Every dance teacher that I know likes to have some time off in the summer just to relax, recharge the batteries and perhaps to receive some additional training at one of the teacher training programs run by different organizations. On the other hand it is certainly helpful if some income is coming in during those summer months. We run three types of programs at our studio. One for pre-school children, one for children ages 8-12 with little or no previous dance training and the last one for our more serious students. We start the third week of June and go through to the last days in August.

First of all, with our pre-school program we do it in weekly sessions so that if people are going away for a vacation they can still have their child participate. The children love coming in and dancing with their friends, making a prop as an arts and crafts activity and having a "tea party". Our sessions run from 9.00-12.00 and we usually do six weeks of these sessions. You can break it up by teaching a little Ballet with a story book from one of the Ballets such as Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Then you can add some Jazz or perhaps a little Tap. In between you can perhaps make a drawing of their favorite Ballerina or Ballet Dancer if you have boys. They could make a magic wand or use felt cut-outs to make hearts, flowers, fish etc. Of course you need to take a little break around 10.30 and then at the end of the week invite the parents in for a "tea party" and short performance of the steps they have learnt during the week. If you enjoy working with young children this is a lot of fun and because the children are not in school they are not usually tired and cranky!!

Now, let's go onto the next level. This group between the ages of 8 and 12 are usually very enthusiastic even though they have limited knowledge of dance. Generally we run this program for 2-3 weeks during the end of July to beginning of August from 9.00-1.00. We try to introduce them to Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop and Musical Theater. This group generally enjoys anything connected with Broadway and it is a good idea to have a theme and carry it throughout your program. Basically they want to have fun and sometimes you may find one or two who have terrific potential. The good thing is that if you, as a teacher, can get them excited about dance they will probably end up taking at least one class with you during the regular year. We have found that props are an excellent idea and would suggest hats, canes, chairs and stools. This group does not like anything that they perceive as childish. Even with the Ballet classes I try to get them to understand that the repetition especially at the barre is necessary but in the center I give them combinations of steps both in place and coming across the floor that give them a sense of the joy of the movement and let them feel that yes, Ballet can be fun. Many children that have started off in our summer programs now take multiple classes which of course we feel is very rewarding in more ways than one. Again, at the end of the two or three weeks we do a presentation in front of friends and family and they are amazed at how much the children have absorbed in a short period of time.

Our Summer Intensive is for our serious students and we do it in two levels, junior and senior. We are very fortunate because we live so close to New York City that it is very easy for us to bring up guest faculty however, no matter where you live, if there is any way that you can at least bring in one or two outside teachers for your intensive I would highly recommend it . We have found that the dancers seem to respond so much better when there are some new faces and voices for them to listen to because they are going to be listening to your voice for the rest of the season!. We generally run our two week intensive the last two weeks of August and find that it is close enough to the beginning of the semester to really get the dancers ready both mentally and physically for the new season. During the summer intensive I think it is also very important to have the dancers do improvisation. It helps them to experiment with their own creativity and very often will boost their confidence when they see that the combinations and staging that they have used works well. It also promotes camaraderie between them which is always helpful. I give them definite guidelines. First of all I choose the groups that they go into and I never let them work alone as I think it is far more important for them to integrate themselves into a group setting. Then I give them the content that I want to be included, certain pirouettes, leaps, connecting steps and anything that we have been working on have to be in the choreography and after that they are on their own!

Any of these programs will be interesting for you to teach over the summer months and will keep both you and the students busy and connected to dance.