Why Don’t You…Host a Dance Movie Theme Week!?

You may have seen the Why Don’t You? question on our Instagram feed in the past or even in this blog post from last year to nudge dance teachers and studios to incorporate new and simple ideas to #makedancefun! We’re excited to make our Why Don’t You? theme a regular occurrence on our blog! In this, our second installment of Why Don’t You? on the blog, we’re proposing that you host a theme week based on dance movies!

Everyone loves the movies! And for dancers, DANCE movies are especially fun! So, why don’t you bring the movies to your studio with a fun Dance Movie Theme Week!

You can try this fun idea once per month or just on occasions when you want to generate some excitement and studio spirit. It’s super simple to pull off! Here are a few simple pointers on how you can pull it off and make it super fun for everyone at your studio!

• Announce to your studio at least a week in advance that it’s Movie Week, and select a fun dance movie! Some of our favorite dance movies include Footloose, Newsies, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Happy Feet, High School Musical, Tap, White Nights, Chicago, Grease and most recently, The Greatest Showman! You could even choose some classics like Singing in the Rain or Swing Time! You can also do it for young kids with a Disney movie! Just make sure to announce the ratings and make sure it is appropriate for the age group!
• If you want, you can choose to host a movie night at your studio the weekend preceding your Movie Week. You can make it profitable by selling popcorn, candy and drinks (be careful with legal concerns of selling tickets to watch the movie). This could even be used as a fundraiser for your performing companies! Or, you can just make it a fun social event for your studio.
• If you aren’t ready or equipped to host the event at your studio, consider working with a local theatre for a private showing of a current movie (or just purchasing bulk tickets in advance). You can have your dancers/families pay for their own tickets. Our current fave is definitely The Greatest Showman! It has a great message, and the dancing and dancers performing in the movie are amazing to say the least! And the soundtrack…the best! If you haven’t seen it yet, run–don’t walk!
• At the movie showing at your studio and/or in all classes during Dance Movie Theme Week, you could teach a combo to the music, ask dancers and teachers to dress in the theme. Teachers can add an element to dance class in the style of dancing from the movie, use music from the movie and even share some fun facts and dance history! If showing the movie, dancers can perform the combo for parents at the end of the evening.
• Create a hashtag for your Dance Movie Theme Week to use as you promote it. It could be as simple as your studio name combined with “movie week” (ex: #rhythmmovieweek) and/or you could get creative with each movie name (ex. #rhythmcutsfootloose). It’s OK to have multiple hashtags!
• If you know us at all, you know we love a themed wall! We definitely suggest that you decorate an area in your studio in the theme of the movie! This will help put dancers in the spirit of the theme and will also generate some social media buzz! Just a few ideas: Footloose: Prom wall! Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: 80’s theme! Happy Feet: a frozen scene or all black and white! There are so many directions you can go! Encourage dancers to snap pics throughout movie week in front of this backdrop using your movie week hashtag!

You can take the theme as extreme as you want to go, or keep it simple! Either way, your dancers will love the fun that Dance Movie Theme Week will add to your studio!