In the Club
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In the Club
EP 38: Passion Meets Profession in the Dance Industry
Get in touch with us directly today
As ClassForKids launch their latest partnership with International Dance Supplies... meet Nicole thier head of sales and marketing who shares her own dance journey from childhood ballet classes to her impactful role in an international dance company and industry.
IDS has been serving dance schools and universities for over 45 years, offering high-quality dancewear and costumes.
Visit the IDS website now to find out more
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who are you me? Oh, my goodness gracious me. We have sema sema varma back in class for kids and on the podcast. Sema is our partnerships manager and you're back after maternity leave. How are you? I'm really good.
Speaker 1:I'm really good been back a month now or so yeah, we're probably staying at five weeks now.
Speaker 2:Five weeks, five weeks, yes, counting every single day, like a jail cell, like that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I've made it another day. I've made it another day.
Speaker 2:Made it another day. You have come back. You have brought with it lots of energy, Lots of fun.
Speaker 1:Some good vibes.
Speaker 2:Excitement for Class, for Kids that are kind of just rolling onto the table now as the months go by or the weeks go by.
Speaker 1:Yes, exciting stuff, exciting stuff. So we have had IDS in the office. We have what is IDS?
Speaker 2:International Dance Supplies. International Dance Supplies they're a huge, huge company, big deal Very.
Speaker 1:International International yeah, that's what it says on the tin.
Speaker 2:Tell us a little bit about what they do.
Speaker 1:Okay, so they provide dancewear across the globe to dance schools, dance colleges, and it's great stuff. They're definitely the elite company in their space.
Speaker 2:And you say we've had them in. And we did have them in, and you'll hear more about that in a minute. But why did we have them in?
Speaker 1:Because some exciting news we are going to be partnering with them.
Speaker 2:Moving forward, nice, a partnership with IDS, I think that I mean it sounds great. Our brand and their brand are really big and they're international. Let's see what happens when we kind of push things together and mold it about like a bit of play-doh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely, their values, our values, definitely align with what they're looking to achieve in in the Dan space. And, yeah, I'm really excited, excited to be able to share, moving forward, all the cool and exciting things we're going to be doing.
Speaker 2:And there's lots of them Now from IDS. Who was it that came up?
Speaker 1:So their marketing manager, nicole, came to visit us in Glasgow and she kindly sat and told us a little bit more about what they're working on at IDS, and she'd done that on this very podcast. And here is Nicole from IDS Straight away.
Speaker 2:it sounds quite cool like IDS. Yes, it sounds like a kind of government body.
Speaker 3:Not quite as official as that.
Speaker 2:No tell us what IDS stands for to begin with.
Speaker 3:IDS International Dance Supplies.
Speaker 2:Amazing. You guys are, it says on the tin, an international supplier of dancewear, Correct dancewear and costumes. How long has the company itself been about?
Speaker 3:Over 45 years now. That's the same age as me there you go, there you go, oh well.
Speaker 2:So when I was, somebody somewhere was smartly starting a company Whilst my parents were, yeah, moving on.
Speaker 3:So your role within the company is I am the head of sales and marketing that's.
Speaker 2:That's a quite large role. Yes, sounds like you might be wearing many hats yes, very much.
Speaker 3:So, um, lots of different hats going on this. The sales um side of things kind of new um. So they began, uh, probably about six months ago, we really started upping the sales function. So that's quite a new side. I joined ids um back in august 2020. Where are we now? 2023? Um, so when I joined then, it was purely just as marketing manager, um, and, as I said, the sales function didn't exist then, but I think it was December of that year that we decided we wanted to have a sales function. So then I also headed up the sales side of things as well. So that really, I say six months, but it it was born January last year. So, yeah, it's been going for a year now, but really amping it up over the last couple of months.
Speaker 2:The company itself. Where was it founded?
Speaker 3:That is a good question. I believe it was in Liverpool and we had Anne, who this was her company, her baby, so she used to sell ballet shoes and tights and leotards locally, um, and that's, that's how it all really grew from just that one individual kind of person trading one individual yeah, so she headed it all up, headed up the company, um, and then, yeah, obviously it's been, it's been brought by big companies and and now that's how we've become international, worldwide, today.
Speaker 2:Was your main office Chicago, or something?
Speaker 3:So Chicago isn't our main office. Chicago is where our parent company lives, revolution. So Revolution is a wholesaler, like us dancewear and costumes and they supply the American market and then IDS then supply everywhere but America, australia, europe.
Speaker 2:Everywhere but America, though.
Speaker 3:Yes, alright, okay, yes, why? Because that's Revolutions.
Speaker 2:Right, okay, okay, so they have that brand over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, makes sense now.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, being in a company, I mean you're firmly. You're not even just in the in the industry, you're right at the center of the industry. Everybody needs you guys, every single dancer out there. I mean you deal with everything from just the clothes that they would wear whilst they're dancing, but also costumes that they would wear to their shows and end of year shows and all that yes, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So we, we um provide dancewearwear for schools, for their uniforms. We also, as I said, for Showtime, have all of the exciting glitzy costumes.
Speaker 2:And it's all what you don't do. You don't make the costumes.
Speaker 3:So we do.
Speaker 3:You do that as well, yeah yeah, yeah, so we have our own brand first position, right? So that's our line of costumes that we produce. Over the last couple of years, really, we've had about 60 styles come to market every year, but this year we've amped that up, we've doubled it. So we've had 120 costumes come to market this year and, as of next year, we'll have 150 to 160 styles. So we're really amping up the options that we have available. So that's first position costumes, and then we do also supply revolutions costumes as well. We have some in stock and we can also do what's known as our special order service, so we can bring in the revolution brand as well as 10th house and To Die For who are more like your, if you're looking for premium costumes.
Speaker 2:To Die For rings a bell yeah.
Speaker 3:Yes, they're very much like competition costumes, for if you're looking for something extra special, so it may be something where you might have a dancer and you want them to be in a bespoke costume. That's kind of that quality, but without the bespoke price tag.
Speaker 2:All right, that was one of my next questions. It was about the bespoke nature of it. You could, if somebody was going to be doing an end of year show yeah, it might be their final time.
Speaker 3:They might have been with you for, I don't know, 18 years and this is their final show and they're doing a solo and you might want to put them in something extra special, or, as we say, that it's very much like competition style. So when you go away to competitions, then that way you know that nobody else is going to be wearing what you've got, um, and you really stand out.
Speaker 2:So how do you also those in the sorry, I'm going down the bespoke- interested in that their design, their designers, then there are actual designers.
Speaker 3:So um Revolution have worked with specific designers over in the States who are quite well known to produce this collection. So there's not as many pieces, but they are all very much done by a designer in that world. So, yeah, something extra special so we're able to bring that to the UK market as well. But our, our, our bread and butter. Our main focus is our first position, costumes, and then, like I say, with that we've got hundreds of styles to choose from across all the genres excellent.
Speaker 2:Well, there you go. I mean, that was a real good whistle stop tour the whole thing. Yes, it was so. Working for a company like ids, you must, you must have a background in dance I do indeed yes um, tell us about that. I mean, obviously we're kids activity club providers and providers of the software right. What, what clubs did you go to give us like?
Speaker 3:there must be a beginning story for you yes, I started out at a ballet class when I was like two, two or three. Okay whereabouts um in in exeter, where I live. So shout out to random arden school of dance shout out um is it still there. Yeah, yeah, she just celebrated her 30 year anniversary last year.
Speaker 2:Um does she have a system?
Speaker 3:you know she might be a good customer for you. She's, uh, yeah, big up big dance school, um in exeter, where I'm from. Um. So I started out with ballet with her um and then, when I got to I think about six, I added in jazz, so that would take up all my time. I went to ballet and jazz class pretty much five days a week after school, um, and I did that right up until, let's see, until I was about 16, 17. Okay, then I did like a BTEC dance BTEC.
Speaker 2:BTEC dance yeah, I'm not joking. We were in a meeting earlier on right where I was saying we often go out and we hear the qualification names and I was making them up in my head, but BTEC's one of them, yeah, yeah, yeah, btec's a qualification, yeah, yeah, okay, yes 100%, it's legit.
Speaker 3:Yep, got the qualification. So I did that, um, just to kind of get me more geared up for professional training. Yeah, um, so did that for two years, and then I went away to train professionally to be a dancer at Tiffany Theatre College for two years. Where's that? That is in Essex, okay Sounds very, very Tiffany Theatre College.
Speaker 2:Tiffany Theatre College yes.
Speaker 3:Yes, so I went there. But it's also very much like not just dancing, you're singing and you're acting.
Speaker 2:All round.
Speaker 3:All round. I think you kind of need to be. Unless you're Darcy Bustle, you need to be an all-rounder.
Speaker 2:A triple threat. Is that what you call it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and that's not quite what I was. Can't say my singing voice is the strongest. I don't know about that If the cameras had been rolling two seconds before you were doing a lovely little rendition of a nice song that I think we try that again now. No class for kids. No, um, as I said, I have been doing some singing with the panto and stuff, but that's very amateur, just for fun hobby.
Speaker 2:Okay, style singing and acting and that was rapunzel oh, that was last week. Who did you play play?
Speaker 3:Rapunzel, did you, I did Excellent.
Speaker 2:How did the was there?
Speaker 3:Yeah, big old wig. Actually it was like eight metres long oh amazing. So it was like having a whole prop. It was over Christmas. No, it was last week.
Speaker 2:Right okay.
Speaker 3:So I had a show on Thursday, friday and Saturday, but, as I say very am jam, this is in my local village hall. Yeah, um, which was great fun. So I'm still very much involved in performing arts and uh acting and and singing and dancing, so that way I can keep it alive. But, um, yeah, I never actually. Once I went away to train professionally, uh, after two years I decided, after all of those years of loving it, to give it up and go to university and do something sensible.
Speaker 2:And what was the sensible? Thing?
Speaker 3:That's when I did a degree in business and marketing. So really all of that has led me quite nicely to where I am today, because I get to put all of that together in my role now.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I mean you've got a background and you've lived it. Is that the same with a lot of people in IDS, is it? A lot of them have got dance backgrounds.
Speaker 3:Yes, which is great because when you know, when we're speaking to our customers, we're coming from a place of. We understand them. So all the girls on the sales team we have two dance. They're still teaching themselves, they're dance teachers.
Speaker 2:And then everyone in the office goes to dance classes, do you guys have a TikTok account, Because I can imagine that's been one of the best. I mean we should. It's something we were talking about earlier. Do you learn all the TikTok?
Speaker 3:dances yeah, we love doing all of that. And you know International Dance Day, we'll get everyone dancing. Even we get the MD coming up the stairs in his glittery waistcoat doing a bit of bit of jazz.
Speaker 2:I think if Brian in a glittery waistcoat, that'd be great. I think would that be okay, brian? Brings a whole other personality out of you when you get a glittery waistcoat on.
Speaker 3:So yeah, it's very much.
Speaker 2:We live and breathe, dance very, very Because are you office-based, are you home-based?
Speaker 3:Office-based, but we are hybrid. Some people work from home, some people work in the office.
Speaker 2:Yeah, kind of similar to here. And is the office? It sounds like it may be quite a buzzy, cool place.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah. So you know, I say we'll put a few costumes on, we'll put an accessories on and whack together a dance. It's funny when we'll go down to the warehouse or up to finance and IT and it'll be like it's that time we need to film you dancing. Everyone loves it really.
Speaker 2:That's the same as in here, our social media master Caitlin. She'll just approach people willy-nilly and be like we're doing this now.
Speaker 3:And I bet they all roll their eyes like oh no.
Speaker 2:But really they love it. Oh no, I'm ready now.
Speaker 3:Okay, go yeah, just like that. So, yeah, I can say quite confidently that everyone who works at IDS, they love the industry that they're working in and it definitely helps.
Speaker 2:It absolutely helps to enjoy your job, yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, I've worked marketing before for like air conditioning and sewage and things.
Speaker 2:Back up, back up. It's a completely different vibe.
Speaker 3:She tells a little bit about that. Oh, that was just a brief stint.
Speaker 2:Okay, but how do you market sewage? It's very hard was that a strap line?
Speaker 3:it's very hard, no, but that that's what I mean. So I've done that. I've had the experience of working, managing marketing in that sort of field and not having that that innate love and passion for it at the end of the day, oh, oh.
Speaker 2:I loved that today, exactly. That was great.
Speaker 3:But now the fact that every day I get to work in an industry that I actually have always loved and cared about, it's fantastic, and lots of people who may have danced, grown up dancing but are not on the West End find their home with us.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's good. That's good. Did you ever have the aspiration to teach dance yourself? Was that maybe what you were looking for when you were doing your BTEC? Is that right?
Speaker 3:BTEC I did teach for a little bit, but for me I don't have that creativity to be able to choreograph every week something new that was the biggest oh, I can't, I can't teach anything, I just I've got two kids and end up just getting very frustrated.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I did dip my toe in it for a little bit, but no, it's not something I've ever thrived in doing. But, as I say, some of the girls on the sales team, they are still very busy ladies, full time job with us and then they go away and then they teach at night as well you met Sophie, didn't you already?
Speaker 2:Sophie's out there as well.
Speaker 3:She's working all day and then dancing all night.
Speaker 2:Yeah tough gig, tough gig, but if you love it, you love it exactly.
Speaker 3:They wouldn't do it if it so so what brings you to Glasgow today?
Speaker 2:first of all, it's your first time in Scotland yes, yeah so Class for Kids HQ is obviously based in Glasgow. Uh-huh, you've come up to see us um and you got some, but we've already had some nice Scottish things.
Speaker 3:I've tried some iron brew today iron brew. I, is that iron brew? Yeah, you sit nicer yeah, I Brutidae, so that was, you know. Top of the agenda. I've had some snowballs, some tea cakes. Is that what they're called, Tea cakes? Yeah, so I've tried all the delicacies.
Speaker 2:Empire Biscuits in the hotel.
Speaker 3:Empire Biscuits. Haven't opened them. I'll make sure I have them tonight I've heard that they're the best thing since sliced bread.
Speaker 2:They're very good.
Speaker 3:We actually use them for bread. We just put meat in between. We don't really. So, yeah, come up to try all the delicacies. We're also, obviously, to come and meet with you guys and see how we can form a partnership.
Speaker 2:Indeed, and I hope it's going well. I've kind of just been stepping in for the last half an hour or so there before we do the podcast. I hope you've had a good day here so far. Oh yes, half an hour or so there before we do the podcast. I hope you've had a good day here so far. Oh, yes, and I think that immediately we're going to be doing a number of things with you. Will we talk a little bit about the events? We'll talk about Spotlight first. I think it's the nearest thing, isn't it?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Tell us a little bit about Spotlight.
Speaker 3:Spotlight is coming up March the 23rd, so yeah, not long at all now. Um, that kind of. Uh, the whole concept came about, uh, so it was november last year. Um, we have a showroom down in ids where we have all of our costumes on display. Um, mannequins that would be a very large warehouse to have everybody on the mannequin, no, on our rails and things we obviously do have a few on mannequins there as well.
Speaker 3:So we have our showroom and we have our new collection and, as I said, it was twice the size this year. So we thought why not invite all of our local schools there are a lot of dance schools around us in the local area to come see the new collection for the first time, be the first people to see it and just kind of have a mingle in the network with local teachers? So we we did that in november and it went down really well. Everyone had a fantastic time november 24 yep november, just gone.
Speaker 3:So that was our first spotlight, so to speak, um, and we thought, oh, why don't we try and and take this on tour and do this for customers who are further afield? So we've organised ourselves some fancy touring wardrobes which we're excited to show everybody, and we're going to have all of our essentially our showroom on the road so we can fit all of our costumes in these fancy wardrobes and we're going to set up in. Our first one is, as I said, in London, march 23rd. Where is it? It's the Leonardo Hotel in Tower Bridge. So, proper central London. We're also having a what we're calling it a sip and sparkle, a sip and sparkle evening, um, the night before, which is, uh, we're inviting all people, not just um, not just ids customers can come and uh, sip their cocktails and see the sparkly costumes nice, okay, okay, good.
Speaker 2:That's market, that's the marketing on you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there we go um. So we've got like a nice drinks reception which you guys are joining us at we are.
Speaker 2:I'll be set. I might be more than seven yeah, bring your sparkles, yep, um.
Speaker 3:So that's happening the night before um, but, yes, the event itself, as I said, that our costumes will be there.
Speaker 3:But what, um its main focus will be is we have partnered up with um, some of the uk's leading dance business coaches, um, and what will happen is um, they will run the day in collaboration with us.
Speaker 3:So in march, um for london, we'll be working with deborah laws um, she will be running sessions on um. She'll have her staples, so the five, five pillars for having a successful dance business school, and then she'll it's having more of like a showtime focus. So how to make sure that your show is profitable, how to plan your show in a day, because we know that these are big, big, stressful events that come up once a year or once every 18 months, once every two years, for pretty much all dance schools will have a show um, so it's taking out the stress from the, from your show planning and making sure that it's actually profitable rather than it just being a headache yeah for people, so um getting to the end of it after the headache and the stress, and then counting and going yeah, what we really want is people to look forward to this show as being like great.
Speaker 3:This is my profit driver and this is my best time of year. I know what I'm doing, um, and it's great for me to have all the parents come see what all their children have been working so hard on, so, um, that's what the real focus is going to be on for them for the march event. Um, and then we are, as I said, taking this on the road. We've also got one planned, uh, manchester in September, which will be in collaboration with the wonderful Sarah Gittins, and then we're going to be visiting you guys again next year because we're hoping to have one in Scotland as well which we'll be doing in collaboration with Louise Brath.
Speaker 2:Louise Brath. That's a name I kind of know that name. Do you know that name? No, I can't place it. No, do you know that name? No, I can't place it. No, of course we work with Louise often, but those three guys you just mentioned who is Debra, sarah and Louise are like I think I call them like the dance mafia. Yeah, that's a good term. The UK dance business school mafia.
Speaker 3:Yes, transforming the dance industry and they really are doing it.
Speaker 2:We were at an event in Ireland Perform Ireland at the weekend just gone and we brought along Louise just to be with us and she's really good to start conversations with us. She's like a celebrity, like people were actually taking selfies with her oh, wow yeah, it's crazy, it's nuts and it's just like water off her ducks back to her. Now she's like oh, hang on, a second snap, snap, snap. So yeah, um, who's that, don't know.
Speaker 3:Okay, but you see, you've got a good lineup there yes, yeah, these teachers, these not teachers, sorry these coaches are very well known. Yep and um, we're, we're all aligned, in the sense that we are trying to transform the dance industry for the better, to, to strengthen it, to, to make sure that it's successful and that's I think, hopefully where we come in as well I mean the behind the scenes of all of that and the running of it, the we take the headaches away as well.
Speaker 2:we give them back more time and allow people just. I mean, my big thing when I'm out and we're out often um, when we meet people, is what our software really does, the ones that might have been, like yourself, going to become a teacher, and then they did become a teacher and then they've got a school and they were so passionate about dance and then, two years later, they're suddenly drowning in admin. Yeah, passion's dying at that point.
Speaker 3:It always happens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like we give them that back and it's so nice being us going out. We meet all these dance schools that are just with open arms meeting us because we're just walking in, maybe to do a video shoot or just to meet them, but they're still like, oh god, you guys changed my life and we just go. Yeah, that was me personally, yeah yeah, that was me.
Speaker 3:I'll just take that love yeah that's really nice that's. That's the thing is. You will not meet a dance teacher that isn't passionate. They're in that job because they love that job and that's rare because you know a lot of people have a job because it's a means to an end. But you can. You can say easy that every dance teacher out there is doing that because they love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah and that's a rare thing. I never thought about that and also I mean I won't mention any other specific activity types, but sometimes you meet people who've kind of fallen back on what they end up doing because the first choice didn't work and then they were. We're going to need to do this, we're going to need to teach and start a club or whatever, and there's not. That passion is not necessarily there and dance. I don't ever go about and meet people that aren't just like super enthusiastic straight away.
Speaker 2:They love what they do what they don't always know is, and they don't always think of themselves as businesses, which is something that we try as well, and that's what we work with louise quite closely on is some of them don't want to, which we've found this year as well.
Speaker 3:Some of them are like no, we're quite happy being quite small, that's fine yeah live your passion, do your passion if you want to be a business it's really a mindset change it's, it's completely a mindset thing and it's just sometimes, as you say, they might not want to, but sometimes they just might not be aware that it can be. It can be more than just your passion. Um, it can really be a successful business um. So we're very much um aligned in that sense as well that we're trying to see that mindset, mindset shift um within our customers to help them realize that what they're doing could really be a successful business. Yeah, and it's great, I mean genuinely.
Speaker 2:At times I should have started a dance school. I've got a passion behind it, but I know we know in here then and now it's the business side of it and what can be achieved. We can see what's been achieved through systemisation and working with Louise. A number of the clubs that she's worked with maybe she's brought them on, but they're with us as well have gone from making 10 grand a year to like 90 grand a year. That's crazy.
Speaker 3:It's just nuts.
Speaker 2:They've went from going oh, that was just a play thing to. This is me full time and I'm taking the kids to Dubai.
Speaker 3:And who doesn't want that. I know Exactly Crazy we're doing. You mentioned Louise, so Louise, debra and Sarah, so we have also launched very recently so January 2025, our Step Up Scholarship. So we're working with all three of those coaches to provide funding. Okay, so anyone who is a dance studio owner and they want to sign up to one of these coaches whoever they want to sign up with, there's no restrictions we will provide £50 a month towards their programme that they pick to sign up with.
Speaker 2:That's brilliant. Yeah, how can people get involved with that then, right now, if they're listening?
Speaker 3:So all they need to do is go on to IDS Under our resources tab. You'll see the Step Up Scholarship and they just need to apply, and the only condition is that they need to be a dance studio owner or a dance school principal. And we are looking for people who are not already obviously signed up with them. So anyone who's looking to sign up but due to financial reasons it's not viable for them, anyone who's looking to really strengthen their school and take it to the next level, we want to be able to support them to do that. So we are contributing 50 pound a month um for a minimum of 200 teachers. We've um committed to do this for.
Speaker 3:So it's over 120 000 pounds we are committing to spend you put your money where your mouth is, like absolutely it's.
Speaker 2:I mean, we do, we run a competition, the things up there level up and we're actually running a dance, specific one at the moment as well, but it's this, it's there's so much.
Speaker 3:I hate the word synergy, but there's synergy yes and between what we're doing there is um working towards the same goal exactly working towards the same goals I like to cause growth enablers.
Speaker 2:Write that down I need that it's better than my synergy I like synergy too.
Speaker 3:It's like a 90s word, yeah, so you've also got elevate yes, so um elevate is our a yearly dance teacher conference, so been going a long time yes, uh, this will be our 12th year running it um. For those, our loyal customers out there will know it as the dtc um, the dance teacher convention.
Speaker 2:The next one was what, yeah, the.
Speaker 3:Dance Teacher Convention. So that's how everyone knows it, but I guess this is the hot off the press because we haven't really announced it yet. But it will be rebranded as Elevate.
Speaker 2:Oh, tony, I've just told everybody that no it's good.
Speaker 3:What better way to announce?
Speaker 2:it right yeah of course.
Speaker 3:So yes, the DTC will now be known as Elevate and that's kind of to um acknowledge that it won't just be um dancing um. So we do get some of the top industry professionals in to um come and teach dance classes. So we'll get the likes of Tom Shilcock from CYD. He'll come do a commercial class. We'll have Leila Harrison from the RAD. She'll come run ballet classes. We get someone in we had from Hamilton running. It was the literal audition workshop last year so if you wanted to be in Hamilton.
Speaker 3:You could come along. Learn the audition piece.
Speaker 2:Did you hear that, brian? We've got the biggest fan of Hamilton I, I think, in this room with us. He's a huge, huge Hamilton fan.
Speaker 3:There we go, so we literally had a workshop last year and then all went and took everyone to see Hamilton after we'd learned the audition piece.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 3:That was great fun.
Speaker 2:Did they know?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, okay, yeah. So I thought it was yeah, yeah, right okay yeah, come on.
Speaker 3:Nobody on the bus, no, so people could choose to come watch. Um, so this year we're going to mary poppins nice, so we'll try and get really good.
Speaker 3:Actually it's getting a lot of good reviews yeah, so we'll try and get a mary poppins workshop in this year as well. That's, we don't know if it'll be the audition piece, but we'll try get a mary poppins workshop too. So, yes, um, historically it's always been dancing, and we're still very much about that, because dance teachers don't get the opportunity to dance very much and it really reignites their passion.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's really good.
Speaker 3:It's great to see. So we'll very much still be all about the dancing and bringing some of the UK's best to come and teach them. But tying in with the step up scholarship and our roadshow spotlight events, we are looking to bring in that business side to elevate as well. So we'll be bringing along um deborah, louise and sarah they'll all be running um sessions, um focused on the business side of things as well. So the whole event you can come along and you can come away with new routines, new marketing strategies and just reinvigorated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like you say if they don't, I don't. You don't think about that as well? Dance teachers don't often get to dance no, they'll get to teach what they have to do, but they've spent years being the one in front of somebody getting taught and then, when they become the dance teacher, they're no longer there. So this is putting them back, and that reminds us that's them kids again. You know what I mean?
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, they'll be sitting and learning again yeah, and eight out of ten of the coming from a dance teacher perspective. So they'd be like oh, this is how I would teach this sequence, or this is how I do for my grade ones, but this is how I teach it for my seniors. So it's still very much aimed at the dance teacher, but there'll also be a session at the end of the day which is purely just for them to have fun come and learn a piece.
Speaker 3:We did a piece of the Greatest Showman last year and everybody just loved having Brian. Brian, it sounds like you wanted to come to our he needs to be in these ones it's just a great chance for them to dance, but, as I said, bringing in the business side of things too, so they can really tackle it from all angles and come away with some fresh ideas.
Speaker 3:And it's in that event is in August. So first week of August, from Tuesday to the Thursday, it's a three-day event at Elmhurst Ballet School, which is a really lovely, prestigious school. They've got some great studios.
Speaker 2:And can any dance school attend. How do they get involved?
Speaker 3:No, so anyone is free to buy a ticket and come along. Anyone can come.
Speaker 2:And just on the IDS website again.
Speaker 3:Again on the IDS website under our events tab.
Speaker 2:Good, I like this. Plenty of plugging.
Speaker 3:Yes, we've actually haven't launched the tickets for Elevate yet, but there will be an early bird pricing on there.
Speaker 2:It's alright, we can drum this up. It can be Oasis all over again.
Speaker 3:I'm not quite sure we'll have the demand of Oasis tickets, but we shall see. But yes, it is good to get in early because we will have some early bird ticket pricing options for that.
Speaker 2:You heard it here first and you heard the name first. Sorry for breaking that up?
Speaker 3:Yes, Elevate.
Speaker 2:Elevate, fantastic.
Speaker 3:There we go.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for coming up. It's been a pleasure. It's been great to meet you, to talk to you. I think mean just even from the conversation there, there is so much that does align with the businesses and it's going to be really interesting over the next couple of months to work with you at the events and on a number of our things. I know that we'll be having conversations about all sorts, but thank you for making your way up to Scotland and I'd like to end this right the way it nearly began, with you doing that song, and I'll try and sing along as well, because this is a great way to launch a partnership. What my little jingle, your little jingle.
Speaker 3:Class for kids and IDS.
Speaker 2:And that's how we roll. Thank you so much. Sure, that'll be copyrighted. It's great. It'll be TikTok famous by the end of the week. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:Thank you, she was a lovely lady Really really insightful stuff there and IDS, the company and Class for Kids.
Speaker 2:Thank you, she was a lovely lady Really, really insightful stuff there. And IDS, the company and Class for Kids, it really does. I mean I've used the word too many times during the interview, but synergy is a horrible word.
Speaker 1:It is. I know there just needs to be a better word for it. We need to find Ah glue Nah.
Speaker 2:Think of something on the spot right now. Joined at the hip. Joined at the hip. Joined at the hip. Okay, cool Class for kids, and ideas are clearly joined at the hip.
Speaker 1:I mean, I did do a hip wiggle there towards there. You did do a hip wiggle.
Speaker 2:For the people that are listening, you wouldn't have seen it. I can promise you check out on YouTube. There was a little hip wiggle, a little SEMA hip wiggle, and I've never seen that before either. It was great to catch up with Nicole Like terms of our values and everything that they have going on out there. I mean there's going to be a number of things now you heard some of them there that we're going to be working on with IDS.
Speaker 1:So the first thing we're going to be doing with IDS is the Spotlight event, so you'd heard Nicole tells a bit more about it. What they're going to be doing is, alongside Class for Kids, we're going to be giving away two tickets to Spotlight event. They're worth worth 75 pounds, fully redeemable against ids credit. So get your hands on that and we'll see you at that event and we'll be at spotlight too.
Speaker 2:We're going to be there, we will, and we're going down for the whole weekend. I believe there's a drinks reception, which I'm quite looking forward to the night before, as am I. We are going to take part of this. The mobile version of this podcast we're going to take down there as well, and we have our star on stage, michaela, who will be doing a talk at the IDS Poly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right. Michaela will be there talking to everybody about the power of passion.
Speaker 2:And you don't want to miss that because Michaela's brilliant on stage. We had her shake it up last year and, yeah, she really she shook it up, funnily enough. So we are now going into partnership with IDS, very excited about that and I think we can wrap up this podcast. What I might do is just quickly go over the offer. They can get one more time. Yes.
Speaker 1:And you could do that. Absolutely, we can. So if you want to get involved, we'd be really excited to see you there. Every ticket to Spotlight is £75 and it's fully redeemable against IDS credit. One thing to know Class for Kids are also doing a giveaway for a pair of tickets to the Spotlight event, so we're excited to launch that shortly and we'll hopefully see you all there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think that that will have launched on social air competition by the time this goes out, which is great. Yes, and 75% redeemable. I mean you're going for nothing, you know, because you're just getting all that back.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I mean £75 redeemable, fully redeemable, against IDS credit. Yeah, why wouldn't you?
Speaker 2:Brilliant and I'm really, really happy to have caught up with Nicole. Hope she's getting home safely. Hope to see her next month down in London for Spotlight. Brilliant to have seen her back. And you know what we do at the end of this, don't you Tell me you're a listener, I'm a listener. 3, 2, 1, bye.
