Dear DSOs/Teachers,

Have you had poor and/or inconsistent results with adult dancers? If so, you are not alone! Most studios have as well! But let us help.

It's honestly taken us nearly 15 years of exclusively focusing on unraveling this puzzle to get it completely right, and now our adult classes ALWAYS bring in - and retain - intermediate-level ballet, jazz, and contemporary dancers, in droves! 

By cracking open our Treasure Chest, we're going to share with you one critical element in how we cracked this nut - our class design. The Treasure Chest will go through one, single TDW masterclass, as a sample of the adult dance fitness classes we teach in our program.

You'll notice there are 10 individual videos in this Treasure Chest, which altogether contain a total of 14 songs. These 14 songs make up a single masterclass and are designed to be done during a single, one-hour, in-person (and online) class. We've broken the masterclass into 10 separate videos so we can explain the structure of these masterclasses as we go. 

Fair warning: Watching a single song within a masterclass is kind-of like watching just 10-minutes of a movie - yeah you get the feel, but you miss the plot, which of course is what makes a movie juicy and amazing. If you have time to watch all ten videos consecutively, then you'll really start to see how an intermediate-level ballet, jazz, and contemporary dancer could come into one of our classes for the first time, follow-along, catch onto the patterns, and be able to dance for a full hour, basically without stopping. The build of the choreography across songs is the pixie dust that gives our adult dancers the kind of total body workout we've learned they want. 

Start with Video 1!  In this first video we share the standing warm-up song in our sample TDW masterclass, which is entitled, "10:22" (tip - every TDW masterclass is named, and this one is named "10:22.") The first song in 10:22 includes our intro song to this 14-song masterclass, which is designed to introduce the first string of choreography the dancers will need to know for the class, while also ensuring they receive a good, foundational warm-up for the songs to come.

See you in class!

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Dear DSOs/Teachers,

The interesting truth is that many dance teachers have lost their flexibility and are basically tied up in knots.

But if you think about it, the loss of flexibility and the tension make sense, right? We are teaching, teaching, teaching and/or sitting at our desks all the time (not stretching out), and we get less opportunity to stretch than we used to...

One of the best things about The Dancer's Workout® (TDW), from an instructor's point of view, is that we get to dance every day. More on this key point later, but for now, let me just mention that a key benefit (to the instructor) is that (s)he must dance full-out while teaching - it's a unique aspect of our classes! This means (s)he is able to get in shape and stay in shape while teaching, and this obviously includes doing the awesome TDW stretch songs! These classes are tremendous for our bodies and our flexibility!

We put a little jewel in Video 2 of our TDW Treasure Chest for the teachers and Dance Studio Owners. Video 2 contains two feel-good stretch songs that are the second and third songs in our one-hour, 14-song masterclass entitled, "10:22." Today, those sweet songs are sitting inside Video 2 all by themselves, just for you. If your neck, back, hips, and hamstrings feel tight, you might really enjoy these! Click the Treasure Chest and jump right in!

And keep this in mind... If you or one of your instructors decided to bring The Dancer's Workout® classes to your studio, you too would be able to experience the magic every day! Our certified instructors find the requirement for them to dance to be a HUGE benefit of teaching these classes, and as a Dance Studio Owner, you might enjoy them as well! We've always love when DSOs fall in love with our classes!

See you in class!

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Dear DSO’s/Teachers,

Let's face it. Adult women are busy.

Between jobs, children, husbands, parents, and household responsibilities, they don't have much time.

They therefore expect the one meager hour they devote to themselves on a given day to be well worth their time. 

Yes, they love ballet, but they don't have 90 minutes to spare on a single day. They have one hour max - in and out, with perhaps 10 bonus minutes at the beginning or ending of class to quickly socialize with some likable women.

They also want to exercise between two and five days each week in order to get (and keep) their weight under control. One hour a day, two to five days each week.

Dance cardio is key to the adult dancer's willingness to come back to class tomorrow, the next day, next week, etc. It allows them to get a good, really excellent total body sweat on WHILE experiencing the utter and complete joy of dancing full out (with waltzes, balancés, and other beautiful ballet moves, etc.).

 Video 3 of our TDW Treasure Chest is an example of how we start the cardio section of one of our masterclasses. As you watch, imagine that you have already done three previous songs which have carefully warmed you up and prepared you to start the meat of the class.

This first cardio song is the first in a 5-song arc that our powerful dancers will do before the cool-down. Our goal is for them to learn the choreography for this class as they go, while they are dancing, without stopping (except for water breaks). So you'll notice how in each successive song we'll build upon the choreography they learn in this song.

So here we go. Let's begin our 5-song dance cardio arc.  Happy to have you peek inside Video 3 of our TDW Treasure Chest to see how we do it.

See you in class!

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Hi DSOs/Teachers,

Adults want to play.

They want to leave their bills, chores, and stress behind and have a minute.

EVERY TIME I think the song or my choreography is just too darn silly (or sexy) for grown women, they rise up and play along.  EVERY.TIME.

Case in point... The featured song in Video 4 of our TDW Treasure Chest is just playful and light-hearted, and our dancers put their all into it! The name of the song is "Tongue-Tied" by Earl. So cute!

You are invited to click the video and play along with us! This one is fun, not hard (and nobody wants to hear that you're too "grown" for this - you're not lol).

Jump in and join us for the second of five dance cardio songs in the TDW masterclass entitled, "10:22."

See you in class!

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Hi DSOs/Teachers,

Why do so many adult, former dancers go to mainstream gym classes instead of coming to your studio? 

Here's why: These adults have realized they need cardio to stay in shape. 

If we want them to cancel their gym memberships and come back to our studios, our classes need to keep them in shape, and this means we have to provide cardio.

And here's a big fat secret that works in our favor: Even though these adults need cardio, they are bored, bored, bored at the gym with those mainstream fitness classes that require NO dance training or skill and which offer very little in the way of choreography.

The Dancer's Workout® was designed to fill this gap and offer our current and former dancers the cardio they need with real dance choreography! Our classes use intermediate-level ballet, jazz, and contemporary choreography (with a periodic splash of beginner's hip-hop) to give our adult dancers the high-energy, non-stop movement they need.

Speaking of non-stop movement... You might ask: How do you teach a full hour of ballet, jazz, and contemporary choreography without having your students stop and start, again and again, throughout the hour???

That's one of the spectacular TDW secrets!  It's our unique brand of magic!

Okay, here's how.

We start each one-hour class with a 10-minute review of choreography to get everybody on the same page (or we provide them, in advance, with a "choreography review video"). Then we start the music.

As we mentioned before, the teacher dances full-out the entire class, demonstrating the choreography and calling out the movements (we call that "cueing") so the students can know what comes next without stopping. This works because the choreography in each of our one-hour TDW masterclasses is carefully designed to build throughout the hour.

For example, in our intro song and our first two dance cardio songs in the TDW masterclass entitled, "10:22," we set the tone by doing moves/strings of choreography that will be used later in the hour. These include our "drop the cork" and "corkscrew" moves, our "courage" and "beat the fear" sequences, and our "prepare to rise" and triplet moves, all of which are used in the subsequent dance cardio songs. 

During the dance cardio portion of our one-hour masterclasses, the students are able to move continually because the choreography of each song adds on to what they learned in previous songs. Throughout the dance cardio arc, the choreography keeps building and building so they can follow along without stopping.

And talk about a runner's high - this dancer's high is even more phenomenal!

For my local in-person classes, we actually do the same masterclass five times a week (nearly daily) for 4 straight weeks so that our dancers are able to memorize it all and really dance it full-out for the entire hour. It's absolutely exhilarating!

And then, when we're ready, we'll start a brand-new choreography cycle with a new masterclass! For example, after 4 weeks of dancing to "10:22," we'll move on and start one of our next TDW masterclasses.

Ahhh... Life is seriously good - always challenging, never boring, always exhilarating!

So the answer to how we use ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance choreography to give our dancers the cardio they deserve is that we keep them moving throughout the entire one-hour class 1) by teaching them upfront (during choreography review) what moves they'll encounter, 2) by having the instructor dance full-out the entire class, "cueing" as she goes, 3) by having the choreography strings in each song build upon the choreography learned in the previous songs, and 4) by repeating the same masterclass multiple times a week, for 4 straight weeks, so that everyone can memorize the full 60-minutes of non-stop movement!

The key to cardio is (*surprise*) non-stop movement.  Sounds obvious, right? 

Well, this is a big piece of our pixie dust. POOF!  It's MAGIC!  Sweat sweat sweat!  Our dancers love it! 

Do you want to see this strategy in progress? Click Video 5 in our TDW Treasure Chest to watch the third of five dance cardio songs in "10:22." Not gonna lie, this gorgeous contemporary ballet number is HARD cardiovascularly! (It's one of those "don't forget to breathe" kind-of songs.) We're happy to share it with you!

With cardio-intensive dance choreography, it helps that these ballet, jazz, and contemporary moves are choreographed to pop music. There's something about the passionate beats and lyrics that make us grit our teeth and go all-out for it, regardless of how tired we might feel at this point in class. The inspirational synergy of this unique music and choreography helps each of us unearth and enjoy cardio super-powers we didn't even know we had.

See you in class!

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Dear DSOs/Teachers,

In class, like in life, there are moments when you have to show yourself and the world what you're made of.

Things stop being easy. All of a sudden it's time to buckle down, grit your teeth, and get it done.

In these moments, there are no free rides, no knights on white horses, and no easy way out.

The 4th dance cardio songs in The Dancer's Workout® masterclass "10:22" is a bit like that. Fortunately it is super-fun; but even so, there is no escaping the fact that when powering through the 4th dance cardio songs, you are actually smack-dab-in-the-middle of the 7th song in this one-hour, 14-song class. You have been going for quite a while and you are tired.

Are you a quitter? No.

Remember what Dad said, "Winners never quit and quitters never win." "You are tougher than you think." "You can do this..." 

Watch these girls kill it with sheer determination while reminding themselves, "Keep your shoulders down. Point your toes. Smile. Breathe. Stay with the music. Don't stop. You got this."

Take a peek into Video 6 of our TDW Treasure Chest and give these girls a mental high-five for showing us what they're made of during the 4th song in our five-song dance cardio arc.

See you in class!

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Hi DSOs/Teachers,

Each one-hour class of The Dancer's Workout® peaks with the final dance cardio song!

We call the final song in the dance cardio segment of each TDW masterclass our "pull-together song" because this is when the choreography taught during the first 40 minutes of class gets "pulled together" into an exciting mini-performance!

It's a total rush to be pushed to the limit and then expected to perform that final number!

The featured song in Video 7 inside the TDW Treasure Chest is the pull-together song for our TDW masterclass entitled, "S10:22." It is the dance cardio crescendo! The last hurrah! The moment of truth! The final exhibit of dancer grit and determination after four consecutive dance cardio songs. This is where we continue to rise to the challenge and perform it like champs.

Just imagine if you and your students had danced full out for the past 40 minutes, while the choreography of each successive song built upon itself. Once you arrive to the end of the dance cardio arc, dancing to the pull-together song feels... Exhilarating! Powerful! Challenging! Super-fun!

My dancers may be fatigued at this point, but they love this moment!

 And this is how I know they love it...

After class the other night, one of my adult students told me, "I had a meeting and it was running late, and I said to myself, 'there is NO WAY I'm going to miss this class tonight. It is SO MUCH FUN - I love it!' So I quickly wrapped up the meeting and literally RAN to my car."

Did you catch that?  An adult "literally RAN" to her car to get to my class.

She's taken enough of my classes to become addicted to the exhilaration. She knew it would be worth her time, and so she RAN to get to class on time.

Check out the featured song in Video 7 inside the TDW Treasure Chest. As you watch it, we hope you too will feel excited by the idea that the satisfaction of our dance cardio arc makes the entire class journey worth ditching meetings to get here each night!

See you in class!

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Hi DSOs/Teachers,  

Imagine your adult dance students have been in class now for about 45 minutes and have just completed an exhilarating set of cardio dance songs. They are breathing hard and sweating and feeling like they just hiked to the top of a mountain where they were greeted with a glorious burst of cool air.

How do we keep them feeling like they want to throw their arms into the air screaming "life is amazing - I'm on top of the world!" 

Let's help them savor this moment of exhilaration with a fun and we-bit-sassy cool down song! 

After all the split-second mental and physical processing of the choreography learned and executed in the previous five dance cardio songs, it's nice to make it to the cool-down song! This song provides the dancers a chance to steadily lower their heart rates and get ready for our upcoming Bikini Bootcamp portion of the class! 

Our goal now is to cool their bodies down and get their heart rates back down to normal.  

In Video 8 inside our TDW Treasure Chest we feature one of our favorite TDW cool-down songs. It keeps our dancers super-high as we transition them from dance cardio to our toning portion of the class.  

Check out Video 8 inside our TDW Treasure Chest to see what makes this cool-down song feel so good. 

See you in class!

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Hi DSOs/Teachers,

Over here at The Dancer's Workout®, it's time for our toning exercises, which we refer to as the bikini bootcamp portion of our classes. But don't let the name of it scare you!

For context, imagine that you've nearly made it through a one-hour class with The Dancer's Workout®.  At this point you've warmed up, stretched out, danced your guts out, and cooled off. 

Now we'll start into the last 15 minutes of class where we focus on toning exercises before the final song at the end of our exhilarating hour together.

In Video 9 inside our TDW Treasure Chest we share FOUR bikini bootcamp songs, one for your booty, one for your abs, one your legs (outer thighs), and another for your booty and the backs of your legs. (You'll see it's probably best to pace yourself and work up to these full songs over time.)

And... let me go on a limb here and promise these songs are the best things you'll do for your "bikini" all day - maybe even all week! 

So gurrrl… Stop what you're doing, lock the door, click the TDW Treasure Chest, and get yourself down on the floor to join us for these four bikini bootcamp songs. Your bikini will thank you!

See you in class!

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Hi DSOs/Teachers,

I'm curious how you want your adult dancers to feel when they finish a one-hour class with you? 

I ask this question because Video 10 in the TDW Treasure Chest is all about making the class endings ignite a life-long relationship between you and your adult dance students.

So let me guess how you want them to feel when they leave your class...

Exhilarated!  Exuberant!  Joyful!  Dying to come back!  

You want them to sign up and commit to coming to every single adult class you teach!

You want them to find a babysitter, bargain with their husbands, leave work in time, and in other words move heaven and earth to get to your class each and every time! 

By the way, not only have new students burst into tears at the end of my classes when trying to tell me how much they loved it; but I've also had people literally move to live closer to my classes, not accept job offers that interfered with our class times, and rearrange their other commitments! Now that's what I'm talking about!

When your precious students walk out of your class, dripping with pride and sweat, you want them feeling on top of the world.  Like there is no other single thing in this world that gives them this feeling.

The final song contributes to this incredible feeling.

It basically seals the deal.

It brings us full circle.

It closes the loop.

It is the moment every single student in your class knows they have accomplished something herculean during the past hour.  Dripping with sweat, they feel strong, joyful, accomplished, inspired, and super-proud of themselves.  These are feelings that bring your students back day-after-day, month-after-month, and year-after-year. They can’t get enough of it.  

We always pick a really beautiful song for the final song. One that makes your heart ache with love and glory. And one that allows our dancers to finally relax, stretch, and reflect upon what they have done for the past 55 minutes.

When that last note finishes, the class erupts into applause! We are a hot, sweaty, perfect mess! It is incredible.

After class we often quickly get into what we call a "stinky huddle" and take a photo. It seems that all of us wanted to capture that amazing moment so we will never, ever forget that glorious feeling. 

At this point I have thousands of photos of our stinky huddles.  I love them so much because each and every person in each and every class on each and every day wanted to prolong and capture that glorious moment at the end of The Dancer's Workout® class.  It moves me so!

The featured song in Video 10 of the TDW Treasure Chest is the final song in the one-hour "10:22" masterclass - it is a good example of the type of song we like to use to end our hour together.  

Speaking of not wanting to end our time together...

We have loved sharing our TDW Treasure Chest with you! We hope you have enjoyed peeking behind the curtain to see all this joy!

There are several different ways we can continue to stay close. Click HERE to learn about our joining the ADULT DANCE ALLIANCE, our network of dance studio owners and adult dance instructors.   

Even though this is the end of our Treasure Chest masterclass, we hope we will continue to...

See you in class!

Click HERE to learn how.

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