In episode 14, we are back with Part 2 of our Recital Fun podcast and discuss ordering costumes, announcing our  characters, props, production value, and our opening number! 

Ordering Costumes: We review catalogs and decide on all costumes at recital retreat with our key staff. Once a costume is confirmed, we add the details such as catalog, wholesale cost, color and accessories into our master spreadsheet so it’s easily accessible when it’s time to actually place the order. If we can't find the perfect costume, we improvise by creating some of our own things and mixing with pieces from a catalog. 

Announcing Characters: We use our Edge Performing Company dancers for characters as they already perform in every show! We usually choose graduating seniors as main characters and then they are also included in many of the preschool productions. We announce the characters on Instagram just like our show, and the kids start asking us about who the characters are right after we post the show! It creates lots of fun anticipation about the show! Once announced, we use them to promote the show. We also have a fun tradition of creating big posters of the characters that we use as decor at the show. Then, these posters hang in the studio as fun memory for everyone! 

Props & Production Value: We call all our preschool class dances preschool productions. We create an experience for the kids and audience that feels like a 3-4 minute show within itself. This creates a memorable WOW factor and prompts many to register for next season right after the show. 

• Take basic props a step further. EX: We bought a small electric kids' toy Ford F150 a few years ago and covered it in colorful duct tape to coordinate with our theme and had an older dancer drive it onto the stage in the middle of one of the preschool productions hauling giant piece of wrapped "candy" for kids to grab.  
• Create fun background sets with a cut-out for dancers to walk through. EX: giant gum ball machine with a slide in the middle. When the kids slid down onto the stage, it looked like they were little gum balls coming out of the machine. 
• Incorporate characters into the dance! 

Creating the Opening Number: This is a "combo" routine of all 4 of our Edge companies and is one of our favorite things! We are the producers and create the idea, music, costuming and direct it all, but we have the Rhythm faculty and sometimes a guest contribute to the process! It's an amazing way to open our show as it is big, fun and VERY entertaining! We also compete it. The main characters have different costumes and then an separate costume for each company. This is the first year that we have divided up our companies due to covid. We did a Teen/Senior one that will open our show anda mini/junior one the teen senior one that will close act 1. 

Episode 15 will include a special fun guest, and then for Episode 16 we will be back with part 3 of Recital Fun where we will dive deeper into our spring break planning week and all the final to-dos on our list. 

Subscribe & Share

You are officially invited to subscribe to our podcast, and we would love you to leave us a 5 star rating and review! We'll share one review each week and send that person a special Confetti prize! We'd also love for you to share our podcast on social media! Tag us and we'll repost! 

Let's Get Social!

• Join our FREE Confetti Circle
• Request to join our private Facebook Group
• Follow us on Insta, Facebook and Pinterest