Medal Ball
Your Guide to the Arthur Murray Graduation Event
BY CHRIS LYNAM ARTHURMURRAYLIVE.COM Medal Ball: Your Guide
The Medal Ball: Your graduation deserves a dance party. Table of Contents :
What is the Medal Ball? 04
Themes Over the Years 06
The Flash Formation 08
How Digital Helps 10
Medal Ball Tips 12
What is an Honor Dance? 14
The Visiting Consultants 16
Medal Ball FAQ’s 18
Dance Program Upgrades 20
Graduating = A Big Deal 22
Contact 24
Thank You 26
Index What is the Medal Ball? JULY | 2020 JULY Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal What is the What Ball? Medal
Imagine a piano recital, martial arts belt ceremony, or University graduation... but with a dance party.
The Medal Ball is the event where our students move from one level to the next in their Arthur Murray dance programs. Whether that’s going from Bronze 1 to Bronze 2, or from Silver 4 to Gold 1 - the students complete a 3 step process.
Note: One of them is a big dance party.
4 3 Parts to the Medal Ball 3. 2. 1. The Celebration Program Freestyle Check Program Figures Check the danceparty graduation your program deserves. celebrate all of the graduates from our local studios.It’s The Medal Ball itself isa graduation party to honor and dance through the dancematerial in your level. A visiting consultant will watch you andother students This is the practical portion of the graduation process. fortechnique level. your ready, you’ll demonstrate the patterns, timing, and Once your teacher andstudioexecutive feel like you’re
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Jailhouse Rock We are breaking out of our Themes comfort zones, celebrating Elvis, and grooving digitally in 2020. 20 16
Livin’ on a Prayer Hair bands, Rock N’ Roll, and the celebrated music of Bon Jovi were center stage for Feb. 2016. Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal
“If you enjoy getting dressed up to the nines, or in a costume, you’re going to love the Medal Ball!” How we turn an EVENT into an EXPERIENCE.
6 Themeswww.arthurmurraylive.com Over the years
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Walk This Way! We brought together the world of Hip Hop and Rock N’ Roll as we celebrated Run DMC/Aerosmith. 20 12
Summer Lovin It was a hand-jivin, grease lightning kind of party for all of our Medal Ball guests & grads.
7 “One of the best JULY | 2020 JULY last-minute ideas
we’ve ever had.” The Challenge: What dance-thing can we do to get our students invovled who aren’t graduating but want to show their school spirit?
The Solution ------> Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal
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The Guide Ball Medal Flash Formation The FLASH FORMATION began with a last production value. All with the ultimate goal minute idea, “each school has one week to put of assembling a student and teacher dance a formation routine together for their students.” formation that will win the coveted FLASH FORMATION TROPHY. Today, there are months of planning and plenty The competition is as intense as it is fun and of laughs, great dancing, and higher and higher everyone gets in on the action.
9 JULY | 2020 JULY How Digital Helps Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal
Graduating During Pandemic
Fortunately, the pandemic hasn’t stopped our students from advancing in their dance progress. Even during the shelter in place, we have many students complete their graduation from the comforts of their own home by way of a digtial dance lesson.
Oddly enough, the pandemic has enabled our students to benefit in some key Medal Ball graduation areas that may not have been fully realized on in-person lessons.
10 FIGURE TEST www.arthurmurraylive.com
How the Pandemic protocols can enhance Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal your Medalist Graduation
Digital Lesson Benefits
There are some great (and hidden) benefits to learning digitally as you prepare to graduate from the next level of your Arthur Murray Dance Program.
BALANCE - One of the biggest challenges to a successful graduation is to have the balance necessary to execute the patterns with or without a partner. Digital lessons have made dancing without a physical partner a necessity... and the benefit is exponential improvement in balance.
TIMING - When you’re dancing in person, your instructor can physically guide or adjust timing. That’s much trickier to do through a digital lesson. The result is our students are counting and adapting to the timing much faster than usual.
While digital could have been an impossible challenge, it has turned into a great opportunity.
11 FOLLOW THESE TIPS JULY | 2020 JULY Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal
“It’s like setting a deadline for a hobby upgrade”
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Tips www.arthurmurraylive.com 1. THEY WOULDN’T ASK YOU
Your teachers wouldn’t invite you to participate in a graduation if they didn’t feel like you would do well. They have nothing to gain if you don’t do well. So look at the invitation as an endorsement of your preparation.
2. FEELING READY
Think of “Ready” as a subjective feeling. In fact, we rarely (if ever) feel ready whenever we are trying something brand new. Your teacher will prepare you and you may never realize how “ready” you really were until it’s over.
3. PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
Every Medal Ball will give both you and your teacher a chance to get feedback from an ARTHUR MURRAY CONSULTANT and also make plans for what’s coming up next in your dancing. This event isn’t just the end of one level but the launching Guide Ball Medal point for the next one.
4. CAPITALIZE ON MUSCLE MEMORY
Think of Muscle Memory a little like Holiday Shopping, if you wait until the last minute, you’ve missed your window to enjoy the experience. So start the process early for the Medal Ball, or any of your dance events. Cramming early means you won’t stress late.
5. JOIN THE FLASH FORMATION
Whether you’re graduating or not, this is a great way to get to know your fellow students and future cheering section.
6. MAKE A WISH LIST
The Medal Ball will give you a chance to see what the future of your dance program looks like. Make a wish list of dances and skills and share them with your teacher. It’s our version of a living dance program catalogue.
13 JULY | 2020 JULY Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal Honor Dance Honor
14 At the Party
What is an www.arthurmurraylive.com Honor Dance?
The Honor Dance is one of the special highlights of the Medal Ball Graduation Party. Any student who is graduating from Bronze into Silver, or Silver into Gold, is invited to perform a special solo routine to highlight their remarkable milestone.
Each of these performances is planeed to special music selected by the student and their teacher. In some cases, the performance will feature costume changes, multiple teachers, or props. In every case, the performance has a significant meaning for the student and includes a special backstory read for the audience so everyone can appreciate the dance journey of that student even more. Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal Honor Dance Honor
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The Visiting Consultants Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal
16 HIGHLIGHT Why feedback from these professionals is so sought www.arthurmurraylive.com after...
Every Medal Ball features at least one ARTHUR MURRAY CONSULTANT to perform the final stages of the graduation process.
What makes these consultants so special is that each is equpped with the Arthur Murray equivalent of a PhD in every dance we teach and what both students and teachers should look like from level to level.
These consultants weren’t engineered in a lab somewhere, they all have their own long and treasured history withing the Arthur Murray organization. This not only gives them an expertise in dancing, but Guide Ball Medal they are equally advanced in teaching in an Arthur Murray dance studio.
Every participating student will get written and verbal feedback 04 from the consultant and they will also be there to listen to, edit, expand, or endorse ideas that you and your teacher have for the next stage of your dance program.
One of the best parts of the Medal Ball experience is getting feedback one on one that not only sheds light on areas of improvement, but validates areas of your effort from someone who may have never seen you dance before.
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18 Frequently www.arthurmurraylive.com Asked Questions
How do I get started with my graduation?
From day one of your new Arthur Murray program, you’ve been preparing! Your studio Supervisor will visit your lessons throughout the course of your lessons to check in and give “progress checks” to have a feel for when you should be prepared to graduate. Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal Do I need to graduate from a full level?
There are students that will graduate from a half level or even do what is called a “basic checkout”, this would just be a preliminary graduation of the first figure in any of the dances on their program. In the big picture, the graduation process is a great opportunity to get feedback from a visiting Arthur Murray consultant and these partial graduations are a great entry point for newer students or newer levels.
Is it a competition?
Your dance program graduation is only a competition against yourself. Similar to golf or bowling, you are always trying to improve and the other dancers on the floor have no bearing on your result. You are given scores based on your dance level and the standard criteria expected to graduate. Your teacher will only recommend that you participate when they, and the Supervisor, believe you’re prepared to do so.
19 ADD THE NEXT LEVEL Your Future Program
JULY | 2020 JULY What’s Next?
The last thing we’d ever want is for your dance hobby to lose it’s spark. New levels, activities, and projects are designed to create new challenges and goals to getting past them.
This is the fuel that keeps both your mind and body developing.
Here are some ideas of some popular new additions to your dance program once you’ve completed your Medal Ball graduation. “ ADD A ROUTINE Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal
20 ADD THE NEXT LEVEL ATTEND AN EVENT
Program www.arthurmurraylive.com. Upgrades
“ ADD A ROUTINE Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal
ADD NEW DANCES
THE NEXT LEVEL - You’ve graduated! But NEW DANCES - You might not have started unlike your normal academic life, it’s time to your dance program with every dance we teach, jump into the next level of your dance program. but the good thing is that you can always add a This is where you get to see how the level you dance or two as you better understand how it graduated from unlocks new upgraded content in will benefit your dance goals and overall skill. the level you are starting. EVENTS - Whether you’re scheduling your ADD A ROUTINE - A routine is one of the next Medal Ball graduation, local showcase, or most effective methods for fast-tracking your taking the next big jump into a travel event like development in style, timing, and confidence. a Dance-O-Rama, you can expect every Arthur Choose a dance or two with your teacher and it’s Murray event to offer a great way to improve your one of the most fun & exciting additions to any dancing, a fun deadline to work toward, and an dance program. experience you’ll never forget. 21 The Big Deal About Your
JULY | 2020 JULY Graduation
There’s a version of you that never thought dancing was possible. Braving adversity, by walking through the door for your first lesson, you accomplished something many people could not. But the pull of your comfort zone is strong, thoughts like “am I really a dancer” can creep in ever so easily. Your graduation is measurable proof of progress that can silence even the loudest inner-critic. No different than a graduation in school, in other hobbies, or at work - you carry yourself a little differently afterwards. You begin to look back, take inventory of the times
Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal where your comfort zone tried to fight back, but you kept pushing forward. Your Medal Ball graduation not only for the progress you’ve made on the dance floor, but the challenges you’ve overcome off the dance floor too.
Medal Ball Guide
22 www.arthurmurraylive.com More.. Have more questions? Contact Us
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Medal Ball Guide Ball Medal Thank You Every Arthur Murray professional couldn’t be where they are today if it weren’t for students that were passionate about their dance hobby. On behalf of each and every one of them, I want to thank you for pushing outside your comfort zone, surpassing the limits of your earliest dance expectations, and doing everything you can to follow the recipe that Arthur Murray laid out for us so long ago. Here’s to your next dance level!
Chris Lynam -Author
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