Top 3 Ways to Keep Your Dance Studio Alive and Well During The COVID-19 Crisis

The coronavirus has managed to impact all of our lives in a very significant way in just a few months. Restaurants, fitness clubs, churches, dance studios, and more are all being shut down due to the virus. There is a lot of confusion and panic about what the next few months will look like as a small business owner, especially as a dance studio owner.

Due to the nature of our business, we rely on people and community more than anything. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused most dance studios to shut down, it will take a lot of creativity and thinking outside the box to keep your students engaged and progressing without a physical dance class to attend.

Fortunately, we live in a very technologically savvy world where we can connect and communicate with each other through a huge variety of online formats.

It is 100% possible to still have a thriving dance community through the virtual world! In this post, I will share a few strategies to keep your dance studio successful and your students engaged in the learning process despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Step 1:  Keep your students engaged and focused by creating a challenge to reward them for practicing at home and posting about it on social media. 

Each week, record a video with instructions on how to complete this specific challenge. Don’t forget to include the rules. If you are doing a weekly challenge, pick a day to post the instructional video and then choose a deadline that your students need to post their videos. For example, you could post every Sunday and request that your students complete the challenge by Thursday. Make sure to have them tag your studio in their posts! 

Challenges your students will love:

  • Post your favorite dance move
  • Post a short improv session
  • Teach your family 2 8-counts of your recital piece
  • Learn a short combo and share it on social media.

Step 2:  Encourage growth within your students by creating and posting stationary exercises for your dancers to do at home. 

Ballet exercises that are easy to do in small spaces:

  • Plies
  • Tendus
  • Degages
  • Grande battements
  • Stretches

Exercises to keep up endurance and strength:

For jazz and other dance styles, think of movements that can be done in small spaces from home. When posting these exercises, it may be helpful to include pictures or an instructional video.

 Here is an example of an account that does this seamlessly! https://www.instagram.com/dance.labs/ 

**Pro Tip: You can post your videos on your social media channels and send out emails with links to your posts so that your students know where to find them.  

Step 3: Create weekly check-ins for your dancers and their parents. 

Choose one day a week to host a live video update on your Facebook or Instagram to inform parents with what you are doing to make this experience the best for them and their children despite the coronavirus.

It can be very therapeutic to share stories about what you are doing during quarantine. How are you staying positive? What steps are you taking to stay healthy? How are you staying connected to family and friends during this time? These questions can facilitate great conversations between you and your dance community. Having a positive outlook on the situation can help immensely!

Talking about the COVID-19 pandemic with others helps everyone feel less isolated and alone, despite being quarantined. The key is keeping everyone informed and updated.

Here are 3 action steps to take right now:

  • Create your first social media challenge
  • Post a stationary exercise video for your students
  • Schedule a LIVE session on your Facebook/Instagram and send out an email to invite your clients

Make sure to stay hopeful and positive anytime you communicate with your staff or clients!  Everyone is looking at you to be a leader. Your students need you. Your staff needs you. And your community needs you.

You can do this!

Your Biggest Fan,

Micaela Royer
CEO, The Streamlined Studio

Everything you need to market your studio on social media in our Exclusive Members Club.

  • PLAN your entire month of social media posts in under 2 hours
  • MARKET your online classes
  • CONNECT with your community
  • SEE more followers commenting on your content
  • UNDERSTAND what works for your studio
  • & GET NOTICED by new leads!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share!

Share this post with your friends and peers!