Dance Recital Themes and T-Shirt Designs

A dance recital functions as both a reward for hard work and a showcase of the skills each student has acquired during the dance year. Recitals are an additional source of revenue for your dance school, via the sale of t-shirts, shoes, costume pieces, makeup, buttons, bumper stickers, videotapes or DVD's.

They are a recruitment tool as well. Buzz from a successful recital can bring in more students than the best advertisement, for far less cost. Organizing around a theme makes it much easier to plan music, choreography and costumes. Coordinating t-shirt designs with the recital theme provides an instant billboard for the show.

Function

Recital themes provide an organizing framework to place your students in the best possible light. Variety in dance styles, musical eras, costumes and moods helps hold audience interest and encourages dancers to provide their very best performance. Filler performances, such as comedy routines by emcees, staff, and parents provide time for costume changes for big numbers and give dancers who are in more than one class the needed time to rest, dress, and touch up hair and makeup between performances.

T-shirts serve both as souvenirs of past performances and as year-long advertising and recruitment tools. Coordinating t-shirt designs with the recital theme, and creating graphics and logos for the tickets, invitations, programs and publicity releases help ensure that ticket sales reach everyone in the community.

Every practitioner of arts yearns to provide the performance of a lifetime, and recitals are the opportunity to give that performance. With every step, a dancer improves endurance, agility, grace, and strength. Each recital is an opportunity to stretch to one's full potential as a performer, to wring that last extra inch from a split, leap higher, twirl faster, and drag more emotional response from the audience.

Types

There are many types of dance, and the most interesting recitals incorporate as many of them as possible. Some of the most popular recital dance forms are classical and lyrical ballet, ethnic, international, tap, jazz, acrobatics, Irish step, and street dance. New choreography keeps dance relevant to the daily lives of both dancer and audience member.

Considerations

The first consideration is the number of students expected to be on stage for any given number. When doing a large corps de ballet number, for example, you will need enough space for each dancer to perform, as well as enough space for any running or leaping movements to be performed safely. Seating for dancers who are waiting to perform or who have finished performing, as well as space for costume changes and dressing backstage must also be available.

It is a must to know the potential audience size, as the cost of licenses for performing specific numbers often depend on the expected audience total. Otherwise, certain numbers may have to be cut. Performing without the appropriate permissions can put your studio at risk of copyright infringement lawsuits, a death knell for smaller studios.

Adequate parking is also a consideration, as is accessibility, both for audience members and dancers. Dance that is inclusive of all members of the community enriches everyone.

Selecting costumes that are too similar in cut, color, and cuteness cause a performance to become monotonous. Leaf through catalogues from a number of costume companies, and select costumes that best reflect the theme or the intended significance of the particular piece of music used in that performance. Not everyone can be a cute fairy princess or an adorable moppet. Monsters, beasts and villains provide a necessary foil, just as shadow in a good piece of art makes the lighter, brighter colors that much more remarkable.

History

From house parties in the fine homes of the English minor nobility to performances in front of Louis Quatorze, the Sun King himself, also known as the father of ballet, recitals of talent have provided young people with opportunities to impress others with their talents. In medieval times, dances were often the only opportunity for young people to speak to one another, court, and get to know each other before being married off to secure a fortune, a border, or an alliance between rival nations.

Prior to recorded history, dance was both courtship and contest, from the wild ceilidhs of Scotland, to the potlatches of Northwest American coastal tribes, to the fais do-do of Cajun country. Dance provided the opportunity to view one's potential pool of brides or grooms, and demonstrate enthusiasm, agility, intellect, and skill in an effort to win the attention and affection of a life mate.

Potential

Use dance to express your viewpoint, and as a means of opening a dialogue. Have a cause, take a stand, and use dance to open hearts and minds to the need for communication, fairness, equity, and social justice. Include all members of the community, not just those who are fit and able, whose values reflect your own, and whose tastes match the expectations of the majority.

Resources

• Dance Costumes
• Free Dance Recital Themes and Tips
• Things to Consider When Planning Your Recital