Particularly in my advanced jazz and tap classes, I like to have a pre-choreographed, routine warm-up that I teach at the beginning of the school year and we use to get class going for the rest of the season. Once we hit Christmas break, I choreograph a new warm-up so the steps/songs aren't overly repetitive and don't get boring. This method obviously won't work with an advanced ballet class, for example, in which you execute your barrè exercises daily and work on different facets of technique every class. But I've found that for my advanced jazz and tap classes, this works beautifully.
My students come into class, tap shoes or jazz shoes on, hair tied back, and ready to go. I hit play on an upbeat song, we start moving, and before you know it their faces are flushed and muscles limber. Choreographing and teaching this warm-up at the beginning of the season makes my job so much easier down the line when the class needs to focus their attention on the upcoming recital. I just need to press play and can even begin thinking about steps for the next section of the piece we're working on while they're warming up. Teachers are busy people and it's important to be as efficient as possible for both time and sanity's sake.
And most importantly, the kids love it. For my advanced tap class, I came back from Christmas break with a fun warm-up choreographed to One Direction's "Girl Almighty." Want to know how to win over a class of twelve and thirteen-year-old girls? That's how.
For my jazz classes, the warm-up is a bit more extensive than the tap warm-up. I use one slower song for plies, tendus, and stretches (currently "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls), and then a faster one for a cardio warm-up that really gets their blood pumping (currently "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" by Fall Out Boy, although "Happy" by Pharell Williams was a favorite of my students). Finally, we do a few combinations across the floor before moving to center work and a more extensive combination (or recital, depending on the time of year). I don't like to spend too much time going over the warm-up's individual steps. I spend no more than half the class on the first day teaching it to them, and after that will mark the steps in front of them until it eventually catches on and they can perform it themselves. For me, I've definitely found this to be my favorite way of getting the students ready for each class. I never have to wonder if they've done enough to warm up and it requires little planning prior to each class. There's no better way to start a dance class than with pounding music, and a fun warm-up your students can lose themselves in.