If you haven’t have the opportunity yet, please go check out Lakeshore Weekly News’ amazing article about Leslie Swiggum.
Check out the article here: Dance: A storybook medal for Wayzata’s Swiggum
As another huge treat, Leslie Swiggum will be our keynote speaker for the MADT 2019 Coaches Celebration! You do not want to miss this!
19X National Champions Sponsored by Rhinestones Unlimited
“We love supporting Minnesota artists and athletes.” Angie Peery, Rhinestones Unlimited
For a third season, Rhinestones Unlimited is proud to have sponsored the University of Minnesota Dance Team with another gorgeous costume. They represented their school and home state and took home a 19th national championship title in 20 years at the 2019 UDA Collegiate Nationals in Orlando.
Preciosa crystals inspired this year’s Jazz costume, starring Rhinestones Unlimited EXCLUSIVE color Metallic Rose along with Burgundy, Burgundy AB and Amethyst Opal AB. This unique combination of Preciosa Viva 12 rhinestones feature uniquely cut facets and a large surface area that amplifies the light, magnifying the sparkle and enhancing their personality on the floor – perfect when your stage is an oversized arena.
Moving beyond the skirted leotard look that’s swept the dance scene in recent years, costume designer Elle Bauer interpreted these elements into a strong, sporty, feminine silhouette perfect for the dynamic, athletic ladies who dance in it. Contrasting the soft neutral shades of years past, the 2019 piece is a rich merlot, complementing every dancers’ skin tone and echoing the U of MN’s school colors, maroon and gold. It begins with a solid high-waisted trunk and halter top that’s collared at the neck, where it meets two split swaths of chiffon that run down the front of the bodice to the waist, leaving an open back. The trunks continue where the chiffon left off, cloaked in attached sheer leggings that highlights the team’s signature movement choreographed by Mackenzie Larkin Symanietz and Amanda Gaines and of course those jaw-dropping à la seconde turns in perfect synchronization!
The team previewed their Jazz routine when they hosted the annual fundraiser and showcase event, Best of the Best, which brings together some of the state’s best dance team in celebration of the sport. Rhinestones Unlimited teamed up with Matt Blewett and MN Dance News to bring you free downloadable images from the event for you to share on social media; https://mndancenews.com/2019/2019-best-of-the-best-dance-show/. Thank-you Matt for your continued support of MN Dance by reporting the news of our sport to the masses. Also, make sure you check out the gorgeous video work by Laura Sukowatey as she captured the costumes and movement of this talented team https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r61NDYCSWOU.
Congratulations, University of Minnesota Dance Team 2018-2019! We are all so proud of you!
The largest world-wide wholesaler of Swarovski & Preciosa crystals for DANCE is right here in your home state! With four beautiful rhinestone brands for every budget, appliques, crystal trimmings and performance jewelry, Rhinestones Unlimited has everything you need to help your team stand out. Visit www.RhinestonesU.com, call 952.848.0133 or visit our Golden Valley showroom. We love to help our MN High School Dance Teams create one-of-a-kind costumes with maximum impact!
MoveU Team Store
MoveU Spirit Wear is a great asset for your team apparel. Our unique designs promise to make you stand out in a crowd and from your opponents. We provide gear for your team, your way.
We are prided with our athletic design devoted to athletes and motivated teams everywhere. We are here to fuel your athletic drive with the latest fashion and the ability to assist you in today’s style trends. Our designs are focused around a comfortable, athletic fit with vibrant colors and customizable options to show off your team’s personality.
Even better? Our team of designers will create an online store just for you, for FREE! Our focus is on making this process as easy on you as possible so that you can focus on what matters. Move U handles all orders and payments. Click here to learn more.
If you’re looking for a way to stand out from your competitors, contact one of our designers to get your one of a kind apparel today.
2019 Summer Camp Season
Camp is a place where dancers can grow as an individual, as well as grow and bond as a team. Just For Kix’s highly qualified staff has been studying new ideas, techniques and methods to implement into the 2019 season.
Why Just For Kix? You and your team will become stronger in body and in spirit. Just For Kix offers classes with outstanding technique in many styles such as kick, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, street jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, pom, drill and field.
Just For Kix holds dance camps geared towards individual dancers called the Summer Intensive. Here dancers are challenged with a full day of dancing in various styles. The curriculum goes above and beyond to motivate dancers and to help their strength, flexibility, core building and technical training.
Just For Kix also offers high school dance team camps at seven locations across the nation throughout the summer season. Your team will bond, have fun, train hard, inspire others and be inspired.
MINNESOTA CAMP DATES
Rochester Camp #1 July 17 – 20
Rochester Camp #2 July 21 – 24
Rochester Camp #3 July 25 – 28
INTENSIVE DATES
Fargo Intensive – June 20 – 22
Medina Intensive – July 29 – 31
Brainerd Intensive – Aug 4 – 7
NEARBY STATE DATES and LOCATIONS
You can consider a road trip to another state.
Iowa:
Council Bluffs, IA July 10 – 12
Storm Lake, IA July 13 – 16
Wisconsin:
Green Bay, WI June 27 – 30
Just For Kix is committed to helping coaches succeed. Just For Kix camps are dedicated to coach consultation as much as they are geared towards dancers. The staff works hard to surround coaches with technical tools and leadership development.
If you are looking for an event based solely for coaches, check out Just For Kix Coaches Conference. This conference offers industry leading education and consultation. With a handful of classes, you’ll leave feeling more inspired than ever.
With over 30 years of orchestrating nationally accredited dance camps, Just For Kix is sure to be the perfect camp for you and your team this summer. To learn more about what Just For Kix has to offer during the summer season, visit www.justforkix.com/dancecamps.
Soon, Minnesota high school dance coaches will be moving into their first full week of practices. Most will start off that week with a tryout of some kind – either to determine their team or to finalize their roster for Varsity, junior varsity and beyond. Tryouts can be stressful for everyone involved, but the best way to handle this is to over-prepare. Here are some thoughts that might be helpful!
Communicating with dancers and parents is paramount and the information needs to be simple and clear – best done in writing. If plans for tryouts can be written down and shared with everyone, it will save hours of emails and phone calls later on. Check the plan with the AD and the coaching staff, too, so you have their support.
Finally, communicate an outlet for issues so you are in control of what happens after tryouts. Having a cooling off period – 24 hours – before contacting the coach is a good way to manage some of the initial anger. Any process you choose will work as long as you let everyone know what the process is and then you follow through.
Every coach has some parameters to work within – it could be space constraints for practice – if you have a space that only accommodates 16 bodies, you cannot take on 19 dancers. If you are the only coach, you need to be realistic on how many dancers you can serve all alone. Do you have a veteran coaching staff or are you mentoring new coaches, too? If you have a young team with lots of rookie dancers, you need to factor that into your decisions. If you’re in a long-term coaching situation, you will want to think about the program as a whole. Heavy on seniors this year? What will your team look like next season? Can you consider taking more underclassmen this year to plan ahead for next year? How many “projects” can you take on? The time and attention of the coaching staff cannot be overlooked in the plan for the season – you only have so much time! Be realistic about what your coaching staff can take on because it can help you be more successful later.
So whether limits are space, time or coach related, you’ll know what you can handle ahead of time so you can plan accordingly.
If you have a plan for tryouts, a process for issues, a limit in mind for team size – you have to stick to the plan. It can be difficult when you are sitting down to write out those final numbers or lists of names for teams. Don’t change the plan. If you tell someone you’ll respond to them after 24, be sure you follow up. Stick to the plan – or designate some of this type of responsibility to a member of your coaching staff. If you find yourself making decisions that are hard, it’s ok to sleep on it. Most kids show you their very best at tryouts. Judge them for what they are showing you.
Good luck to all teams & coaches during tryouts!
Allison Bridges
MADT Board of Directors
*This is a repeat posting of a previous topic!
All of the planning you’ve been doing in your head since February (let’s be honest, since December) is about to become real. Choreography is always an exciting start to the season, but it can also be the most trying two weeks of the year. Having new coaches, captains or choreographers in the mix can be wonderful or challenging. Did you schedule enough time to complete all of the routines you want to finish? Will everyone show up? What do you do when you hit that wall and nothing seems to work? Will everyone be able to work together? How can you make progress without hurting the feelings of the contributors in the room? Here are a few tips to help you through the next 14 days…
Be sure to have a plan for each day of choreography and share that plan with all of the people involved. Be sure to explain that choreography teams are SET and the number of participants cannot be altered. It’s important for everyone to show up and do their part. Everyone needs to know what the expectations are – for example, you have 4 sessions to make up the JV Kick dance and each session is 2 hours long and you’ll be meeting in Gym B. The JV Kick routine is 52 sets of music, so divided by 4 sessions is 13 sets per session. Each choreography group needs a coach, a way to play music, a music map and someone to take notes/video of the progress. If everyone knows what is expected of them, they have a better chance of meeting or exceeding the goals!
Don’t make anything too complicated. Tackle the big pieces first and then try to fill in the blanks. Have a music map ready for every routine. (See sample here.) For Kick, start with the height line first and then work through formations & transitions. Once you have those basics in place, go back through the dance and layer on footwork, arms, heads, etc. Jazz can start with the technical sections first, formations and then layers. Don’t try to paint the Mona Lisa in one day. Just get the basics done – you will go back and make changes throughout the week and throughout the season. Don’t make things too difficult at the start!
There is nothing worse than choreography that doesn’t work out and getting stuck puts most people in a terrible mood. DON’T let that happen! Change the focus and take a break with an ice breaker, a game or a snack. When the team gets back to work, they should have some new momentum. Last resort? It’s ok to re-use your own team’s choreography from previous years – you can use something as a placeholder and continue to tweak and change it into something new as the season progresses. If all else fails, here’s some advice from former EP Pom Coach Anna Bachman-Itman. She said when you get stuck with choreography, start at the beginning of the day and turn each of your “daily routines” into a dance move. Example – getting out of bed, washing your face, brushing your teeth, opening the fridge, making coffee, etc. She walked through the ACTUAL motions and then morphed each movement into a dance move. This simple trick has worked for times I’ve been stuck. Thanks, Coach Anna! J
The coaching staff and choreographers will be looking to you for leadership during this time. It’s your time to shine! Don’t get frazzled, even if you are frustrated. Keep calm, keep strong and keep moving. This is not a time to break down, skip sessions or not be present when you are there. You want to stay on task, but you can still be successful if your dances aren’t finished for Day One. Keep the big picture in mind and don’t lose your focus – you’re the captain of the ship!
Choreography can be mentally challenging! There’s a strong possibility of having personality clashes or hurt feelings, so head that off by discussing the GOAL and letting everyone know that reaching the goal is the team’s focus. Let people know that input is necessary, but not all ideas will be used. Unused ideas aren’t “bad” – they might not be right or fit into the overall picture. It’s also a good idea to remind everyone what your team’s process is for choreography and who has the final say. Don’t forget to ask the group to be open-minded and flexible when it comes to trying something new. And if you have someone who gets upset, deal with it quickly and privately so it doesn’t fester and become more than it is.
Good luck to all coaches and teams this week!
Allison Bridges
MADT Board of Directors
When it comes to Swarovski’s innovations, our clients have always been among our biggest sources of inspiration. This season’s innovations express the desire for uniqueness. Under the motto “Be Yourself,” we have translated this desire into crystal innovations reflecting four aspects of self-discovery: “Check Yourself,” “Find Yourself,” “Excess Yourself,” and “Dress Yourself”. We now invite you to explore them with us.
Check Yourself: Vintage crystal and pearl designs are created in modern settings for a younger consumer. Classics are pushed further by playing with the scale of patterns of checks and tweeds.
Dress Yourself: Extravagant designs in handcrafted metals embellished with crystals and pearls emerge as a key direction, highlighting the appreciation of a more sophisticated craft feel.
Excess Yourself: An extreme exaggeration of forms and layering with a focus on the oversized for standout individual style statements.
Find Yourself: With mass-produced goods being created at the expense of the environment, a slowdown ethic will result in a focus on heritage and authentic elements.
Introducing NEW Crystal LacquerPRO DeLite! Crystal LacquerPRO DeLite’s five new colors are a beautiful reminder to slow the pace, enjoy Mother Earth’s bounty, and live sustainably. Combine them with color-matching Shimmer or Shiny LacquerPRO effects in designs for jewelry, watches, CRYSTAL LACQUERPRO DELITE FAMILY Shapes apparel and accessories – the subtly highlighted facets will give luxurious depth and opaque sparkle.
The 5 New Colors include:
Crystal Ochre DeLite
Crystal Light Grey DeLite
Crystal Cappuccino DeLite
Crystal Burgundy DeLite
Crystal Army Green DeLite
See full video by visiting Blog.rhinestonesu.com/Swarovski-be-yourself/
When it comes to crystal assortments, we’ve always offered the most comprehensive range of colors, effects and articles in the industry; but we’ve now come up with a simplification that will make a big difference to the everyday lives of our customers. Core Assortment focuses on the 7 most requested colors: Aquamarine, Amethyst, Emerald, Jet, Light Colorado Topaz, Scarlet, and clear Crystal.
It’s a new season for Minnesota HS dance teams! At Satin Stitches, we have new options for you and your team. If you don’t have a ‘custom costume’ budget, but still want unique team costumes that will not look the same as the other teams you 
will be competing against, consider Satin Stitches ‘Customizable’ team outfits. We have been adding stylish and basic dance team options to our Web Store (live link to that page).
Our designers have been creating beautiful, glamorous lyrical and funky jazz and kick uniform options for you to fall in love with. All of our Web Store customizable styles are available in a plethora of fabric and color options, so that your selected Web Store style will be ‘your own’. We guarantee that none of your competitor teams will be wearing the same costume.
An added bonus is that because all of our styles are ‘predesigned’, the patterns have been created and perfected, shaving off weeks in the delivery timeframe for you. AND you can see exactly how each style looks on a dancer.
Because Fall and Winter delivery for FULL CUSTOM Satin Stitches costuming is our busiest time of the year, with GUARANTEED deliveries set at up to 13-week turnaround times, eliminating the costly AND time-consuming design/sample perfecting time-frame, we can offer much faster turnaround times. So if you have procrastinated ordering new team uniforms, check out our Customizable Web Store styles to see what we can do for your team. And don’t hesitate to give us a call to confirm when you can receive delivery.
All of our Web Store styles are created with the same care and attention as our FULL CUSTOM with the same attention to detail with the design, the construction and the fit. And no other company offers the short or long torsos that may be needed, with unitards and biketards that are so popular right now.
And if you don’t see the fabric option that you are imagining, just give us a call and let us know what you would like. We have access to many more fabrics than what you might see.
Angie Ley (Henderson), a former Totino-Grace E’gal, wife, and mother to Hannah and Max lost her life to metastatic cervical cancer on November 19, 2013. She was an amazing dancer with a smile that radiated positive energy, dedication and strength not only to her team but to everyone she knew and loved throughout her life. Please join the Totino Grace Dance Team as we honor and celebrate Angie with our fourth annual ANGIE LEY 5K that will benefit the Angie Ley Legacy Scholarship Fund.
Gopher State Events will be providing their race timing services for this event. Results will be online periodically as the event progresses. All finishers will be photographed at the finish line and a link for free picture download will be provided.
Have you ever considered becoming a Just For Kix Director? If you have ever wondered what it would be like to run or manage a studio but are not sure how to go about getting started, Just For Kix may be a great match for you. It is a great way to share your passion for dance and instruction with youth without having to worry about the business side of operating a studio.
Please view the following videos: Video 1 and Video 2
The director serves as the area manager for the program and instructs the majority of the classes. We offer support, training, marketing materials, accounting, mentorship, special event opportunities, resources etc. There are no upfront costs involved and our directors receive a competitive commission rate.
If you would like to find out more about what the director position entails, please contact julie@justforkix.com to set up a call and checkout our employment site at www.teamjustforkix.com. You can apply for a position at https://www.justforkix.com/danceclasses/staff/application/step/1/.
