Prepping for a Showcase Performance

Showcase fever is hitting KPole once again and with good reason, next year will see our huge 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY showcase take place. The biggest we have ever gone for a showcase, with more performers, a bigger audience and all-round celebration than ever before! If you have already signed up or are thinking of signing up, we know that prepping that all important routine can be a very overwhelming task, where you don't know where to start. Luckily, our amazing KPole instructors have come to the rescue to give their best tips and tricks for prepping an incredible showcase performance and making it as stress free as possible!

So here it is crew - I'm not going to lie, i've let two of our instructors take over this month, so I take zero credit for these awesome tips! Have a read and leave us a comment with any of your other hints for your fellow students :

Thoughts from Hannah - choreography instructor at KPole Cradley

  • Film everything and experiment with movement. Some things will work, some things wont. Discard what doesn't and keep what does.

  • Think about the audience - what are they seeing?

  • Pick a song you don't mind hating by the end! Listen to it incessantly and learn every beat/word/accent.

  • Prepare for the worst. If your mind goes blank or you forget your routine, make sure you can freestyle to it to buy yourself time to catch up with your routine again.

  • Be prepared for frustrating days where it goes wrong or you can't think of anything. Its normal. Work on technique/lines/what you've already got on those days.

Thoughts from Lauren - Instructor and Competition Queen:

  • Keep it simple for the showcase. No one knows that level you are at or what tricks you can do. Make the movement things that you enjoy and that you can do easily every time without worrying about it going wrong. There doesn't need to be a crazy amount of tricks in there.

  • Allocate time to train it each week ( we, as always, will have dedicated open training sessions for showcase performers but you are welcome to come in to other open training sessions as well!) Train floorwork at home.

  • Get used to performing with an audience. Make people watch what you have so far, whether thats an instructor for feedback, or your fellow students for a confidence boost. It will really help if you have already 'performed' the piece before you step on stage.

  • If you want any help choreographing your routine, get in early with instructors. Firstly, they are all busy and have limited availability for 1-1 sessions, but also, the sooner its is choreographed, the sooner you are just running the piece through.

Extra bits from me:

  • Think of 2-3 main combos you would like do to on your apparatus and create the piece from there. I always find if I know the combos I want to put in my routine to start off with, it is much easier to build a performance around that.

  • If you're stuck on music choice, choose a piece of music that has changes in pace. I have always found music that has softer parts and then big crescendos much easier to choreograph to as there is obvious places for where the big combos should go and where should be for things like floorwork and transitions.

  • I say it about pretty much everything, but its supposed to be fun! I know putting yourself forward to perform is a huge, huge deal and something that is out of the comfort zone for a lot of people, but try to enjoy the process and not get too stressed out about it. Everyone will be cheering for you and rooting for you on the night. It's not a competition, so just try to actually enjoy performing!

If you would like to perform in our 2026 showcase and haven't yet signed up, drop us a message today. Spaces to perform tend to go very quickly, so take the chance and go for it!

Happy Choreographing Folks!

Love Kim xxx

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