When the music starts, it's impossible not to tap your feet, and that's exactly the kind of irresistible urge that Dance Inc Studios brings to life, as shared by their very own Caitlin Todd. Once a young student pirouetting through the halls of Dance Inc, she now orchestrates a symphony of classes that ignite joy in the hearts of aspiring dancers.
On our latest episode, Caitlin unfolds her journey from lacing up her first ballet shoes to managing the thriving energy of not one, but three bustling studio locations. Her story is a dance itself, a choreography of dreams, dedication, and the daily rhythm it takes to run a creative educational hub.
When the music starts, it's impossible not to tap your feet, and that's exactly the kind of irresistible urge that Dance Inc Studios brings to life, as shared by their very own Caitlin Todd. Once a young student pirouetting through the halls of Dance Inc, she now orchestrates a symphony of classes that ignite joy in the hearts of aspiring dancers.
On our latest episode, Caitlin unfolds her journey from lacing up her first ballet shoes to managing the thriving energy of not one, but three bustling studio locations. Her story is a dance itself, a choreography of dreams, dedication, and the daily rhythm it takes to run a creative educational hub.
You're listening to In the Club Presents at the Club, a Class for Kids podcast with me, brian Davidson. Hi guys, and welcome back to another episode of In the Club Presents at the Club. If you haven't done so, please do consider liking this video, subscribing to the page and digging that bell for notifications. At the Club is the podcast where I try and talk to as many industry professionals related to kids activity providers as I possibly can. At the Club is, of course, brought to you by Class for Kids.
Speaker 2:
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Speaker 1:
If you'd like to learn more, click on the link in the description below. So in this episode I'm speaking to Caitlin Todd, the studio manager for Dance Inc Studios across at Busby, Bovville and Bearsden. I talked to Caitlin a little bit about how she structures her classes and what impact social media plays in the structure of those classes. Can you give us a little bit of a history on yourself, your background, your professional journey so far and what has led you to be where you are today?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so I'm Caitlin. I work for Dance Inc Studios. The school has three locations and I started with Dance Inc when I was 14 years old so quite a while ago now and I danced for Louise who runs it, and it just was kind of a very natural progression from there. I started being a class assistant going on with the young ones and then as soon as I turned 16, I went and got my teachers and got all my qualifications through that, Started helping and teaching more and then went to Dance College, did my three years there and then as soon as I left there I was basically like right, Louise, Annie B, full time, get me in there.
Speaker 2:
And then it just kind of progressed into behind the scenes work, admin, planning for shows and it just became basically more and more and more as the school grew to the three locations and it just became a much bigger thing. Then my role just grew with that and now I manage the team, I manage the three locations and yeah, it's really exciting, it's a lot and it's a lot picture they fill on. But yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, nice, that's tremendous. So is this side of where you were sort of in the dance teaching spaces that way you originally wanted to be? Is that where you can have felt your passions lighter? Did you have aspirations of being a dancer? What kind of? What side of the coin did you flip on that? Because we speak to a lot of people who are both sides, people who, yeah, I want to be a dance teacher and that's what I do, I want to have my school. Then there's other people who say, oh, no, I want to be a dancer. But they found the turn, as they're going through their careers, to think hang on a minute. Actually, no, I do prefer the other side of it. So where do you kind of sit on that spectrum?
Speaker 2:
I think when I was younger I was definitely very much I want to be a dancer. What we on the stage? I want to do all that. But as soon as I started helping out with classes and I saw that other side of it and even just like the planning, the lessons and the shows and the events, like I just love all that side thing. So it's definitely not where. If you'd asked me 10 years ago if I thought this is where I would be, I would have said no. But now like I can't imagine being on the stage now and doing the other side of it.
Speaker 1:
That's nice. So you run all three locations for Dancing Inc. Where about us? Are they? I've been to you in one location, but where are your other ones?
Speaker 2:
So we have Busby, bodwell and Bearsden and actually in Busby just now, top preschool this morning, then we've got classes in tonight. So this is like our home base, if you like. It's where it all started in Busby.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, so you run classes during the day as well. It's not just an after school sort of thing.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, majority of our classes are after school, just in line with the school times, obviously, but we do have like our preschool classes and then we have like yoga classes and things like that. That happened during the day, so it is very busy yeah.
Speaker 1:
Nice, I didn't know that. That's that's, that's cool, that's this. I mean, it's a. If you've got the space, like in minutes, it's it. You don't have classes on. Just one of those things. Think, what else can we do with a space?
Speaker 2:
and I Think especially for us, like our preschool classes are not like they are so so, so busy with waiting list, so it just made sense for us to put on these extra ones, like a Wednesday morning, and if it lines up with people's nursery signs and things like that, then that can quite often work for them over a Saturday morning, for example.
Speaker 1:
So do yous have the same same timetable year round or do you go with like school holidays you run, say, like camps and more classes during that week? Are they stay their rigid sort of schedule?
Speaker 2:
So we run 42 weeks of the year. So we take off some time at summer Christmas, we take a week off at the Easter holidays and then we take the October break. But during those times we'll put on like summer camps and maybe extra parties and stuff like that, and we don't tend to do it over Christmas because a lot of people just like to just chill over Christmas, don't they? But we do still do like Christmas Eve parties in that and but we do. Apart from that, the timetable just runs as is for 42 weeks.
Speaker 1:
It's nice to set up sort of not even for like Parents and teachers and sort of thing, but they have, like kids have that sort of regimented schedule. From such a young age it stills like something in them.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, definitely, because I think for people like they just know it, on a Monday night, for example, they go to dancing and that's just the routine, and we've had parents status, like if we miss it, it just totally throws us off. And I would be the same if my schedule changed one week and it was like you're not going to teach that class today, hold on.
Speaker 1:
Definitely, definitely so. You. Do you structure all of the classes For other teachers as well, or do the teacher structure their own classes?
Speaker 2:
teacher structure their own classes. We quite like it that we have. We have 12 team members now, so there's quite obviously a few different vibes and personalities and teaching ways, which we really like, because then, when it comes to classes, everything's different and it's exciting and as much as we all Maybe follow like a basic, you know, you do a warm-up, you do call, you do technique, you do a cool down, like there's that obviously very basic structure, but everyone has their own kind of ways of doing things, which is really nice, I think, for the kids as well, to be exposed to different people and getting to know different people and things like that. So no, I would just structure my own classes.
Speaker 1:
Nice, that's good. So you like to hear that and then it becomes less sort of formulaic, as you were saying. So everybody puts a kind of label that will be personality into that individual classes. I so, when you're structuring your classes, how much? I mean it seems like a big bad thing out there, but do you get any sort of pressure from like TikTok dances or like trends to incorporate them into getting a request from kids to do that? How do you manage the expectation of social media and like sort of working with teaching them the discipline?
Speaker 2:
I mean, tiktok's a massive thing, isn't it Like? It's so, so huge. So I would say more so are maybe like primary 47 age group. They are like and they'll come in and go we need to play this song for a warm-up, we need to do this, speak to this, and I think it's just kind of coming and going with them, because for us, our classes are 45 minutes at a time.
Speaker 2:
So if I try and make TikToks, we could be there for the full 45 minutes and then we're not doing anything else, but at the same time, the kids love it. So we'll always take a wee time to kind of introduce that. Even if it is a case of right, we'll play that song for a warm-up or we'll do that, and we're quite big on our Instagram rules and things as well. So we always make time for content. But, to be honest, because the classes are only 45 minutes, what we tend to do is have content days, like when yourself come in and we'll have that specific for that. So we'll have kids come in, out with class time to make TikToks and rules and all the social content that we need, because it's massive, such a massive thing now.
Speaker 1:
That is definitely, and I think you've kind of, like it seems, familiar, saying you've got to get a good like of when to do it, because you can't, you can't just be subject to there's a new trend, there's a new dance, let's do that, because it just throws your whole, your whole regiment and your whole schedule and your whole plan.
Speaker 2:
Exactly, and it's constant as well, like there's a new trend pretty much every single day now, so it's so hard to keep up with. The kids are actually better than me, to be honest.
Speaker 1:
How do you think dance helps develop soft kids, soft skills in younger people?
Speaker 2:
I think it's so amazing for doing things like that.
Speaker 2:
I think you know, we've had so many children come into us and they're crying and they're shy and they don't want to leave the parents.
Speaker 2:
And it's that journey from getting them to maybe where they are now, where they're bound into class and they're smiling and they've got wee pals and things like that Like, even like it blows my mind that are we two, three year olds all come in and they run straight in and shout their pals name and it's just really nice.
Speaker 2:
And I think dance does have a big part to play in that because it brings out their confidence and you know they come in and they know it's a safe space for them, they're going to have fun and they have these people that are there every week that are, you know, the same as them, they're doing the same thing and we just have we have so many parents that come and say to us I cannot believe how much their confidence has grown. It's wild and I think coming to dance and just play such a big part and I think our I mean our team as well we're all just a bit daft. I think you need to be as a dance teacher to just like jump about it and be crazy and like try and bring that out and kids, so people can kind of like bounce off each other as well. For things like communication. I think it's really nice.
Speaker 1:
That must be a huge compliment to like yourself and the rest of the teachers to say I paint and come up and say, oh, I've seen the personality in the earth Can change so drastically just to come into dance. It's just like it's a testament to the work you guys are doing as well, to well that kid to be able to like to see a change in somebody so young and you're kind of like developing them as you come along and just I, I think that's probably my favorite thing that parents say like I know, when I dance school and we want kids to point their toes and jump high and do all that sort of thing, like that's amazing, but for us, like that, we are non-competitive.
Speaker 2:
service is all about confidence and, you know, having fun and building those relationships. So I think that, for me, is the best thing that somebody can say to us.
Speaker 1:
So if you can go back 10 years and give yourself, 10 years ago, one piece of advice, what do you think it would be?
Speaker 2:
I think, probably to just not care so much what people think. I think the dance industry is a lot different now than it was 10 years ago. But I think sometimes in that kind of world it can be very much based on how you look and how high you can jump, Whereas I think it's more about how you feel and what you want to do. So I think I would just tell myself don't care about that, do it for you and go the path that you want to go.
Speaker 1:
As part of your classes. Just to kind of dive back on that, because I meant to ask you earlier what kind of classes, but it's just a couple of classes that you guys run across your locations. What do you do?
Speaker 2:
Well, we have a bit of everything. We have the more kind of classical styles, like your tap and ballet. We have actual classes, musical theater classes. The ones that are really really popular just now are the hip hop commercial classes. That's what you see in like all the music videos and stuff. Like the kids come in and they want to be like little mix and everything, so they come, all of those styles. But yeah, we've got quite a very timetable. We've also got boys only hip hop on a Saturday, which is just it's jumping. I teach those classes. It's also one of my favorite of the week because it is wild, but it's so, so much fun, like they're amazing. And then our preschool classes, which said earlier, like they're jumping. So there's a lot going on. It's quite very timetable.
Speaker 1:
And if anybody was to try and sort of like find you guys, look you guys out, where about? As? Could they find you either online, or you've said your location, but online, where can they contact you?
Speaker 2:
So if you're looking to contact us, you can email us, or a lot of people contact us through Instagram and Facebook now, which is just dancing studios, it's super easy to find or our timetables all on our website just dancing studiosuk, and it's split into the location, so it's nice and easy to figure out what suits for people.
Speaker 1:
Some really insightful stuff. If you haven't done so, please subscribe to the page, leave a like on the video, ding that bell for notifications and I'll see you in the next episode.