A Calm + Happy Guide to Show Week

Helping Your Performer Feel Confident, Supported, and Excited at Weehawken Dance in Montrose, Ridgway, and Ouray

My husband likes to joke that the Pyeatte family motto is: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

I grew up in a household where going big was simply the way things were done.

Holidays were not just holidays.
They were productions filled with artistry, meaning, humor, and story (and glitter of course).

Thanksgiving was basically a dance recital of food. Each dish was a feature.
Christmas was absolutely The Nutcracker. The Christmas village was hand painted by my mom and had tiny moving parts. The tree was twelve feet tall.
Halloween costumes were sewn from scratch.
Birthdays came with homemade cakes featuring Cinderella’s coach or a unicorn sculpted from spaghetti and frosting.

My mom could sew anything.

My dad could build anything.

Magic and performance were everyday life.

So when I see our performers in Weehawken Dance and Weehawken Aerial caring deeply about show week, I understand it in every way. Caring deeply is not a flaw. It is a strength. It’s part of who we are here in Montrose, Ridgway, and Ouray — we show up with our whole hearts.

And I truly couldn’t be more excited for Polar Express Week, 2025. The very first time we did this show, I was 29 years old — which is why my dad added the number 29 to the train when he built it. It’s a little piece of our history that rolls onstage with us every year we do this show.

 

Why Weehawken Shows Are Such a Big Deal in Our Communities

Our productions are not recitals. They are shared community experiences, collaborations, and celebrations of childhood and growth.

They are staged with intention, artistry, and care.
(You can read more about our performance philosophy here: About Our Performances.)

Whether your child takes dance classes in Montrose, aerial silks in Ridgway, or youth dance in Ouray, these shows are where everything comes together. They create:

• Story

• Connection

• Memory

• Belonging

Performers remember:

• Who stood beside them backstage

• The friendships built in class

• The courage it took to step on stage

These shows help young people see themselves as capable, expressive, and connected to something meaningful.

And here is one of the things I love most:
Some of the instructors teaching your children now were once Weehawken students learning their first plié, their first leap, or their first pirouette.

I have watched toddlers become teens, and teens become adults.
I have watched nervous beginners grow into strong, expressive leaders.
I have watched shy kids find their voice onstage — and then turn around and help others find theirs.

And now, some of those grown dancers teach beside me.

They are the ones:

• tying dance shoe laces and tucking in pointe shoe ribbons backstage

• teaching choreography, and choreographing new dances

• encouraging younger performers when big show-week feelings show up

• modeling patience, humor, and kindness

This is how you know the heart of a program is strong:

Miss Tajiana Rueschhoff, front dancer in a leap in Weehawken’s the Polar Express when she was around 12 years old.

Not because someone becomes a “star.”

But because they come home — to give what they received.

This is not just a studio.
This is a circle of care.

The Weehawken Show Philosophy: Empowerment Over Perfection

Whether in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical, aerial silks, or lyra hoop, our teaching is grounded in the same core value:
We empower young performers.

We teach students to:

• Manage costumes and props
• Track entrances and cues
• Prepare themselves backstage
• Problem-solve calmly when something changes
• Take ownership of their role in the show

This is not about pushing.
This is about building self-trust.

These skills translate into:

• Classroom confidence
  

  Miss Ashlin Mitchum in Weehawken’s The Polar Express when she was 16 years old.

• Emotional regulation
• Teamwork and leadership
• Resilience
• Independence

We are not just teaching technique.
We are teaching how to be steady, thoughtful humans.

This is the heart of Weehawken Dance and Aerial.

Why Show Week Feels Bigger Today

Kids today grow up in a world with more awareness of themselves and others.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, youth are facing:

• Higher levels of comparison
• Higher visibility
• More performance pressure

The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that teens are sleeping less and balancing more obligations than ever.

I have seen this shift over twenty years of teaching thousands of students in Montrose, Ridgway, and Ouray.

So when show week arrives, it makes sense that performers may feel:

• More excited
• More emotional
• More invested
• More sensitive

This is not a problem.

It means the experience matters.

Our role as adults is to protect the joy.

Because when a performer feels supported and seen, they carry pride in themselves long after the curtain closes.

Your Role as Their Safe Place

Your performer does not need more corrections this week.
They get technical direction from us.

They need:

• Warmth
• Encouragement
• Consistency
• Presence

Try:
“I love watching you perform.”
“You worked hard for this.”
“Have fun up there. You have earned this.”

Your voice becomes their inner voice.

A Simple Plan to Keep Show Week Calm

• Keep sleep, meals, and routines steady
• Normalize nerves as part of being brave
• Pack costumes early
• Practice costume changes at home if needed
• Help your performer write out their own show-order plan
• Move slowly and leave buffer time for transitions

These things create confidence.

Show Day Packing List

For dance and aerial performers in Montrose, Ridgway, and Ouray

• Labeled dance shoes
• Tights with backups or aerial-appropriate base layers
• Hairbrush, gel, bobby pins, hair ties
• Robe or button-up to protect costume backstage
• Water bottle
• Change of clothes for after the show
• Snacks that will not stain costumes:
  • Pretzels
  • Cheese sticks
  • Granola bars
  • Apple slices

No orange snack dust.
No chocolate.
No glitter slime.

Costumes are treasures. Handle them like gold.

For all show times, packing lists, hair & makeup notes, tights colors, and arrival instructions, you can always find everything here on our Parents Hub (bookmark-worthy!).

After the Show: Protect the Joy

Say:
“I am proud of you.”

Do not say:
“You missed that one part.”

We are not building perfectionists.
We are building expressive, confident, resilient young humans.

No one is getting discovered for Broadway because they were in The Polar Express.

We are here to grow:

• Courage
• Confidence
• Community
• Self-trust
• Joy in their bodies

We protect childhood joy here.
We choose meaning over pressure.
We choose pride over perfection.
We choose connection over performance.

💛 Now get out there, and have the best time ever.

Polar Express 2025!

Miss Natasha Pyeatte

Artistic Director of Weehawken Dance