Our number one aim is to make every child’s concert experience an exciting, magical and positive adventure that they can treasure forever.
 

We also understand that for parents, particularly those with very young children or attending their first concert - leaving your child backstage can feel a little daunting. Please be reassured that your child will be surrounded by familiar, caring and experienced people throughout the entire concert.

With many years of experience running concerts, we have developed a backstage management system that works incredibly well for our dancers and families. It is designed to keep our students safe, happy, calm and well cared for, while allowing the concert to run smoothly and efficiently.
 

Backstage Groups & Carers

Every child is allocated to a specific backstage group with a dedicated Backstage Carer. For our youngest performers, these groups are intentionally kept very small, with approximately 4–6 children per group, allowing our carers to provide plenty of individual attention and reassurance. As our dancers get older and become more independent, group sizes gradually increase.

Our Backstage Carers are trusted members of our Chapmans community and include experienced Varsity parents, Chapmans teachers and graduates. They understand how exciting - and sometimes overwhelming - concert day can feel for little performers and are there to make sure every child feels comfortable, included and supported throughout the day.
 

All Chapmans staff who are required to hold a Working With Children Check (WWCC) have a current and verified clearance. Some parent volunteers are covered by the parent volunteer exemption; however, many also hold a current WWCC, and we request clearance details from volunteers wherever applicable. We take great care in selecting the people who are entrusted with our dancers backstage.
 

For our Imagination Dance and Pre Junior performers, we also have our beautiful buddy system with our older Varsity dancers. Our Varsity students absolutely LOVE helping our littlest performers - holding hands, helping them find their way, keeping them entertained and sharing in the excitement of their special day.
 

Your little one will certainly not be left to navigate backstage on their own. Between their Backstage Carer, teachers, helpers and Varsity buddies, there will always be familiar and supportive faces nearby.

Backstage group allocations will be published in the lead-up to the concert.
 

What Happens When You Arrive?

On concert day, parents will personally sign their child in with their allocated Backstage Carer.

From that moment, their carer knows that your child is in their care and will look after their group throughout the concert. Parents can then relax, grab something to eat or drink at the venue and get ready to enjoy the show while our carers, teachers, buddies and backstage team take care of everything else.
 

To keep backstage calm, organised and safe for all of our performers, parents are not permitted in the backstage areas or dressing rooms unless they are an officially allocated Backstage Carer volunteer.

We know this can feel strange the first time - especially when your dancer is only two or three! Please know that they are never simply left backstage alone. They remain with their allocated group and carer, with Chapmans teachers, additional supervisors and our older dancers all around them.

Our dressing rooms are large communal spaces filled with dancers, carers, teachers and supervisors. There are always plenty of familiar, friendly faces around and lots happening to keep our performers happy and occupied. Our youngest dancers will have colouring-in pages and other activities available while they wait, and our carers and older buddies help make the backstage experience part of the excitement of concert day. Our teachers also regularly check in with the groups and, where possible, our carers share photos in the Chapmans Families Facebook group, so parents can enjoy a little glimpse of the fun happening behind the scenes. Most importantly, if your child needs you, we will contact you. If a little one becomes very upset and cannot be settled, their Backstage Carer will call their parent and arrange for them to meet at the dressing room door. We will never expect a distressed child to simply “push through” without support.
 

For children still in nappies, parents will also be contacted if a nappy change is required. Our team will not undertake nappy changes, so we ask that children arrive in a fresh nappy and that parents remain contactable throughout the concert.
 

Collection After the Show

At the end of the concert, children remain safely with their allocated group and Backstage Carer until collection. Parents will meet their child’s carer at the designated collection point and personally sign their child out. Children are not released from backstage until this process has been completed.

For Our First-Time Concert Parents - If you have any concerns about leaving your child backstage, or your child has medical, additional or individual support needs that we should be aware of, please contact us before the concert at email@chapmans.dance. We are more than happy to discuss your concerns and make appropriate arrangements wherever possible. Our goal is for parents to be able to sit in the audience knowing their child is safe, supervised, cared for and having their own special backstage adventure while they wait for their moment to shine.
 

If you have any questions about our backstage system, please contact the studio on 0492 128 244 or email ash@chapmans.dance. We can’t wait to share another magical concert day with our Chapmans dancers and families!

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