Why your dance studio should host a Nutcracker Workshop
Most people might be reaching for their Pumpkin Spice Lattes right about now, but dancers know that it’s already Nutcracker time! Love it or hate it, the seasonal favorite is here again, with tiny tots and professional dancers alike heading into the rehearsal studio to perfect their performances as party guests, snowflakes, candy canes, and the like.
The Nutcracker remains an essential part of American culture each December, even as ballet audiences may be dwindling at other times of the year. Hundreds of future dancers are inspired each year to step into ballet classes after being enchanted by the Sugar Plum Fairy or Nutcracker Cavalier. But for other audience members old and young alike, The Nutcracker is their only exposure to classical ballet.
While the thought of hearing The Dance of The SugarPlum Fairy music even one more time might make us dance industry professionals cringe, we can also see the public’s love affair with this holiday ballet as an opportunity. Hosting a Nutcracker Workshop at your studio is one great way that you can use this holiday classic to help educate students about the art of classical ballet and hopefully inspire them to study it further by registering for your classes.
Why Nutcracker Workshops can be a great marketing tool
Hosting a Nutcracker Workshop can be a great marketing tool for your dance school or studio. Not only can it be a profitable event, but it can also inspire your current ballet students, encourage your dancers of other styles to give ballet classes a try, and even bring in new students. Here are some of the reasons why hosting a Nutcracker Workshop is a a good way to promote your studio and help build your ballet program:
The Nutcracker has brand recognition
People know and love The Nutcracker, and might be more incentivized to attend an educational event based on the familiar theme than a generic ballet workshop. Because The Nutcracker is so recognizable and beloved, events with this theme can be a great way to introduce your most ballet-phobic students to ballet, and opening them to the public can be a good way to reach new families. As a bonus – unlike some popular movies and TV shows, The Nutcracker is considered public domain!
People indulge during the holidays
The holidays, in general, are a time of indulgence and extravagance. Families are often looking for fun holiday-themed activities for their children, and giving experiences as gifts is trendy right now! Caregivers might even be more inclined to spend a little bit extra for a truly special holiday experience, giving you the opportunity to earn a higher return on investment than you might for summer camps or workshops.
The Nutcracker can be fun for all ages
Whether you are planning an afternoon event or a week-long extravaganza, it is easy to adapt a Nutcracker Workshop for any age group. Young dancers will jump at the chance to march like toy soldiers and scurry like little mice. Intermediate dance student will go gaga for the chance to learn some of the real Nutcracker variations, modified slightly for their skill level. And what adult ballet student wouldn’t be at least a little bit in love with the idea of dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy variation at least once in their lives! With just a little adaptation to the curriculum, you easily use a single format to offer Nutcracker Workshop for all ages and skill levels, allowing you to offer programming for your whole studio or community!
Things to consider when planning a Nutcracker Workshop
There are many ways you can approach a Nutcracker Workshop, depending on the culture of your studio, the needs of your students, and the expectations of your families. Below are some things to consider when you are planning your Nutcracker Workshop. Reflecting on each of these questions will help you determine the kind of event to hold, the length and schedule of your program, and how much you can charge.
Your dance studio culture
If you are a busy studio with lots going on, offering the Workshop as a quick and fun event on a Friday night might provide a nice respite from an intense rehearsal schedule. If you are trying to grow a culture of rigorous training, a week long Nutcracker-themed winter break intensive with classes, rehearsals, and coaching sessions might be just the right fit. If you offer a more recreational environment, try a Saturday afternoon event complete with a tea party and visit from the Sugar Plum Fairy.
The unique needs of your dance students
How familiar are your students with classical ballet? If they are certified “bunheads” already, then challenging variations or pas de duex work might be appropriate. If they are newer to ballet or dance in general, use the workshop to introduce participants to the elements of classical ballet such as dance vocabulary, storytelling, costumes and sets, and music. If you anticipate mixed age groups and levels of experience, focusing on performance quality, characterization, and mime can be both accessible for the novices and a challenging change of pace for the more advanced dancers.
The expectations of your current dance studio families
Do your studio families expect all-out magic at special events, or do they prefer something a little more low-key? Do you think your students of all ages will be interested in attending a special event like this, or should you target it to a certain population, such as your preschoolers or advanced dancers? Based on your current tuition and fees, how much can you reasonably charge for a special event – and what can you afford to offer for that price? What other events are students required to participate in, such as master classes, holiday performances, and competitions? How will these impact when and how you offer your Nutcracker Workshops? Reflecting on each of these questions will help you determine the kind of event to hold, the length and schedule of your program, and how much you can charge.
Your community climate
If you are planning to market your event to a broader audience in your community, beyond your current clientele, there are additional questions to consider. What are the most popular kinds of kid’s activities in your area, and when are they scheduled? It would be ideal to tie into what is popular in the area, but not try to directly compete with those activities. For example, if you are in a sports-centric community, a workshop focusing on the athleticism of the Russian/Trepak/Candy Cane divertissement and how ballet can improve skills needed for sports might be a draw. But of course, you wouldn’t schedule it at the same time as a Friday night high school football game or when the local college is playing their biggest rival.
You should also consider your community’s holiday calendar. Would your event face a lot of competition from other local holiday fare? Are there weekends to avoid, like the tree lighting ceremony? Or can you tie your event into another local celebration, such as marketing it during your appearance at the town Thanksgiving parade or even hosting it in conjunction with a touring production of The Nutcracker? Do other dance studios offer a lot of special activities, events, or workshops during the holiday season? Can you partner with them in any way? Or, can you bring a sample of your Nutcracker Workshop concept into your local schools as a lecture-demonstration assembly?
Finally, as with all things business, you must consider the local economy. What are local families in your community willing to spend for kids activities, holiday events, and on the arts in general? Do some market research and see what other organizations are charging before determining a price point for your Nutcracker Workshop.
How to plan a Nutcracker Workshop for your dance studio
Once you’ve taken some time to think about the factors above, start developing a strategy for your event. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Decide if you’re hosting a single or multi-day workshop, how long each session will be, whether it will consist of just a dance class or a class along with other activities.
- Determine if you will offer a single workshop for a certain age group or skill level, have separate workshops for different age groups and levels, or have mixed ages and levels dancing together in a single workshop.
- Figure out how much staff you will need, whether your current staff has the resources they need to successfully conduct such a workshop, or if you want to hire a guest teacher for the day.
- Set a budget for the event, taking into account staff pay, any props or costume pieces you’d like to supply, resources needed for crafts, games, or activities, outside vendors such as actors to portray characters from the ballet (you can also use your advanced students!), any food or drink you want to provide, and marketing.
- Begin an aggressive marketing strategy to get the word out several weeks in advance:
- Social Media – Be sure to create ads and boost posts to reach new audiences in your local area if you plan to open the event to the public.
- Studio Newsletters, Handouts, and Postcards – Consider offering a discount if a current student brings a friend who is not currently enrolled.
- Studio Website or Blog – You can tease the event with a short video clip, a brief history of the ballet, or a schedule of all the fun things students will experience.
- Community Calendars, Parenting Blogs, and Neighborhood Newsletters – If you plan to open the event to public, take advantage of all local forums for getting the word out! Be sure you have a dynamic, themed photo and snappy description of the workshop to entice new students!
- Local Press – Draft up a press release and send to contacts at local community newspapers.
- Partnerships – Reach out to regional or touring companies that will be performing the ballet in your area and see if they would be open to cross-promotion, discounts, or other partnership opportunities.
Lesson planning for your dance studio’s Nutcracker Workshop
After the administrative work is complete, it’s time for the fun part – Lesson Planning! Whether you plan to teach the workshop yourself, have a faculty member teach or co-teach, or bring in a guest teacher, you will need a good lesson plan to help the dance portion of the event go smoothly and meet the needs of your students. I recommend an hour long dance session for students 3-6, 90 minutes for students 7-11, and 2 hours or more for older students, depending on their level of experience and interest. For all students, I recommend the including following components:
A fun, dynamic warm-up that fits the theme
In many cases, particularly if you are working with new dancers or dancers who are new to ballet, a full barre wouldn’t be necessary or appropriate. Consider using an upbeat version of the music and working in some cardio, asking students to improvise in the style of different characters, or playing dance games incorporating full-bodied warm-up movement such as “Sugar Plum Says…” A fun warm-up is a great way to hook students, getting them engaged in the workshop from the start and setting the stage (figuratively, at least!) for what is to come.
Progressions or center work that introduce movement from the choreography
I am a big believer in introducing students to the components of choreography as a progression or short combination first. I break elements of the choreography down into small, easy to learn segments so that students can focus on the basic technique involved first, without worrying about remembering long movement sequences. Come up with several dimple progressions or combinations that help the participants master the movement without the pressure of memorizing the full choreography and timing. Then, when it comes time to teach the choreography, the dancers will feel more confident, prepared, and excited!
Activities to work on performance quality, expression, and story-telling
We know that dance is much more than technique and choreography, but for some reason, these become the prime focus of most workshops and master classes. I think it is important to include activities that help dancers work on performance quality, expression, and story-telling. This can be especially helpful if you have a group of mixed-level dancers, as everyone from a first time dancer to a professional can benefit from working on these. Here are some ideas:
- Use improvisation to help students explore movement quality relevant to the characters they are portraying. For example, how does a snowflake move through the sky during a flurry, or a blizzard? Use props, such as cotton pieces, scarves, tissue paper “snowflakes”, etc, to demonstrate the qualities such as lightness, speed, and softness. Have the students describe the qualities in words, show with individual body parts, and use their full body moving in space improvisationally. Then, ask them to incorporate those same feelings during appropriate parts of the choreography.
- Introduce miming, including the different gestures and postures used in classical ballet mime. Students can even make up their own phrases to mime and perform them for one another, with the audience having to “guess” the translation. Explain the importance of mime in classical ballet as a way for the dancer to communicate the story to the audience without the use of words. Depending on the age, level, and interest of your students, you can go back in ballet history and look at roots of ballet as an interlude in operas and talk about the role of mime in Jean-Georges Noverre’s theory of ballet d’action.
- Incorporate elements of acting, including facial expression, staging and blocking, and story-telling. This might be a fun opportunity to collaborate with a local theatre teacher or director to introduce students to the theatrical aspects of dance performance.
Choreography from The Nutcracker Ballet
Choose a selection from the ballet that is appropriate for your dancers. If you are not requiring pre-registration, be prepared for both male and female dancers as well as dancers of mixed ages and levels. No matter what role you are teaching, you can teach the traditional choreography, make adaptations to the original, or choreograph your own version that meets the skill level of your students. Note: Unlike the musical composition and story, some versions of the choreography require strict permission to use and must be staged by an authorized representative of the company. When in doubt, do your research before teaching choreography that you have seen else. Some of my favorite ideas, broken down by age group, include:
- Age 3-6
- Lullaby section from the party scene – Bonus points if you encourage dancers to bring their own dolls or make a cute little teddy bear during the craft time to hold while dancing!
- Soldiers/Mice from the battle scene – Be warned that this can be scary for the youngest dancers, and sometimes involves a LOT of staging which can get confusing! But who doesn’t love marching, scampering, and playing pretend!
- Polichinelles/Clowns/Mother Ginger’s Children – This is a particularly fun, energetic section, and it can be a little easier to teach as it is a stand-alone section and not part of a larger scene.
- Age 7-11
- Ballerina/Soldier/Harlequin Dolls from the party scene – There are endless interpretations of the first act dolls in different productions, so you can have a lot of fun choosing your. favorites and staging them.
- Chinese Variation/Tea – Note, for this all variations inspired in a particular culture, be sure you are adapting the choreography so it doesn’t rely on stereotyped gestures like pointed fingers. There are many beautiful, modern versions of this divertissement that are inspired by authentic aspects of Chinese culture rather than stereotypes.
- Russian Dance/Trepak/Candy Canes – This is a fun one for high-energy students or students who have tumbling experience.
- Age 12+
- Waltz of the Snowflakes or Flowers – These are great for introducing movement quality, working as an ensemble, and picking up large sections of choreography quickly. Advanced students can work on pointe, while intermediate students can remain in slippers.
- Spanish or Arabian Variations – These are more mature divertissements, requiring stylistic movement, intricate timing, and expression. For the Arabian dance, as with the Chinese divertissement, be careful not to rely on stereotyped movements or gestures.
- Sugar Plum Fairy Pas de Deux or Variation – This is a great opportunity to work on partnering skills or advanced technique by tackling some of the most challenging choreography from the ballet.
Other fun activities to include in your Nutcracker Workshop
A Nutcracker Workshop can include so much more than just a dance class! To make your event extra special, consider adding one of these other fun activities to your workshop. To make your planning easier, I’ve included links to some items that you might consider using to facilitate these activities. Disclaimer: If you purchase the items found at these links, I may receive compensation, at no additional cost to you. Please purchase at your own discretion.
End of workshop showing
At the end of the Nutcracker Workshop, allow time for the participants to perform what they’ve learned for their families. If you are adding an arts and crafts component (see below), you can make a simple costume piece or prop to use in the performance. Make the moment extra special by presenting each with a flower during their bows as a memento of the event. You can also attach a little card with a coupon for future class registration, if appropriate. Take lots of photos to share on social media – with dancer and caregiver’s permission, of course!
Interactive Story Time
Read your favorite Nutcracker storybook to the workshop participants, making the story come alive with vocal effects, background music, or puppets. You can also pause and allow the students to do some creative movement based on each section. For example, they could dance happily as if they received a special gift after the party scene, scamper around like mice after the battle scene, float and fly like snowflakes, and bloom like beautiful flowers. After reading the story, ask the participants to tell you about their favorite parts or characters. There are so many different versions of The Nutcracker story available as children’s books. I’m including links to a few of the best known here, but you will want to check it out first and make sure the story as presented in the book represents your vision for the workshop:
- The Nutcracker Ballet Book by K.A. Devlin
- The Nutcracker by
- The Nutcracker: A Classic Christmas Book for Kids (Little Golden Book) by
- The Nutcracker by
Video Viewing or In-Studio Performance
Show video clips of the ballet as you describe the plot, and highlight how the dancers are using their bodies to communicate the story. If you prefer a live performance, have your older students perform some of selections from the ballet or invite college students or a regional company to give an in-studio performance.
Nutcracker Tea
Host a tea party before or after the dance class. You can set up tables and decorate your lobby or second studio space with cute themed decor, like these banners and table cloths. Plan simple, Nutcracker related sweets – anything from pre-packaged cookie dough cut into Nutcracker shapes with these cookie cutters to store-bought cupcakes with themed toppers. (You can also check Pinterest for tons of healthier recipes, if you are ambitious!) Serve the snacks along with lemonade or juice in cute paper tea cups like these.
Nutcracker Character Visits
Contract a local actor to come visit as a character from the ballet, or invite your older students to dress up in old costumes and make an appearance. Set up a photo area where the participants can get pictures with the characters, using decor like this sweet backdrop and fun props to pose with. Create a hashtag that includes your studio name, like #ABCStudioNutcrackerParty, and ask dancers to use this hashtag and tag your studio account when sharing on social media.
Nutcracker Arts & Crafts
Make simple Nutcracker themed crafts that can serve as a souvenir from the event, or even be used as props or headpieces while dancing. You can search Pinterest for DIY ideas, or get ready-to-make crafts like these Nutcracker ornaments, fairy wands, or crowns.
Don’t forget this important final step
Most importantly – remember the follow-up after the Nutcracker Workshop! You’ve engaged the participants – and their families – enough to participate in your work, now you can help develop their love for ballet even further by doing the following:
- Ask the participants to reflect on what they’ve learned and what they think of ballet after attending the workshop. Post some of the comments to your social media pages (with permission, of course!).
- Send dancers home with a coupon for discounted registration in your weekly ballet classes.
- Send a thank you note to participants with a photo from the event, and include a promo code for your next workshop or for class registration.
- Organize a field trip so that your students can see a local or touring ballet company perform – many will offer group discounts, backstage tours, or meet and greets with the dancers.
- Plan a follow-up workshop for the spring that focuses on a different ballet Sleeping Beauty or Coppelia. Provide each attendee with a flier and coupon to attend, either as they leave the event or by mail.
- Make sure new dancers are added to your mailing list and that you follow up with an email or phone call to invite them to return for a trial class or another workshop.
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