Gizmos, Gadgets, & Other Electronic Wonders

By Rhee Gold and Diane Despopoulos

Technological lifesavers for dance teachers

This is part one of a three-issue series in which we explore what teachers are looking for in sound systems, music editing programs, billing methods, and more—and what they’re currently using. These informative articles are packed with interesting statistics that reveal who’s doing what technologically in dance schools across the country.   

Years ago, a dance teacher’s sound system was a pianist or a record player that would play 78s or 45s. At recitals, she would either hire musicians or lug those records to the theater and play them, scratches and all, for each dance piece. As time went on, teachers could bring their records to a specialist who would record the music for the entire recital on reel-to-reel tape machines. Each new option, then as now, was considered cutting-edge.

But the 21st century brings with it technological advances that couldn’t be imagined by dance teachers of the past. Let’s take a look at what the dance teachers we surveyed in the United States and Canada have to say about the tech tools they’re using. We’ll start with the evolutionary successors to that audio dinosaur, the turntable.

Music recording and editing

Teachers today have many options for getting sound into their studios and onto their stages. Downloading music from the Internet, burning customized CDs, and recording on MP3 players or iPods are all common practices among dance teachers. The more adventurous ones are learning new skills like editing, cutting, and fading, which allow them to create their own music masterpieces on their computers. Novice teachers, as well as those with 50 years of experience, are using computer programs to record and edit their music. About 40 percent of them have their music edited by professionals, while the other 60 percent does their own editing. Some of the most popular programs include: 

• Sound Forge (www.sonymediasoftware.com)

• Cakewalk Home Studio (www.cakewalk.com)

• Roxio CD Creator (www.roxio.com)

• ACID Music Studio (www.sonymediasoftware.com)

 • GoldWave Digital Audio Editor (www.goldwave.com)

• Sonic Solutions (www.sonic.com) • Adobe Audition (www.adobe.com)

• Cool Edit (www.sonicspot.com)

Many teachers not only edit their own music; they record their recital on one or two CDs, patch their computers into auditorium sound systems, and play the entire show from their laptops!

Studio sound systems

According to our survey, few schools (with the exception of professional ballet schools) can afford to hire pianists to accompany classes. That makes the school sound system one of the most important tools for dance educators.

If you’re shopping for a sound system, make sure it will do everything you need it to. Make a list of the features you’d like, then consult dance or audio-system publications or the Internet for those who specialize in dance school sound equipment. Ask lots of questions and request the names of some previous customers. Call them to ask about their experiences with their new systems, including what they would do differently and what they’re happiest with.

Everyone wants the perfect sound system, so we asked teachers to dream a bit. “If you could design a perfect sound system for your classroom, what would it include?” Some of their responses would have seemed impossible only a few years ago—but if we haven’t seen them yet, we will before you know it.

Nearly everyone said that their first priority was having pitch or speed control on all their equipment, including CD, cassette, and MP3 players; iPods; and (to our surprise) turn-tables. Apparently many teachers want to be able to record vinyl onto tapes or CDs. All of them clamor for easy ways to record music on everything from CDs to iPods.

Remote control features are important to several readers. Holly Costa from the Hazel Boone Studios in Canton, MA, says, “I want a remote control with a text screen [that lets me] scroll through tracks.” Isabelle Cook of Isabelle’s Dance Time in Veradale, WA, dreams of a remote control that she can wear on her wrist.

Melanie Shelley from Oklahoma City University Dance and Arts Management described the ultimate system that would probably please all of our respondents. She says she would like “a multiple-CD player with a CD burner, dual cassette [deck] with recording options, variable speed for all systems, surround sound, computer editing capabilities, remote control, built-in CD/cassette storage, and counters and skip features on both the CD and tape players.” Now that’s not too much to ask for, is it?

Music

A sound system is useless without the most important tool of all: music. Without it (in most cases) you have no dance. Most teachers look for age-appropriate music; they express great concern about sexually explicit or violent words or messages, especially in making selections for the older students. Sometimes teachers purchase pop music only to discover, after they’ve listened more closely, that they cannot use it in class because of its content.

So where do teachers go for the right kind of music? Many purchase pop music from stores that sell edited (“clean”) versions of CDs, or they look for Christian hip-hop or lyrical music. A large majority of teachers shop at online resources that specialize in dance school music, especially when looking for material for their ballet, preschool, tap, and modern classes. Others like to listen before they purchase; they turn to conferences, conventions, Costume Preview Shows, and workshops for their school music.

Video/DVD curriculum

Among our survey respondents, 84 percent purchase videos and DVDs to augment their curriculum or choreography. Of those who do, 84 percent want general dance technique material; 57 percent purchase progressions; 42 percent look for warm-up or barre sequences; and 38 percent are in the market for choreography or routines.

Other popular choices in videos and DVDs include famous ballet performances, hip-hop, dance history, and Broadway musicals.

Tuition collection

Billing systems have not quite made it to the 21st century. With the exception of a couple of schools that offer only credit/debit cards or automatic withdrawal as payment options, almost all continue to collect cash or checks for tuition. Still, 25 percent do accept credit or debit cards, and 18 percent of schools—the more progressive ones—offer an automatic-withdrawal option to their clients.

School owners who do offer automatic withdrawal rave about it. Tracy Stanaway, director of Tracy’s School of Dance in Billings, MT, uses this payment method for costumes (for those who request it) as well as tuition. She asks parents to sign up for the option at registration; about 80 percent of them do, and those who do not are charged an extra $7 per month. She writes, “We have used automatic withdrawal for three years. We went to our bank for a program that they had called I-CORP. We fill in the amounts and ID numbers, and we control how much comes out of our clients’ accounts. Once a month, it takes me five minutes to get online and push the appropriate buttons; then the funds automatically go into the school’s account.”

What Stanaway likes best about the system is collecting all the tuition in one chunk, without having to wait for it to trickle in. Another obvious benefit is not needing to re-bill delinquent accounts. “If someone does not have the funds in their account,” she says, “the bank notifies us and we can either retry in a couple of days or get it directly from the client. However, this has only happened twice in three years.” She recommends automatic withdrawal without hesitation. “It has made a huge difference in my business in not having to collect and do all the paperwork in depositing checks. I absolutely love it!” 

COMING UP IN THE NEXT ISSUE

More details about selecting and playing music, plus tips on using video to enhance your curriculum.

Do you have an experience with automatic withdrawal or another creative way to expedite tuition collection?

Let us know!

Email us at

gold5678@aol.com

or send a fax to

508-285-3179.