National Dance Week.......

Spring has finally arrived in the Philly area and we could not be happier! This is always a great time of the school year for our dancers to start thinking about what they have been learning each week in class. We decided to celebrate National Dance Week by showing off for our classmates one thing we learned in dance class that we are most proud of! Our students showed off everything from backbends to tendus and passes and leaps to plies! Each student really thought hard about what they wanted to showcase as their "best" dance and they all did great! The parents will be getting a picture of their dancer showing off his/her "best" dance soon and I know everyone is very excited to see how the pictures turned out!!

Fun Activity to Share With Your Students.....

Check out the Eagle Cam at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens!  You can get an up close look at three eaglets and their parents in the nest.  It is a live cam--and so fun to watch.

The past few months we have been working on tempo here at Little People's Creative Workshop--one of our exercises was 'Birdie in the Nest, Birdie Out of the Nest'; so your children will have a neat connection with what is going on inside this real nest!  Enjoy!  {Warning:  it has been known to be addicting to watch this cam!}

Community...Be A Part!

Each spring and summer most communities offer wonderful events for families that are free.  Some of these include 'Movies on the Lawn', 'Theatre in the Park', 'Music in the Park', etc.  These type of events draw large crowds and are wonderful events in which to take part.

Contact the organizers of these events in your area and see how you could become a part of them---or better yet:  start your own!

It's not only a great community service and outreach---it is a great way to get the word out about your program and what you do.

We Must All Work...

"Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe--a moment that never was before or never will be again. And what do we teach our children in school? We teach them that 2 and 2 are four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?

We should say to each of them: 'Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the world there is no other child exactly like you. In the millions of years that have passed, there has never been a child like you. And look at your body---what a wonder it is! Your legs, your arms, your cunning fingers, the way you move!

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must cherish one another.'

We must all work---to make this world worthy of its children."

- Pablo Casals

Encouraging Words for Monday......

We all hear of the constant budget cuts and layoffs these days.  It is important to not get bogged down with all the negative---successful individuals choose to see the positive in the negative.  For our industry we see that dance and theatre classes are being cut out in public school systems because there are not the funds to hire the staff to teach these classes.  That is a shame for our young children.  BUT, it opens an avenue for independent business owners to offer their services to these schools and organizations.  We can independently contract with school systems to offer these much-needed classes at a much lower fee than the added staff member would generate.  School become excited that they can still offer these classes to their students and individual businesses grow due to the demand and increased business.  (Quite often causing businesses such as ours to have to hire additional staff to cover the classes that we are having to add to our schedule.)  Choose to see the opportunity that always exists in bad times or bad news.

Schools Desiring Dance & Theatre Programs...

Many schools - public and private - lack the funding the have a dance or theatre program.  They are very welcoming to well-known programs offering to contract their services out to them.  This saves the schools money (much cheaper than hiring staff and buying curriculum and materials); and it is a wonderful opportunity for programs of reputation to increase their student base and programs.  Little People's Creative Workshop is well-known for contracting with schools to teach their dance and acting programs.  A great expansion opportunity---especially now, as school budgets and staff positions are being cut.

It's a Great Time to Think About Starting a Business....

Contrary to what it may seem---while a recession is going on it is a great time to work toward opening a new business.  When the recession passes you will be in working order and ready to enjoy the windfall that always follows such times.  There are many individuals that think they should not start a business until a recession is over; but then when the great windfall happens they are just beginning to get things together and do not get to enjoy it!  Be shrewd and wise by starting  a new business now---and you will already be open and working when the big times come around!  "Don't be so preoccupied with losing your frisbee that you never throw it!" (Or are caught unaware when someone is ready to catch!)

Giving Back to the Community

Since we know the great benefits of dance and theatre for young children it is important that we use our gifts and talents to give back to our communities in which we teach.  Our company is always on the lookout for organizations that work with young children that are at-risk or in no way able to register and pay for dance classes.  We do not want anyone to be left out---the arts are for everyone.  We teach complimentary classes at shelters, boys and girls clubs, low income daycares, homeless shelters, and many other venues where little ones happen to be.  Women's shelters are a wonderful place to bring dance---the moms enjoy it as much as their children; they usually join in on the fun!  Our communities do so much for us---this is a great way to give back and bless many families at the same time.

Dance...No Greener Venture!

We all need to strive to work on our carbon footprint and take care of our environment.  Let's face it---teaching dance to young children is as green as it gets.  It is people investing in young people.  There are no 'unrecyclable' products we sell, or tons of paperwork and inventory.  The inventory?  Ourselves.   The product?  Our art, passion and love for little ones.  We do not even have to take up real estate!  Parents of young ones are becoming too time-starved to get their child to one more activity---they need teachers that come to where their child already spends their day.  (Filling this need eliminates the need of owning a place of business---you work from home and are mobile!)  Sharing a love and passion that you have with young children is the best recycling that anyone can do---don't you think?

Giving Back to the Community....

As dance instructors and artists it is very important to give back to our community.  We offer a service and completely rely on how community parents and students will respond to our classes for our livelihood.  It's imperative to give back to our areas in which we do business.  Teach complimentary classes at a shelter or any other facility in which young children will be.  Women's shelters are wonderful ---  it is such a blessing to these children that find themselves in the middle of so much uncertainly to have a creative outlet to express themselves, have fun, and EMOTE!  When we go into schools we always approach the directors to see if there is a child that could benefit from our dance program; but whose parents are in no way able to pay for such a service.  We discreetly give these children scholarships.  Dance is for everyone---we do our best to make sure no one is left out that wishes to have this great experience.  So often we hear of children's programs that think only of the bottom line and what is in it for them.  There is no success in that.