Has anyone taken a group of students to NYC? I'm looking into doing this for summer 2011 and any help would be great!

1) what compnay did you use, how was your experience with them? Were they easy to contact?
2) What ages did you take to NYC, did you find any of them to young?
3) Did you arrange a performance opportunity for your students? where? how?
4) What were the most fun/memorable events of your trip for both you and your students?

Thanks

2011?

I am planning one for next year and just doing it myself, for the day, not a weekend or week, since we are only a couple of hours away. I lived in NYC for most of my life and still enjoy going back for visits (not just to family).

We will be either taking classes at Steps on Broadway or Broadway Dance Center and arrange to see a show in the evening. I am just starting to work out the details, though.

I will not take anyone under the age of 10 and the kids must have their own chaperon, if not their own parent. We will not travel together, they will need to get there on their own, most likely they will car pool.

I will arrange for group rates for a Broadway show and arrange for which classes to take but the rest will be on their own.

I know that Lakisha just took a group to the Lion King. I took a group a couple of years ago. I'm about an hour east of Manhattan.

We saw Hairspray and planned a dance class and had lunch. I went through Broadway.com who has wonderful classes (ranging from dance classes, mock auditions, voice, make-up and stage, acting, etc) for groups. They booked one of the performers from Hairspray to teach the class and they found the space for us, which ended up being at the New Dance Group. Additionally, we were able to book lunch through Broadway.com at one of the parnter restaurants. We ate at Planet Hollywood. The only thing that I booked independently was the charter bus.

I restricted the trip to ages 10 and up. (our younger ones had a trip to the circus) We ended up having students between the ages of 10 and 16.

It was a wonderful experience - the students LOVED the teacher (Judine Somerville is fantastic) and have been begging to go back. Judine taught them a dance routine from the show and when we saw Hairspray and the students recognized the dance, they were all dancing in their seats along with the performers. Planet Hollywood was great too. They had our studio name welcoming us on their sign and the staff really made all of us feel special. The parental chaperones who went enjoyed the day too. I even did shirts for all the students, which was included in the package price of the trip. Everyone worked very hard that year to raise money to go.

I wanted to plan another trip, but with baby on the way, I think we will have to wait until next dance season.

Just a tip- if your kids are under 13, you need to call BDC and find teachers who accept children into their classes. There are some who do not. For this reason, I only take ages 13+ unless they are able to dance at the same level as that age.