Pre-National Team is a great transition from our Recreational Classes to a Competition Team. Parents can sometimes have a negative impression of what is involved in a competition dance or baton twirling team due to what is seen in the media. While there are negative experiences and very expensive teams available for those that choose that, we work very hard to introduce competition in a way that focuses on learning and improving in a positive environment for both kids and pa

This blog explains what a Competition Solo Class is, what we do and how it benefits you and your kids! Competition Solo Class is for our athletes that want to compete individually at local and/or traveling competitions. Competition solo class is a cost effective way to receive individual instruction while managing expenses. Most Competition Solo Classes are taught by Jacinda Miller. Jacinda has been teaching for over 30 years, maintains an active judging license through the

Are you looking to add a touch of flair and finesse to your performance? Baton twirling could be just the dash of excitement you’ve been searching for! This captivating art form combines elements of dance and gymnastics to create a dazzling spectacle guaranteed to steal the spotlight. Whether you're an aspiring twirler or a seasoned performer, mastering the intricate techniques of baton twirling is an art worth perfecting. The Foundation: Understanding Baton Twirling Before w

The week of Nationals brings so much excitement and anticipation for our National Team that you can literally feel the excitement in the air! We arrived in South Bend on Monday and headed to a local dance studio that is so generous to let us practice and use their studio space for our kick off party.  After an easy practice, we headed into our kick off party that is hosted by the moms from one of our teams.  They planned crafts, provided the sweetest gifts and even had sweet

Private lessons are an excellent way to quickly improve your skills in any sport. The 1-1 time with your coach allows for specific feedback that leads to mastery quicker than trial and error. Private lessons tend to be more expensive than a group lesson and here are a few tips for improving the effectiveness of your private lesson. 1. Know your routine. If you are working with your coach on a regular basis and learning new routines, come to your lesson with your routine mem

In the vast spectrum of colors, there exists a hue that perfectly complements your essence. It's the shade that enhances your complexion, boosts your confidence, and resonates with your personality. Discovering your signature color isn't just about following trends; it's about embracing what makes you feel uniquely radiant. So, how do you go about finding this perfect match? Firstly, consider your skin tone. Your skin undertone plays a crucial role in determining which colors

In a world filled with diverse extracurricular activities for children to explore, baton twirling stands out as a captivating and dynamic option. Combining elements of dance, coordination, and showmanship, baton twirling offers a unique avenue for kids to foster creativity, boost confidence, and develop essential life skills. Whether your child has an existing interest in performance or is simply looking for a new, exciting challenge, baton twirling can be an excellent choice

If you are just beginning your individual twirling career, you may be overwhelmed about choosing a costume for your events. When your twirler first starts, you may be wanting to buy the very best costume or you may be looking for budget friendly options. Most of my new competitive twirlers like to begin with budget friendly options as they get started. We also start our competitive twirlers with solo and basic march as their first events. The number one option that twirlers

If you compete individually, have you ever received the comment, "good color for you?" Did you ever wonder why a judge would write that? A judge writes that when the costume color is complimentary to the twirlers skin color, hair color and eye color. Essentially, you are choosing a color that brings out all of the very best features in your twirler or dancer. So, how do you discover the best colors for your child? It's actually a really simple process. Take color swatches

The New Year is a great time to bring focus or re-focus your goals but kids' goals as well. Goal setting sessions can be a great tool for finding out what we want and how we're going to get there. Here are practical tips for goal setting with your kids. 1. Remove distractions like TVs, phones, ipads, friends. Have some snacks and drinks so that kids can relax and enjoy the process. 2. Ask your kids to write down all of their goals for 3 minutes. Goals can be related to ba

Choosing a new sport or coach can leave parents with questions about coaching philosophy to payment to communication. Here's 10 questions to ask your new coach. 1. Share with me your philosophy on coaching. This is your coach's elevator speech. Do their values align with yours? Does the philosophy change based on the athlete and/or their level? 2. How do you set goals with your students or athletes? Are the goals given to the athlete or is it a collaborative process? 3. When

A common complaint from parents is that they wish their kids would practice more or would practice without being asked to and while I wish it was easy, it does take encouragement and consistency from parents to develop practice as a habit. Here are a few tips for encouraging practice. 1. Pick a time that works with your kid's schedule. While some kids will like practicing right after school most often kids need some time to decompress and play after school so allow them the

Starting any class or sport can be a bit overwhelming for even an outgoing child so it's not surprising or unusual at all for there to be some tears or butterflies about starting a new class. Here are 5 tips that parents and teachers can use to help young children begin and transition to a new class. First, talk with your child about how many days (or sleeps - whatever your family uses to count) until their class starts. Continue to talk about how much time and what your c

As try-outs for many studios are just around the corner, students and parents are making the choice about whether to jump into the competition world! Here's what you need to know about joining a competition team at Dance-Twirl Minnesota. * Competitions are great but reaching excellence is a process. We know that students are going to improve throughout the year and we hope that each competition or performance brings improvement. We love winning as much as the next team but

This is the time of year when parents are wondering about Summer and Fall classes and what class to take! Students can take a recreational or competition "track." If you are interested in recreational classes then read on... We'll have more info on our competition "track" in our next blog post. After your student completes their beginning baton then we typically recommend an Intermediate Class. Intermediate Classes continue to focus on learning new dance and baton skills whil

If this is your first recital, you may feel overwhelmed when it comes to preparing for your child's big day! Here's a quick checklist for what to pack for recital on May 20th at 7 pm. Costume - Be sure your costume doesn't have wrinkles in it or the tulle is bunched up. If it is then just lightly steam it but be cautious of any sequins when steaming. We suggest wearing your costume to recital but be sure to cover it with a robe or shirt. Hair - Most classes wear their hair in

Students are receiving their invitations to join National Team this week and we would like to Congratulate all of our students that received an invitation! We invite students that enjoy class, are willing to try new things and have great attendance. So, what do you need to know about National Team? Here's a few details: National Team competes in 2 traveling competitions (one in Omaha and one in Milwaukee), 2 local competitions and Nationals held in July at Notre Dame Univers

If you are a family that has been with us for a while, you are probably familiar with our two competitive teams - Performance Team & National Team. Performance Team was created many years ago with a focus on community performances throughout the school year. Due to the pandemic and many community events being canceled along with the busy nature of our families, we have seen the number of community performances dwindle. Our performance team has become a team that contin

Every recital season, we get some really good questions about recital and why we do things a certain way. The number one question we get especially from families coming from another studio is why do we have our recital in a gymnasium? Great question! Most studios are primarily dance and acro but our program consists of 60% baton twirling and 40% dance. Many years ago, we did have our recital in an auditorium and what we noticed is that our National Team students were having

This quote really hit home today... I was working this afternoon and began to think about how I've been teaching in Minnesota for 20 years - that's a long time! And, when I was young (really young, like a teenager), I would watch Sherry Vignoli and Julie Seckar Anderson coach their teams to National Championships with amazing - literally mind-blowing performances (I included one below) and I decided back then that I wanted to create that same type of program so I started...