The Benefits of Recital

In Jan­uary of every year, the at­ten­tion at al­most all dance stu­dios turns to­ward the June recital. Blue Dog Dance is no ex­cep­tion. By Jan­uary the theme of the up­coming recital has al­ready been cho­sen and the teach­ers have been work­ing hard at choos­ing mu­sic and start­ing their chore­og­ra­phy.

A dance recital by de­f­i­n­i­tion is a per­for­mance of chore­o­graphed move­ment art with or with­out mu­sic. But any­one who has danced or watched a per­for­mance knows it is much more than that. Dance is an ex­pres­sion of emo­tion but it is also the emo­tion it­self. Dance is telling a sto­ry while be­ing the sto­ry. It is the ex­ten­sion of life and the expres­sive art of his­to­ry.

There are some fan­tas­tic ben­e­fits to dance and in par­tic­u­lar to dance recitals both for the dancer and for those who come to watch the per­for­mance.

Let us start with mus­cle mem­o­ry. Of­ten a dancer comes into class not quite remem­ber­ing the steps they learned the pre­vi­ous week. But as soon as that mu­sic starts their minds light up and their mus­cles just know what to do. Even on recital day, it is not un­com­mon for dancers to not re­mem­ber all the steps while even wait­ing in the wings to start – but when that mu­sic starts, the cur­tains go up and the lights come on. It is show­time, and there they are…all the steps so well chore­o­graphed wow­ing the audi­ence.

An­oth­er ben­e­fit is con­fi­dence. Many a dancer (both young and old­er) may start their danc­ing jour­ney with lit­tle self-con­fi­dence. Learn­ing their steps, and do­ing class every week not only strength­ens their bod­ies but it also strength­ens their minds and in so do­ing builds their con­fi­dence.

Achiev­ing a dance goal is an­oth­er great ben­e­fit to dance recitals. This is es­pe­cial­ly true if some new steps or com­bi­na­tions need to be learned and mas­tered. The feel­ing of achieve­ment is a great mood boost­er and a great step on the con­fi­dence lad­der.

Core mem­o­ries are so vi­tal in grow­ing up and dance recitals are in­deed great core mem­o­ries. Some of my fond­est mem­o­ries as a child, a teen, and now an adult tap dancer are of my dance recitals. When you are young and you have friends or fami­ly in the au­di­ence, you feel proud to show what you have achieved.

An­oth­er key ben­e­fit of recitals is learn­ing to par­tic­i­pate as part of a team. Many assume that danc­ing is a soli­tary ex­pe­ri­ence but noth­ing could be fur­ther from the truth.

In class, you learn from your class­mates and you learn to dance to­geth­er as one. Recital per­for­mances ce­ment that ben­e­fit. Even if you learn a solo, you are still part of the big­ger team. All your dance mates are there for you, sup­port you, and cel­e­brate with you. As a dancer, dance recitals are a vi­tal part of your stu­dio life: from learn­ing how to work in a team, to show­cas­ing your achieve­ments in front of fam­i­ly and friends in a the­atre to the ex­hil­a­ra­tion of be­ing back­stage and the thrill of en­ter­ing the lob­by to greet the au­di­ence af­ter a bril­liant per­for­mance. There is noth­ing that can top a recital ex­pe­ri­ence – es­pe­cial­ly a Blue Dog recital!