Dance Your Way to the Top: The Importance of Promoting a Successful Dance Program

 Dance is often overlooked in the rough and tumble world of athletics.  Yet, a dance team, just like the cheerleading team, is an integral part of a successful athletic program.  As a dance coach, I must find a way to enhance the marketability of the dance program so that the general public will understand our role in the athletic program.  If you want to promote your dance team, consider these three marketing ideas to ensure that your team is unique and memorable.

1.       Display Your Trophies!   Every gymnasium or field house has a trophy case full of championship trophies, awards, banners.   It is a basic athletic mentality to tout the ‘Ws’ or wins!   Therefore, as a dance coach, I must let the public know about the accomplishments of the dance team.  For example:   It is important to display accomplishments that previous dance team members have made that have moved on to bigger teams.  Letting the public know about former dancers who have received college scholarships or have joined dance teams for professional sports will draw attraction to my future team. Showing that students from my team have moved up and accomplished many of their dreams will highlight the strength of our program. New dancers will be drawn to the team if they know that the team can generate dancers beyond the collegiate level. Whether it was dance or how they interact with others, my dance team made an impact on these students and allowed them to move forward with their passion for dance. Young dancers will want to be a part of something if it is proven to be successful. I can use these individuals that moved up to professional teams as a marketing tool. Bring these students back to do clinics with young dancers, sign autographs at one of our events, or have the individual or their new professional team come perform. Creating a place on my teams’ webpage where I can show the accomplishments of alumni with pictures of them will draw attention to the program. I want to use alumni to help attract new individuals to the team.

2.       Choreography is Key!  To market the dance team, the coach must pick out a style that will attract the audience and catch people’s attention. This goes along with picking out the music. When trying to attract students to your dance team, the music should have popular songs that people are interested in. Once the style and song are chosen, a choreographer comes into the picture. The choreographer needs to make the entire routine interesting, enjoyable, and fun not only for the audience but for the dancers as well. Choosing a choreographer who is well-known in the industry will bring interest to the team and is a good way to get new dancers to join. Performing well and entertaining audiences will draw attention to your program and attract individuals who want to pursue dance.

3.        Academic Awards. At competitions winning first isn’t the only award we like to receive. Other awards that are handed out are best choreography, highest GPA, most collegiate, and most admired team. Even if the team doesn’t win first place, getting one of the other awards markets the team in other areas. Dancing is the team’s main focus but we want to excel in all areas. Having a team that can not only win but be the best academically and socially is a goal that I have for my future dance team. This will attract prospective dancers and their parents. Attracting parents is a huge marketing technique. The parents are the ones who are going to help influence the dancer’s choice and more than likely help pay for it. If you draw the parents in, they will want their child to be a part of your program.

I love seeing teams that work as a family. I want my team to be recognized in all areas and be the team that is talked about in a positive way. Creating a fun environment and making sure that everyone follows the three words that I want to build my team on; discipline, dedication, and determination will help reach these goals I have and set my team aside from the others.