Help bring the U Can Dance Program back!

It was always Miss Leslea's goal to start a program for children with special needs. This year I am happy to say that we finally did it! Unfortunately, timing was not on our side. Most of you know I was pregnant at the start of the program, and extremely pregnant towards the end. Sadly, I had to finally discontinue. I had high hopes on returning 4-6 weeks after delivery but once lil C arrived we realized that almost all of my free time needed to be dedicated towards him. Being down the studio for longs stretches at a time was just not working for us. With my sons demands still being pretty high, I am working towards hiring other instructors to take my place. With that, I would also love to expand the program with performance opportunities and take creative movement to a new level with props and fun games for the kids. That being said, I am reaching out to the community with hopes of some small contributions. The program was at no cost to the children or their families and I would love to keep it that way. The location will still be sponsored by Uptown Dance and some of our assistants will be donating their time. Let's see where this takes us, and high hopes for U Can Dance!! Thank you for checking out or page!

http://ucandance.chipin.com/the-u-can-dance-program

Peace, Love, Dance
Miss Leslea

Uptown Entertainment

About a year ago I started advertising the services we provide other than dance instruction to children and young adults. Services such as my mother and I providing Quinceanera choreography, hosting children's birthday parties, or choreographing first dances at weddings to those who inquired. Thankfully, the clients were always very happy with our work. I also have had several years of what is know as "party motivating" experience. This is when a dancer accompanies the DJ to get the crowd dancing at parties. So, I figured why not make this bigger and advertise to our current costumers. Our regular clients had no idea we provide these services, so lets make it known! With that Uptown Entertainment was born.

You can have your event at Uptown Dance or we will travel to your location

Kids: Great for unique Birthday parties, or any occasion to have fun!
*Themed Dance Party (Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Enchanted, etc.)
*Freestyle Fun (We will lead, kids will enjoy Cha Cha Slide, Cotton Eye Joe, Peanut Butter Jelly time, etc.)
*Learn To Dance Party (You pick the form of dance and we will do the rest)

Teens & Adults: Birthdays, Mitzvahs, Quinceanera, Sweet16,
30th, 50th, Weddings, Anniversary, Corporate Events, or any occasion
*Professional Choreographed Dancers
*Party Motivators
*G-Volution Dance Company

Maybe you just need help preparing for your event
*Ballroom wedding dance instruction
*Quinceanera choreography
*Learn the latest dances done at parties
*We also have a list of vendors we would be happy to recommend

One of the most recent events was a students Birthday Party. She picked the theme of High School Musical. We warmed up and played dance related games to all 3 soundtracks from the movies, then I taught them some simple choreography to I Want It All. The kids ate, opened presents and had yummy cupcakes. It was a lot of fun and most importantly the birthday girl and others had a blast!

Another fun adventure for Uptown Entertainment was choreographing a wedding party and performing a contemporary piece at the reception. This is becoming very popular now a days. I believe the trend started with the Brubaker couple. I'm sure you all remember this one...

And most recently a entire wedding party brought some excitement to their entrance into the church with this...

The bridal party I worked with did a Michael Jackson melody as a tribute. The bride found the piece on YouTube and I simply recreated it for them. There were 8 couples in total who met at the studio for rehearsal a few days prior to the wedding. This was the end result...

After this dance my girls and I performed a contemporary ballet piece to Dangerously In Love.
It was a very unique wedding which we were thrilled to be a part of. I hope this trend continues, because this line of work is very exciting for us. It also gives my older students an opportunity to perform outside of the studio.

If you are in the tri state area and have an event that needs a special touch, something unique that will make your occasion stand out, contact Uptown Entertainment. We will help you create an idea that will be memorable for you and your guests.

Thanks for taking the time to check us out and reading our blog. If you enjoy what we do please become a fan of the blog by clicking the follow button on the main page.
Until next time,
Peace, Love, and Dance!
~Miss Leslea

Fall Fashions For Dancers

If you are like me, then most likely you own more dance attire than regular clothing. I for one look just as forward to making a statement in the studio as I do out on the town. How do you dress for class? I'll be sharing some of my favs as well as the opinions of some other dancers. While reading, let's keep in mind our studios dress code of course, I realize this limits some of us. Enjoy! and please feel free to comment and leave your favorites and the end.

I remember the time where there were not many choices for dancers as far as shoes and apparel where concerned. We had Capezio and Danskin, that was pretty much it. Don't get me wrong, I still get products from both these wonderful companies, however today its all about options, there are tons of companies who supply dancers with what they need. We have so many choices! Let's talk about style, preference and a few options that you may or may not be aware of.

As far as our studio is concerned, we keep things simple. Little ones shoes are all the same color and brand (Capezio) which we provide at the studio. Older students have a more complex shoe list which they can either order through our studio or go to a very nice local shop called Dance Wear Etc. Heather Corneliess, the owner and also a dancer, is extremely helpful and carries mostly Capezio and Bloch for shoes and the trendiest attire for class. I will discuss some of the other brands she carries later on. You can read more about Heather here on NJ Dancers

For me personally I have two styles, one if I'm teaching and the other if I'm auditioning or taking a class. Like I said before if you are taking a class it's always a good idea to check for a dress code and respect it. If there is not one I will try to wear something that makes me feel good and flatters my body type, nothing too bold or over the top. Lets face it, when we feel good and look nice, our confidence is up and we will dancer better. Think about performance day in your beautiful costume, well I like to think of classes as mini performances and put a little effort into my appearance. You never know who may be watching. Auditions you have to dress the part, and most likely they will tell you what to wear. Again, you want to stand out but not be the talk of the casting panel (in a bad way). Don't wear all black (unless required) and don't wear florescent pink and mis-matched legwarmers.

For teaching, which is where I spend most of my time at this point in my life, I have some links and examples.

Sugar and Bruno: can be found at Dance Wear Etc. Nutley NJ

Eighteen21: can be found on the Dance Wear Solutions website

Urban Groove: also found on the Dance Wear Solutions website

Tia's Dancewear: The official site or Dance Wear Etc. Nutley NJ or Dance Wear Solutions

You may also want to check out some local designer for a unique look. I was fortunate enough to meet a wonderfully talented young women on Twitter who's designs are perfect for dancers. Studio owners may even want to contact her to make up an original logo or new line of clothing for their students. Follow and/or contact Im Soul Fly
Check out her stuff here imsoulfly.com.

I was also able to get the opinion of two dance friends on Twitter:

Victoria, owner of Allegro Dance Boutique in Evanston, IL
AllegroDanceBoutiques.com recommends her favorite leos:

~Vala Dancewear
~Yumiko
~Body Wrappers Premiere Collection
~Mirella Jozette Collection
Thanks to Victoria for this wonderful information. Make sure to follow her on Twitter or visit her store if you are in the area.

TerrenceTaps, one of my first dance friends on Twitter; a professional tap dancer, blogger and founder of tapdanceman.com. He recommends and wears Miller & Ben's. He also has a wonderful blog post about Tap Shoes on his website, this is worth the read tappers!! You will notice some really cute, trendy T's for tap class on the bottom left as well. Here is that link
Thanks so much Taps, you are the best and you are such an inspiration to me and other dancers. Keep up the great work you do!

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this post and all the wonderful designers and clothing and shoe lines who make dancers look and feel fabulous. I'm extremely excited about how many options there are for us now. Thanks to YOU too for reading, I hope you enjoyed and got some fresh new ideas.

Peace, Love, and Dance!!
~Miss Leslea

What We Have Been Up To

Wow it has been a while! Seems like right after the Holidays we had no time to do anything except prepare for the Recital. Sadly, no down time to post, twitter, or update our Network. However, free time seems to be more available due to the fact that pieces are choreographed and costumes are being delivered. We can breath a sigh of relief. For example, just last night I completed all 4 routines for my 10-12 year olds. Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop... check!

Hence this post, letting you all know we are still alive and our PRS (pre recital stress) did not get the best of us this year. You would think after 17 years there would be zero stress... well... NO. You see, that is part of it, in some strange way the show would not be half as fun without the challenges.

I will not bore you with the details of the tasks we have completed or the road bumps we have encountered. Lets just say that things are great, and we are looking forward to getting back to spreading our love of owning a studio and dance with you all very soon.

I leave you with one minor detail that I am super excited about. Because of my love for Lady Gaga, I have talked my mother into using a remix of "Just Dance" for the Finale. YAY!!

Catch up with you all soon.
Peace, Love, & Dance!!
Miss Leslea

The Reason Behind NJ Dancers

I created a Social Network for Dance in August and in just 3 short months I have gained over 50 members. This may not seem like many to most, but I am very proud of the progress we have made. Some of you may wonder my reason for starting my Network, so here it goes...

On my main page my mission statement reads...

Welcome to my Network! Thank you for your support in my effort to create a positive, motivating, non competitive place for us to interact and share our love for dance. My goal is to be well known as a encouraging support system to our Dance community, and best of all, its Free! Help me in my effort and ask others who love dance in NJ to join too. Get yourself a badge or send them and invite. Questions, comments, suggestions are always welcome. I look forward to hearing from you all. Peace, Love, Dance!

As a young dancer I can remember my dance environment being extremely competitive. For instance; among other local dance schools, at competition(of course), auditions, and even among the girls in my own class. When my mother and I opened our studio, one of our main goals was to change that competitive attitude between dancers. We should unite, not be bitter towards each other. We all love dance, why not share our knowledge and motivate each other. We instill this positive behavior in all our students and accept nothing less. We also do not compete our dancers, we chose to teach our students to appreciate dance as an outlet and art form, nothing more. I wanted a companion to the mentality we have within our studio and to share our teachings with hopes that it will become contagious, hence NJ Dancers.

I recently opened up the Network to those who may not live in NJ, but who promote dance over the Internet. You can't really localize what they do, so we have adopted them into our NJ Dance Community. For example; dance bloggers, dance apparel, dance instructional sites, dance forums, etc. I feel this will be very useful to our members because not everyone has the time to search for all the valuable dance info out there on web. That's where I come in, providing resources at your fingertips on Dance NJ. You can find these awesome people under "featured members." I will also alternately display one of these members weekly on the main page so you can't miss what they are offering us.

I would love for you to stop by and visit NJ Dancers. I also love comments, suggestions, and questions.
As always, Peace, Love, Dance!!

Not just a dance teacher: Addressing different personality types

Classes start next week and I find myself wondering what my students will be like this year. You never know what kind of dancers you will end up with. Most are great, positive attitudes, respectful, willing and eager to learn. While others are a bit challenging, they test you at times to say the least. I look at these cases as just that, a challenge. My goal is not only to teach dance class but to turn attitudes around. I know it would be very easy to get frustrated and ignore or dismiss a dancer who just seems as though he/she is not interested in being there with you in class. I however do the opposite and see these student as a project. I choose to take my job a step further and not only consider myself as a dance teacher, but a role model/mentor to my kids.

I do a lot of observing and really try to figure my students out. One thing is clear, they have all come to me for one reason... they love dance and want to learn. OK, so we have that in common. Lets discuss those challenging cases.

First, those who are unfamiliar with dance class etiquette. No matter what age some students think they are there in the studio to play, socialize, or just get out of their house. Rule 1- The studio is a learning environment. That's where I explain my role as a teacher, to provide leadership and structure to the class. I teach my kids that they should be respectful at all times to myself and their classmates. If we all understand that first and for most we are there to learn, then and only then will there be room for fun.

Second, those striving for attention. This is actually a very sad situation, unfortunately i see it a lot, more so with younger students. I witness lack of discipline and disruptive behavior all just to get noticed. I prefer not to go into detail about why i think some young ones act this way. Instead of wondering why or losing patience i choose a different route. I let students know they are all special in my studio and they can express themselves when its their turn to do so. We have fun time for the younger classes which really helps. Such things as freestyle circles and freeze dance. We encourage each other during this time and clap each other on when we are in the circle. It really brings spirits up and makes everyone feel good about themselves. I notice a change in attitude quite quickly and it really brings me joy. In my experience i find negative discipline never works. Explaining why we act a certain way and positive reinforcement is my choice for turning special cases around.

Third, lack of confidence. This is something I witness as my students get older and it really brings the energy of the class down. Another challenging attitude I'm ready to turn around. I usually notice bum faces, then as weeks go by they start to become vocal. "That's to hard," "I can't do that," "You make it look so easy Miss Leslea." Some of my responses, "of course it's hard, I'm here to challenge you to be a better dancer," "don't say you can't, say you haven't mastered it yet," "I make it look easy because its my job, I expect you all to be good at your chosen professions when you get older too." The most common is the dreaded CAN'T. Every time I hear it I turn the music off and ask, "what was that I heard?" The class knows whats coming. If the student is unfamiliar they quickly learn, others chime in with me, "I haven't mastered it yet." There is never a CAN'T that slips by in my classroom, NEVER. With teenagers and adults I often get "ugh yeah sure" or "u do that so good" or "u make it look easy." This one really gets me and makes me uncomfortable at times. If i know their profession (the adults) I'll usually become very specific and say for example, "well i bet you make accounting look easy." I just go over the fact that this is my job, I am their teacher and if I didn't do my job well they would not be in my company right now. I'm sure they would find another studio with an instructor who does perform his/her job well. Then I usually get giggles and it diffuses the situation.

Fourth, the unmotivated. This is usually a case where the dancer just loses interest or something is bringing them down outside of dance class. I will talk this situation out privately, usually after class in my office. I ask what wrong, you don't seem yourself, are you still enjoying dance class? Sometimes dancers bring their problems to class with them and are just looking for someone to talk to. I offer that ear to them. I also tell them to do their best to leave their troubles in their dance bag, sometimes when you are done with class they are gone. I let them know they can talk to me in confidence. Very rarely someone will confess that they are not enjoying themselves with dance anymore and I let them know that it's OK. To inform their parents and tell the student to maybe take a break, try something new, and that the studio will always welcome them back if they decide to return and i will not be upset with them.

Fifth, the competitive attitude. That talented student who knows they are the best in the class. I diffuse this situation by telling the class as a whole that we are a team. With dance there is always something to strive for. Their is no finish line or perfection in dance. If it comes down to it I will talk privately with the student and let them know that this kind of behavior is not welcomed in the classroom and makes me and the other students uncomfortable. I share with them something my mother always told me, "no matter how good you are, there will always be someone out there in the world who is a little better then you." For example, if you can do 10 fouettés image someone that can do 15, and strive for that.

That sums up in my experience with some different personality types I find in my classroom year to year. Going in I hope for the best, but like i said before i don't mind a challenge, and I definitely don't mind changing a child's attitude around and being that positive force in their life. I hope this post was useful to new teachers or even experience ones who are looking for a new way to address special cases in their classroom.

Best wishes for a great season,

Miss Leslea