Newsletter Number 42
To Parents and Pupils
I cannot believe we are already into the summer term and that our show has come and gone!
DVD’s
The DVD’s of our show ‘The Crystal Ball’ have now been given out at class. The DVD’s are very enjoyable to watch and highlights what a fantastic production ‘The Crystal Ball’ was, thank you to everyone for your kind support. Unfortunately I have had five DVD’s returned to me from parents as they were faulty, these have been sent back to the company and will be replaced as soon as possible. I do urge all parents to watch their DVD of the show and make sure that the DVD is not faulty. Hopefully this problem was very minimal and nobody else has been affected. I do apologise for the inconvenience to the parents and pupils concerned.
Stuart Absolon Photographs
Photos ordered from the show have now been given out at class. The folders containing the photos have now gone round all the classes and as they are now available to look at online, will only brought to class by request during the next two weeks. After this time Stuart will take the folders back.
The details you will need to look at the photos online are:
Saturday and Sunday portraits password smile
Saturday show (Magical) password dance
Sunday show (Mystical) password ballet
If you would like to make an order you can do so online or if you cannot do this I have some forms which you can fill out but online is preferable. If you ordered your photos around show time you should have now received them, any queries about photos should be dealt with by Stuart by phone on 0208 660 2093 , as it will be much quicker if you can deal with him directly. However if you ring him and he does not contact you within 48 hours ring me and I will follow this up for you.
Daytime Melody Bear Classes
Our Melody Bear classes continue this term during the day time on Thursday’s at St Nicholas Church Hall, Small Hall, Leamington Avenue, Orpington BR6 9QB. The timetable has slightly changed as follows:
11.00 - 11.30 Ages 18 months to three years accompanied by a Parent or Carer
11.30 - 12.00 Ages three and four years
Price per term £52.50 plus VAT. Siblings taking this class together receive a 10% discount.
Adult classes.
Adults don’t let your children have all the fun! We now have four Adult Tap classes on Monday evenings (Beginners, Improvers, Intermediate and Advanced) and two Jazz and Fitness classes at St Nicholas Church Hall and the Priory Sports Centre. We now also have an Adult Ballet class on Tuesday evenings at The Highway Primary School, which started last term and is proving very popular. If you would like to try a free trial, have fun and shape up for summer please come along and try a class.
Junior and Senior Associate Pupils (J.A. and S.A. pupils)
Our Junior and Senior Associate Course offers pupils the opportunity to study all the Dance and Theatre genres that we offer in our Academy. These pupils study Ballet, Modern, Tap, Theatre Performance and Jazz and also a complimentary Limbering class. Most also attend the Advanced Singing and Drama classes. This ensures an exceptional standard of a complete Dance and Theatre training at a very competitive price. Many Parents have been surprised at how reasonable the Associate Course is as the more classes your child attends, the more discount he or she will receive.
The J.A. pupils are as follows:
Jemma Alldis, Katie Andrews, Zanzi Coates, Tallullah Coates, Anna Cvjetan, Danielle Godden, Libby Goodwin, Imogen Harbert, Joanna Harbert, Jemma Muddiman, Hannah Rideout, Aimee Smith, Isabella Speed, Stephanie Taylor, Francesca Telling and Alice Travers.
The S.A. pupils are as follows:
Felicity Buchanan, Charlotte Butler, Kerry-Anne Dignam, Kate Moynihan, Chloe Muddiman, Rebecca Nicholas, Abi Rideout, Holly Smith, Ellen Strangeway, Bethany Thomas and Nathalie Thomas.
Please note that J.A. pupils graduate to become S.A. when the Grade Five standard has been reached in one or more genres.
Senior Elite Performance Team and Intermediate Elite Performance Team
As some parents will be aware we introduced our Elite Performance Teams this year. Which gives some pupils who already attend several classes with us and wish to gain extra performance experience this opportunity. These children are given the chance to participate in additional performances.
Our Intermediate Elite Performance Team are:
Hannah Baker, Joanna Harbert, Jemma Muddiman, Chloe Muddiman, Fiona Norman, Hannah Rideout, Rebecca Seymour, Stephanie Taylor, Francesca Telling and Summer Whitnell.
Our Senior Elite Performance Team are:
Flick Buchanan, Hannah Clarke, Kerry-Anne Dignam, Rebecca Nicholas, Abi Rideout and Ellen Strangeway.
You will have seen the Senior Team additionally perform at our show ‘The Crystal Ball’ and those of you who have children at Bromley High School will see both Teams at the Bromley High School Summer Ball on Saturday 8 May, where we are providing entertainment to open the evening.
Summer Fetes
Some of the children will be performing in the following fetes this summer, ‘Good Luck’ to all the children.
Harris HospisCare Saturday 12 June 11.00am
Crofton Infant School Saturday 12 June 3.00pm
Support from the Academy to watch the displays is always gratefully received.
Summer Courses 2010
Please find attached details of our Summer Courses 2010.
‘Hannah Montana’ Course Wednesday 11 August Ages 4 - 10
Street Jazz Workshop Monday 16 August Ages 4 - 10 & 11 & above
‘The Nutcracker’ Ballet Course Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 August Ages 4 - 10 & 11 & above
We are very excited about our Summer Course this year and look forward to seeing lots of the children during the holidays. Remember your child can bring friends and/or siblings and you will receive a discount.
‘One Step Ahead Dancewear’
As most of you will be aware my Mother Nita Griffiths sells Dancewear through our Academy. You will find a pricelist and order form attached to this letter. If you would like to make an order, please fill in a form and include a cheque made payable to ‘One Step Ahead Dancewear’ or pay by cash. Please send your order by post directly to my Mother or give it in at class. Your order will be made up and given to your child’s teacher to hand to you at class. As the Academy continues to grow it is vital that order forms and full payments are handed in with every order. If not paying cash please make cheques payable to ‘One Step Ahead Dancewear’. This way we can provide an excellent service to you and supply your order quickly.
Although most Parents are thoughtful, a minority of Parents are continuing to ask for orders with no payment or sizes needed! which is taking several weeks to chase. Some are handing back returned sizes not needed with ripped bags in poor condition. We would be grateful if everyone could be thoughtful about the condition of returned items, as these are just given for choice of sizes and should be given back in the condition they were received in. My Mother would however like to stress that this is a minority of Parents who are doing this and most Parents are a pleasure to associate with.
New Option for Tap shoes for older Vocational Pupils
We are now stocking the alternative Tap shoes for older pupils in the Intermediate, Advanced One and Two Tap classes. It is now permitted by the I.S.T.D. for older pupils of these classes to wear the ‘Jazz Tap’ shoes which have a lower heel and are a slightly different style to the Oxford Tap shoes. Either can now be worn for the above classes and examinations. If you would like to order a pair, please telephone my Mother who will advise you on sizes and on prices. The new Jazz Tap shoes can now also be worn for Grade 4 Tap and above.
Grooming for Class
Please ensure that your child always wears the correct uniform for each class and is smartly groomed at all times. Please note that only Academy T-shirts and Sweatshirts may be worn to warm up in, t-shirts and sweatshirts that are not Academy uniform are not permitted in class and if your child wears it to class they will be asked to
remove it. During warm weather pupils may wear their modern leotards without their black lycra leggings or jazz pants & may wear Ballet socks instead of Ballet tights. But please note during hot weather children must still look tidy and wear their correct uniform.
Hair for Classes
Please note that all Grade One Ballet girls and upwards, who have long hair should wear their hair in a bun to each class. As warned, any student of Grade Three Ballet and above who arrives for class without bunned hair from now on will be asked to sit out of class unless they have a very good reason for not styling their hair in the correct manner. Pupils with short hair should secure their hair in a matching headband to their leotard colour.
For all other classes hair should be tied back off the face and clipped back, being neatly groomed at all times.
Examinations
Good luck to all the children taking examinations this term. Our examiners have been appointed, everyone has now replied and the timetables will be sent out shortly. Please note that once the timetable has been drawn up, under no circumstances will I change anyone’s exams this term. I have a list of parents who have asked for certain dates and if you have not contacted me I will assume that your child can attend their exam on the dates listed below:
Sunday 4 July Ballet Examinations
Saturday 17 July Modern, Tap & Jazz Examinations
Sunday 18 July Ballet Examinations
Extra Lessons - As parents will be aware ISTD examinations are marked to a very high standard and it is essential that your child attends all sessions specified; failure to do this may result in your child’s examination being withdrawn.
Private Lessons before the Exam Date - If you would like your child to have one or two private exam lessons before his/her exam session, these are priced at £20.00 + VAT per half hour. Please contact me as soon as possible so we have plenty of time to arrange your child’s lesson. It is also possible for parents to sit in on the private lesson, which gives them a good opportunity to track their child’s progress.
Props for Class
Please make sure your child brings to each class the following prop if applicable:
Primary Ballet A Piggy Bank (empty, no money and not china please!!)
Grade One Ballet A Blackberry basket
Grade Two Ballet A Homework book
Grade One Modern A percussive musical instrument (eg a shaker).
Please make sure that it is labelled with your child’s name clearly on it.
Water Bottles to Class
Please make sure that your child brings a labelled bottle of water to every class with him or her. This is especially important during the hot weather, when you pick your child up please check that they have their bottle with them.
Folders for Theatre Performance Company Classes
Please make sure that your child brings with them a labelled ring binder folder to every class to store Singing and Drama material in. This is also very helpful if you have a young child who may need help at home from time to time to learn words and will keep Parents up to date with work covered in class.
Lateness for Class
Please make sure that your child arrives a few minutes before class so they are ready for action and do not miss any of their class. Please note that from this term onwards if your child is more than 10 minutes late for class (unless you have previously arranged this with me) it may not be possible for your child to participate in the class. The reason for this is that at the beginning of the class we always do a full warm up and if your child misses this they maybe more prone to injury.
Please ensure that you pick your child up from class on time, I do understand that many parents have other children’s activities to organise and if you have an arrangement with us that your child sits and waits until your return, this is fine and also siblings may wait for each other by arrangement but unfortunately there are a few parents that regularly are late to pick their children up and lately we have had some very upset children wondering where their parents are at the end of class.
Terms Notice Policy
Please note that if you chose to withdraw your child from the Academy or any class it is necessary that you give ‘A TERMS NOTICE IN WRITING TO THE BELOW ADDRESS IF I WISH TO WITHDRAW MY CHILD FROM ANY CLASS OR PAY A TERMS FULL FEE IN LIEU OF NOTICE’ as agreed for on your signed application form.
This enables me to plan ahead for the following term. If you would like your child to start a new class, if there is a space available, they can start immediately. We also hold a waiting list for children whose parents have asked for them to start new classes the following term and if you would like your child to start a new genre this secures their place. This also applies to siblings and we are happy to place siblings on the waiting list from 1 years old.
‘Lucky Stars Kids Agency’
We have now combined all additional performing auditions under the umbrella of our ‘In house‘ performance agency ‘Lucky Stars Kids Agency’ to include all professional and amateur work undertaken. As you will be aware more than 40 of our pupils are members of ‘Lucky Stars’ and are encouraged and supported by myself and Sarah Rideout. By combining the maintenance and preparation of all performing auditions we can more effectively monitor pupils for the application of auditions, while tracking their progress and suitability for each audition. We put children through for professional auditions of West End productions of which Agency members have performed in ‘Billy Elliot’, ‘Oliver’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ , numerous Professional Pantomimes at many local theatres over the years and recording work etc.
This will now include any amateur work including auditions for RLOS and PWOS of which the pupils have performed in ‘Oliver’, ‘Wizard of Oz’, ‘Music Man’, ‘Crazy for You’, ‘Bugsy Malone’, ‘Footloose’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, Kent Youth Ballet, English Youth Ballet, National Youth Ballet, and other work which we decide to include.
Audition and Performance News
Congratulations and Good Luck to the following pupils for their achievements.
‘Footloose’
Abi Rideout, Nina Trylska and Bethany Thomas.
13 to 17 April 2010 with RLOS at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley.
‘Fiddler On The Roof’
Becky Fryza, Jemma Muddiman, Chloe Muddiman, Fiona Norman, Hannah Rideout & Katherine Taylor.
28 April to 1 May 2010 with PWOS at The Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks.
English Youth Ballet
I am delighted to announce that we had an excellent success rate in the recent auditions for the English Youth Ballet’s production of ‘The Nutcracker’. Well done girls we are very proud of you and look forward to seeing you perform.
Olivia Bird, Molly Carew, Georgie Chandler, Emily Cornish, Sarah Cornish, Danielle Godden, Joanna Harbert, Chloe Muddiman, Hannah Rideout, Abi Rideout and Rebecca Seymour.
20 to 21 August 2010 with English Youth Ballet at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley. Box Office 0870 060 6620.
My Fair Lady.
Petts Wood Operatic Society (PWOS) are looking for girls in year 12 and above to audition for their production of My Fair Lady which will run between 24 and 27 November 2010. The sing through is on Tuesday 18 May at their Petts Wood Hall. For more details please email Arlene Bryson-Ross on arlene@wwtravel.co.uk
If you are interested in joining our agency please telephone or email for more details.
Thank you for your continued support, which is most appreciated.
Best Wishes
Lucy Griffiths