It’s An Underwater Disco-Quarium Dance Party!
Everyone loves a disco party, and with summer upon us, we are dreaming of sparkling blue seas and days by the seashore! So, we combined these fun themes together to create a super fun summer dance party: The Underwater Disco-Quarium! We were inspired by some of our fave disco tunes, these #totesadorbs metallic leotards from Discount Dance, as well as the “shiny” movie scene from Moana…can you even!? That crab has some serious bling!!
You, too, can create this sparkle-tastic dance party in your own dance class, or better yet, you can even host a special 2-hour dance party on a Saturday (and/or as a summer camp) for a little extra income and some added fun! Here are a few fun ideas to host your very own Underwater Disco-Quarium Dance Party!
The Decor
Of course, this is the perfect activity to use a disco ball if you have one (or ten)! We also purchased some balloons at Party City in the shape of silver disco balls and gold orbs. We anchored them with mini disco balls so they look like they are floating in the sea! Then, we added in some sparkly pillows, pom pom garland and anything we could find in our studio that could transform our space into an underwater dance floor! Be creative with the items you already own!
The Disco Dance Dice Game
Dancers will be rolling the dice (or actually, just the die), so you will need something to serve as dice. You can use actual dice if you want something small and are OK painting it, but you might prefer something larger like a square box (any size of your choosing). Once you have decided on the type of dice you will use, paint all six sides a different color, each of which will represent a different disco dance step. We’ve provided suggestions below, but anything goes with this game, so be as creative as you want!
The dancers will each take turns rolling the die, and will perform the steps based on the color they roll. You can read the underwater disco descriptions provided below each time someone rolls the color.
Pink: The Sparkle-tastic Starfish loves to do the Disco Pointer! This iconic disco move, also known as the Travolta, is great for demonstrating sharp arm lines.
Purple: Rainbow Fish-tacular likes to do the bump with a partner. Grab your nearest finned-friend and have fun while isolating your hips! Make sure you add a disco groove to your moves!
Yellow: Soul-a-riffic Seahorse is a rollerboogie skater! Make a big circle and pretend to rollerskate by gliding and sliding! You can even throw in the disco pointer while skating to keep the disco spirit alive!
Blue: Jellyfish-a-licious loves to do The Hustle! Note: You will likely need to show your dancers what The Hustle is. You can simplify it based on their skill level. You could focus on walks and egg beaters and even mix in the disco pointer. For the tap version of the Hustle, you can combine walks with toe taps and pivots! This is great for working through the floor with their feet and traveling.
Orange: Chassé around the sea floor on the Sea-Unicorn! Note: We purchased an inexpensive sparkly unicorn pool float that we use for this activity. The dancers take turns putting it around their waists before they chassé all the way around the room! You can use any prop or other pool float that you may already have on hand and change out this activity to make it fit!
Green: Free Space – Turn on a disco tune and boogie down with your favorite disco moves!
The Crafts
If you are hosting this as a special event, consider including the cost of these super cute leotards into the cost of your event. Even if you don’t, you can still incorporate these fun crafts into your dance party!
Sassy Sea Creature Tails
The Supplies:
- Gold fabric (or any metallic color) – We used this from Hobby Lobby
- Glitter paper and foam sheets (in multi-colored jewel tones)
- Multi-colored large rhinestones
- Wide ribbon (sparkly, of course!)
- Hot glue gun & glue sticks
We cut the shape of a mermaid tail, scalloped shell, and the stinger of a stingray from the gold fabric. Next, we secured the tails to a wide ribbon, leaving plenty of ribbon hanging to be able to secure it around the waists of the dancers. Then, we cut shapes to decorate each one and glued them onto the tails. Lastly, we added a couple rhinestones to each one to add a little sparkle (but not too many, as we didn’t want to make them too heavy).
Sea Shell Corsages
The Supplies:
- Foam sheets
- Sea Creature Stickers
- Glittery pom pom balls
- Sea shells
- Sequined and multi-colored ribbon
- Sea rocks/crystals
- Feathers
- Rhinestones
This is truly a hodge-podge corsage, and there are no rules! Simply mix and match the various items you’ve gathered for your corsage and hot glue them onto the backing. Glue the ribbon so it dangles down and –tah-dah!–you have a fun seashell corsage!
Supplies! (The before!)
The after!
Close up of the crazy fun!
Fun Extras
BUBBLES! We used lots of bubbles in our party, and the dancers loved dancing through them! They of course also make a cute photo op! The genuine smiles and giggles are endless!
SLINKIES! Kids love these fun and inexpensive toys! We picked some up at our local dollar store. You can encourage rhythm (move them to the beat of the music) or even marching or dancing while keeping the slinky in motion! This is great for working on coordination and musicality!
The Music
Some of our favorite disco songs to use in class are Shake Your Groove Thing by Peaches & Herb, Dancing Queen by Abba, Carwash by Rose Royce, or The Hustle by Van McCoy. But, never fear, we’ve made it really easy for you and created a complete Underwater Disco-Quarium Dance Party Spotify Playlist for you that will last ALL CLASS LONG and more! Check it out here!
Note: If you don’t already have a Spotify account, you will be asked to create one in order to access our list, but it’s FREE and EASY, and only takes a quick sec. Do it! While you are there, you can check out the playlists from all our ConfettiMOOD posts, too! It’s a never-ending supply of fun songs to use in dance class for all ages! Enjoy!
So, there you have it: all the tools to plan your very own shimmery Underwater Disco-Quarium Dance Party at your studio! Your dancers will love all the added extra fun, and we’re willing to bet you might just have a little fun yourself! So, do the HUSTLE and get BOOGIE-ing on this one! #makedancefun
