Dance Buzz
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Dance Buzz
Episode 2: Current Solo Dance Scene: Balancing Talent, Expectations, and Costs
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Should every dancer have a solo? In today's Dance Buzz episode, we tackle the hot topic of solo dance work and break down the perspectives of studio owners, dancers, parents, and judges. Discover how to identify the right dancers for solos and the importance of considering attendance, technical ability, and focus in class when making these decisions. We also discuss the challenges of communicating with parents when dancers are not showing up to classes and how this can affect solo opportunities.
Additionally, we examine the growing trend of independent dancers who want to compete under studio names and the issues that can arise from this. Hear our thoughts on the importance of having different genres for solos and the pros and cons of working with in-house and outside choreographers. Plus, we share ideas on how to better manage solos at your studio.
Lastly, let's talk about the financial realities of having a solo. We dive into the fees associated with solo work, comparing different types of fees some studios charge for choreography, and highlighting the costs associated with costumes and competition fees. Don't miss this insightful conversation on the world of solo dance work!
Solo Dance Work Debate
Speaker 1Greetings everyone. This is Chelsea Godfrey.
Speaker 2I'm Jonathan Godfrey.
Speaker 1And welcome back to Dance Buzz. On today's episode we are going to be talking about solos, soloists and if everybody should have a solo, So this is a very hot topic, I think, amongst all dance teachers, dance studios. We're gonna definitely be diving into different perspectives between dancers, parents, studio owners, dance teachers, the process of it, the financial portion of it.
Speaker 1Financial portion as well. Yeah, so John, what is your? What are your thoughts, John? What are your thoughts on solo work in general, Like, what are your thoughts on quantity of solos From a dance studio owner perspective, and then I think we can dive a little bit into maybe a judges perspective too.
Speaker 2Yeah. So I think, as a studio owner's perspective, I think solos can be a very valuable tool for dancers.
Speaker 1Agreed.
Speaker 2I think there's a lot of things it teaches the individual dancer. At the same time you have to be really careful because if dancers are wanting a professional career, there's a lot of steps they're gonna have to go through prior to becoming a soloist in a company, That's if they're going the more concert route. I understand that commercial work's a little bit different, but I think for today's conversation we're gonna focus a little bit more on the concert route And I'm sure we'll dive into commercial as well. But so I think the way we structure it is we kind of take those steps with our dancers, I mean, but I don't think everybody is cut out for a solo.
Speaker 1So what do you think about, like, quantity of solos? Like, do you feel like it doesn't matter? Do you feel like it doesn't matter based on the genres? Do you feel like it doesn't matter? Do you feel like it does matter based on time and turntime tables?
Speaker 2I think it matters and varies for every individual dancer.
Speaker 1I 100% agree.
Speaker 2Where I think some dancers shouldn't have a solo at all. They're just not that type of personality, that's not who they are. And then some people maybe just need one solo to focus on, where others can do multiples, two, three. And then you jump into the ballet comps and the regular comps so they have variations. They've, you know, contemporary jazz, different types of solos like that, but I do. I think it's a big variant And I think you have to get to know your dancers as studio owners and teachers in order to best make the decision for them.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, i agree. I think, just talking about solo quantity, what I have found, or what I believe, is that if a dancer has two solos, i do think it's in their best interest to have different genres, and I'm not necessarily saying contemporary and open, even though I'm not saying, I'm not saying, though, we do have solos that run contemporary and run open. I'm not saying that we don't. However, i do, and the solos are very different, like it's not, and I think that comes down to choreography.
Speaker 2You know what I think not to cut you off, i'm sorry, but you know we used to have this conversation a lot when we first opened our studio was this dancer has two solos with the same choreographer And, like I was always against that And I don't think we ever actually had that.
Speaker 1Yeah, well, we battled it out at the beginning.
Speaker 2We battled it out in the beginning, but I think we've come to the understanding that it's definitely more beneficial for the individual dancers that if they're going to have two dances in the same quote unquote genre, that giving a different choreographer is going to help them.
Speaker 1Yeah and I am Yeah and help them grow style.
Speaker 2You know, versatility wise is going to give them that difference.
Speaker 1Yeah, i'm kind of tangiting a little bit. I'm just talking about versatility. I think a lot of times there's pros and cons with working with in-house first outhouse choreographers, and I've heard different perspectives on this. I love the idea of matching a outside choreographer with a student. I've heard negative on this because people will be like, well, why am I going to have a rehearsal with an outside person when they don't know me as well? But any really good choreographer will be able to make any dancer look exceptional if they're supposed to have a solo.
Speaker 2It's also the ability to learn a new almost style, even if you're having another contemporary solo, for instance.
Speaker 1Yeah, and you have to be able to trust that whoever the rehearsal director is of your child's piece is knowledgeable. I can work in any genre and be able to give my feedback just as beneficial in my own work. I actually thoroughly enjoy my working, obviously on my own work. deeper, however, i really do love working on other choreographers work. I am super inspired by watching the different details that they bring to the table. But anyway, not kind of getting off topic, but I think there's actually way more pros than cons for sure.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean we could continue to talk about that, But what do you think about parents requesting solos as a studio owner, because I feel like it's definitely different in a teacher's perspective versus a studio owner's perspective. personally, Yeah.
Speaker 1So I think me and you probably have different opinions on this. I don't mind if someone says so-and-so wants a solo, but that doesn't mean I have to give them one, like I don't. Demanding a solo and requesting a solo, i think, are very different. So I think it's parental approach And, honestly, if I don't feel like someone's ready, i'm gonna say no. But honestly, sometimes too I could be like oh, i didn't even know that person was interested in one.
Speaker 2Yeah, i mean I agree in that perspective. I mean I'm not a huge fan of people asking for solos And, like you're saying, kind of demanding.
Speaker 1It's all about the approach.
Speaker 2It's definitely all about the approach, but I think, as a new student coming in, kind of leave it up to your studio owner to work out how that's gonna work And then, once you form a little bit more of a rapport, you kind of have to feel out your own personal studio owner. And we were just talking to our own dancers about this And I said if you guys had a particular choreographer request, i didn't ask if they had a solo request, but a choreographer.
Speaker 1request Solo. genre request Solo genre request.
Speaker 2but if they had a choreographer request, i would take it into consideration And I let all of them know. I was like you can request. You might not get that person or you might not get a solo at all in that genre.
Speaker 1I have to say this was the first year that you actually verbalize that to the kids And we did get some emails and some inquiries And I was pleasantly surprised at what people are interested in doing. There was a lot of versatility, There was a lot of open-mindedness And it really made me super proud actually, because I was like, look at these kids wanting to do different types of stuff. It wasn't just like. I would like to do three contemporary solos with the same like this person, this person, this person who have very similar styles.
Speaker 2Yeah, for sure So.
Speaker 1I think. So that's my perspective on that kind of topic. there I think it's all about the approach as well. And also I think a parent can say if someone was not asked for a solo, they could say what actions can so-and-so take, so that maybe this is something that they can have one day.
Speaker 2I do have a parent. Yeah, how can I improve on this? What can I improve on in order to better my chances?
Speaker 1I did have a parent once say to me I would like my dancer to have a solo because I think it will help build their confidence level, and I thought this was very interesting because I understand from a parent perspective how that would be helpful. However, your dancer should have the confidence to be able to go up on stage independently, because it is a different beast, especially with the caliber of Today's dancers.
Speaker 1Today's dancers to go on stage by yourself And it's really important that the dancer is in a right mental place even before really physical, just like a mental place where I feel like they would be able to get on stage without having like a panic attack or running off stage.
Speaker 2Yeah, it takes a lot of confidence to get on stage and perform in front of a lot of people by yourself.
Speaker 1Yeah, and not kind of saying kind of getting a little vulnerable. This was one of actually the main reasons why I stopped dancing. actually It was because I had so much performance anxiety that I was like I literally could not do it anymore.
Speaker 2But I think that goes back to what I said earlier, that not everybody's cut out for a solo And there's nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 1Yeah, i did do a solo all the way through my senior year, but it wasn't even just a solo, it was even group work. Like I was really, really nervous When I was on the stage. I loved it, but I was petrified.
Speaker 2The anxiety that built up prior to it.
Speaker 1Well, i was petrified of forgetting something or messing up And I was a really good student not to pat my back, but I know I was a very. I was one of those exemplary students. I feel like I was like an overachiever. I was a teacher's pet. I was all those things that maybe people have like a negative connotation towards, but I really didn't care because I loved it so much. I just could not get past that performance anxiety And because of that I obviously well, i had to turn that teacher, that parent down and say you know, thank you. However, you know we want your child to have the confidence in the group rehearsal, in the group process as well, because they see them for the two minutes on stage and we see them every week in rehearsal and sometimes people really struggle in retaining corrections in rehearsal way more than even technique stuff.
Speaker 2Yeah, i mean there's parent goggles for sure. I mean the way you see your dancer The goggles.
Speaker 1that's so funny.
Speaker 2We'll make that a t-shirt. The way that parents see their children is definitely different than a teacher And I'm not saying always that there's an unbiased view, but I definitely think as teachers we definitely have a more unbiased view of your dancer as a true dancer and artist than you do as a parent. Yeah, i think that's totally fine. You know your job as a parent is not to be that your dancer's dance teacher, unless that's the way it rolls in you know, unless you're us and our child's gonna dance.
Speaker 2We're not getting into this, you know, but we can provide more unbiased feedback because we don't have such a personal relationship with that dancer So it can be difficult to hear, i think, from a parent's perspective. But not everybody is cut out to be a soloist. There's a lot of things Like you're saying. The anxiety, i think, is a big one.
Speaker 1Yeah, you know, based off of that too, I think we can talk a little bit about like the technical stuff and attendance portion of solo work, And I know this is something that we have in our contract and something maybe for other teachers and studio owners to consider as well. And again, like everything that you say, you should stand by. So if it's in your contract documents, hold your ground, stand to it. Don't give an exception to the rule And John is very, very good at this.
Speaker 2I am not as good as you are Once an exception is made for one student is that?
Speaker 1Yeah, I've learned a lot.
Considerations for Solo Assignments
Speaker 2There'll be a student that'll be like, well, this person did it. You know, sometimes there's extenuating circumstances There can be, and I see that. I mean, i really do see most things in black and white, and Chelsea says this all the time I see things in black and white. There's no gray area, but every once in a while there's an extenuating circumstance where you have to bend that rule a little bit. Yeah, no, for sure, for a valid reason, not well, i just want to.
Speaker 1No, yeah.
Speaker 2That's not valid.
Speaker 1Right. So I think kind of about who should receive a solo. It also is should they also have the opportunity to perform their solo based on their yearly attention or Attendance you mean. No, yes, attendance. But also like are they in class giving 100% every time? Like?
Speaker 2do. They deserve this.
Speaker 1Do. They deserve it. And it's hard because we again see the kids every day and the parents don't see what we see. So it's very easy, i think, to piss a parent off with that, because of course you want to think that you are sending your child there, you're paying all this money, you're doing this. They're supposed to be doing what they're supposed to be doing. I'm telling you, we have kids that they drive and they don't come to class and their parents have no idea.
Speaker 2And then we send an email and be like why wasn't ex-dancer in class today? And the parents are like I had no idea.
Speaker 1Yeah, so it's like it's not like I don't mean that to say you don't know what's happening, but in the classroom we're the ones there, we're the first-hand people.
Speaker 2Yeah, so solo work I definitely take into consideration and I think you do as well, because you've said it technical ability of the dancer. You should be at a higher technique than a dancer that doesn't have a solo.
Speaker 1Which we changed this year.
Speaker 2Well, technical ability and technical classes are different. Yeah, yeah sure, fine, We could just dive into that a little bit too. Attendance if you're gonna miss all these classes, why do you think you deserve a solo?
Speaker 1Why, yeah, so half backwards.
Speaker 2That's because everybody just wants to be on stage and have a shining costume and win a trophy, and everybody wants to win.
Speaker 1Although I did hear a student say the other day and I know we talked about this in our earlier episode about judging and they do it for the feedback. The trophy's nice and the accolade is nice, but they want the feedback. So sure, maybe a dancer wants a different perspective from another educator's feedback.
Speaker 2I mean that's valid, that's definitely valid.
Speaker 1But if you're not in class, I don't feel like that makes any sense. Like to me, you'll have to show up 100%. Show for yourself.
Speaker 2If you're not gonna show up for the team, i mean I don't think you deserve a solo.
Speaker 1Yeah, or maybe like. Maybe like they have a solo but they don't get the opportunity to perform at a certain event because of their accrued absences or because, i mean, i think it's very touchy regarding how, like I was saying before, like their attention span in class, because sometimes everybody has something going on and you don't know. But that's why, when you know your student, you should reach out to their parent. I think it'd be like hey, is this person okay? Because we've noticed in class there's been a little bit of a-.
Speaker 2A mental change, a focus change, things like that.
Speaker 1Because sometimes again, like I was saying earlier, sometimes parents don't know, And it's a topic of conversation that I think should be brought up. If you see that there's a change with your dancer And I've done that before I've definitely sent emails asking if so, and so is okay, or is anything going on, or et cetera. Insert whatever scenario.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1I think solos have become a driving focus in today's competition world specifically, Which is such a different topic that we can talk about, because I think like-.
Speaker 2In length. No, I do, I think-.
Speaker 1Independent stuff-. Students just want solos.
Speaker 2They just they wanna go around, they just wanna do a solo here, do a solo there. Take one class here, take one class there.
Speaker 1I'm so over the independent stuff.
Speaker 2Yeah, but what I mean more is the solo become the driving focus, where I mean we had one dancer come to the studio and was like we didn't offer them a solo And they were like, well, if I don't get a solo, then I'm not joining the studio.
Speaker 1I know. Well, then you're not joining the studio. I was like, okay, I mean, if that's your determining factor, then this isn't the right place for you. anyway, You're not now you wing.
Speaker 2I mean, we're known for our technique. You've said that before you know we're known for our technique, we're known for our training. So if you're coming here for a solo, i'm sorry but you're at the wrong place.
Speaker 1Yeah, i mean, we'll choreograph a solo for you, and then You're not gonna choreograph it? Yeah, well, if someone comes in and wants a solo and then is part of another studio, we get we get-.
Speaker 2Oh, you mean outside choreography.
Speaker 1Yeah, we'll set solos for outside dancers absolutely. Yeah. So if this dancer was like okay, well, i don't wanna be at your studio, but can you set my solo? I mean, it's kind of backwards, doesn't really make sense. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2Yeah, well, when, where are you gonna go to compete? that solo Cause we've also gotten that. can my dancer compete under your studio? Sure, Are you gonna join my competition team And take the appropriate amount of training? No then no, you can't compete under my studio. you know, And I think it's become a thing because some of these bigger name dancers are definitely doing that, And that's fine. What do you mean? Like they're just using the studio name to compete, because a lot of these events now are requiring dancers to register under a studio.
Speaker 1Which I applaud. I applaud, i love it, i think it's great. I mean I applaud.
Speaker 2Cause I think it's gonna instill in that dancer I would hope. I mean not everybody views it this way, but it's important to have a home studio.
Speaker 1And which is another topic. But group work is important, more important than your solo 100%. Say it loud for everyone to hear. Okay, your group work is important. So if you're doing-.
Speaker 2Make another T-shirt of that Group work is important.
Speaker 1If it's like if you do three group dances, you should not have three solos, sorry, you should have one solo, if that's even granted. Three group dances. We literally we don't even offer that many group dances. So when someone's like I'm gonna do three, i'm like, okay, that's fine, but you can't do three group dances in three solos, sorry. Or even two solos. I'm like that just bothers me now, like it never used to bother me before, but it bothers me now. I'm just like why do you not wanna be like part of your team?
Speaker 2Everybody wants to be a soloist. Everybody wants to be a star And I think we've. you're now seeing that massively at these competitions and conventions.
Speaker 1A star, everyone wants their fame. They just want the followers.
Speaker 2They just want the fame, they just want the followers. Well, i'm gonna go here because it's gonna make me famous, but it's gonna make you good Because, guess what, when you get into the professional world, i'm sure certain things like if you're gonna go on TV, they're gonna want somebody with some kind of notoriety, but guess what, You're going into a professional dancing job where they're looking at you as a dancer they're not gonna be like, oh, this person has like 100,000 followers. They should, whatever.
Speaker 1Yeah, i think it's. I think your note of saying that solos should be looked at as like an additional opportunity is like Chef's Kiss, because it is an added bonus, it is not a requirement.
Speaker 2Like It's not a, it's not granted to you Uh expected, expected, yeah, i mean, I think that's a big word.
Speaker 1I don't know what the right word is, but I definitely don't believe that everybody should have a solo. for many reasons I think that there's a lot of benefit to having one.
Speaker 2But you have to get to that point. You can't just come in and think that you deserve a solo.
Speaker 1Yeah, i think another note as well is that people want to have a solo in a genre that they're not actively practicing, working on that they're not doing a group dance in, to be like, can I have a jazz solo? I'm like, well, are you in the jazz group dance? No, what about that one? what about that one student? she was doing, she was doing, she was doing a solo in a genre but never did, never did it anywhere else.
Speaker 2Yeah, And we had. I don't think this person ever joined our studio, but we had a dancer who wanted a solo. I'm just going to say jazz. I don't know what genre it was exactly. you know, susie wants to have a jazz solo because she's never done it before and wants to explore it, and I'm like not the right time.
Speaker 1That's not the steps that you take.
Speaker 2You take jazz classes, you take jazz technique classes. You learn the style, you learn the genre and you grow in that and then you're awarded a solo because you excel in that particular. And I'm not saying you have to be perfect in that style. Like we said, perfection doesn't exist, but you have to be solid.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think too, parent goggles like I don't know how you could think that.
Speaker 2I'm definitely having somebody make a t-shirt or that. That's so funny.
Speaker 1I don't know how you could think that that would benefit at all. However, i want to say not necessarily in regards to this well, yes and no, i have found that sometimes setting a solo on a student that I think has great potential, they're on the right track. A solo like sets them free, like they become this amazing dancer and I see that based on their potential right, like I've seen their progress from the beginning of the year. And then I mean we've had that situation this year. The dancer progressed exceptionally this year And she was given a great opportunity, needed a solo, and we were like we both agreed she was ready for it.
Speaker 2She deserved it, she earned it.
Speaker 1She earned it. She showed up to her classes at Tenants. Record was beautiful. Her demeanor in classes was fantastic. Great student Just overall, you know.
Speaker 2I think that demeanor this just dawned into my head as a big thing in solo because I know I've stopped working with people because of demeanor.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's hard.
Speaker 2You know. I mean you may not exactly love every solo that you get, And I totally understand that, but it is your job to put 100% into that solo every time you're on the stage, every time you're in rehearsal or just don't do it, and that's fine. You don't have to do the solo. But then you can't expect so much more. You're not going to like every job you go to. You're not going to like every boss that you have. You kind of just have to go with it, make the best of it.
Speaker 1Yeah, because at the end of the day like in the sense of job stuff, like that's your income.
Speaker 2That's your income, that's your bread, that's your house, that's your car.
Speaker 1So next year do something different then.
Speaker 2Exactly.
Speaker 1But for that year, thrive, strive and make it the best you possibly can.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean, I'm going to walk into a classroom and give my best. I'm hoping that you're going to do the same for me.
Speaker 1So I think we should. yeah, i think a big misconception about solos and owning a dance studio is the financial portion of it. You know, i don't know, john, if you want to, maybe if you want to chat a little bit about what you think, like I mean, we can talk about what we charge for solos if we you know, if we want, and I guess the financial portion of that more, and how I guess we operate our business. I don't know if you want to do numbers or whatever, but how we operate our business and maybe we can also provide some insight as to, like, the kind of mindset I think people have where they think we're a millionaire.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's so funny. I mean our kids. I've literally had kids say this to me and I'm not saying that. I'm literally saying literally because it's actually happened where, well, you're a billionaire, right.
Speaker 1No, not billionaire, Oh no.
Speaker 2Billionaire. Billionaire, i don't think, you know, i mean kids, kids' idea of reality is definitely different. But also millionaire. And I'm like you know what. I understand that paying tuition of five, seven, eight, you know, maybe more $100 a month is a lot, you know. And I mean we're a relatively small studio. We only have 36, 37 kids on the team. We don't have that many And we don't run a rec program like we've said, you know. So it's not a ton of money, you know, and we do it because we love it. So I think for some studio owners they may view soloist as an additional income source. Mm, i mean, studios are not some studios are, you know, but most studios are not a huge capital gain.
Speaker 1Well, i said, some are. There are some that are. I'm like, those people are probably.
Speaker 2Doing very well. Doing very well.
Speaker 1Yeah, But but.
Speaker 2I think most of us do it because we really wanna see these kids grow.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2And we believe in dance and the art form and growing that, but for solos.
Speaker 1We charge a flat. Sorry I'm gonna cut you off, but we charge a fee for our choreography, which I think is now starting to become the norm.
Speaker 2For solos.
Speaker 1Yeah, people charge a choreography fee.
Speaker 2I think the people who have done it a while wind up charging a flat fee, who do a lot of solos versus an hourly. I personally like flat fees personally as well. What do you mean? What do I mean?
Speaker 1What do I mean? Like someone would, be like a student here would come, they would pay one fee and this would include their lessons and the choreography.
Speaker 2No, I'm talking about just for the choreography.
Speaker 1Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, i understand, no, yeah, a flat fee for choreography? I understand, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2Because I know some studios. You know on some of the studio owner pages that we're on like, do you still charge for hourly rates for choreography And I'm just not a huge fan of it. I prefer the flat fee. I think it's. It gives the parents an upfront cost. You know, i know as people we want upfront costs on things. I wanna see what it's gonna cost me before diving into it a little bit No, yeah.
Speaker 2You know. But then you have to pay for lessons. I mean, it's a huge financial undertaking for a parent. You know the competition fees, the costume fees. Costumes are more expensive for individuals, comp fees are more expensive for soloists.
Speaker 1So there's that portion, The comp fees are a lot Like if people are trying to cut back on finances. Don't do a solo.
Speaker 2Yeah, definitely cut the solo Like that's like.
Speaker 1One of my biggest frustrations is people like well, we're not gonna do as many group dances next year. But we're gonna do a solo cause we're trying to save money Or no, yeah, or even like we'll have kids that have actually maybe they have multiple solos, like because they're part of different fields And they're like, well, we're gonna do less group dance work And I'm like that's a lot.
Speaker 2I mean comp fees. In essence most comp solo comp fees are more than double usually of the group fees.
Speaker 1Like yeah, like a double and a half.
Speaker 2Yeah, you could do two and a half groups for the cost of a solo fee.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2And I'm not saying that the solo fee is over it's too expensive, or the group fees are over expensive. It's just the reality of it.
Speaker 1Yeah, solos are very expensive. I really do think so, though They're expensive, but I mean the undertaking of these events is huge.
Speaker 2You know it's very expensive to play these events. No, no, i get it.
Speaker 1I mean someone's. They gotta make their money somehow.
Speaker 2So I get that.
Speaker 1And solos, as we all know, are the most popular. So, like even in our studio, we have, like John said, 36 kids, 40s with our minis or something like that, but 36, like on this team, and how many solos do we have?
Speaker 2Solos or soloists. Solos I wanna say 40. 40. About 40.
Speaker 1Not including variation. I'm assuming.
Speaker 2Yeah, not including variations, not including duotrios and things like that.
Speaker 1Just about 40 solos 40 solos, 36 kids not all of those kids have solos.
Speaker 2We are more selective with our soloists.
Speaker 1No, for sure, For sure. I'm just saying like 40 solos, like, and we have like what 13 group dances 13 group dances yeah. So we have 40 solos. We have double the amount, double n plus the amount of solos we have, not including all the other stuff. And then the group dances And it's a lot of solos. So when you're going to these competitions, right, if you have 100 kids on your team, that's probably so many solos.
Speaker 2Oh, i mean, we've competed against studios that have 200, 250 kids. That's a lot of solos. That's a lot of solos, i mean the conventions a lot of the conventions have limited solos And as a audience member. I like it. As a studio owner, it's difficult.
Speaker 1It's very difficult as a studio owner, but I think they have to limit solos because so many people have solos. They got the independent dancers, you got the convention. Classes have to run and that's why people are like I don't understand why they cap And I'm like you also don't want to be dancing on a Wednesday in the middle of the afternoon.
Speaker 1We're at 11 o'clock at night, because you'll complain about that, and then you'll complain if you're 11, you're complaining if you're at seven o'clock in the morning. It's just like, okay, what do you want? Don't do a solo. Then Like I don't know what you wanted to tell you. It's just a lot of extra.
Speaker 2But going back to let's go back to studio owner perspective for a moment.
Speaker 1All right fine.
Speaker 2So, moving on from the financial portion, there's different levels of competition teams And depending on, i guess, the level of that studio's competition team is different. It's different, which means that the soloist expectation is different. We have a higher expectation from our students than some studios, and I'm sure there's other studios that have even higher expectations than we do.
Speaker 1Well, I think that's because we set high expectations for ourselves.
Speaker 2I agree, and I think that's what makes us talented.
Speaker 1Yeah, it stems from us for sure. We have high expectations of ourselves to produce. We know that we're bringing a, that we're offering.
Speaker 2High caliber. Exactly, we have great faculty.
Speaker 1High caliber training, high caliber faculty. We're fully transparent with that. We're fully transparent with the financial stuff, our finances. What we charge is reflected on what we bring to the table, and I think that's fair. Yeah, period, yeah.
Speaker 2I mean, i think that's a wrap on the financial portion and that I just think that in essence, i don't think everybody's cut out for a solo because of a lot of reasons. But I think that to get better, you have to be willing to sometimes take a cut for a moment. And what I mean by that is like we've had kids come to the studio and the parents like, listen, my kid is gonna do whatever they need to do to make it to the team and to get better. So if that involves taking away this and this, they're like we'll do it. And I love that, because those kids grow so much because they leave their ego at the door.
Speaker 2The parents leave the ego at the door and they're just like we're here to improve.
Speaker 1Well, and we had a dancer one of our first year. I'm sure if you're one of our students, you know exactly what I'm talking about. She came in, she was super quiet, She was probably eight years old, so itty bitty, so tiny, but very had a lot of potential. There was like a group of them that came in. we gave them all solo, but we did not give this one particular student a solo.
Speaker 2And-. And dad did not complain. No, they didn't say a single word.
Speaker 1No, they had no expectations. They just were like okay, like they're fantastic, And come November or late October.
Speaker 2I think it was later than that. really, I think it was December.
Speaker 1John was like this child needs a solo.
Speaker 2He was like Which I never say.
Speaker 1Yeah, and you never say about an eight year old This child needs a solo. She's really good, she has a lot of potential, she's grown a lot And I was like, okay, if you wanna do it. And pure magic, like literally she is so talented. Now she's older, now She's like 13, now Super talented. And I think back to that time where we didn't. Who knows, if we offered her a solo in the beginning of the season, maybe it would have had a similar effect. But I think it was just like a really nice growing process for us as studio owners and teachers to be like wait, maybe we don't have to give a solo at the beginning of the year, maybe we can wait and give a solo when we think it's child's ready.
Speaker 2Yeah, a solo should be given when it's earned. It doesn't have to be something that's set in stone in August, September, you know. So, as a studio owner, you know maybe explore that option. You know that a solo is given when it's ready And that doesn't.
Speaker 1And again because we talked about this, students grow at different paces and honestly I think when you tell the parent like, hey, your child is ready, they're going to be so grateful that you've taken the time to evaluate and consider them for that. If they look at it, we have to look at solos as a very high achieved.
Better Studio Solos
Speaker 2I think we need to raise the bar. Yeah, that's that's, that's what I'm saying across the board in the dance industry and Specifically speaking to the competitive dance industry. Raise the bar for your solos, don't just give them away. Make them special. You know, like you said, like Chelsea said, the parents and the studios will feel Better about it.
Speaker 1They'll feel more Grateful.
Speaker 2Yeah, there we go. Definitely feel more grateful Yeah and I think that's like.
Speaker 1I want to work with the students and the parents that Are grateful. I don't want to work with someone who expects everything without any effort into it, correct? and you can't. Yeah, and that goes with anything in life, like if you're only gonna give me, there's some solos, like you said, john, that maybe you know we don't thoroughly enjoy. Working in the rehearsal process with Has nothing to do with the dancer, whether the dancers talented or not. To be honest, yeah, all about the personality and the demeanor.
Speaker 1Yeah, a hundred percent, and I'm just like Hey, but you know what that's? that's what happens when you have a group of Different kids. You get different characters, different personalities and different stuff. This is just our input on how you can improve that. Our perspective on solos. Our Thoughts are on the financial stuff, the thought that Solos are a financial gain and make us millionaires When, to be honest, we work our butts off. We work so hard.
Speaker 2Less it's. It's the smallest portion.
Speaker 1Yeah, but we work so hard on solos, day in, day out. We work a lot on solos and we work on other stuff too, but that eats up so much the scheduling for it. The Organization coming up with a million different like I come up with so many different ideas and I feel I set high expectations of myself to have these ideas and be like I'm going to create This piece that is going to. I want to inspire other people and I put that pressure on myself to deliver a Kind of tangent it. I lost my turn of thought.
Speaker 2But yeah, i mean, those are our like Chelsea was saying, those are our thoughts, those are opinions on, you know, if everybody should get a solo and You know maybe a few options for studio owners to consider. Bye.
