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At Stagelight, we love to present storybooks to our Mini Stagelighters that inspire performing, dance, singing, music, or creative work. And there are MANY storybooks that do just that!

One of our favorites is Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson. The book features a hippo who just CANNOT STOP dancing, no matter how disruptive it is to the rest of the jungle. But despite the other animals’ complaints, Hilda is not derailed.

If you have the book at home, great! Read it together. If you don’t have the book, below is a recorded read-aloud that includes the actual book so your Mini can see all the colorful pictures.

Once your Mini has read the story, go back and re-read the featured rhythms in the book. Have your Mini choose his or her favorite rhythm, and create that rhythm pattern using handclaps, stomps, instruments, or other toys around the house.

Send us your rhythm performances to stagelightathome@gmail.com or tag us on social media @stagelightarts. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

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Stagelighters, it’s very important to keep moving and working on your dance technique during this time at home. So, grab a chair or a counter, and work through this barre warmup. Moving is so important to keep our spirits up, and getting lost in the music is just a perk! Dance through this barre warmup as if you’re actually performing on stage.

Here’s a note from Ms. Katie: This is a barre warmup for all my ballet classes to use! My 7-9 classes, feel free to start trying out your port de bras (arms). All the combinations are only done on one side so the video would not get too long, so PLEASE make sure to rewind and do the combinations on the other side. I miss you all so much and I hope you are staying safe and healthy!

Now, how many musical theatre songs can you recognize from this barre warmup? Send us an email to stagelightathome@gmail.com with your answers and a picture of you doing the barre warmup. Have fun!

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What a week. What a wild, crazy, unprecedented experience we are all now living–ALL of us. The whole world.

We truly hope you are finding ways to move and stay healthy and keep dancing. And we hope you are finding joy in this new–but temporary!–normal.

As we come to the end of our first week social distancing and even quarantining in some cases, we’d like all our dancers and performers to take some time for self-reflection. Fill out this form, or type out your responses. We’d love to hear from you! Send us your responses at stagelightathome@gmail.com.

And keep that vision for your future strong and alive. We’re here to support you!