We are so close don’t stop now! If you have dedicated yourself to your craft this year, we congratulate you, we see your drive, passion, and determination - to say we are proud would be an understatement!
Now more than ever, our KGD students need to keep on dancing. 2020 has thrown us many challenges, and our students have proved time and time again that their resilience is strong. I want to let you know our dancers continue to inspire me daily with their dedication to dance.
It is so beneficial to our wellbeing to have something to anticipate/look forward to, and it is especially appropriate now after a year of lockdown. 2020 has been quite the rollercoaster, with many ups and downs, and we haven't really had much to look forward to, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we're definitely starting to see little glimmers of it!
The year, although tough - has flown by, and with the end of the year just over 12 weeks away, we will be starting routines for our planned performance at the end of Term 1, 2021. Behind the scenes, Miss Karlie and the amazing KGD teachers have been brainstorming ideas and concepts to host our very own Outdoor Dance Festival early next year... excited?
While our usual end of year show in December is still uncertain (we’ll keep you posted), we need to see our students still working on their choreographic routines to ensure they continue to hone their skills and work towards their goals and the performance in Term 1 next year. We encourage students to use this as their motivator. The continuation of dance classes in Term 4 will ensure technical skills continue to build, and they can showcase their amazing talents sooner rather than later and ultimately not have to wait another entire year. We found a great article on HuffPost ‘The Psychological Benefits Of Having Things To Look Forward To, if you feel like an inspiring read.
The reward for all your hard work is not too far away!
Just know that we are here to encourage you/your child away from the couch, to be your biggest cheerleaders! We cannot bear to see our students losing all their focused muscle conditioning, toning, flexibility, core strength, and fitness that ballet, jazz, hip hop - or any dance class would provide for that matter. You have battled this far don’t let COVID and the couch win!
To keep going with dance, try these 'Self-Motivating Seven.’
Remember your 'WHY' – Why did you start dancing? Was it a video clip, a particular performance you saw? Connect to this!
Watch Dance Videos – see if you can -re-create an entire dance sequence from your favourite movie or music video!
Try a different genre – shake it up, try something different!
Record yourself - give yourself some constructive criticism. This will give you a place to work from, dance is an evolution!
Become a choreographer - Pick a piece of music and choreograph a routine – there is nothing better than feeling the music and making it your own!
Set yourself goals – there is nothing more motivating than small achievable goals. So set your goals and check-in weekly with yourself, a parent, teacher, or friend to keep yourself on track. The little wins are actually so BIG!
Buddy up – choose a friend to dance with every week, practice together, critique each other, build each other up, and cheer each other on!
We know a lot of students have taken a break until face to face classes resume and this is completely understandable, but also sad for us teachers as we know that once you quit dance it is always so much harder to get back the technical level you were at before you stopped dancing. So, if dance is not just a hobby – you have to dance til you drop! We are doing everything we can to support your dreams and will make your years of hard work, as well as your parents' and teachers’ commitment, worth every minute!
Miss Karlie x