I recently discovered that another dance studio in town is circulating a flyer entitled
“Questions to ask when choosing a dance studio”.
Move With Grace is happy to answer these questions and any others that you may have!
Below are the questions that our competitor feels are important to ask – the wording of the questions is exactly from the flyer – the answers are all Move With Grace Dance Studio.
Are your teachers able to dance and demonstrate?
Yes of course! Our teachers are all adult professionals. One of my favorite quotes, first given to me by a mentor of mine, Brian Foley:
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
Move with Grace works hard to inspire our dancers!
Do you have graduates that have gone on to dance professionally?
Our graduates have gone on to dance professionally on cruise ships, and stage shows. Two of our graduates are pursuing B.A’s in dance at York University and one is at George Brown in the dance program. However most of our dancers use dance to enhance themselves as a person. Most of our dancers are becoming nurses, lawyers and teachers.
Whether they are pursuing dance as a career or some other post secondary education, they will all tell you, dancing at Move With Grace was a rewarding part of their education. How do I know this? They drop by and visit. I get hugs when I see them in the mall and they become a part of our extended family.
Do your students take major exams and do they pass?
We have done exams with the Canadian Dance Teachers Association and with the British Association of Dancing. All of our candidates have passed successfully!
Are your students able to take class anywhere else and how do they handle the experience?
Our students have danced on the world Tap; Ballet and Jazz teams, attended the National Ballet of Canada summer program, and attended the Royal Winnipeg Ballet summer program, Quinte Ballet School and workshops in NYC. Two of our dancers danced in LA last summer and many of our dancers have attended workshops connected to competitions and put on by different dance organizations. Our staff also attends workshops in NYC and Toronto to keep fresh and enthusiastic about our art. We encourage our students and teachers to broaden their horizons.
I am happy to recommend a workshop or summer program that would be good for your child.
Do you have award winning students?
We sure do! Our competition team wins scholarships, overalls and special awards consistently, but the wins that mean the most to Move with Grace – the child who first learns to skip :), the kid who has struggled all year and gets up on stage at recital…. those are the real wins! 🙂
Trophies tarnish, good sportsmanship and greater self esteem – those are the things you hold for a lifetime.
Do your 2-5 year olds learn the basics in dance?
Our Kiddazzle program was developed by me while I was attaining my B.A. in dance at the University of Waterloo. We address kinesthetic, visual and auditory learning styles and have a FUN set syllabus that ensures your child learns not just the steps but the names of the steps and some fun rhymes to practice at home.
Are the students who have danced with you able to move on to Pointe without any problems?
Pointe work is beautiful but very demanding. The students wanting to do Pointe are required to do the year long Pre Pointe Syllabus first to ensure success – minimum hours of dancing and a minimum age is required. If you are interested in Pointe work for your child I would be happy to set up a meeting and talk about the requirements
Do you encourage a positive environment especially to the teens?
YES! YES! YES! … But not especially to the teens … especially to all! It is what Move With Grace is all about!!!
Are your dancers chronically injured?
Dance is very difficult on the body and injuries sometimes occur. All of our teachers are adult professionals. All of our floors are sprung (the same as Centre in the Square and Drayton entertainment … built by the same professional). Our progressions ensure that the student is not taking on movements before they have built the muscle to handle them.
Do your dancers who are now graduates suffer from injury?
Only me and my 40 year old knees! 🙂
Do you have years of proven results?
Yes! We are going into our 10th year of teaching the children of Cambridge to dance and have just expanded to a 10,000 sq. ft. facility with sprung floors in all 5 rooms and 80 parking spaces!
Do you change with the times?
Our teachers continually upgrade their skills at workshops and teacher training seminars. We also love parent feedback of all kinds … that is how we improve. 🙂
This year we had our recital at the new Dunfield Theatre because that is what our clients asked for. We also have a new expanded level in all our recreational classes.
Do you allow anyone to watch classes or is there some sort of monitoring system in place to insure the student’s privacy?
At Move With Grace it is important to us that you can watch the progress of your children at all times. Nothing we do is behind closed doors. Our lobby is enjoyed by family and occasionally friends of our students.
Do you have small class sizes? What is your teacher to student ratio?
Our class sizes vary with the age and level of the children attending.
Are your Acro teachers and other senior teachers qualified to teach elite or professional level dancers?
Our Acro teachers are both professional adults with great certifications. If you are interested in our Acro program, please read the bios of Miss Glynnis and Miss Kylie. Both have extensive dance training and acrobatics. Move With Grace also has an excellent relationship with the Kips Gymnastics Club and our elite Acrobatic dancers train their tumbling skills in a Move With Grace only class at the gym.
As for senior teachers – we are unsure if this meant “student” teachers, however, Move With Grace believes in having adult teachers in all classrooms. All of our teacher’s bios can be found on our website.
Do you give your students opportunity to teach and do you train them to do so?
As mentioned, Move With Grace believes adults have a better way to handle a classroom and impart the love of dance to children. We do not have senior students teach a class. We do have several classroom assistants each year. Our classroom assistant must commit to be in that class all year (as kids get attached to them) they help with attendance, shoe tying, escorting young dancers to the washroom and helping keep all of the kids on task. In the event that the teacher is delayed or absent that day the student assistant may start the warm up or take the class over for a night. The teaching assistant is then familiar with the students and the syllabus they are working on.
Move With Grace is also fully special needs friendly and many students volunteer to be classroom assistants in classes with special needs kids.
We do believe in mentorship as well. We invite our senior competitive students who have previously volunteered to apply to choreograph a novice solo or small group under the direction of Miss Robyn. The parents are informed that this will be student choreography at the time of offering.
Are your classes fun and are your students able to dance after they have taken class at your studio?
Our classes are super fun and well structured! Feel free to ask us for a program sheet of syllabus for any of our dance styles. Can they dance??? Well, I sure hope so – that’s our job!
Are your students treated with respect and are they taught to treat their teachers with respect?
We have a very clear Mission and Vision and Points of Culture that our staff hold dear. We were founded so our three children, who are all different, could all achieve their personal greatness in a loving supportive environment.
As for respecting our staff, please give us the opportunity to EARN your respect! I am confident that Move With Grace will exceed your expectations!
Let me know if you have any other questions, I am happy to tell you all about us!
Sincerely
Robyn Tedesco
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