5 Tips for Making the Most Out of Your Child's Dance Class Experience

Dance lessons can be an awesome way to encourage your child’s personal growth!  

It’s not just about teaching dance steps in class, but it is also about growing creative, confident dancers who courageously impact their world. 

We want our dancers to develop skills and passion for dance, but we also want to equip them for success in anything they do.

TIP 1: Attend Special Performance Days

Performance dates for our dance classes are on the Bloom website at danceatbloom.com.

• Seeds Performances: danceatbloom.com/seeds

• Holiday Showcase: Observe your child’s class December 16th-21st 

• Spring Recital - Bloom at the Movies: danceatbloom.com/recital

Your child has been working on skill development throughout the year, and this is their opportunity to show you!  

For the dancers whose families attend...they beam with pride! This is an important day for our younger and older students alike. 

TIP 2: Talk to your child about dance at home!  Ask them to show you what they are learning!

Although many of our young dancers take just one or two classes per week, they are thinking about dance more than that! 

You can read dance books together!  Here are some fun examples:

• Angelina Ballerina

• Fancy Nancy

• Ella Bella Ballerina and The Nutcracker

Another idea is to listen to music and try some dance moves in the living room. This helps keep your child’s mind engaged about dance in an extra-fun way—because they can share it with you! 

Since dance lessons are built on structure and repetition, teaching someone else can be a fun way to practice.  

Even if your child is still working on remembering their steps, this can help exercise their memory.  Maybe they will teach you their favorite step!

TIP 3: Voice Your Support

The way you praise your child can be very useful in helping them get the most out of dance class!  

Use phrases like, “I love watching you dance!” or “I can tell you’ve been working hard.” or “Did you try your best?  

Remember the Bloom Classroom Rules and reinforce these at home: Do Your Best, Be a Good Listener, Be Kind and Have Fun. 

Your child’s confidence and enthusiasm will continue to grow with this kind of encouragement at home and in class.

TIP 4: Respect & Punctuality Make a Difference

Consistent attendance benefits each dancer and their classmates! 

Please be on time…respect yourself, your teacher and your classmates. Late students disrupt everyone’s concentration.

Students who are on time benefit and grow from important warm-ups and the technique exercises. 

Dancers who exhibit consistent attendance habits learn well and learn fast. They retain skills and are ready for the next step each week. They gain confidence and can’t wait for next week’s class.

TIP 5: Accountability and Ownership (Ms. Brittany’s perspective)

We encourage all our dancers, young and old, to take ownership for their dance experience.   Whatever effort you put into something will determine a large portion of the results! 

It's also statistically shown that "success" is determined more by consistency and perseverance than actual talent. It is important for kids to understand this at a young age and to take responsibility for their own outcome. 

When you encourage them, help them to remember that a positive attitude can literally create a positive result, especially with consistent hard work. 

Remind them that if they want something, they must be willing to work for it! Dance is such a beautiful training ground for life. You do NOT have to be BLOOMING to be GROWING.  The classroom is your space to try new things, to fall, to mess up, to keep trying. 

The best thing you can do as a parent is to be a source of encouragement for your dancer. 

Of course if your child is struggling with choreography or skill development, encourage them to talk to their teacher for help!

We hope these tips come in handy as your child progresses through their dance experience and of course, we’re always happy to answer any questions you might have.  

We’re so thankful you are part of our dance community, and we love watching your child Bloom into the person God created them to be!

Cancer, Chemo, and a Comeback

Often times we don’t realize how much we need our community, until life hands us the unexpected.

Three-year-old Kate’s dance lessons at Bloom were put on an abrupt hold when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Wilms Tumor Kidney Cancer back in April of 2018.

Kate (center front) and her family

She immediately had surgery to remove the tumor and her kidney. After the surgery, her surgeon was extremely confident they got all of the tumor, and eight days later Kate danced in Bloom’s 2018 dance recital. 

“It brought a moment of normality back to Kate’s life that had been stolen,” said Kelly, Kate’s mom.

The average cost of treating a case of childhood cancer now stands at $500,000, with parents paying an average out-of-pocket bill of $35,000. It can be a lot to take on as a family while also dealing with the emotional trauma of the diagnosis.

Many families from Bloom reached out and wanted to do something for Kate.

“Anytime you are in community with people, and you watch a family within the community go through difficult seasons you want to do something to help,” Erin Jensen, owner of Bloom Dance Studio said. “But it can be hard to know how to do that well.”

The Bloom family decided on a collective fundraiser, giving all the profits of the recital t-shirt sales to Kate. The money raised from the t-shirt sales helped cover a portion of their insurance deductible.

“We were completely blown away and speechless,” Kelly said. “To know there is a community behind us that cared and were aware of our difficulties.”

Even though they were surrounded by a caring community, it was a difficult journey to walk through. Kate spent six months receiving chemotherapy treatments, and finished her last treatment six days after she turned four-years-old.

During the chemo treatments, Kelly became concerned about neuropathy. Neuropathy, or nerve damage, is the side effects of chemotherapy like numbness, droopy eye, tripping, and loss of fine motor skills. Kate struggled to walk without falling down.

To help with this, she started physical therapy, along with a strategy to detox with a change in diet and supplements.

Kate is 5 years old now and started back at Bloom this last August to pick up where physical therapy left off. She is in beginning ballet and tap with Miss Alyssa!

Kate - 5 years old

Kate’s been off chemo for one year and is doing very well. The family has stuck to their diet changes, continue to detox Kate, and are seeking out other doctors and specialists to help keep her in remission and thriving. Her one year scans/checkup will be at the end of November.

“We love Bloom because it’s so much more than a dance studio,” Kelly said. “When our lives were flipped upside down overnight, the Bloom community came around us and supported us in so many ways.”

I Hope You Dance - Finding Freedom Through Movement

One could say Miss Alyssa was destined to teach.

When she was younger, Alyssa would line her stuffed animals up and play Sunday School. Next, she would put on fancy high heels and a dress to teach dance and choreograph a recital in the driveway. Later, she would move downstairs and make her siblings play school.

“Ever since I was five, I always loved to help people and teach people,” Miss Alyssa said.

Alyssa received fourteen years of dance education at the Jewish Community Center in Omaha. She went on to UNL to pursue a teaching degree, and decided to audition for the dance program and got in. However, at that time, the Elementary Education majors were not allowed to receive a minor.

“Dance always brought so much joy to my life,” Alyssa said. “And yet at the same time I wasn’t getting any credentials and it felt like a waste of time.”

The day Alyssa quit dance she was mopping the floor where she worked when the song, “I Hope You Dance” started to play. She told herself the next year she would try to get back into the dance program. 

That next year, UNL changed their policy and allowed Education majors to receive a minor.

“It was like a wink from God,” Alyssa said. “When you are meant for something, it follows you.”

But confidence wasn’t always easy for Alyssa. She was a nervous dancer and cared what other people thought, and it affected her dancing. It wasn’t until Alyssa went to Mozambique for two years that things changed.

“The people I was with in Africa would dance for hours before church services,” she said. “And they were so free.”

The dance minor opened up after Alyssa returned from Africa, and the director of dance at UNL noticed a remarkable change in Alyssa.

“She said it was like Africa literally got into my blood,” Alyssa said. “She said I was much more free.”

Freedom has been a huge influence in how Miss Alyssa teaches her dance classes at Bloom.

“I really want my students to feel free first and foremost,” she said. “Not striving for perfection.”

She believes being caught up in doing everything perfect can cause dancers to feel stressed and “mess up.” She likes to teach from a place of freedom and excellence.

“Freedom and excellence can be married,” Alyssa said. “The most beautiful dancers to watch on stage are the free dancers because their passion is shining through.”

Alyssa admitted she struggled to learn choreography growing up, and that gives her compassion when her students struggle. The first time she danced in front of the UNL directors she left in tears. But, in Mozambique, her fear of making mistakes broke off.

“You can’t mess dance up, because when you are free to express the beauty inside you, expressing the beauty of the art form, there is no messing up,” she said. “You might do the step wrong, but people are going to notice the freedom more than a wrong step.”

This is why in her Seeds classes Miss Alyssa likes to turn on music and encourage her students to dance like they were five again. She finds after this activity her students are more excellent when learning choreography.

“They’ve tapped into the joy, that delight, in who they were created to be,” she said. “And the gratitude that we are able to move our bodies and celebrate life in such a fun way.”

Alyssa has been with Bloom Dance Studio from the beginning. In fact, she was the first person the owner, Erin Jensen, approached when she dreamed up the studio.

“I really feel like who Alyssa is, is a part of Bloom’s DNA,” Miss Erin said. “Life, beauty, caring, and a real connection to how God feels about kids.”

Ask any of the teachers and staff at Bloom and they will say Alyssa brings joy, beauty, and life everywhere she goes, but especially at Bloom.

“Her ability to transmit how God feels about kids comes out in her classroom in how she cares for her kids, teaches her kids, and has patience with her kids,” Erin said.

Alyssa has a real niche with younger students and teaches from a place of respect and creating safe boundaries. She demands a lot from her students, but they want to give it and be around her.

“When we can feel fully safe to be ourselves, fully free to express who we are and fully loved, then within those boundaries we can experience radical freedom as a dancer,” Alyssa said.

For The Love of Dance

How do you go from “super shy” to “super fly?”

“My mom put me in dance when I was four-years-old to help me with social skills,” Ali Darr laughed. “I was super shy.”

Fast forward 19 years. Miss Ali is anything but shy and hasn’t stopped dancing.

She danced competitively through high school, and went on to receive a degree in Dance Performance & Choreography from Palm Beach Atlantic University.

“It was at university where I fell in love with dancing.” Ali said,“Using dance as a way to inspire others and nurture their soul is my passion.”

She was an original member of the Dancing Waters Company formed out of her university. Their four core values are centered around love, creativity, social justice, and spirituality. Ali traveled with the company to Colombia to teach others how to express themselves through dance.

“People were so hungry to learn and make a spiritual connection through dance, but no one had ever taught them,” Ali said. “It’s so different than teaching in America where we have so many resources.”

During her junior year, Ali studied dance abroad in Italy for a semester. She focused on flamenco, and modern and ballet technique. She also participated in an international dance festival in South Korea, and worked with one of the best modern choreographers in the city.

In 2018, Ali packed up her car and drove 25 hours (1,200 miles) to teach at Bloom Dance Studio. She taught 25 classes and choreographed around 18 dances for the recital.

“I’m so used to this competitive harsh dance environment that I love but also feel stressed by,” Ali said.

“But at Bloom, the emphasis is on loving our students and introducing them to dance. The atmosphere is so unique, and I haven’t experienced it anywhere else.”

This year, Ali is the lead teacher at the Blondo location, creating curriculum, and making sure our students are taught at their level. She is also a part of Bloom’s social media team (@danceatbloom).

“Ali has brought a level of excellence and professionalism to Bloom that has allowed us to go deeper as a studio,” Erin Jensen, owner of Bloom Dance Studio. “She challenges her students to give their best each time they enter the studio.”

Ali’s favorite part of Bloom is the team.

“It feels like a sorority of sorts because it’s all girls and we love hanging out with each other,” Ali said. “We love collaborating and working together.”

Ali will also direct the NEW Bloom Dance Company. SURPRISE!

The Bloom Dance Company consists solely of Bloom teachers who meet early Tuesday mornings. They will choreograph a show for the spring of 2020 as a fundraiser for a trip to Thailand.

“It’s really special how these opportunities continue to open up for me,” Ali said. “I feel so blessed that I can use something I love so much to connect me to people around the world.”