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The Tenacious Teamwork Triangle is the TDC support system, with the student on top and the parents and teachers holding them up, anything is possible.  At TDC we are firm believers that students are successful because of the support they have from their teachers, parents and peers. A strong support system is important for ANY child’s growth in whatever activity they do so we ask our parents to be involved in their dancer’s journey. Encouragement comes in many forms and a simple, “you’re doing great,” can motivate children to rise to their potential and believed in themselves. 

The Tenacity Teaching Method is centered around accommodating the dancer’s individual needs and learning styles. Every child is unique and your dancer will be encouraged to grow at the pace that best suits them. It includes these three pillars:

AGE APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION

Topics are introduced in a progressive manner that best complements the dancer’s comprehension.

INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION

Tiny steps of growth are stepping stones to the bigger picture. Every ah-ha moment is one step in the right direction and personalized feedback motivates them to keep pushing forward.

VISUAL BASED LEARNING

Metaphors reign supreme. We believe in “painting the picture” using imagery and visual based teaching tools.

We ask that all of our dancers and parents sign a TDC Promise. These promises are a dancer’s and parent’s understanding that in order for them to be successful they must be committed to fulfilling their promise to themselves and their TDC family. Our promises encourage and promote healthy and positive attitudes both inside and outside the studio.

The promises are the glue that holds the Tenacious Triangle together, a dancer and parent commitment to the progression of a student and Tenacity Dance Company’s success, ensuring that our dancers grow and learn in an environment that contributes positively to everyone’s success. Dance is half mental and half physical and maintaining an “I can do” attitude is crucial for healthy growth and development. The promises develop as the dancers grow and are written comprehensively for each age group, super cute to super real.

Student promises are made the second week after the start of the Fall/Spring season. The first week, we like to get to know each other and the students get a feel for the style and technique. The second week we make our promises; students and teachers in class, parents will sign theirs at the front desk. Dancers six and up are asked to write in their own promise and understanding to encourage a sense of responsibility and accountability. We want everyone to be successful, “you get out of it what you put into it.”

Click here to read the Student and Parent Promises

For us to inspire and provide your students with the most current and advanced curriculum, teachers must have continuing education to create new teaching methods and choreography that keep your children growing and successful.  These continuing education programs provide us with new teaching tools and information that we share with our students, faculty and staff to ensure that your student(s) is receiving the best possible dance education we can offer them.  TDC is 100% invested in every students success and we must be invested in our teachers as well.  This is one of our ways to continually give back to our students.  We want the best for them, just like you. For more information on our teaching certificates click HERE. 

1. Ms. Jayna- ABT, ACROARTS
2. Miss Rainin- ACROARTS

It is important for us as teachers to hold our students accountable for their actions, to teach them how to grow from failure, to be humble when successful, to be prepared/rehearsed, to be dressed appropriately, and how to follow the rules of life and the classroom, but we can only do so much.  It is up to the parents to support them when we cannot by being invested in their success. Helping them practice, attending watch week, and encouraging them to uphold the values TDC teaches them while outside of the classroom are all ways to help your dancer to grow. By being involved in their dance success, you inspire them to work hard because they only want to make you proud.

Be proactive.  Dance is not a cheap extra curricular activity and you will get the most out of your investment if you work at home with your child.  Be excited to practice with them, and ask them what they learned in class. Dance is an opportunity to bond with them. We offer parent observation once every two months where parents/family/friends can come and watch their child take class.  We have opportunities for parents to volunteer and students love when their parents are involved and they can say “so and so helped with that” (until they get older).

Let’s face it, all athletes and artists like to showcase their hard work and in the dance world, recital is the “big reveal.”  An opportunity for students to showcase their long hard work with a routine that they spent all year working on.  From the first plié or shuffle to the recital spectacular, this is their big moment; to face the music and dance, full hair, makeup and costume.  I know you’re smiling.  They did their job and you couldn’t be more proud.

A clean look helps the teachers and students understand clean lines, proper alignment, and helps ensure that students are safely and correctly executing steps.  Growing up, I attended a studio that had a very strict uniform policy; black leotard and pink, tan or black tights with hair neatly pullback off our face… I hated it.  It took some years of teaching before I was really able to appreciate all of the benefits of a strict uniform policy.  It is so much easier to correct when they were all in the same thing.  This is especially important with the younger dancers that don’t quite understand the ins and outs of how the body works.  Younger dancers rely on creative visuals to “stand proud like a princess/prince” to understand proper alignment.

“Rhinestones galore and choreo that makes you soar!” This is our “level up” program for dancers who are ready to commit more time to their dance education both inside and outside of the studio. Competitive Company dancers meet two days a week and are required to enroll in technique and rehearsal classes.

TDC offers 4 comprehensive programs for students of all ages and abilities: Petit (ages 3½ – 5½ ), Mini (ages 5 ½ -9), Junior/Teen/Senior (ages 9+), and Special Needs (no age restrictions). For more information on these specially designed programs, please contact Miss Rainin at rainin@tenacitydancecompany.com.

We do not want anyone to feel pressured into joining the competitive company.  We teach our studio dancers the same curriculum as our competitive company just at more adaptive pace.  Competitive Company requires more hours both inside and outside of the studio and is for the more serious dancer.   We believe in quality over quantity, you’ll get more quantity when you take more class.

Not every dancer gets a trophy and winning happens when the work goes into it.  Competitive dance teaches individuals, teams and families how to cope with disappointments and how to be humble when victorious.  It teaches students how to persevere and that sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It’s not the wins that define who they are as people, its the growing and learning from the upsets that drive them to be champions.  Students that choose to be competitive dancers invest more time and money into their dancing and it can become a family commitment as well. We expect our competitive company to represent TDC values in a way that promotes acceptance and spreads humility.

You’re probably reading this because you feel your child needs to explore their potential.  Children want to be in a structured dance setting for a few reasons: they love the challenge, they want to have fun, and they want to express themselves through movement.  Dance is an amazing sport, art, and discipline that presents students the opportunity to develop into individuals that are: strong, hard-working, humble, self-expressive, committed, and respectful. These skills help prepare and develop them to be successful adults who are wonderful to work with.  Dance is incredibly self-disciplined and, at the end of the day, nobody can push you to endure the ups and downs of dance other than yourself. We believe that every child has the potential to be incredible, and if they always work hard the sky’s the limit.

We have expectations for all of our students, and good habits developed in the dance studio can influence good habits outside of it. We set expectations for each age group of dancers, and do ask that they do their part. We expect self-discipline (these expectations are different for each age, don’t worry parents, we won’t make you practice with your five-year-old 6 hours a week), prepare for class, be on time, be a supportive teammate, contribute positively in a group project. We teach them how to be in tune with their emotions and feelings and how to cope with them.

You get what you give.   For us educators teaching isn’t our job, it’s our passion and our students know it.  We show up energized, positive, and ready to “werk- what what” each and every class because why not work hard and have fun all at the same time.  Hard work pays off and greatest reward a student can give a teacher is the “a-ha” moment, when that step they have been struggling with finally cliques and the “a-ha” surprised look happens.  The struggle was real, but the end result was “what-what”. We are here to provide your child with the tools of success, it’s up to them to build their dreams. Success is never giving up…smile through the pain.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein.  We train our students to be “smart dancers”, less is almost always more. We progress our students at a pace that allows for understanding of the material.  Proper progressions and introduction of steps allows students to understand at at level that is in line with their age and comprehension. If a student understands how to execute a step properly then they will develop “good dance habits” that will lead to a strong technical foundation. Why teach two sloppy turns when you could do a single beautiful one.  The wait is worth the reward.

This is how we measure understanding in class. I know you’re confuzzled (confused and puzzled) but it’s very simple.  We have a “three thumbs” system for gauging where your child’s understanding is in class. “Thumbs up” means your child could do it perfectly by themselves, no questions asked.  “Thumb in the middle” means they understand what is being asked but are maybe struggling a little with the physical part of it. “Thumbs down” means confuzzlement all around. Don’t worry, we will explain the new dance concept again.

It’s a dancer’s job as an artist to make their audience feel something and it is our job as teachers to come up with choreography that like a story can be read by the audience with a beginning, middle and ending. Dancer’s have the challenging task of having to tell that story using their body as their only means of communication. As a dance piece is presented, the dancer provides emotions like funny, happy, sad, or confused that take the audience on an emotional journey developing the story. At TDC, we use a variety of visual images when teaching technique that also tell a story. This keeps the students engaged and gives them something they can creatively relate to while executing a step in class. Art is meant to be shared so stories can be told.