While immersed in preparation, you can still keep things fun! 

If you have a theme for your show, run a contest to see who can guess what it is. You can drop hints in your newsletter, social media or around the studio.

You can offer the winner merch, an ad in the program, or tickets to the show. While your students may already know by now, others wont! Use this opportunity to get outsiders invested. 

Run a dance contest on social media. Challenge people to create their own choreography to a song you are using in the show. Share the winning video on social media, and maybe even on the screen during the pre-show slides! The winner could receive free registration to summer dance camp, merch, etc. This is a cool way to celebrate people outside of your studio. This helps them learn the fun, family vibes you’ve created. . 

Create a promo video for the show. Challenge your families to post it on their social media pages, and the person with the most shares gets a gift card! 

Design a prize wheel. When the students spin will be up to you. Maybe they mastered some choreography, nailed a triple, or got student of the month. This keeps students engaged and  excited for the show. 

Measure the success of these ideas, so the following year you can tweak, change, or ditch any. If something went really well, your students will press you to continue. Reproduce and replicate all of the things that worked, and get rid of the ones that didn’t. 

Your show is potentially the number one advertisement that you have for your studio. This is the end result with so much promise. Don’t approach it as though you’re filing the audience with just the families that you have. Think outside of the box! 

We have a fantastic module on this in SOS, our online subscription site. If you haven't signed up, head to dancebookkeeping.co/studio-owner-solutions to learn more!