Term 3 Newsletter 2005

Hello Again Everyone

Term 3 promises to be an exciting and interesting term as we will start learning and rehearsing dances for our annual show. We also have an exciting workshop scheduled with representatives from the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Royal New Zealand Ballet Workshop
Saturday 20th August: 1.30pm - 2.30pm. Torbay Community Hall.
Ballet students aged 11 years and up have a fantastic opportunity to attend this exciting workshop taken by the Royal NZ Ballet Education Officer. This workshop is only open to students from our school. This special creative dance workshop is based on the ballet "Dracula" exploring themes and movement with capes. The workshop includes prize giveaways, posters, books and point shoes.
The cost is very low at $8.00 per student. There is maximum number of 20 places available so be quick as first in first served! As there are limited places prior payment must be made to secure your place. Please see Marian to enrol.
The workshop is designed to be completely suitable for this age group but please note that if you are also intending to go and see the "Dracula" production it is only suitable for older students. It contains sexual references and violent scenes so parental discretion is necessary.

New Zealand School of Dance Seminar
During the school holidays our ballet tutors, Marian and Katie travelled down to Wellington to observe a full week seminar at the New Zealand School of Dance. Three senior ballet students from our school also attended and had a great time participating in three different dance classes each day. Marian and Katie found the seminar to be inspiring and interesting and they both feel that it has really helped recharge their batteries!

Tidy Dress and Hair at Class Please
Please remember to dress neatly and appropriately for your class - if in doubt check with your tutor. In particular please tie hair back neatly. Level 5 Ballet students and up - it is important that long hair is tied up in a bun. We prefer that ballet students wear leotards and pink ballet tights only. Crossover cardigans and leg warmers are OK during the cold winter months. We recommend that serious ballet students working at Elementary level and up wear demi pointe shoes to all or most of their ballet classes. This is to help them gain strength and control in their feet.

Annual Show Dates Reminder
Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th, October - Centrestage Theatre, Orewa.
Theatre Rehearsals - afternoon/evening of Friday October 28th and/or the morning of Saturday 29th too. Please make a careful note of these show dates in your diaries now!
There will be three performances - Saturday 29th October at 6.30pm, Sunday 30th October at 12.30pm and 4.30pm. To cater for the needs of the younger students the Level 1 Ballet students will only perform in the 12.30pm show on the Sunday. The Level 2 and 3 Ballet students will only perform in the 6.30pm show on the Saturday and the 4.30pm show on the Sunday. Everyone else will perform in all 3 shows.

What Will Be Performed in the Show?
To cater for the ever increasing numbers of students this year there will be two ballet stories performed - the younger students up to Level 7/8 will perform "The Fantastic Toyshop" and the senior students "The Magic Lake". The Jazz/Hip Hop and Performance Workshop students will also perform so the show will have great variety.

Show Production Cost: Students performing in this year's show are asked to also contribute
a small amount towards the cost of costume hire, scenery, props etc.
Students performing one role only: $20.00
Students performing 2 or more roles: $30.00
Please pay this extra amount ASAP. It is fine to pay Term Fees and Production Cost with
one cheque as this saves on bank fees.

Consistent Attendance at Classes Please
To make it easier for everyone we would really appreciate the students making an extra effort to be at class each week unless they are unwell. Term 3 is only a 9 week term so we will need to work hard to get everything ready in time for the Combined Cast Rehearsals which start in week 2 of Term 4. You will all be given Combined Cast Rehearsal Schedules closer to the time.

Help Please!
We still need offers of help with costume making (both machine and hand sewing jobs) and scenery design and construction. Please see Marian if you have ideas, experience or enthusiasm in these areas. We need one person to be responsible for the costumes for each class and ensuring they are all there and kept clean and fully functional. Please see Marian if you would be willing to help with this.

Do you have any of the following?
We would very much appreciate donations of any of the following items that you may have lying around at home and no longer need:
Thread - any colours, Fabric remnants, Braid, cord etc, Ribbon, Sequins and sparkly stuff, Beads - for decorating costumes, Elastic, Buttons, domes, hooks & eyes etc, Stiffening fabric for inside waist bands etc.
We are also in need of:
1 size 10 woman's jacket or coat that could be decorated to resemble a Kings jacket or coat.
2 pairs of knee high woman's boots - about size 5 - 6 for the Palace Guards? May need to be spray painted a different colour.

Show Video
This year we would like to organise someone to video the show with the view to possibly making copies for the cast to purchase at a reasonable price. Is there anyone out there who has the facility to do this? Professional video production companies are just too expensive an option I'm afraid.

We hope you all enjoy the build up to the show.

Marian

"Positively Ballet"

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