Hello everybody and welcome to 2017!

So as you head into the new year of dance you may be thinking ” just how can I get more students enrolling in tap classes?”

Well there are few very simple answers to this question that I like to share with our Tapatak Oz clients and teachers, as it is a question that pops up frequently. So here are my top tips for this:

1. Make sure that your tap teacher loves tap: this may sound obvious but you would be surprised the number of times a studio principal has told me that their tap teacher is uninspired and does not really like tap. If your teacher loves tap – the students will too. Simple.

2. Feature some of your tap routines when you are asked to perform out and about. This showcases your tap and gives it more prestige and kudos within your dance school. Most children love the opportunity to perform – and if some of your ” go to ” routines are tap routines – then the children are more likely to want to get involved and join the tap classes too.

3. Routines must be inspiring – this is something one of our Tapatak Oz clients mentioned to me recently actually. I had choreographed a really cool tap group for her 14 & under students that had drumming and funky suits and a really cool piece of music. This teacher revealed to me – that since the studio had started performing that routine in competitions etc more boys had signed up to tap. And in fact – one boy had told her that he decided to start tap classes as he really wanted to be in that tap routine because it ” was so cool”. So make an effort to produce fabulous tap routines and competition choreography – as students really do ” aspire ” to be in these groups and will keep coming to tap classes with an eye on that opportunity.

4. Keep the tap developing through the age groups – this is a big one as often times dance studios offer fantastic jazz, funk and contemporary that really builds through the age groups. But when it comes to the tapping – it just does not go anywhere. So whilst the students in the other genres really aspire to the senior levels because they can see how much more ‘ mature it is ” and ” how much more challenging it becomes” and “how much more edgy and stylish” the senior work is – often this is not the case with tap and the students can end up performing the same degree of difficulty in their Senior levels, as they did when they were 10 years old. This is not at all inspiring for them, so they become disillusioned and drop out!
So make sure your tap programme is exciting and that the senior students continue to be challenged and excited by what they learn. This is one of the things our Tapatak Oz clients comment upon the most frequently. The fact that they can see a real movement and progression forward from one level to the next and that the students even comment to the tap teachers that they can not wait to learn a particular exercise or routine in the next level. This is so very important. You need to make the tapping programme progressive and exciting and modern – just like the funk and jazz and contemporary. If you do this and each level gets increasingly more mature and edgy and challenging – your tap classes will be jam packed full of eager students keen to learn.

So – there you have it. Some great ideas to fire up your tapping department and launch you into a bold new year of TAP!

If you love TAP – your teachers love TAP – and you provide a tap programme that is fun, creative, progressive and modern – you will be on a winner for sure.

Too easy!

And if you want to join our happy band of tappers at Tapatak Oz – it has never been easier:

*Get masses of content that is tried and tested and takes the guess work out for you

*All ready to go – with instant access in a downloadable format

*Free updates on our website in the VIP area for all our clients – spend your money once & not over and over again as with some other syllabi

*Fantastic progressions that get results

* Warmups, technical combinations, rhythmic combinations, a capella combos, time-steps, turns, corner work and routines

* 11 levels: 4 & 5 yrs through to pre professional

It is too easy to have a fun and engaging tap department full to the brim with happy tappers and engaged, inspiring staff!

LOVE TAP AND PASS IT ON

Christine