Tips for Structuring Your Recital Into Suites
by Wanda Marie Tierney and Susan Burton
How to structure your recital
...if your school is large (e.g., 70 different classes)
• Two performances for larger venues; more for smaller venues
• Seven possible suites, five dances per suite (35 dances total for each performance)
• 2- to 2-1/2-hour duration, including intermission
...if your school is small (e.g., nine different classes)
• One performance
• Three advanced classes performing Act II of Swan Lake, followed by two suites of four or five dances, intermingling preballet classes with intermediate and advanced
• 1 hour, 45 minutes duration, including intermission
Sample Dance Suites
"Once Upon a Time"
Music: Sleeping Beauty, Act III, by Peter Tchaikovsky
Total time: 11 minutes
Dances: "Puss-in-Boots and the White Cat": Beginning children
"The Blue Birds" (sections 1 and 3): Advanced lyrical
"Red Riding Hood and the Wolf": Intermediate tap
"Cinderella and Prince Charming": Ballet III soloist with Ballet I corps
"Hop-o'-My-Thumb and His Brothers": Hip hop/funk
"Jumping Rag"
Music: a medley of Scott Joplin songs
Total time: 10 minutes
Dances: "Carrie Gone to Kansas City": Beginning tap
"A Real Show Drag": Level II ballet
"Hilarity": Intermediate jazz
"Cannon Ball": Hip hop or break dancing
