I am thinking about pulling together some dance parties for the fall and holidays taking with that as a theme. Obviously there are huge copyright issues...but advertising an "All-American" dance and doll party might work. It would be fun to have a small class, work on a routine, then do a craft for the dolls, have a snack and watch some of the kit or molly movie.

Would this have appeal for kids and parents like on a Friday evening so they could drop the girls off and have a few hours to shop and whatnot?

I dunno- if anyone wants to brainstorm, it would be great!

I would love something like that as a child. I think if you wanted to do something like this that it would be fun to do it as a series where you represent each of the American Girls. One day use Molly & show her movie, the next week use Kit, then Samantha (who also has a movie I believe). It would be fun to do it weekly because then you would be able to continue teaching the routine week to week. If you wanted to make it a fun session you could also end the class with a book instead of the movie.

Look into copyright issues, but I really enjoy this idea.

Great ideas!

I need to look into more of the books- perfect excuse to read some kids books!

that sounds like an awesome idea! I loved those books and dolls as a kid, of course, they only had 3 dolls at the time... now they're kind of out of control! haha. Anyway, you could even do a dance from the historical time period. I'm not sure how many you can come up with but it's an idea! Like for Kit you could teach the Charleston and I know Molly did a patriotic tap dance in one of her books. Maybe square dancing for Kirsten? I think I remember something about a barn raising in her books. Anyway, great idea!

I think this would definitely be something that would go over well. There is actually an American Girl place in Los Angeles California (I believe) where you can take your dolls and have lunch or what not. I have never been...have you looked into it? Maybe they would have a website that would give you some ideas.

Good luck!

^^^ I went to the American Girl store in NYC, and they even put on a show in a small theater in their building. The show was hokey, had minimal dancing, but was sold out. I bet a lot of people attend it just to sit down, and get a respite from shopping. Tickets are extra, and it's not cheap. They even started a 2nd show for the youngest kids, based on Bitty Baby.

There is lots of American Girl material out there (do an Ebay search) but I was afraid of the copyright issues too, since they were acquired by Mattel. There's a fund raising franchise that lets non-profit groups model and sell their wares at sit down fashion shows. It's hugely popular here, an annual luncheon that draws about 2,000 total. Local children are recruited to model, along with their dolls.

I found a similar book series to American Girl, but with another name, and I was going to use more of this material. I bought American Girl CD's, books, games, plays, etc. but I haven't had time to absorb them into a usable format. Most of the songs have great titles, but aren't good (blah lyrics/beat) for dancing.

These are all awesome ideas. I hope my boss bites on this one because I think it could be fun. I love the idea of dances from different time periods- that is cool.

We've been to the AG store twice- once for brunch and for my daughter to get her first doll for her birthday. Holy crap is it expensive!!!!!! But- it pulled me in. I was trying to tell my mom which doll I want for Christmas (Julie) and she told me to get over it.