Is The Concert Compulsory?
Why dance concerts are not really something you opt out of — and why the chaos, costumes and seventeen thousand bobby pins are all worth it. 🧡
The team at MSF were born ready to perform. (We know this because a lot of us are related.) We came out of the womb covered in sequins and demanding a spotlight. Stage presence is deep within our genetics, you can’t spell dance without DNA right? So for us, concert season has just always been a thing. Like Christmas and birthdays, concert season comes around like clockwork for dancing families. It is highly anticipated and it’s a big day that the whole family gets involved in and enjoys.
In 2026, Main St Funk celebrates 20 years of dance. Twenty years of concerts, backstage chaos, theatre snacks, bobby pins, friendships, standing ovations and tiny dancers peeking through stage curtains before their first performance.
Over those twenty years, one thing has remained the same — dance concerts have never just been about putting on a show. They’re about community, teamwork, resilience, belonging and joy. They’re about kids feeling proud of themselves and feeling like they are part of something bigger than themselves.
So, when students or parents ask us “Is the concert compulsory?” we are always a little… stumped. But, it makes sense. Each year, we welcome many newbies to the dance world and if you haven’t experienced the magic of concert day yet, you probably don’t get it.
The short answer is “kind of”...
Concert day isn’t technically compulsory… but we strongly believe it is an important part of the dancing journey and not really something you simply opt out of. When you sign up for dance, performances and concerts are part of the experience. They are the finish line the whole year works towards.
Why?
It’s about teamwork.
One of Main St Funk’s core values is “Dancing is a Team Sport” and concert season is probably the biggest example of that in action.
Your dance class is your team and if you’ve been coming to dance class all year, your teammates are relying on you to show up on concert day with your game face on.
If you’re new to the dance world you might not yet understand what goes into creating a dance for the stage. Your teacher spends hours choreographing routines suitable to the students in their class. Each dance includes intricate placing and positions to create patterns on stage. They might also include partner work, team stunts, and maybe even a solo moment in the spotlight for your child!
It’s not something that is thrown together. Our dance classes spend the majority of the year preparing and collaborating as a team. You can see now how if one dancer isn’t there on the day, it can have a huge impact on the other dancers and their teachers.
Deciding not to perform at the concert is kind of like playing doubles tennis, only to not show up at the grand slam and leaving your doubles partner out on the court on their own.
Committing to the dance concert teaches our children to be reliable team players. In a world where it’s becoming easier to cancel commitments, pull out of things or stay in our comfort zones, we actually think this lesson matters more than ever.
It will increase their confidence and self-belief.
Something we often hear from parents is “My child doesn’t want to do the concert. They are too shy to dance in front of other people.”
This is a completely valid reason to not want to do it… But, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.
Life is going to throw our children many hurdles to jump and mountains to climb. There will be times when they are faced with a challenge and they think “this scares me. I can’t do it.”
Overcoming stage fright and nerves on concert day will show them that they can overcome their barriers. That they are capable of doing hard things.
The sense of achievement, pride and adrenaline that comes from dancing on stage is hard to compare with anything else.
At Main St Funk, we don’t believe children need to be “the best” dancer in the room to deserve opportunities, applause or special moments. One of our core values is “Be Their Best, Not The Best” and concert day celebrates exactly that.
Every single dancer walks on stage at a different point in their journey and that’s okay. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is growth, courage and having a go.
The dance concert is the perfect place to start squashing that self-doubt because it is a safe and supportive environment. Your child will be surrounded by caring dance teachers, dance friends who are probably just as nervous as them and supportive family and friends in the audience literally clapping and cheering them on.
We know dancing on stage is a big deal and that’s why at Main St Funk we create performance stepping stones. Starting with “Show and Tell” during class, community performances, our casual mid-year concert, rehearsal day at the theatre and then our spectacular end of year production.
For twenty years, we’ve watched shy kids find their voice, nervous kids surprise themselves, friendships form backstage and entire families become part of our orange spot community through concert season.
It gives your child something to work towards.
We know that coming to dance each week improves our dancers’ skills, confidence, fitness and more but having an upcoming performance gives your child purpose. It gives them a goal and a reason to stay committed to coming to class each week.
Having an end goal increases motivation and keeps our students inspired and excited to keep working hard.
We’ve now had years of concerts, community events and performances since the lockdown era and one thing has become incredibly obvious to us — kids thrive when they have something exciting to work towards.
You can feel the shift in the studio when concert season rolls around. Dancers become more invested, more focused and more connected to their team because suddenly there is a purpose behind all the practice.
It is important that our dancers experience that sense of achievement from accomplishing their dance concert. A swimmer wouldn’t train and train only to not show up to race day, would they? For dancers, the concert is kind of the whole point.
Let kids be kids.
We know families are stretched in 2026. Kids are busy. Parents are overwhelmed. Calendars are chaotic.
But we are also only kids once.
Childhood should be filled with exciting memories, dress ups, imagination, butterflies in your tummy before a performance, silly backstage moments and the kind of joy that makes you forget the audience is even there.
At Main St Funk, we pride ourselves on making dance fun, exciting, age-appropriate and magical. We want our dancers to experience the cheesy songs, the cutesy costumes, the theatre lights, the dress rehearsals and all the little moments that make childhood special.
In a world where kids are growing up far too quickly, we think there’s something pretty special about letting children fully experience the magic of being part of a dance concert.
It means your child won’t feel left out.
The reality is, performances become a huge shared experience for dance classes.
Concerts, rehearsal days, costume fittings, backstage memories and post-show excitement naturally become a big part of class conversations and friendships throughout the year.
Of course, our dance teachers are committed to ensuring each child feels valued and seen as part of the team. But the reality is, the concert is a big deal and we have to prepare our students accordingly. This means the concert is talked about quite literally in every class throughout the year because it’s our way of keeping our kids engaged, excited and prepared.
After the concert we debrief. We talk about what went well, how we felt, what was exciting and what was fun.
While our dancers and staff would never deliberately exclude someone, it’s only natural to start feeling a little left out when there is such a strong focus on something that doesn’t involve you.
We place a strong emphasis on friendship, kindness and belonging at Main St Funk and we find our connections strengthen at external events and by achieving milestones together and creating special memories.
For the sake of your child’s sense of belonging, we highly recommend the concert.
Don’t stress.
Look, we are busy humans just like you and we completely understand how hectic life can be.
Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. Maybe you booked a holiday a year ago and it now clashes with a concert date. Maybe there’s an important family event on the same day and you genuinely can’t be in two places at once.
It’s a shame when these things happen but we appreciate it when families communicate with us in a timely manner so that we can prepare and ensure your dancer still feels involved and part of the team.
That’s another reason why we provide multiple performance opportunities throughout the year. So if your child misses one event, hopefully they can still experience another.
For twenty years, our concerts have created memories that last a lifetime.
They are a celebration of hard work, teamwork, kindness, growth, community and joy — all the things Main St Funk has always stood for.
And honestly? How often in life do you get a literal round of applause just for being yourself? 🧡
So before you opt out of concert day because it all feels too hard, too busy or like just another thing on the calendar, take a moment to consider what your child might gain from the experience.
Yes, concert season can be chaotic. There are extra rehearsals, costume changes, theatre runs, busy schedules and approximately seventeen thousand bobby pins involved.
But trust us when we say — it is all worth it when your child walks on stage, beams under the lights and feels like the star they truly are. 🧡