About The Dance Cottage and Ms Crystal!

 All about me and THE DANCE COTTAGE.

First of all my name really is Crystal Star. My parents gave me the middle name Star because I was born on the 4th of July.
The goal of what we do at the Dance Cottage is summed up in this statement:
 "BUILDING EACH CHILD'S SELF WORTH THROUGH TEACHING THE ART AND LOVE OF DANCE". 

I started dance at age 3. I was obsessed from the start. To be able to move to the music, challenge my body and channel my energy was necessary for a busy girl like I me. Luckily for my mom, her aunt Jeanne had a school of dance. I lived there for years. I branched out into gymnastics, cheer and swimming. My heart always returns to dance. My TRUE love (as all of you who know me) is really TEACHING. I love kids. They are uninhibited when the music starts. I know you've seen it in your kids. In fact, I believe ALL of us love to dance. We just learned along the way somewhere that we should be embarrassed unless it looks "right". My dance program is a SAFE place. I would rather build a child for life then create a technical-professional. Because of that, my program is not for everyone. We do teach technique, but that is second to a list of other things we teach such as
your body is a gift- use it, the joy of movement, you are beautiful just how you are and how you dance, we can always improve, kindness is important (wait your turn), you can have fun and learn the same time (in fact it's the best way to learn).

Here is a sample class for a COMBO 2:
10 min   Welcome, roll, Circle time, stretch
15 min   Bar work- tap drills (counting & rhytym)
             Tap floorwork (center or diagonals)
5 min     Switch from tap shoes to ballet shoes
15 min   Ballet bar drills (technique and correction)
             Ballet center work or diagonals (learning sequencing and choreography)
15 min   Review
             (Technique correction, turn preps, performance teach or review, or dance game)
5 min     Circle time

I know family time is valuable, so I feel a bit humbled to have a portion of your child's life. I am very picky about dance teachers that I hire and trust them with the dance growth AND emotional growth of each child.

So, I'll answer the most asked question: 
If you have 6 kids and a crazy life why do you do this????
Well it started with me getting frustrated when I looked for a place to start my daughters in dance. I was teaching at a studio and not impressed with the "hoochie" look, dance and attitude that was being taught to preschoolers. So I started small teaching my girls and some friends. Slowly it grew and we changed the garage into a full studio. Now, it serves as a creative outlet for me, a chance to play, a service I can provide while helping provide my kids with their lessons (irony: only one daughter loves dance), and simply I LOVE IT.