dance performance

Are You Ready for Recital 2021?!

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dance recital in Cedar Rapids

The countdown is officially ON! Prestige Dance Studio’s 8th Annual Recital, “Our Favorite Show” is happening THIS Sunday, June 6th. Are you ready for a spectacular performance, an amazing showcase of artistry, and the most impressive dance recital in Cedar Rapids?! 

Our students have worked SO hard this year. The recital stage is where it ALL comes together. Take it from us, teachers who’ve spent our lives both on stage performing and off stage watching from the wings, there’s nothing quite like hearing that applause!

Each year, we prepare our students for recital by perfecting their routines in class, hosting dress rehearsals, and teaching them exactly what to expect on the big day. With an in-studio dress rehearsal as well as one at the Paramount Theatre, we work out all the little kinks with costumes, hair, makeup, adrenaline, and everything in between! 

So… is your child ready for Recital 2021?!

  • Have they sorted and organized their costumes in the order they appear in this show? 
  • Are their accessories, tights, and dance shoes all accounted for in their recital bag?
  • Do they know what time they should be ready to leave the house? 
  • Is your child performing their routines ALL around the house?
  • Have you caught them sneaking a peak at their costumes over and over?
  • Are they asking to listen to their recital songs on repeat? 

*A Little Note*
For dancers over the age of 8, we recommend that they pack their own recital bags (with mom or dad’s approval at the end). This helps them take responsibility for their belongings and reduces backstage confusion because they know exactly where everything is. Dancers, this is YOUR job! Don’t make your beloved dance parents do all the hard work! 

Now… we know our students are ready to dance… but are YOU ready for Recital 2021?!

  • Are you prepared to see your child in a whole new light? Literally, those stage lights really make our dancers shine! 
  • Did you purchase your tickets yet? Email the studio office at prestigedancestudiocr@gmail.com for any inquiries. 
  • Do you know what time to arrive with your dancer at the theater? Visit our recital page and enter the password to review the schedule. 
  • Are you prepared to be in awe of your child’s dance moves? We guarantee they’ve grown by leaps and bounds. 
  • Are you expecting to watch your child’s confidence soar when they step on stage? Seeing them come out of their shells is magical!
  • Do you have any ideas on which TV shows you’ll hear some tunes from? Our recital theme this year is “Our Favorite Show,” and we can’t wait for it to come together!
  • Did you clear your iPhone storage for tons of precious pictures? You AND your dancer will look back and treasure these moments forever! 
  • Are you ready to laugh, grin, and cry your heart our during the Dude and Dancer performance? It’s one of our favorite recital traditions.
  • Most importantly, are you ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show? Our dance parents work SO hard for their kids. We hope the show is your chance to finally watch your child shine ALL by themselves while you watch in amazement! 

We can’t wait to see you at the Paramount Theatre this Sunday! Tell us you’re going on Facebook! It is truly a gift to see our dance families come together to celebrate our student’s hard work. 

If you have any questions about the upcoming weekend or need anything from our staff, please contact us via email at prestigedancestudiocr@gmail.com. We’d be happy to help! 

Break a leg dancers!

Compete with Prestige: A Day in the Life

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competition dance team

Picture this: a hundred sparkly costumes, a giant lit-up stage, and a set of judges watching your every move. Kind of a big deal, right? That’s what competition day looks like for our 45 competition dancers at Prestige. We know that if you aren’t there yourself, it may be a little difficult to understand what all the hype is about. So today on the blog, we are giving you an inside look at our competition dance team in Cedar Rapids. 

At Prestige Dance Studio, on top of our weekly recreational classes, we offer multiple performance team programs. P.Com is Prestige Dance Studio’s community expo team. Dancers perform four to six times per year throughout the community with both jazz and hip hop routines. P.Co is Prestige Dance Studio’s all-genre competition team. These dancers attend dance conventions, four regional competitions, and a national dance competition.

Today we are shining the spotlight on our P.Co teams, not only because our competition season is in full swing, but also because we are so proud of their accomplishments so far! So what exactly happens at a dance competition? It’s not exactly your typical sporting event. 

1. A Dedicated Rehearsal Schedule

In addition to weekly technique classes where they practice their dance skills, our competitive dancers attend weekly rehearsals. Learning cutting edge new choreography, these teams are committed to making their routines look clean, impressive, and perfectly in sync. They are responsible for remembering their multiple routines for different dance styles, making detailed changes to their movement, and cooperating with their teammates. 

2. Glitz and Glam!

A dance competition is basically a SEA of sparkles, and it’s not JUST because we love to shine! When dancing under the big stage lights, moving rhinestones create a pretty magical effect. Thick stage makeup is needed so that the dancers’ facial expressions can be seen under the lights as well. 

Hair, make-up, and our beautiful rhinestoned costumes must all be completed with precision, as each dancer must look exactly the same. This uniformity reduces distractions and point deductions. We love watching as our students learn responsibility at competitions. If a dancer forgets a costume accessory or their hair falls out on stage, it reminds them ALL to triple check before stepping on stage. 

3. Taking the Stage

After hair, make-up, and costumes are set, our dancers head to the warm-up zone. We require our teams to stretch and do a brief run-through of their dance before heading backstage. This reduces injuries and mind-blanks on stage!

Once the music starts, it is 2.5 minutes of amazing! Watching our dancers hit their routines while judges are scoring their every move is incredible! A spark usually lights up inside of them. They are taught to dance BIG and BOLD, which is almost impossible NOT to do when your dances are well prepared and you look like a rockstar!

4. Trophy Time

After teams from all over the region compete, everyone gathers on stage to hear the results. Each dance receives an award (silver, gold, platinum) and then the dances are ranked by overall score. 

We teach our P.Co dancers to practice good sportsmanship, win OR lose. We celebrate our victories AND clap for other teams when they win big. Awards teach our dancers how to strive for excellence. Hard work pays off.

Our 2020 Competition Season is already in full swing! A month ago we debuted our competition routines at Showbiz National Talent Competition in Davenport, Iowa! We recently headed to St. Charles, Missouri for our second competition. 

We are SO proud of our dancers’ performance at both events and we are hungry for more stage time in the coming months! Check out some of our amazing results from Showbiz! 

competition dance team

competition dance team

Be sure to follow along on our studio Facebook page to stay up to date on competition results from the rest of our season! Good luck to all of our P.Co dancers. We can’t wait to watch you shine!