Artistic Director's Report
I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new families who have recently joined the school and say that I hope your time with us will be enriching and rewarding. You have joined at an incredibly busy time but we hope that you will be encouraged to join in fully and to discover the value of the many areas of training we offer.
Third term has begun with a flurry of activity as exams took over our lives - this year we had a remarkable 7 days straight of exams - almost 4 full days of classical and 3 of combined jazz and tap. In all, students presented for 255 exams in the 3 styles! This created an enormous burden of work for the staff who prepared the students and we hope that each candidate will be rewarded for their hard work put in over the past months. The 3 days of classes in the holidays certainly gave those candidates who attended all of them so much more confidence and polish and RAD mock exams also helped settle the dancers before their exams. A big thank you also to the RAD pianists Laurice Boak, Peg Whalley and Sarah Cossey whose input into these exams cannot be valued highly enough. This was Sarah's first time out accompanying exams and she did a fantastic job! A special thank you also to our President, Geoff Kitchen, who made himself available all day every day to support the staff - and to see just how long and exhausting these days are for us!
During the holidays we had 4 days of SFD Competitions with 108 solos, duos, trios and troupes. Starting with the successful dress rehearsal in the neighbouring community centre, it was an amazing few days for us with every student doing us proud in every item. There is an impressive list of place winners in the newsletter and our congratulations go to every dancer (winner or not) - you have all gained so much in confidence and sense of achievement and I was thrilled with each performance. A huge thank you to the parents who ensured their children presented on time and looked beautiful. Your children dance because they love it but without your support and commitment to them they would not be able to fulfil this passion and produce the results we see.
Also, thank you to Miss Laura and Miss Alanna, who, along with myself, put in a huge effort in preparing the dancers and their costumes and to Patrick, Ian and Geoff for the making of the wonderful props we used.
Whilst on the subject of competitions, I would like to ask you all to read through the Competition policy on the notice board if you are keen to know more about the selection process etc. Students chosen to do competitions must fulfil certain criteria and much as we would love to give the chance to more students, time limits us to the number of possible spots available. It is also costly both in time and money with private lessons, entry fees and costume hire. The selection of any new students is made in discussion between Miss Alanna, Miss Laura and myself before the new year, and parents will be contacted after that for a discussion.
We also had a very successful workshop for seniors in July - a day of dance with wonderful guest teachers in various styles. Rosita and Rudy provided a wonderful insight into Flamenco; Shavina got everyone going in a Bollywood class and Karinda had hips swaying and scarves jingling with a taste of Belly Dancing. The students enjoyed having a go at various Latin dances with Zoe and Skye from MaShere in Ringwood and the day reached a perfect end with Jemima's Chi ball class - at last a chance to lie on the floor and ease aching legs and feet! Thank you to all these wonderful teachers for sharing their expertise and passion for dance with us.
August should see a slight lull where we can all draw breath before Presentation Evening on 1st September and then into concert term.
Every family will be receiving a Concert Pack in the next few weeks. This pack is very important and especially so if you are new to our school and have never done a concert with us.
Please be sure to read it all the way through - make notes - ask questions and return the essential reply slips as soon as you possibly can. Planning such an enormous event requires a huge amount of time and the staff cannot get it right without knowing exactly who is going to be committed and who is not. We will need help in many areas - ensuring every dancer presents for every rehearsal; also with preparation and finishing of costumes and scenery. So please consider what support you can give for the sake of all your children.
The Junior Ballet this year revolves around toys that come to life and will include the Saturday Character classes; the jazz and tap will combine in "Movie Mania" and of course the feature ballet is "Cinderella". You need to check all the dates issued in each newsletter - you will find combined rehearsal dates, dress rehearsal and performance dates and these need to be marked in your diary or calendar to avoid unpleasant clashes. It is important to understand that we have a very strict policy regarding our annual productions. Every student MUST perform in all the performances they are scheduled for without exception. Kinder children will each dance in ONE performance (each class group will be advised which one they will be doing before the end of term 3. Junior classes (Pre primary - primary - Grade 1 - jazz and tap 1 and 2) perform in 2 of the 4 performances - as with the kinder classes, you will be advised which performances your child is doing before end of term 3. All other students from grade 2 (jazz/tap 3) up perform in every show (4 for those only in jazz and/or tap and 5 for those in Cinderella).
If you cannot commit to this your child will not be able to participate in the concert. Staff plan on having every student performing so we need to know if this is NOT going to be the case and we can then cast and choreograph around it.
Regards, Rosemary |