach this group 2 dances for the recital (one ballet, one tap) or if we should just focus on one genre & one recital dance. It is a small class - 3 students.
Thanks!

adridancer

*the only sin is mediocrity*~MG

One dance studio I work for schedules one big spring recital. (actually we have 7 spread out over 4 days) Any student in a combo class performs 2 songs but the use only 1 costume.
At another facility we have a recital (in this case one big recital) before Christmas and another one in the spring. Students in combo classes only do one song per class.
kinni

I would check with your boss at the studio. The studio I teach for has a policy (that parent's know about too) that if the child is in their first year of dance and under the age of 5, they only do 1 dance for the year. I don't see why it would be a problem to teach two small dances and the one they feel more comfortable with doing they can use for the recital. Also with that age it is hard to keep them occupied and ready for 2 dances...hope everything goes well!

I teach alot of combo classes throughout the week and they do 2 dances wearing the same outfit (they also have 2 in 1 costumes available) The babies are the biggest money maker for the studio and plus they are the highlight of the show. I suggest to do both that way you dont run into problems with parents.

Mine perform one dance for each genre that they take. My babies buy two costumes, one for tap and one for ballet. Two in ones are great for saving money, but it is often difficult to find two in ones that are appropriate for both dances: e.g., if one dance is a cute, funny animal number and the other is a pretty or prissy-type dance, two entirely different costumes are called for.

I teach at 2 studios right now...both have combo classes that I teach. 1 studio does just 1 dance...the other does 2.

I like doing both so far, I think. Because sometimes when you pick one, some kids like tap and some don't. Some like ballet and some don't. So with choreographing 2...everyone is happy at some point

I would also reccomend you teach two dances. Teaching subjects like ballet and tap are obviously not able to be combined into the one dance the way say ballet and Jazz might be. They learn both they should perform both. Two short dances are good and in many cases two dances at this age are about the same length as one dance for kids a bit older. I also reccomend the 1 costume for the two routines, just a shoe change.

At one studio I teach at it is policy that all combo classes do two dances.
So, I will be doing one ballet and the second will be a Tap/Jazz piece. We use one costume for both dances. Parents appreciate it because they get to see their kids on stage for more than two- three minutes. However it does extend the recital time.