EP15: Style It Out!

In this episode, Laura and Michelle reveal everything you need to know about Style It Out – our biggest performance of the year. From how the show theme was chosen to what inspired this year's concept, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process that brings the magic to life.

They also talk you through everything you need to know about registering for the show, what families can expect over the coming months, and why this is an experience no dancer will want to miss.

Whether you're already signed up or still deciding, this episode is packed with all the information you need as we kick off the journey to Style It Out 2026.

🎧 Grab a brew, press play, and let's talk all things showtime!

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Freedom to Dance Podcast. This is the place where we talk about absolutely everything in our little crazy world of dance. From what goes on inside our studio to the wider dance industry too. You'll get to know your teachers, hear from real-life dance parents, and maybe even some of our pupils. And who knows what they'll have to say. So grab your dancing shoes or maybe just a copper. Join us for all the laugh stories and behind-the-scenes fun at Freedom to Dance. Hello everyone and welcome back to Dance Talks. Hello everyone. Thanks for joining us for another episode. You know, as we're recording this um episode today on the hottest day of the year in my kitchen with the dog barking in the background, we are officially just five months away from show day. Five months. I know. Five months. Wow. That actually sounds exciting but slightly terrifying all at the same time. Five months. Five months. And I feel like today we can finally start talking about the 2026 show because we've announced it, our registration is open, and the show this year is called Style It Out. So even though we're only talking about it publicly today, we've actually been talking about it behind the scenes for a few months. I mean, there's been a few scraps at team meetings. But you know, we it's a full team um discussion and decisions made for um for the show. So this has been um, you know, on uh the agenda of our team meetings over the last couple of months, trying to really get everything um nailed down at our end so that when it comes to then announcing it out to you guys, we feel like we're ready and to attack it as well. I mean, it's really hard when you've got six creatives around a table, all with ideas. Yeah. To try and pin it down to then just one or like yeah. Sometimes Jules, we can feed a few different ones in, but um yeah, it's it's quite funny actually. We should actually probably record us all having a debate. I do actually think that me and Alys me and Miss Olivia went head to head at one point. I think, yeah, I think it got down to you with the final two. Yes. Battling it out. And um I I I was good. I stepped back and said, right, we can shelf my idea. Yes. But we also sort of shelved terms to the Reg. And then came up with Style It Out. So this year's show, as the name suggests, um, it's all about celebrating dance styles, um, and we're gonna be highlighting what makes each dance style unique. Yeah, every style of dance has its own culture, its own personality, it has its own history and energy. Um so whether it's street dance, uh ballet, cheer, acro, ballroom in Latin, commercial, musical theatre, have I missed any? Jazz, lyrical, uh each style has its own identity and each style tells its own story. Yeah, it absolutely does, and I I'm really looking forward um to what it's gonna be able to express. Yes, and uh, you know, and hopefully everybody's gonna enjoy it and love it. And basically, Miss Olivia wanted free reign to do whatever she wanted. So basically it was the only way that we could give a free reign but with a slight little rain still just on her. Yes, yeah. So I sort of have a theme, but we wanted a theme, so the theme is your class the your class, your style. Yeah, your style, where's yeah, where's and you may even learn a thing or two throughout the show, who knows? Um, but the show um is open to all of our Freedom Stance members that are aged five years and above. Yeah, a couple of people have said to me, Oh, but they're three and three quarters, can they do it? Um, unfortunately not, no. Um, the show is very long days, we expect quite a lot from these children. And whilst welfare is almost paramount on those days, uh they do work extremely hard, and it's just not suitable for children under the age of five. It won't be suitable for some of our children that are five, and if we feel that's the case, um we will be honest. Yeah, we'll be honest. Yeah, um, whilst we can put some provisions in place, um, we will be managing around 150 kids in that show. Um, we want everybody involved. Yeah, we want everybody involved, so we can always adapt and and have provisions in place for for those that aren't quite ready for show, um, but they'll, you know, it will be few and far between. Yeah, absolutely. Um so we're gonna be teaching all of the show choreography uh within our regular class time. So families are not expected to attend an extra weekly class to learn routines. In fact, some of the additional routines we actually send out on a video, so huge group routines like the opening and closing of the show get sent out, and then when it gets closer to the time, we bring everyone together. But your individual class routine will be taught in your class from September when we September. Um, so there is obviously um a show participation fee. Um and this is because producer, you know, producing a theatre show involves an awful lot of cost. Oh my god, yeah. So things like the venue hire, the technical staff, lighting, sound, the extra rehearsals that were put on, obviously, at the venue before, um, show t-shirts, paying our staff, um, insurances, and you know, the children have to be insured. We have to be insured. Um, so you know, there is um a lot of costs that are involved. And, you know, if you've just listened to a previous podcast of ours where we we talked very heavily about our friends of committee, one thing that we try to keep at a very low cost for um all of our show participants is the costumes, and that is one thing that is probably normally the most expensive. And I jump in on this bit because I know lots of schools that say to me, you don't charge your parents for the costumes. How on earth do you manage that? So, standard for dance shows, you buy your costume, but everybody at least £250 of costumes at a general dance show that you take. Absolutely in. If your child is attend is in one number, you'd expect to be paying about £40 for a um costume. Um now we actually only charge a small fee. Yeah. And you get it back. Yeah. You get it back. If you return your costume to us and it's in good condition, you will get that back. But that's only possible because the Friends of Freedom to Dance fund a wardrobe for us. We have got an extensive wardrobe of costumes that each year they put more money aside so that we can continue to develop our wardrobe of costumes so that we do not have to charge parents. The more money that's raised in fundraising, the more fabulous the outfits are. Oh, this is what they get. Yeah. So, yes, that's just to give you an idea. Um, for those of you who um, you know, we want as many children signing up to be in the show as possible. It's such an amazing um experience for the pupils. Um, they get such satisfaction. Well, they are doing doing the show. Um, and the you know, the whole reason why we we've brought it to the you know that they start learning that is in their classes is to make it more accessible. Um, you know, it's difficult if we were to say, right, there's a show class on a Friday night. Not everybody's available. We know that they're available during those times because they're already coming to a class. Yeah. So you know we hailored our calendar. The first six months of our dance calendar, we compete and we do experiences. The final section of our year, we work solely towards this show so that everybody can take part. And taking part helps children in so many ways, they're gonna build confidence, they experience teamwork, what it's like to be in a team, what it's like to work together, and they build resilience, and above all, they're gonna like create memories that are gonna last an absolute lifetime. The laughs that we have back stage. It really is, and of course, you know, um it isn't just about the children, it's about, you know, parents and carers that put time in week in, week out, making sure their children get to these dance classes and all the rest of it. So, you know, parents also then get the opportunity to see their child progress and celebrate their achievements whilst watching them on a stage that's all little. They can get much better than that. It doesn't. So I'll tell you who else could benefit. Go on. Local businesses. Yeah, local businesses. This is an opportunity for you to jump on board and get involved with Style Out 2026. Um, you know, sponsoring and adding our program or being our main event sponsor um will really help create I said help without a hairline on the help create opportunities for children um, you know, in our local community. It's amazing. Absolutely, and it's a bit of promoting um for your business as well. Absolutely. Promoting your business. Um, so yeah, so we just wanted to obviously put it out there, what's happening with the show, what we've called it, what the theme, or if you miss Olivia, no theme, um, is um is going to be what they're going to be working extremely hard on um after the summer holidays. We can't wait, the staff can't wait, and hopefully the children are getting excited about it now, too. So thank you for listening. We can't wait to begin this show's journey with you all. Yes, yeah, that's it.