Our tiny dancer, as Poppy likes to call her, is having her first big recital this May. The outfit (black and white polka dot tutu) is enough to make any heart melt, but I’m wondering when recitals became such big money makers. It’s not like her dance studio is a public school or library. It’s a privately funded studio where Nana pays quite a bit each month for her to go. So, why the need to raise so much money at the recital?
Here’s the breakdown: t-shirts (with all the dancers names listed like my sorority party event shirts) – $15, tickets to performance – $5 each (the first two are free, how generous), recital fee – $50, trophies – $10 each, medals – $8 each, dvd (NO recording devices or cameras will be allowed in the auditorium. Aside, of course, from the professional dvd creator) – $25, roses for performers – $5 each, studio pictures – $?, snacks and beverages sold during intermission – $?, personal ads for the program – $ varies per ad size, and the costume – $45.
But the costume really is the most adorable thing ever and Joelle really will love it. How can parents and grandparents resist? We’ll be hooked and that’s how they can get away with it.
Pico DiPaolo 
April 6, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Wow. Are any of those optional?… And WHAT in the world is a “recital fee”???
Each kid gets a trophy and a medal? If it’s either, then how would you know if you need to pay $10 or $8. Let’s not split hairs here, but man, any $2 you can avoid to spend here is golden.
The ban on family cameras is absolute bull shit! What a manipulative affair!!! I really would feel like they’re sticking all that up my [you know what…] I mean: it’s your kid dancing there!
April 6, 2007 at 9:23 pm
What a shake down!
April 7, 2007 at 5:35 am
The trophies, medals, DVD, pictures, etc. are optional.
I don’t have a problem with paying for the costume or a “recital fee” if at least most of it goes to offset the cost of renting out the auditorium (don’t know that this one does).
The worst, though, is the trophy/medal deal. The parents for a particular class should get together and agree not to get those. From a parent point of view (assuming you don’t collude to do that) you can either (a) assume everyone else will do it and just get the trophy or (b) assume your kid will understand the concept of “the trophy doesn’t actually mean anything, their parents bought it”…but to a 4 year-old the question is then “well, why didn’t YOU buy one?”
Maybe as an alternative we can “e-mail Cinderella about the recital” and she can “send hand written congratulations” 😉
April 7, 2007 at 8:14 am
Yeah, I like Chris’s idea about Cinderella writing. (free!) Chris is singing, “Tiny dancer, she dances for money…” (Private Dancer by Tina Turner)
Seriously, most of this is optional and since she is just 4, we will opt out of almost all. We may not even get the dvd. I mean, I’m sad to not have her performance documented, but do I really want the whole show? Not really. 😦
If she continues there (we’re actually considering moving her to the church program), we would feel the pressure to do more and more each year. Especially if she was selected to be a company dancer (another gimmick!). The company dancers are actually responsible for all this fundraising.
April 7, 2007 at 10:40 am
How much is the DVD? I will want to see it in Wimberley if it’s not too much! If it is
April 7, 2007 at 10:41 am
more than $20, that’s too much.
April 7, 2007 at 10:42 am
$25. 😐
April 7, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I think the Cinderella idea is great. Personal congratulations from a princess? MUCH better than a stinky trophy.
And I would totally tell Joelle that the trophies and medals other dancers got were bought. But then, I don’t know how they’re going to do it: Will they have a big ceremony where each kid not getting a trophy will feel excluded? How will those getting medals feel compared to those with trophies? I really hate the whole thing… It’s all perfectly designed to foster guilt and consumerism among parents.
April 8, 2007 at 12:10 am
Why can’t we just video tape her routine like the last one. Just make someone, other than me, responsible for charging the camera.