Do you charge your dancers for props they use in recital or do you just buy it yourself?

Do you give them thier props to keep after recital?

Thanks.

For props like hats, boas, etc. - I would consider it part of the costume and charge the student for it as a part of their costume fees.

For larger props, I would probably have the studio purchase them so they could be reused by future groups.

What kind of props in particular were you asking about?

Small props like scrub brushes, teddy bears, and parasols are worked into costume price and given to client.

Little handheld props, hockey sticks, foam balls (as bowling balls), fringe hoops, baseball bats etc. etc.

It depends on the prop. If they don't all have to look alike and it's something we think most families would have lying around, we ask them to bring their own. If we want them all to be identical or the prop is something normal people don't usually have (like a flower hoop or something), either the individual teacher provides it or the studio does, and they keep it for future use.

Hats, canes, boas and anything that could be considered part of a costume is paid with their costume fee.

Any other props we use we have always charged the parents for in the past.

This is my first year to have my own studio and one thing I decided to do to try to take the prop expense away from the parents is to ask for community sponsors.

We typed up a letter and attached self addressed, stamped envelopes and had each girl go out and find 4 $30 sponsors from the community. Each business or community member that donated became a sponsor for our studio and we put their name and logo on the back of our t-shirt, on our website and displayed in our studio.

You would be surprised how many businesses are willing to donate. That's a cheap way for them to pay for advertising!

I do not charge for props but I keep them and re-use them as needed.