We have about 200 students for each finale and bring them out to perform a short finale dance. We walk them out in lines to take a bow, back up and out comes the next line of dancers. It is always hard to keep students grouped to come out by class/costumes together and to keep the taller dancers in back and smaller ones in front. We want everyone to be seen. Any suggestions on what you do for finale would be appreciated.

The studios for which I am currently teaching do finales the same way that you do.

At a former studio (and my plan for my recital this year)The older classes would each do a short dance segment--32 or 64 counts or so--and then at the end all of the students would come on stage in lines, one at a time, filling the stage for a short all-together dance segment at the end. This way each class is showcased, even if just for a bow and a wave, and everyone gets to participate. We also did finale t-shirts, and this helped to keep the focus on the kids and lessen the distraction of everyone in different costumes.

Mine pre-line up in a certain order before entering and have to stand on a specific line of tape. I arrange it in height order by classes...youngest classes in front, oldest classes in back.

At my studio, the kids age 7+ parade down the 2 theater aisles then up onto the stage, where they form lines & back up. They follow line leaders who are the company dancers; the line leaders wear their company T-shirts & carry either custom studio balloons or flags in our studio colors. The other kids just follow them. Once all of the older kids are onstage, more line leaders bring the preschoolers out from stage left. The line leaders create a center aisle when they get onstage, and one by one the instructors walk through and take a bow, in order of seniority. The SO (me) comes out last. We all line up in front of the kids, and our husbands, boyfriends, dads, or sons come out from stage left and give us a bouquet of flowers. Everyone waves as the curtain closes. The music is a medley of songs that the kids danced to during the show. It's always a big colorful thing, & the kids feel special parading down the aisles. It takes just one 20-30 minute rehearsal of the company kids to learn who's leading which lines & where to go when leading them. We've done it the same way for years, so most of them already know the drill. The other kids just follow. Never had any problems!