Jan. 01, 2013 11:55AM EST
Courtesy Tonawanda Dance Arts
If you're considering starting a summer program this year, you're likely not alone. Summer camp and class options are a tried-and-true method for paying your overhead costs past June—and, done well, could be a vehicle for making up for lost 2020 profits.
Plus, they might take on extra appeal for your studio families this year. Those struggling financially due to the pandemic will be in search of an affordable local programming option rather than an expensive, out-of-town intensive. And with summer travel still likely in question this spring as July and August plans are being made, your studio's local summer training option remains a safe bet.
The keys to profitable summer programming? Figuring out what type of structure will appeal most to your studio clientele, keeping start-up costs low—and, ideally, converting new summer students into new year-round students.
Find a formula that works for your studio
<p>For Melanie Boniszewski, owner of Tonawanda Dance Arts in upstate New York, the answer to profitable summer programming lies in drop-in classes.</p><p>"We're in a cold-weather climate, so summer is actually really hard to attract people—everyone wants to be outside, and no one wants to commit to a full season," she says.</p><p>Tonawanda Dance Arts offers a children's program in which every class is à la carte: 30-minute, $15 drop-in classes are offered approximately two times a week in the evenings, over six weeks, for different age groups. And two years ago, she created her Stay Strong All Summer Long program for older students, which offers 12 classes throughout the summer and a four-day summer camp. Students don't know what type of class they're attending until they show up. "If you say you're going to do a hip-hop class, you could get 30 kids, but if you do ballet, it could be only 10," she says. "We tell them to bring all of their shoes and be ready for anything."</p><p>Start-up costs are minimal—just payroll and advertising (which she starts in April). For older age groups, Boniszewski focuses on bringing in her studio clientele, rather than marketing externally. In the 1- to 6-year-old age group, though, around 50 percent of summer students tend to be new ones—98 percent of whom she's been able to convert to year-round classes.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1NDQ3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzYyNzg0OX0.UlO3Vm5jZpWrCEpjRwbvcz5TNEj_FADMDRjnXggjY6A/img.jpg?width=980" id="4dfdf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48f80d4f7637b7ac018feb13565f5dd6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="A group of elementary school aged- girls stands in around a dance studio. A teacher, a young black man, stands in front of the studio, talking to them" data-width="960" data-height="720" />
An East County Performing Arts Center summer class from several years ago. Photo courtesy ECPAC
<p>East County Performing Arts Center owner Nina Koch knows that themed, weeklong camps are the way to go for younger dancers, as her Brentwood, California students are on a modified year-round academic school calendar, and parents are usually looking for short-term daycare solutions to fill their abbreviated summer break.</p><p>Koch keeps her weekly camps light on dance: "When we do our advertising for Frozen Friends camp, for example, it's: 'Come dance, tumble, play games, craft and have fun!'"</p><p>Though Koch treats her campers as studio-year enrollment leads, she acknowledges that these weeklong camps naturally function as a way for families who aren't ready for a long-term commitment to still participate in dance. "Those who aren't enrolled for the full season will be put into a sales nurture campaign," she says. "We do see a lot of campers come to subsequent camps, including our one-day camps that we hold once a month throughout our regular season."</p>
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Serve your serious dancers
<p>One dilemma studio owners may face: what to do about your most serious dancers, who may be juggling outside intensives with any summer programming that you offer.</p><p>Consider making their participation flexible. For Boniszweski's summer program, competitive dancers must take six of the 12 classes offered over a six-week period, as well as the four-day summer camp, which takes place in mid-August. "This past summer, because of COVID, they paid for six but were able to take all 12 if they wanted," she says. "Lots of people took advantage of that."</p><p>For Koch, it didn't make sense to require her intensive dancers to participate in summer programming, partly because she earned more revenue catering to younger students and partly because her older students often made outside summer-training plans. "That's how you build a well-rounded dancer—you want them to go off and get experience from teachers you might not be able to bring in," she says.</p><p>Another option: Offering private lessons. Your more serious dancers can take advantage of flexible one-on-one training, and you can charge higher fees for individualized instruction. Consider including a financial incentive to get this kind of programming up and running. "Five years ago, we saw that some kids were asking for private lessons, so we created packages: If you bought five lessons, you'd get one for free—to get people in the door," says Boniszewksi. "After two years, once that program took off, we got rid of the discount. People will sign up for as many as 12 private lessons."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1NDQ1MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzk5MzM3M30.C8wCX4jPpPXtiCqQ_l3VHMJTzT_wIeHtZUwQK08QWTc/img.jpg?width=980" id="77657" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="55aad02f138c836e44fc93e8c27867a9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="A large group of students stretch in a convention-style space with large windows. They follow a teacher at the front of the room in leaning over their right leg for a hamstring stretch" data-width="1068" data-height="712" />
Koch's summer convention experience several years ago. Photo courtesy East County Performing Arts Center
Bring the (big) opportunities to your students
<p>If you do decide to target older, more serious dancers for your summer programming, you may need to inject some dance glamour to compete with fancier outside intensives.</p><p>Bring dancers opportunities they wouldn't have as often during the school year. For Boniszewski, that means offering virtual master classes with big-name teachers, like Misha Gabriel and Briar Nolet. For Koch, it's bringing the full convention experience to her students—and opening it up to the community at large. In past years, she's rented her local community center for a weekend-long in-house convention and brought in professional ballet, jazz, musical theater and contemporary guest teachers.</p><p>In 2019, the convention was "nicely profitable" while still an affordable $180 per student, and attracted 120 dancers, a mix of her dancers and dancers from other studios. "It was less expensive than going to a big national convention, because parents didn't have to worry about lodging or travel," Koch says. "We wanted it to be financially attainable for families to experience something like this in our sleepy little town."</p><div class="htl-ad"
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Claire, McAdams, courtesy Houston Ballet
Former Houston Ballet dancer Chun Wai Chan has always been destined for New York City Ballet.
While competing at Prix de Lausanne in 2010, he was offered summer program scholarships at both the School of American Ballet and Houston Ballet. However, because two of the competition's winners that year were Houston Ballet's Aaron Sharratt and Liao Xiang, dancers Chan idolized, he turned down SAB. He joined Houston Ballet II in 2010, the main company's corps de ballet in 2012, and was promoted to principal in 2017. Oozing confidence and technical prowess, Chan was a Houston favorite, and even landed himself a spot on Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch."
<p data-children-count="0">In 2019, NYCB came calling: Resident choreographer Justin Peck visited Houston Ballet to set a new work titled <em>Reflections</em>. Peck immediately took to Chan and passed his praises on to NYCB artistic director Jonathan Stafford. Chan was invited to take class with NYCB for three days in January 2020, and shortly thereafter was offered a soloist contract.</p><p data-children-count="0">The plan was to announce his hiring in the spring for the fall season that typically begins in September, but, of course, coronavirus postponed the opportunity to next year. Chan is currently riding out the pandemic in Huizhou, Guangdong, China, where he was born and trained at the Guangzhou Art School.</p><p data-children-count="0">We talked to Chan about his training journey—and the teachers, corrections and experiences that got him to NYCB.</p>
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On the most helpful correction he's ever gotten:
<p>"Work smart, then work hard to keep your body healthy. Most of us get injuries when we're tired. When I first joined Houston Ballet, I was pushing myself 100 percent every day, at every show, rehearsal and class. That's when I got injured [a torn thumb ligament, tendinitis and a sprained ankle.] At that time, my director taught me that we all have to work hard, memorize the steps and take corrections, but it's better to think first because your energy is limited."</p>How it's benefited his career since:
<p>"It's the secret to me getting promoted to principal very quickly. When other dancers were injured or couldn't perform, I was healthy and could step up to fill a higher role than my position. I still get small injuries, but I know how to take care of them now, and when it's OK to gamble a little."</p><div class="htl-ad"
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Chun Wai Chan with Jessica Collado. Photo by Amitava Sarkar, courtesy Houston Ballet
On his most influential teacher:
<p>"Claudio Muñoz, from Houston Ballet Academy. The first summer intensive there I couldn't even lift the lightest girls. A month later, my pas de deux skills improved so much. I never imagined I could lift a girl so many times. A year later I could do all the tricky pas tricks. That's all because of Claudio. He also taught me how to dance in contemporary, and act all kinds of characters."</p>How he gained strength for partnering:
<p>"I did a lot of push-ups. Claudio recommended dancers go to the gym. We don't have those kinds of traditions in China, but after Houston Ballet, going to the gym has become a habit."</p><div class="htl-ad"
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On his YouTube channel:
<p>"I started <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ1Y9s6Fe1ok60DEc40DdJg" target="_blank">a YouTube channel</a>, where I could give ballet tutorials. Many male students only have female teachers, and they are missing out on the guy's perspective on jumps and partnering. I give those tips online because they are what I would have wanted. My goal is to help students have strong technique so they are able to enjoy the stage as much as they can."</p>
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Mary Mallaney/USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, courtesy Osato
In most classes, dancers are encouraged to count the music, and dance with it—emphasizing accents and letting the rhythm of a song guide them.
But Marissa Osato likes to give her students an unexpected challenge: to resist hitting the beats.
In her contemporary class at EDGE Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles (which is now closed, until they find a new space), she would often play heavy trap music. She'd encourage her students to find the contrast by moving in slow, fluid, circular patterns, daring them to explore the unobvious interpretation of the steady rhythms.
<p data-children-count="0">"I like to give dancers a phrase of music and choreography and have them reinterpret it," she says, "to be thinkers and creators and not just replicators."</p><p data-children-count="0">Osato learned this approach—avoiding the natural temptation of the music always being the leader—while earning her MFA in choreography at California Institute of the Arts. "When I was collaborating with a composer for my thesis, he mentioned, 'You always count in eights. Why?'"</p><p data-children-count="0">This forced Osato out of her creative comfort zone. "The choices I made, my use of music, and its correlation to the movement were put under a microscope," she says. "I learned to not always make the music the driving motive of my work," a habit she attributes to her competition studio training as a young dancer.</p>
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<p>While an undergraduate at the University of California, Irvine, Osato first encountered modern dance. That discovery, along with her experience dancing in Boogiezone Inc.'s off-campus hip-hop company, BREED, co-founded by Elm Pizarro, inspired her own, blended style, combining modern and hip hop with jazz. While still in college, she began working with fellow UCI student Will Johnston, and co-founded the Boogiezone Contemporary Class with Pizarro, an affordable series of classes that brought top choreographers from Los Angeles to Orange County.</p><p>"We were trying to bring the hip-hop and contemporary communities together and keep creating work for our friends," says Osato, who has taught for West Coast Dance Explosion and choreographed for studios across the country.</p><p>In 2009, Osato, Johnston and Pizarro launched Entity Contemporary Dance, which she and Johnston direct. The company, now based in Los Angeles, won the 2017 Capezio A.C.E. Awards, and, in 2019, Osato was chosen for two choreographic residencies (Joffrey Ballet's Winning Works and the USC Kaufman New Movement Residency), and became a full-time associate professor of dance at Santa Monica College.</p>
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<p>At SMC, Osato challenges her students—and herself—by incorporating a live percussionist, a luxury that's been on pause during the pandemic. She finds that live music brings a heightened sense of awareness to the room. "I didn't realize what I didn't have until I had it," Osato says. "Live music helps dancers embody weight and heaviness, being grounded into the floor." Instead of the music dictating the movement, they're a part of it.</p><p>Osato uses the musician as a collaborator who helps stir her creativity, in real time. "I'll say 'Give me something that's airy and ambient,' and the sounds inspire me," says Osato. She loves playing with tension and release dynamics, fall and recovery, and how those can enhance and digress from the sound.</p><p>"I can't wait to get back to the studio and have that again," she says.</p>
<p>Osato made <em>Dance Teacher</em> a<a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7rDofako6DKiM3YT4TrNc4?si=oImGulAcSbGa7A4pqyfcFQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7rDofako6DKiM3YT4TrNc4?si=oImGulAcSbGa7A4pqyfcFQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spotify</a><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7rDofako6DKiM3YT4TrNc4?si=oImGulAcSbGa7A4pqyfcFQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> playlis</a><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7rDofako6DKiM3YT4TrNc4?si=oImGulAcSbGa7A4pqyfcFQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">t</a> with some of her favorite songs for class—and told us about why she loves some of them.</p>
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"Get It Together," by India.Arie
<p>"Her voice and lyrics hit my soul and ground me every time. Dream artist. My go-to recorded music in class is soul R&B. There's simplicity about it that I really connect with."</p>"Turn Your Lights Down Low," by Bob Marley + The Wailers, Lauryn Hill
<p>"A classic. This song embodies that all-encompassing love and gets the whole room groovin'."</p>"Diamonds," by Johnnyswim
<p>"This song's uplifting energy and drive is infectious! So much vulnerability, honesty and joy in their voices and instrumentation."</p><div class="htl-ad"
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"There Will Be Time," by Mumford & Sons, Baaba Maal
<p>"Mumford & Sons' music has always struck a deep chord within me. Their songs are simultaneously stripped-down and complex and feel transcendent."</p>"With The Love In My Heart," by Jacob Collier, Metropole Orkest, Jules Buckley
<p>"Other than it being insanely energizing and cinematic, I love how challenging the irregular meter is!"</p>
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