How to Start a Dance Team

From LoveToKnow Dance

Learning how to start a dance team is simple. With a little organization and a lot of hard work, you can establish a new group in your hometown that can potentially go on to be very successful. The steps and advice offered here are more than enough to get you started.

How to Start a Dance Team

Before starting a dance team, or any other group for that matter, you should be as organized as possible. If you’re going to be bringing people into an established activity, organization and order will be your number one key to success. Even a brand new group needs to have a foundation strong enough to hold up as dancers come and go, joining and leaving your team over time.

The first step in dance team organization is to jot down specifications, such as who will be in charge of what, and also who you hope to have as part of your team. Are you open to both males and females, or will it be an all girl team? Are there age restrictions? Are you recreational, competitive, or both? Once these and any other questions are answered, you can start to form your core team structure.

While you can obviously learn how to start a dance team on your own, you will have an easier time if you collaborate with others. Ask a friend or relative who also loves dance to take on special jobs within the team such as bookkeeper, secretary or promotional manager. If you do not have anyone in your personal life that fits the bill for a specific job, you can post an online Craigslist ad in your region to find someone who may be looking to collaborate in a similar way.

After you have your core leadership solidified, you need to find adequate audition and rehearsal space. Many of the larger dance studios will rent out dance space to smaller groups for an hourly rate. High school gymnasiums, recreation centers, and even warehouses are other options. Everything has a price tag, so set your budget and shop around for a space that will work well for you.

Finding Dancers

When you are all set with leadership and dance studio availability, you can begin your search for dancers. Do some advertising through online message boards, local classifieds, and flyers posted in local coffee houses, dance studios, gyms, dance apparel stores, and other places those with dance experience may stumble across it. You can also network with friends and family to find dancers. Finally, if you’re a dancer yourself, you probably know of many who would be willing to audition for your team or refer others to you who may be of interest.

Set your audition guidelines and communicate them to all who are applying for a spot on your team before you see them dance. Do you want them to prepare their own solo routine for the tryouts, or are you going to teach a certain style of dance? Is there a dress code? Do you have solidified rehearsal times that they must fit into their schedule if accepted? The more the dancers know ahead of time, the better relationship you will have with them and you’ll also have the opportunity to be more selective in who you accept.

Rehearse, Perform, Compete

After your dance team is formed, you will be able to have rehearsals and performances. You can register to compete in both local and national competitions to give your team more experience and a chance to shine. There are multitudes of competitions available to dance in, and you can check out a sample list of dance competitions by visiting a website such as DancerUniverse.com.

Starting a dance team is only one piece of a very large puzzle. After the team is formed, you'll have to come up with dance team routines, buy costumes, and coordinate practice and performance schedules with all your dancers. It's hard work, but the ultimate goal of enabling others to shine through the beauty of artistic movement, when met, will be more than worth all the hard work..

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