What are Shows?
Shows are performances we produce for our pupils to dance in. These may be in house, at public events, or in a theatre.

Why do we do Shows?
We want you to see how awesome our pupils are! They work so hard and deserve to show off what they’ve been working on. Shows go great alongside exam work. Exam work focuses on technique, rhythm, learning new moves and improving your dance skills. Shows focus on combining all those elements with performance skills to create a well-rounded dancer. Shows promote confidence, teamwork, and commitment. Because we are a Theatre Branch school, we teach dance styles that are designed to be performed on stage (for example at a Ballet or in a West End Musical). Performance experience is essential for any child learning these styles, firstly so they have context and understand why we teach what we do, and secondly, for any children who want to Dance in adulthood, knowing how Theatres work and about performance is essential preparation.

When are the Shows?
We usually have our main show every other year with a couple of smaller events in between. We will let you know as soon as we set show dates.

What do we do in the Show?
This depends on the production. However, in our main whole school production, each class has at least 1 dance to perform based around the chosen show theme. Each dance is performed in specific costuming and includes professional staging and lighting. The Show is also videoed by a professional Videographer so that parents and students have a great way to remember the event and share it with friends and family members who couldn’t make it on the day.

How can I help?
When we are organising productions, we always need help. People to help the children backstage (making sure they get to the stage on time and don’t miss their cues and helping them change and organise their costumes), ushering the audience in to the theatre, selling programmes and collecting costumes. If anyone is able to help in any way, please let us know as it is impossible for us to put on full scale shows for the children at the cost we do without support from the broader school community.

How/when do students learn the show dances?
In their usual classes. There will also be in theatre rehearsals so that the students are aware of spacing etc in the venue and can get a feel for the experience before performing in front of an audience. It is vital that pupils attend all rehearsals not only so they can learn the dances, but also out of respect for their fellow dancers. It is very hard to move forward with choreography when people have been missing the previous week and we have to re-teach work that has already been set.

What’s a dress rehearsal?
This is a rehearsal for all pupils involved in the show to practice in costume. We make sure the costumes fit, that they are suitable for dancing in, and it gives the performers chance to dance in what they will be wearing for the show. This can often feel very different to rehearsing in your class uniform. Dancers usually take their costumes home on this day.

How much do shows cost?
There is no performance fee, but we do require a costume hire fee. This fee will depend on how many classes the dancer takes and usually starts at £5pp. If you take Ballet, Tap, Freestyle, Street Dance and Musical Theatre, your fee will be higher than someone who only takes one class because there will be more costumes for us to buy/make/alter/launder.

Tickets!
Tickets will go on sale around 6 weeks before the show and can be bought through the venue website or in their box office. Tickets usually sell out in advance so make sure you’re not waiting to buy on the day.

What happens on show day?
We will give you a time to arrive for rehearsals, there will be a break to eat, then the performance! For example, the day has run like this in the past:
12pm Rehearsals Start

3pm Rehearsals End- Break for Dinner

4:30pm Everyone returns to start getting ready

6pm Show Starts

>>>All pupils MUST be signed in on the day, checking that their medical form and emergency contact details are correct. Pupils must be signed out by their parent/carer before leaving the venue. This is a legal requirement.

What happens to costumes after the show?
Please bring your costumes back to your next class after the show, in the costume bag that you received them in with the dancer’s name on, so we can tick you off the list (and chase up missing costumes).

Any other questions?
If you think of anything else we haven’t covered here, drop us an email at events@cccdanceandfitness.co.uk we will be happy to help you.