From Studio To Stage
By Andrea Higgins

How to make the dress rehearsal a dream instead of a nightmare

There’s an old saying: “Bad dress rehearsal, good performance.” I have always been suspicious of the motivation behind it, especially since the person saying it is usually the one who is running the dress rehearsal. True, dress rehearsals are often miserable and performances are often good. But it has always seemed to me that the performances were good in spite of the dress rehearsals and that the dress rehearsals were bad due to poor planning and organization, not because some cosmic force was intent on making sure that everyone had a really bad time.

That performing is central to the dance education experience is a given. But how do we go about providing that opportunity for our students? How do we help them, and ourselves, make the transition from the studio to the stage? Are you as careful about planning your students’ orientation to the performing experience as you could and should be? Are you leaving yourself enough time to address all the problems that might arise? Are you so concerned about saving money on the theater rental that you try to cram too much into too little time? If your dress rehearsals leave everyone exhausted and traumatized, you may be allotting far too little time to them—and not charging adequately for the time you do spend. However, with careful forethought and planning, you may be able to justify more time at the theater by factoring it into your school’s budget.

Recently I began working for a dance teacher who knows how to make the transition from studio to theater effectively. Paulette Harwood, who operates Paulette’s Ballet Studio at two locations, in Newton and Medfield, MA, started her career as a professional dancer and has been in the teaching business for more than 45 years. Her performance week, which includes two days each of blocking rehearsals and dress rehearsals, creates a great learning atmosphere for her students and volunteer parents. And it is a study in time management for dance studio owners.

Days one and two at the theater are blocking days for each act. This is the students’ first experience in the theater; it is here that they learn not only their marks on the stage and which wings they enter and exit through but also the code of conduct that is expected of them. They meet the volunteers who will be chaperoning and helping them backstage and they get to learn by doing and observing.

Although blocking generally refers to the way dancers navigate the stage space, it also aptly describes the way in which Paulette schedules dancers to arrive for rehearsal. The concert program dances are divided into groups of four, with each group meeting for a 1.5-hour rehearsal block. For example, rehearsals for Act One, dances 1 through 4, are held from 3:00 to 4:30; dances 5 through 8 are scheduled for 4:30 to 6:00, and so on.

Paulette allots 15 minutes of stage time for each dance, during which she talks to the students about the rules of conduct, the teachers block their dances, and the students run through them. After the each group of students is excused from the stage, they sit with chaperones in a designated area of the house and watch the other three dances in their time block repeat the process. This is followed by a half-hour run-through of all dances in order. So on the first blocking day alone, the children have two opportunities to be onstage and run their dances, and they do so in an unhurried way that makes their learning, comfort, and success central to the experience. For students who are in more than one dance (which includes almost all of the children in Paulette’s schools), the process is repeated. Those who are not in more than one dance are free to go at the end of their time.

After two days of blocking the students follow the same process for dress rehearsal, except of course in full costume. The volunteer helpers (who have been observing all the blocking rehearsals) and kids coordinate the backstage experience together. They figure out all the quick-change situations and set up a communication system of stations to make sure each class gets into the wings in time for its entrance. Like the blocking rehearsals, the dress rehearsals are run in 1.5-hour blocks, with each group taking the stage for 15 minutes, followed by a half-hour run-through. This schedule provides enough leeway to address lighting, costume, or other performance mishaps that arise without getting behind schedule. In fact, Paulette’s dress rehearsals often run ahead of schedule.

Children have much to absorb and remember when they transition from the studio to the stage—as do you. Isn’t it worth it to provide a context in which everyone will learn and succeed? In dance, that context involves time and space. Yes, more time at the theater means more expense, but it’s a valid one. And if you provide a valuable learning experience for your students, you deserve to be compensated for it. Keep that in mind when planning your next performance and setting tuition rates for your school.

There is a line in the baseball movie Field of Dreams—“Build it and they will come”—which has meaning on multiple levels. They apply just as well to dance. Build a fabulous dance education experience for your students in the studio and in the theater, and they will come, and learn, and succeed. And remember.

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