About Prestige Dance Studio

Why We Love Improv at Prestige Dance Studio

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Improv Dance at Prestige Dance Studio

Dance improvisation (improv for short!) is the process of creating movement without a choreographer planning out the dance before it happens. It requires active and quick thinking on the dancer’s part, as they make decisions in the moment and express themselves with limited guidance. At Prestige Dance Studio, we love improv!  It is an essential tool for training smart and expressive young dancers.

Want to see our dancers in action? Check out this video we posted on Facebook of one of our dancers performing her improv. Beautiful!

We know that improv may not be everyone’s favorite part of class. It can be nerve-wracking and scary to have to think on the spot, especially when others are watching! For other dancers, it’s their time to shine and they LOVE it. Either way, it is so important for dancers to consistently work at their improv skills. A dancer is not a well-rounded mover if they can only perform choreography that others give to them. Their range of movement and sense of expression must also come from within themselves. Executing technical skills is just part of the equation. Dancers must be able to think and create as well!

Improv is an important skill as dancers to prepare to move beyond Prestige Dance Studio. All future teachers and choreographers will need to be extremely comfortable with improv! When improvising, dancers can often find themselves creating innovative moves or thinking of something that they’ve never done before. Everything you create while improvising then becomes part of your choreographic toolbox. Sharpening your improv skills is the first step in becoming a phenomenal choreographer!

Improvisation also teaches a dancer how to think on their feet, a skill that is CRUCIAL in the dance world. Whether it be a costume malfunction, a tiny stage you’ve never rehearsed on, or an injury that flares up in the middle of a dance, the show must go on. Improvisation gives your brain AND your body the skills to keep moving and make split-second decisions.

Lastly, we find improv incredibly freeing, and we love sharing that with our dancers. Because improvisation comes from within yourself, it is often seen as the best opportunity for dancers to express themselves. No one is feeding you the moves, it’s up to YOU, and only YOU. It is your time to shine and let everything inside be free. After improvising in front of people, it is almost inevitable that a dancer will gain confidence. It feels good to discover what you are capable of on your own!

We love watching our dancers improvise! We incorporate time for improv in our lyrical, jazz, and hip-hop classes as well as in our performance team rehearsals. The growth we see over the years as our dancers find their voices is so rewarding. Let yourself be free and find out what YOU can do with improv!

Thank You for Another GREAT Year of Dance!

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dancing at Prestige Dance Studio

With our Annual Recital just a week away, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to thank our studio families. This has been a wonderful year. It would not be possible without the support and energy of our families. Thank you for ALL you do to make Prestige Dance Studio an AMAZING place to dance.  

We are so proud of what we have been able to accomplish together this year. At Prestige Dance Studio, we are very passionate about encouraging confidence building, teamwork, and personal growth. Beyond creating talented dancers, we want our students to be good people both in and out of the dance studio. This mission would not be possible without the trust and support of our studio families.

Parents we would like to thank you for supporting your child’s love of dance. Thank for trusting our vision. Thank you for all the rides to the studio. Thank you for making sure your child has everything they need for class. Thank you for reading our emails! The list goes on and on! Most importantly, thank you for believing in your child’s dreams and our vision for the studio.

Every year we witness SO much growth in our students. From our three-year-olds just finishing their first year of dance to our seasoned performance team members; we are SO proud. Thank you, dancers, for your hard work, positive attitudes, and passion. You encourage and inspire us to become better teachers and leaders.

What better way to finish off a great year than with our Annual Recital? We cannot wait to see our dancers shine on stage June 3. It takes a great deal of coordination to put on a production of this size. Thanks in advance for your energy going into the performance. It would not be possible without your support.

We are so grateful for our Prestige Dance Studio family. We can’t wait to see our students on stage doing what they love!

 

 

We are Looking for Dancers to Join our 2018/2019 Performance Teams!

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Competitive Dance Team

 

Audition for one of our award-winning teams! Believe it or not, we are already starting to think about next season at Prestige Dance Studio. We are looking for confident, hard-working dancers to join our performance teams for the 2018/2019 season. 

At the June audition, we will be holding auditions for both of our performance teams, P.Co and P.Com. Interested families should plan on attending the parent meeting in May. In addition to covering requirements and expectations, there will be ample time for questions. We also highly recommend attending the clinics leading up to the audition. This will give you (and your child!) a sneak peek into what our performance teams are like.

Below, you can learn a little bit about each of our teams and start to think about which might be the best fit for your child.

P.Co is our competitive dance team. 

As a member of P.Co, dancers compete all styles of dance. They learn teamwork, responsibility, and commitment in an energetic and fun-filled atmosphere. P.Co dancers attend dance conventions, four regional competitions, and a national dance competition throughout their season.

Curious what being a part of a competitive dance team is like? Check out our studio vlog!

We documented our experience attending a regional dance competition. Dance competitions are a great opportunity for dancers to perform, push themselves outside of their comfort zones, and make SO many memories alongside their teammates.

P.Com is Prestige Dance Studio’s community expo team.

P.Com team members represent Prestige Dance Studio in the Cedar Rapids area. The dancers perform four to six times throughout the school year. They learn, rehearse, and perform jazz and hip-hop routines. Dancers learn discipline, teamwork, and showmanship.

P.Com members get a TON of performance experience and learn to be flexible (we perform in a variety of venues!). Our P.Com members get to experience the joy of sharing dance with the community first hand!

Both of Prestige Dance Studio’s performance teams offer students the opportunity to gain additional performance experience, be a part of a dedicated group of dancers, and work intensively alongside their teachers and the studio director. In addition to weekly dance technique classes, dancers attend weekly rehearsals. Students learn the value of hard work, are motivated to reach their full potential, and make lasting relationships with their teammates and teachers.

If you have a dancer at home that is looking for something beyond a weekly class, is itching to perform more, and anxious to grow as a dancer… one of our performance teams could be a GREAT fit. We may be just what you are looking for.

Good luck to all auditioning. We are looking forward to another great season!

 

Why We LOVE Our Prestige Dance Families!

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Why we love our Prestige Dance Studio families! WE have the best dance studio environment in Cedar Rapids!

Teaching dance comes with many perks. Doing what you love, seeing growth within your students, challenging your own creativity, getting exercise while you work, the list goes on and on. But one out of the giant list of perks stands out FAR beyond any other. It is having the privilege to get to know so many dancers and families. We thought February was the PERFECT time to tell you why we love our Prestige Dance families so much!

Our dance families are kind and supportive of one another. Time and time again, we witness first-hand our dance families helping each other. Whether it is giving a dance friend a ride home, helping a dancer do their makeup at a competition or listening to a dance parent talk about their long week, you are there to support each other. It is beyond inspiring to watch and learn from your kind gestures week after week. We know that your kindness is not only inspiring us but also your dancers!

We also know and love that our dance families make dance a priority. We appreciate it so much that our dancers and their families come to class excited and ready to learn week after week. It takes a lot of sacrifices for parents to allow their children to follow their passion and we want to thank you. Although your dancers may not always say it, we know they love that too.

Finally, we could not end this post without acknowledging how much FUN our dance families are! We love that we get to spend time with you all. Each time we have a Prestige Dance Studio event, we leave feeling energized and excited all because of the positivity you bring. We could not be happier teaching dance we are SO lucky to share our passion with some AMAZING dance families. Thank you for all you do for your dancers and for just for being you!

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us here at Prestige Dance Studio!

 

Meet Miss Jess

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In 2013, Jess founded Prestige Dance Studio to share her passion of dance in a safe, technically sound and creative environment with the Corridor. Jess has been honored with choreography and most entertaining awards at competitions throughout the nation. Backed by Jess’s love of the performing arts and her 12 years of professional instruction experience, Prestige Dance Studio offers fresh and innovative styles that are unparalleled in the Cedar Rapids area.

Although many of the students at Prestige have gotten to know Miss Jess in class and in the hallways, we thought it was a good time to dive a little deeper! Her passion for dance education is unparalleled in the Cedar Rapids area and she is beyond proud of all that her dancers have accomplished in the last few years.

Find out much more about Miss Jess below and the next time you see her at the studio feel free to stop and say hello!

Meet the owner of Prestige Dance Studio in Cedar Rapids, IA