The Secret to Memorable Dance Routines

Hello friends, I'm Amanda Barr and I'm Rebecca Lou Brennan, and welcome to Dance Principles United, the podcast.

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This is the Dance Principles United podcast. Hey, Beck, random question for you. Oh, most memorable routine you've ever created at Paws?

Most memorable routine is Stephen Tanos's instrument dance. Oh, or do you mean me, myself?

No, no.

Okay, I'll do both. Yeah. So Stephen Tanos created this instrument dance.

Yeah.

And the kids were legit dressed like instruments. Like, I'm talking foam Pete Evans was a foam double bass and he had— I'm not kidding. And we still talk about it every day. So this day, like he was foam, like the whole thing was insane. The kids were pianos, so each head of their costume was a piano key and they like did this, which made the piano work. It was insane.

It could only be a Stephen Tannous piece, right?

There was a conductor. I've talked about this on the podcast before because it won nothing, not one single thing. And I complained to Jade Barnes Yep. When it was a senior jazz section and we used to win all of that stuff all the time.

Yeah.

I said, I can't believe this piece isn't winning. It is such a special piece. I don't understand it. And she goes, Bec, no one is talking about the toxic piece that's winning everything right now, but everyone will always talk about this instrument piece. And people still come up to Stephen and I this day and remember that piece.

And how many years ago was it? 10, 15?

At least 18 years ago. Yeah, at least.

And no one remembers the Britney Spears routine. The B— like even from last weekend, I can't remember the Britney Spears routine, whatever it was.

Right, right. Exactly. My most memorable that I did was a couch dance. And this was before, you know, people do couch dances all the time now. I get that. But no one did it.

Yes.

And so that was probably the one that I think was most memorable. And I remember Cameron Mitchell getting up and I was very young then and had just bought my studio and was just, you know, fresh into choreographing. And he stood up and said, the reason that this piece is winning and everyone is, is because it's different. And everyone else, you're trying to copy somebody instead of being yourself.

And it was the certain style at the time that was in, right?

Which was, you know, real techy, very little costumes.

Yeah.

Um, and everyone doing fouettés in a row, and I was the total opposite to that. So I did this cool couch dance where they were, which I guess you see all the time now.

Yes, but it was different.

It was never done then. No one had ever done it. And literally the reason I started that routine was because there was only 4 of them and there was a couch that sat in the waiting area, which was also into our studio. And I said, do you want to just play with the couch today? And so we picked up the couch. Yep. And played around with it.

Crazy.

Yeah.

Crazy. Well, I love hearing these routines. I feel like we need to find some old snippets of them, but I wanted to start by welcoming you all to the Dance Principles United podcast. We got excited. We haven't said hi yet, but I'm so excited to dive into this because I know it's a topic you are so passionate on, which is talking about creating memorable routines, routines that stand out from the crowd. You know, smart choreography, smart prop use, smart costuming. That really is different?

Well, let's look at Double Dutch Bus.

Yep.

Okay, now everyone knows that, everyone is all about it. No one— well, actually, if you notice in America now, everyone's starting to copy that, so it's very interesting.

Yes.

But she is just so original, you know. She's not doing a techie jazz.

Now, just to be super clear, we're shouting out to Molly Long. Yeah, incredible. Just so we can give props to where props are due.

And her kids are so technical. Like, if you watch them in— so, I mean, I've been following her for a very long time now. I've been obsessed with her from the get-go, um, but she's now all of a sudden, you know, because of the TikTok situation, very popular. But she's always done what's different.

Yes.

Instead of trying to follow— because the thing with following people is you're never going to be the best at what you're doing because you're just following and trying to copy someone else. So I always try and be the leader in our industry of doing things differently, and then when people start to copy me, I'm like, cool, I'm totally doing something totally different now.

Absolutely.

Which I'm ready to do, but I'm not telling what I'm doing.

Ah, okay. So you're not going to tell us what you're doing, but you are going to give us some great tips today.

Yes.

On how to like embrace that choreography, how to embrace that creativity, you know, smart choices for using props, costumes. Where do you want to start?

Um, I want to start with little people because I got asked on in our teacher training because we do staff training. SJC. So one of the studios was like, what are some simple prop ideas that you use? So we have these 6 little boxes. When I say little, they're big enough for one 6 or 8 and under to stand on. Okay.

And not high, just like a step up.

Just a little step up. Yep. So we use those in most of our 6s, 5s, because we have a 4 and under troupe, a 5 and under troupe, and a 6 and under troupe. So we use it in most of those troupes. But for them to one, understand where to go on the stage, it's very hard for them to understand. Whereas if they have props that they're used to being in, it feels the same for them. Yes. And for them to help space out and to theme it. So this year, for example, for Fives, we're doing a fire engine dance and they're all firefighters.

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Like, cute.

Follow the leader, leader. It's so cute. Yeah. So we have a fire engine at the back, so all the boxes are pushed together and then you get a call flute fire engine from Easy Signs, and then we have Velcro on the boxes and we just put Velcro on the back of the core flute and stick it on.

Perfect.

Yeah. So simple, right?

Cheap, right?

So cheap.

Couple hundred dollars, like, not—

if that.

Yeah.

And then we're doing Toy Story, um, which is such a great routine. Yes. Um, and so they have kind of 2, 2, 3 boxes, same thing. There's like a little toy teddy bear and then there's an ABC. And then, yeah, so they know where to run for that.

Love that so much. That's really clever about the spacing because one thing I really hate seeing is when kids, you know, they run on and they run past the center spot, right? You know, it happens so often. We all see it at comps because the center spot isn't marked the same. They run past it and then they all end up over onto, you know, stage left or whatever it is, right? God, my— I watched my daughter in 14s do it the other day, even like by accident. She fixed it, but you know, like I watched them do it.

Yep.

Um, and they all do it. So having something for them to like align themselves with when they're little, so clever.

Uh, for the fire engine dance, we have 5 fire hats at the front. That's our 5 leaders at the front, so they know exactly where to run to. Just makes it so simple.

Yeah.

Um, for Toy Story, the ABC is right in the middle and the Woody and Buzz kids sort of start at that and then run straight forward so they know where to go. So makes it— it's a little trick of the trade.

I love that.

So little trick of the trade.

Um, and you've used some amazing props. You're using some amazing ones at the moment. You've used some amazing, like— and to me, I'm a bit like, fuck, that sounds like a lot of work taking them.

It is a lot of work.

But those little ones, that's not a lot of work. It's not being able to throw like a box in the boot of your car. It's not hard. Some of your huge ones are definitely I'll talk about this soon.

I want to talk about the Toy Story theming and the way we theme kids as well, because for Toy Story, we have every single child as a different toy. And I got the costumes from Hamilton's, which she's incredible at theming anyway.

Absolutely. So it gives you ideas for routines based on the costumes you see in the catalogs.

Crazy. But then we always go the extra mile. So we won the costume award this weekend at EBDSN, but But I then got all headpieces that match the costume. So like Forky has forks in her hair, like actual forks. And then like the bunny has like proper bunny ears. And then Woody has like a little, you know, the little mini hat. So like you just— I think with theming you have to go that extra mile. And then so Bibi did that routine and she also has done this hip-hop.

Yeah.

And so she came up with, you know, the song I'mma Be I'mma Be I'mma I'mma. So it's— they're dressed as bumblebees, but like cool hip-hop bumblebees.

Yeah.

With like black and yellow long sleeve with like yellow hip-hop pants and then a headband that says Stingers.

Cute.

Fucking smart.

So, so clever. I really think that, you know, sitting out at a comp, like you said, you know, someone doesn't go, oh, you know, the routine to I'm a B. People don't remember that, but they're like, oh, you remember that B hip-hop? Like, that's a different, like, vibe, right? Just talking because people talking about the theming rather than the song. The songs are kind of like blurring into each other. Let's be honest, when we're sitting at a comp, I've never watched more routines than I did on the weekend. I sat at Carnival. It's so funny. I was saying to a couple of the parents that I was sitting in the audience with, they're like, oh, you must be so used to this. I'm like, I am not used to this.

No.

I have never—

I don't think anyone can ever get used to it.

You know, with 3 girls dancing across different age groups, I spent the whole weekend at Carnival.

Great comp, so wonderful.

They do a great job.

Love Ellis, love Ellis. Amazing.

Fantastic comp. Really great high-level stuff. It was fantastic. However, sitting in the audience, you know, as a studio owner, as a teacher, I was backstage, I was busy, I was fixing hair, I was doing makeup, I was doing this. As a dance mum, I'm sitting in the audience watching a whole heap of dancers and they just blur. Oh, they blur into one. But the ones I do remember are, oh, you know, those kids dressed as the bees or that one with that cool prop. I couldn't tell you the song that they did, but I can sit there and name some cool things like that. It really makes it stand out.

I do think it makes a difference. And I also think for my parents, it makes them feel like we're putting a lot of effort into their children. And we really, as a team, work hard to have very smart concepts and ideas. To make it more interesting.

And it almost takes over. It doesn't, you know, negate good choreography. No, but it is almost just as important as the choreography and the technique and all of that. It stands out on its own.

Exactly.

It's a whole different part of it.

Yeah, I think so anyway. I want to talk about our 4 and unders. We have a 4 and under troupe.

So cute.

They're very clever, actually. So last year was the first time we did the 4 and under troupe and I came up with the concept because they were doing a beach theme and in these cute little beach outfits. And so we made towels, and on the towels we put their name on the towel. So that way we put the towels down on the stage and they stay in the one spot in fours. We're not going to run them around.

Yes.

But it meant that they knew exactly where to run to because their name they can recognize at that age.

Yeah.

So then we've done that again this year. They're mermaids, and we've got a shell that we got from Temu that are gorgeous. It's something you're meant to stick up on their wall, like, you know, like with their name on it, imagine it above their bed.

Oh, cute.

Okay, but we got them made for them to have same thing.

It's like a stand in front of it, to stand in front of. So cute. And how special does that make them feel? How special does it make the parents feel? I presume that they get to keep it afterwards as well. Yep, there's all of those things. It's just that going that extra mile, I think, really important.

Yes, really important.

And like, even just— I'm just thinking like the photos and all of that kind of stuff. Like, you know, uh, I saw the photos from, um, our weekend at Comps, and, and they do a great job of taking like individual photos of the kids on the stage. But how much special is it if they have, you know, the shell with their name on it, the towel with their name on it, and their child standing in front of it? Especially at 4s, at 6s, they share it more on socials. It tells more of a story. It makes them pumped about being part of your studio and that routine, and therefore everybody else also wants to be part of that studio and that routine. Yep.

Now I know you're super passionate about preschool, as am I. I am. And so I wanted to talk about preschool choreography in a preschool concert. So I find, and I had a big chat to my staff about this at the last concert, yeah, for a preschool ballet, for example, why are we doing pliés and pointing our toes? And I said to them, when you're— why are we? Okay, like, it's so not entertaining to an audience.

Okay, yeah.

So I'm saying to them, like, you have to have cute moments, you have to have an aww moment in every routine.

Absolutely.

And you have to have part that makes people laugh. That is so much more important than a plié. Like I said, who gives a fuck about a plié when they're 2 and 3? They just want them in the beautiful outfit looking cute.

Absolutely.

Thoughts?

Look, I— before you say that, I'm shocked to hear you say who cares about the plié. I've got to be honest, um, not about the awe moments and the funny moments. I was always about every— especially like, you know, I didn't do as many ballets, I did more jazzes and, uh, taps, hip-hops, even hip-hops, like whatever, at preschool. But I always wanted to have a laugh moment.

Yes.

Whether that was the little boy hugging the little girl, whether it was them shaking their butts to the back, you know, bending over doing the shocked face, like something along those lines. The other big thing, and I think I've told you this before, that I was really big on in preschool was I wanted to know the age of the parents. And the songs had to appeal to the parents' age. It had to be apparent. So quite often, you know, you talked before a little bit about Black Eyed Peas, right? I'm like, cool. So if all the parents are between the ages of 30 and 35 as average, what was in when they were 16, when they were 18, when they were at that, like, very much that age where you remember songs, you remember dancing on the club night floor, the nightclub floor, whatever that was, right? Dance floor, you know, I want the songs to represent them. And I think that's so important because it's not about the kids. So that's why I like— I always hated dancing to High Five, whatever, because that's for the kids. That's not for the parents. And the routine should be for the parents.

Yep.

So I think that that's a really big thing. Same thing as that aww moment. That's for the parents.

Yes.

Or the funny moment. It's for the audience. It's creating routines that people want to watch and routines that are memorable.

Because even a 45-minute preschool concert, if it's just boring routine after boring routine, is like burning my eyes out. It's awful. It's the worst. It's the absolute worst. I can't think of anything worse than that.

Yeah, it's crazy. Tell me. So we've talked props, we've talked costuming, we've talked choreography. You haven't told us about some of the big props you've got going on. Do you want to talk big props and like next level?

Yes. This year's the worst ever. And I never thought I'd say that. I mean, I drive a truck to every East Edvard and have done for probably the last 15 years. But this year we have Pete Evans has created this contemporary, which is unbelievable. It just got first overall at ABDSN, and it got— no, actually our jazz got first overall at Carnival. Um, I don't know how to explain it to you. It's a table that's 3 meters long, but it spins, and the kids, as it's spinning, go underneath it, jump over it. Yeah, if we put this on socials, I'll send some footage of it. It is insane. Insane.

So what happens if it doesn't fit on the stage?

Yeah, we haven't had that. Well, actually, do you have to check the measurements before you go? No, but I already— I already know two comps we didn't enter the seniors in because we know it won't fit on that stage. So yeah, that's an issue. Yes. Also an issue is having to take that now to Showcase Nationals. We also have these platforms for a Lockie Thomas jazz that the kids jump off. Trent, one of our boys, jumped so high off it on the weekend that the whole audience gasped because it's like, it's 2 meters in the air. Yeah, it's— anyway, that's crazy. Then for their lyrical, we have—

he's a crazy boy though.

Insane. Insane. Then for their lyrical, we have a double bed that comes apart in the middle. And the first comp and this comp, actually, they didn't lock the wheels properly, properly, and Bibi fell through the middle, which is hilarious for me. So that's just senior props. Our props are so out of control this year. It's crazy, but I love it.

You love it. I love it. It's memorable.

It's memorable.

People are going to— no one's going to forget that routine.

Our 8 jazz are doing Vogue. Now, I'm sure billions of people have done Vogue before.

Absolutely.

But we have 6 boxes on stage, those same boxes that we reuse for a lot of things. The kids have a little Vogue magazine, so we put one of our kids, Nor, who's just one of the tiniest Prettiest Little Things You've Ever Seen. She's the front cover of it. And then in the middle of the routine, she gets lifted up and we have like a massive core flute Vogue magazine that goes behind her as if she's like taking the photos on the—

cute.

Just like it's just taking things to the next level and thinking about themes that are more fun for the kids. And then, you know, someone who has a magazine feels like that's really special. And absolutely.

So How do you brainstorm these ideas with your team? Is it you coming up with them? Is it you all sitting around and going, how can we make this cuter? What could we do to up it? How could we like make it next level? How do you actually come up with all these ideas?

I think for the little ones, like we definitely, because it's a lot of my younger teachers. So we have 4, 5, 6s over at the one studio and I kind of go in between the three and help them. But they are younger teachers, so I probably facilitate that more. And but Bibi and I are already talking about ideas, like she's already got her idea for 6s next year. So we get excited about it. Yeah, I think for the older kids, because I don't choreograph those routines, it's about giving the choreographers complete freedom. And that's what I did with Steven. I said to Steven, I don't care what you do, but I will create it for you. And I now say that to the Peets of the world. Like, he came— comes up with the most crazy concepts and I don't say no. And that's the thing. So last year he had a staircase with this mechanical device on it where the girl looks like she fell backwards, but it was actually like a mechanical leg. I don't know how to explain that to you. That sounds really random, but it was not random. It was very cool. It was like this moment where she looked like she was floating off the top of the stairs. But the same thing, like, he's like, I've got this concept and idea and I'm like, cool, let's do it. Yeah, it's just like it's, it's, it's allowing them that creativity that makes them then think of these ideas. And think differently and think bigger. But when they're restricted, they think small. Okay.

How do you— for studios listening, you know, how do they bring this to their concert? How do they embrace it? Maybe on a smaller scale. We can't all afford to have a mechanical leg that comes out the top of a routine, right?

Yep.

But how do we think, you know, outside the box about creating memorable moments inside our shows and our concerts, whatever that is?

I think the themes is great. I think doing the fun, the small boxes and even a staircase and like a normal staircase.

Something you can reuse. Right.

So those props, I'm not joking, we would have had those for 15 years now. They're painted black and we have different size boxes. We have those little cubes, we have a staircase, so those can get reused over and over and over. And I think having that basic stuff and then just changing the core flute on the front.

That's so clever. I've never thought about that. Yeah, just changing that core flute. It's so easy.

Yep. And it works with anything. Like, remember the year we did the crayons and we had the crayon box on the call flute and then we dressed them as the little crayons? Like, just simple things like that, I think, just take things to the next level and make it more interesting for the audience.

And, you know, I'm just thinking this out loud because some people might not even think about this, but like how easy it is these days to jump on Canva and get you know, an image of the fire engine, the crayon box.

Exactly where we got it from.

Yeah. I'm sure you just created a Canva thing which took 2.5 seconds to look through, which was the cute Canva one. Sent it to EasySigns. They send it, they deliver it to your house for $150 within 2 business days or whatever. It's chucked some— what do you have, like Velcro on the back of them?

Yeah. So you can get Velcro that's sticky.

Yeah. Yeah. That's sticky Velcro.

Sticky Velcro. So you stick it on the back and all of our boxes already have the other Velcro on them in a cross.

Perfect.

And so then we just stick it on.

So easy.

So easy.

Canva, Easy Signs, Velcro. Good to go.

Literally. And I think as well, just trying to think about what will entertain the audience and what will make the audience relate to that piece and make it interesting. And talking to your staff about that rather than it just being routine after routine after routine, because that is so boring to watch.

Yes. I really like that idea, creating for the audience.

Yes.

Not creating for yourself as much, even. Exactly. You know, we've talked about that in terms of, uh, social media advertising. Don't, don't put things on social media that you want to see, you know, aim it to your audience. The same as choreography. I love these tips. Thank you so much for sharing them with us.

That was fun. Thanks, guys.

We'll see you next week on the Dance Principles United podcast.

Thanks, friends.

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