Popdance Area Manager for Redhill, Rianna Parchment explains:

“People need to realise that these classes are about more than just dancing!” Was said to me at the end of one of my recent Popdance Tots classes by a Grandparent that had come to watch. And she is right!

During a 30-minute dance class, your child will have fun dancing along to the music and get some exercise. But there is so much more to it than that…

Many physical development skills come into play during a dance class. We develop motor skills by jumping, spinning, hopping and skipping our way through the class. We learn how to co-ordinate our body parts – moving our legs whilst clapping our hands or waving our arms at the same time! We strengthen our muscles and help them to become more flexible during our warm up & stretch.

Discovering new steps and dancing along to the beat of the music are also fantastic for your child’s development. Here, we are developing our musicality and rhythm as well as helping the children to identify different sounds in the music.

The ‘Descriptive’ section in our Popdance Tots class is one of the best ways to demonstrate how dance helps our creativity. The children are given a movement that corresponds to a name, which ‘describes’ it, and it is so interesting to see the different ways in which the children interpret this!

Social development is something I see constantly throughout my pre school classes. The straightforward and consistent structure of our Popdance Tots classes mean the children begin to learn how to follow instructions and listen to a teacher (which is fantastic preparation for school!)

The children are also given opportunities to interact with each other, helping to develop friendships along with their confidence!

So – why not take your child to a pre-school dance class?

Find out more about Rianna’s Pop Dance classes in Redhill and the Surrey area here

Lianne Holt, Popdance Area Manager for Watford writes:

“Sometimes, I think one of the hardest things is keeping in touch with people.

Everyone leads busy lives, with work and family commitments that it’s easy to forget how important just sending a quick message to a potential customer can be; out of sight out of mind.

After receiving an email enquiry and making initial contact I will always try and get the mobile number of any potential Popdancers coming to trial my class so I can send them a text message to keep in touch.

Whilst it’s important to remain professional as a teacher I think a text provides a friendly and relaxed tone for anyone who may be nervous about trialling a class and meeting new people.

I also started a whatsapp group for my Popdance class a year ago and have found it to be a fantastic way of keeping in touch with my lovely ladies. They are able to chat to each other here and share ideas about what track they’d like to dance to next! It’s also a very quick and easy way to let me know if they can attend class and for me to let everyone know if I have to cancel for any reason. I think it also helps the ladies feel a part of something special, not just a dance class, but a group of friends too which is lovely from a social point of view.”

Doreen: It makes the class not just a class but a lot more :-)x

Jac: Love the WhatsApp group Lianne. Great way to keep in touch with everyone & feel in the group even when I can’t be at class. Sometimes I will still send a text though if I want to send private message.

Amanda: As the newbie … it’s definitely helped me feel part of the group and being on first name terms in a class is so unusual but made me feel very welcome!

Find out more about Lianne and the Pop dance classes, birthday parties and workshops she runs in the Watford, Hertfordshire area here

It’s not been the easiest of journeys!

From starting with just one Popdance class for adults in St Albans, Hertfordshire 8 years ago, we’ve certainly learned a LOT!

Having never run a business before, the learning curve has been more like a corkscrew but I have to confess that I’ve loved every minute! Yes, there have been tears as well as laughter (a LOT of laughter) and the fact that I absolutely LOVE what I do, makes everything completely worthwhile.

We’ve got an AMAZING team here at Popdance – from our core team in the office, Dawn, Lianne, Rachel and Kerry who have all been my rocks through these years – to our fantastic team of dance teachers out in the field. From Emma in Scotland to Emma in Jersey, from Tammy and the team in Oregon, to Elvina in Azerbaijan – they are all a massive part of the growth and success of Popdance.

Popdance is completely and utterly about teamwork – we know that our teachers and our customers are our business – without them we wouldn’t be here – and that’s why we are here to support and help our teachers to enable them to make Popdance what they want it to be for their lives and their families.

So why are we even more excited about the future for Popdance? Well because we now have Popdance Area Managers! Yay! A fantastic team of amazing dance teachers who will be managing areas with us worldwide. We know that our teachers know their areas much better than we do. They know what kind of budgets their customers have, they know what venues are perfect for birthday parties and classes. They know where the parking is, where the landmarks are to help their customers find them are.

And we know how to help them with the marketing, social media, paperwork such as risk assessments, child protection policies etc. We know that by being part of a dedicated and passionate team, all with amazing skills and ideas, that is what makes Popdance what it is!  Friendly, supportive, productive, open, approachable, fair, ambitious and driven.

So, hold on to your hats, as Popdance propel fantastic dance classes, birthday parties, after school clubs, workshops, hen parties, corporate teambuilding and dance routines to pop music that every loves around the world – from our youngest Popdancer aged 3, to our oldest at 82 (who is being filmed by the BBC this week at Popdance Fit in Borehamwood – watch this space!)

Want a piece of the action? Find out more about working with us here

Happy Popdancing!

We all know the benefits of exercise and keeping healthy and yet we keep seeing reports in the news that obesity and other health problems are on the rise, particularly in young people. So, what can we do to help?

When we exercise our bodies release endorphins which makes us feel good it also helps our general mental health. So, even if it’s hard to motivate your kids to go a class the mental benefits afterwards are extremely worth it.

Exercise has been known to relieve stress and anxiety. A recent report in the Rugby Advertiser stated that “the average mum will fall ill 324 times over their youngster’s childhood with colds and bugs passed on to them by their offspring”. This equates to around 18 times a year!! How can we reduce this figure? You’ve guessed it, Dance!!

If your kids are getting fit, active and healthy their immune system will be stronger meaning they are less likely to become ill which also means that parents are also less likely to become ill.

Popdance is one way of doing this. Popdance offers classes for kids age 5-11 where they get to learn a fun warm-up, stretch, descriptive which develops their creativity and confidence, followed by a main routine all to their favourite pop songs.

Whilst they are having fun they are also getting fit, active and healthy so their are all round general health improves :)

Find out more about Charlotte Cooper’s Popdance classes, birthday parties and workshops in Rugby

Popdance Fit and it’s benefits by Amanda Knight – Popdance Area Manager, Wokingham

So after being set the challenge of writing my first Blog post by Sue at Popdance HO, I thought I would start by asking my Popdance Fit ladies if they would mind writing a couple of lines about why they have all chosen to sign up for Popdance Fit for the term as this was also the first time I have only offered a termly price rather than Pay as You Go and all of my regulars signed up, yay!

These are the comments I received:

“The only way I enjoy exercising because I have a smile on my face all lesson”

“It’s the only class I’ve been to where I don’t clock-watch and even if my muscles are on fire and I want to lie down; I have to keep going because I LOVE that song!”

“Much more fun than a gym. Love the music and dance moves and gets me out of the house!”

“I enjoy Popdance as I like the dance routines to cheesy pop music. I get to destress and escape my children (as lovely as they are!) Great fun class!”

“Connecting with people and music. Enjoying movement. Music, movement, mixing ……..Mandy!”

“It’s a good fun workout, I love the music and the care Mandy takes”

“Great music, great instructor, takes me out of my comfort zone!”

“Best class I’ve been to in years. Mandy is really great and I feel better for coming.”

“The Popdance Fit class is not just great fun, it’s a good workout to great music too. Mandy knows just how to push you to the limits in a fun way”

And one of my participants emailed me later in the week with some more thoughts she had about Popdance Fit and why she likes dance classes:

“Because it makes me feel good!”

In our hectic lifestyles that we lead these days, it’s an opportunity to have fun in a relaxed environment with some good tunes burning off calories and getting fit all rolled into one!

“I’m too old for nightclubbing so this is a means of keeping stress levels down and feeling good about myself and gives me a break from my lovely children”

“I don’t get out much and I think mums lose their identity a bit and it’s quite isolating to stay at home so it’s good to do something for me and get out and meet new people. I love dancing although I’m not very good at it and it’s good for boosting self-confidence and being able to laugh at oneself particularly when you do a turn and end up facing everybody else as I’ve gone the wrong way!”

I always try to make all my classes as much fun as I can and I think reading these comments shows that this is something I achieve and it encourages people to return and continue exercising but also makes them feel good about themselves and gives them a little bit of “me time”. I love my job and seeing people’s smiling faces, having a laugh and generally having fun plus reading comments like the above makes it so worthwhile.

Find out more about Amanda’s Popdance classes in Wokingham HERE