Try something new in your dance classes this summer!
Summer is the perfect time to try something new in your dance classes. After a long season, dance teachers and students are ready for a different experience: new dance skills, activities, or concepts. Summer dance intensives and camps provide extra time to experiment with new teaching methods or explore different activities. Shaking up the usual dance class routine in the summer can reduce burnout and boredom, helping to reignite your passion for dance!
In this blog post you’ll find 10 unique dance class activities that you can use in your summer dance camps or classes. While many of these ideas can be adapted for use with dancers of all ages, they are designed with dancers age 7 and up in mind. If you have feedback or want to share your own ideas, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
10 activities for summer dance camps or classes
1.) Incorporate dance history
Summer is a perfect time to include educational enrichment, like dance history, in your dance camps and classes. There are many great dance books, educational resources, videos, and interactive activities that you can use to teach your students about dance history while having fun. Unique ideas for teaching dance history over the summer include:
- Book club: Invite your dancers to read a book about dance history and discuss it as a group, either during class or at a prescribed meeting time before or after. You might like these dance memoirs and biographies. (But be advised that some are not suited for all age groups. Check the content first to make sure it will work for your dance students!)
- Choreographer presentations: Assign each dancer a famous choreographer from history. Allow time for them to research the choreographer’s background, style, famous works, and impact on dance. Have each dancer give a presentation as if they were the assigned choreographer. The can telling the class about their life, answer questions, and teach a short movement phrase in their choreographer’s style.
- Moving dance history: In this blog post, you’ll find interactive dance history activities that help dancers explore aspects of ballet, jazz, and modern dance history in their own bodies.
2.) Go back to basics or try a challenge element
Summer is a great time to go back to the basics of dance technique, artistry, and well-being in your dance classes. Don’t be afraid to review important concepts, simplify exercises, or streamline your content to help reinforce the fundamentals. Dancers of all ages and skill levels can always benefit from time to review and refine! Read more in this blog posts: Why you can’t skip the fundamentals in dance training.
On the other hand, dancers who show up for the summer session are often looking for a challenge. They are passionate, dedicated students who know that there is no off season when it comes to dance! In the summer, you can consider choosing one or two challenge elements – skills that are just slightly above the dancers’ current level. Use drills and progressions that break the new skill down and teach it safely. Watch your dancers thrive as they rise to the challenge! If you are looking for new dance technique skills to add to your summer dance camps or classes, check out The Dance Technique Skills Lists.
3.) Play summer-themed dance games
If you follow my blog, you know I believe that play can be an important educational tool in the dance studio. Research indicates that students of all ages can learn through play, and play can help children can develop important social, cognitive, and emotional skills. You can read more about the play in the dance studio in this blog post: The Holistic Approach to Using Play in the Dance Studio.
One of my favorite forms of play is educational dance games. Thoughtfully designed dance games can help dancers gain self-confidence, engage in new experiences, and meet new physical and mental challenges. Summer is the perfect time to incorporate dance games into your lesson plans. I think that your dance students will love the summer-themed dance games in my brand new collection, Celebrate! Dance Games & Activities for Seasons and Holidays.
4.) Use gamification
If dance games aren’t your thing, you can still create a playful dance class experience through gamification. Gamification is defined as “the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity.” Gamification can be used in the dance studio to help students learn and improve their skills through play. In fact, it is likely that you have incorporated gamification into your dance classes without even realizing it! You can learn more about gamification and find examples of how to use it in your dance classes here: How to Use “Gamification” in Your Dance Classes”
5.) Try self-assessment and progress tracking
Summer is a great time to help dancers take stock of their own strengths, progress, and goals for the future. You can include goal-setting, self-evaluation, and peer review and feedback as part of your summer camps and classes by:
- Holding a goal-setting session at the beginning of your summer dance session, and ask dancers to track their progress through the season
- Asking dancers to keep a journal of their strengths, growth areas, and feedback they receive through the summer.
- At the end of the session, have dancers complete a self-assessment form using video of themselves dancing.
The Holistic Dance Teacher Collection of Resources includes tools that can assist in these processes, including goal-setting worksheets and an dance student assessment guide that can be used by dance students for self-assessment or by their teachers for grading or level placements.
6.) Work on performance skills
You may not be preparing for a recital during the summer, but it is still a great time to help dancers work on their performance skills! Teaching performance quality, character development, musicality, and connection with the audience should be a year-long endeavor. You can teach repertory classes to help dancers pick up choreography, coach variations, hold a rhythm and musicality workshop, or play dance games (like the ones in this blog post) that help students practice performance skills. You will also find inspiration in this blog post: 5 ways to become a better dance performer.
7.) Create student choreography projects
Summer is a great time to help your dance students hone their creativity and develop their artistry through choreography projects! The Holistic Dance Teacher Choreography Planner will guide you through a process for teaching students how to choreograph, while also keep them organized and on track! Let students work on their dances over the course of the entire summer camp or class term, then share either in a live showing or via video.
8.) Incorporate dance improvisation
There is nothing like dance improvisation in the summer! It offers an outlet for expression, a creative challenge, and a unique way to explore concepts related to dance technique – all while having fun. I’ve written extensively about dance improvisation in the past, so I’ll point you to this blog post: Your Ultimate Guide to Dance Improvisation. It will link you to resources, advice, and activities to help you incorporate improvisation into your summer dance classes or camps. You will also want to check out The Holistic Collection of Dance Improvisation Prompts and Activities!
9.) Integrate other art forms
Dance does not exist in a vacuum! Throughout history, dancers and choreographers have been inspired by artistic movements of their time. Dance artists collaborate with composers, musicians, poets, visual artists, authors, filmmakers, and designers to create beautiful works of dance art. The summer can be a great time to expose dance students to the wider world of artistic expression. Here are a few ideas:
- Create collaborative choreography inspired by a poem, prose, or visual art
- Use new and unexpected music in your dance classes, such as opera, ragtime, soul, or music from a variety of cultures outside of your own
- Make dance films, with the dancers performing class material or their own choreography in a variety of locations
- Allow the dancers to design costumes, props, or simple set pieces for your end of camp performance
- Encourage the dancers to make visual art, such as a sketch, watercolor, or sculpture, that is inspired by the movement they are learning in class
10.) Watch dance videos
It amazes me that many dance students have never seen a professional dance performance. I understand that there are limitations of geography and finances that might prevent some dancers from going to a live professional dance concert. We are fortunate, though, to live in a time when so much amazing dance is available to watch online. Summer is a great time to use online videos to introduce dance students to great dancers and choreographers throughout history or some of the up and coming artists who are changing the dance world.
Let’s connect!
- What are some of your favorite activities for summer camps and classes? I’d love to learn from you … share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!
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