"I do not try to dance better than anyone else, I only try to dance better than myself" - Mikhail Baryshnikov

In the dance world, there is always someone better then you. Period. Someone will always be able to jump higher, be that much more flexible, do that many more turns, have that much better technique, etc. Because of this, there is an expectation that applies a lot of pressure to dancers and choreographers alike. It is not a negative thing to want to improve, and to respect someone who is talented, but dancers should focus on themselves, and what they are capable of, and what they can learn and work on. They should be in competition with themselves. They should not try to be someone else, but be willing to learn from someone else. The fore mentioned quote by Mikhail Baryshnikov are words I would like dancers at my studio to live by. Constantly striving for self improvement will directly benefit the individual as well as the other dance students and team mates.

I have always tried to be a well rounded dancer. I know that dancers who specialize in one form can be valuable, but I believe dancer's should at least have a basic knowledge and respect for many forms. This is another concept I have as a vision for my studio.

I want all of my dance teams to take at least a basic course in ballroom dance. Even if their main focus is a completely different form, such as hip hop or ballet. My reasons being:

#1 - It forces teamwork. Any dancer can strive to improve themselves and pull off amazing performances alone. It's a completely different concept to do it with a partner.
#2 - It takes patience, structure, and discipline to be able to move as one with another person.
#3 - If forces the dancer to build trust with another individual.
#4 - There is no room for selfishness. You must give and take simultaneously in order to be successful. One dancer's success is completely determined by the success of their partner.

These skills are crucial for every dancer, and every person for that matter. Any relationship needs these attributes to succeed.

They should also take basic courses in ballet, modern, hip hop, and tap.

Ballet - Because ballet is the foundation of all dance. Basic ballet technique and it's general concepts will build a solid base that has functions in and will benefit all other forms of dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz2Gp7z38DM

Modern - Not all forms of dance have a strict structure and exact placement in every movement. The modern style will help loosen that structure and show the freedom that dance can have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt4AGMWJ30c

Hip Hop - Everyone at some point or another loves to free style. Hip hop requires a dancer to find their own style. It also requires dancers to build up their strength. The jumps, stalls, and grounded nature of hip hop requires strong arms, legs, torso, and core. Though some forms of hip hop seem completely random, it takes conscious control to pull off the appearance of randomness. This control and strength can be a useful tool that can be applied to other dance forms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkBZ9iWEWI&feature=related

Tap - All dance forms require rhythm, but none of them require it and teach it as thoroughly as a tap class. Rhythm is key to all dance forms. Dancers need to be able to work and play with rhythm. They need to be able to hear and choreograph not only on the beats, but on off-beats and regular beats. Doing so produces movements and steps that are unique and unexpected. Tap dancing also requires the isolation of different areas of the leg, ankle, and foot that other dance forms do not explore. Being able to flex certain muscles and areas of the leg, ankle, and foot to achieve different sounds and rhythms creates an awareness of those muscles that otherwise would not be recognized.

I wouldn't expect my dancers to play the drums, but this video definitely illustrates Rhythm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXFiFg2GX6w

Beginning Dancers prefer to take "Intermediate" Classes

Intermediate Dancers prefer to take "Advanced" Classes

Advanced Dancers take Private Lessons to work on their Basics

-Anonymous

"It Takes an Athlete to Dance, but an Artist to be a Dancer"

The quote that I have posted for the title of this particular entry is one of my all-time favorite dance quotes. I was always offended when people claimed that dance wasn't a sport, because clearly they have not experienced a legitimate dance class in their life. However, when I defended dance as a sport, many people claiming it is an art form were offended. I love that this quote covers both bases. It takes an enormous amount of controlled strength and flexibility to pull of certain moves gracefully enough to make it look effortless. Now, this video is to the extreme in some ways, but I think it makes my point. Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1DqfJtd3sU

Now I can step down off of my soapbox about that. I've decided what I want to call my studio. As you can see, this blog is called DaNcE StEpS. This is the name I wish to call my studio for a variety of reasons. Dance has many forms, and I want to offer as large of a variety as possible. If I were to call my studio something like "Perfect Pointe" it would imply that I am only offering dance classes such as ballet, jazz, and maybe ballroom. I want to offer ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, ballroom, modern, contemporary, aerobics courses, gymnastic/tumbling, etc. I think the name Dance Steps covers all forms that I would be able to offer.

I also enjoy the simplicity of it. It doesn't have to be "Miss Angelee's Spectacular School of Dance" or "Miss Wittwer's Academy of Dance". People can just simply say, "Hey, let's go take a class at Dance Steps tonight". It also eliminates the "cheesiness" factor; because both of the fore mentioned names are not only too long, but kind of sound ridiculous. Also, I think Dance Steps is a more approachable name than anything else more elaborate. If I approach a studio called "Miss Angelee's Spectacular School of Dance" I'm going to assume it's going to be a relatively strict environment with relatively "stuck up" or "snobby" dancers and dance instructors. Dance Steps seems straight forward and more relaxed.

I have some ideas for my logo as well. Everyone doodles while they are in class, especially if their professor in unbelievably dull. Though I have tried to "walk away" from this dream as I've mentioned before, whenever I doodle, I sketch ideas for my dance studio logo. I want it to represent what my studio is about in as simple a way as possible. I've thought about having the words Dance Steps embedded in foot/shoeprints like you would see in a dance instruction manual. That would be relatively basic. I've also considered the having a stick figure with black & white tap shoes casually leaning against the words "Dance Steps", but the issue with this one is they may think it is strictly a tap studio. I think my favorite idea so far is to have silhouettes of different dancers in the background behind the words "Dance Steps", or something similar. I could have a dancing couple, a hip hop dancer, and a ballerina or something. I was kind of messing with different silhouettes, as you can see in my picture. It would be done a little more professionally, but I like the basic idea.

"Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It's the rhythm of your life. It's the expression in time and movement, in happiness, joy, sadness, and envy." -Jaques D'ambroise

"I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance." - George Balanchine

Though this blog was mainly created for my Entrepreneurship class I decided to take this opportunity to see if pursuing a dream of mine would actually be worth it.

Anyone who actually knows me beyond my business courses knows dance has been a passion of mine for over 18 years now. Though I work avidly in the hotel industry now (and enjoy it, don't get me wrong) I have always had the dream of operating my own Dance Studio. That is actually one of the reasons I became a Business Management Major. I have my Minor in Dance Performance, but I needed to know the business background of things to see if my business venture is actually worth pursuing.

I have a thorough dance education of 18+ years including: 12 years of dance training in various forms from Dansworks Dance Studio, I have substitute taught classes since I was young, I was a member of Cedar High School's Drill Team, Mohey Tawa, throughout high school and became Captain, I have taught a variety of classes at 3 different studios over the last 4 years of my college education, as well as pursuing and completing my dance minor at Southern Utah University.

Though I've attempted to move on from this dream for a variety of reasons, I can't help but see opportunity to pursue it. When walking/driving past buildings and developing areas I notice particular buildings that would work perfect for a dance studio. Then my mind begins to reel and without trying I automatically plan which walls would work best for mirrors and bars, which part could be sectioned off into smaller/larger classrooms to accommodate every kind of class from hip hop, to pointe ballet, to ballroom. Would I offer tap classes? What ages should I market too? What about the older adult segment of the market that just wants a once-a-week class to just get in shape, not think about work, get away from the kids, or simply bring back a glimpse of how they used to feel when they danced when they were younger?

My goal with this blog is to utilize it as a tool to see if my dance studio is even an option in my life and in the current or near future markets.

"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance" - Japanese Proverb