| ATTITUDE
NEWS
November 2007
IMPORTANT DEADLINE THIS MONTH!!!
Program Ads and Dedications are DUE November 20th!!
This helps pay for a nice program that will make a great keepsake for
our dancers. We hope to get enough support so that we can continue to
give them for free even with our plans to step up the look.
Dedications are so fun to make in support of your children or for them
to give their friends. It is so encouraging when dancers are preparing
for curtain time to discover that they have been thought of in the program.
Ads for your business will reach a vast audience of people that can easily
connect with you! Everybody loves good referrals from within the studio.
PARENTS NIGHT OUT IS DECEMBER 7th 5-9!!
Go out and have a dinner date while ABAC’s Assistant Directors,
and company members watch over the kids! They’ll have fun at a High
School Musical themed pajama pizza party at the studio! Non-dancing friends
and boys are welcome…no infants please. At $25, it is a great deal
all around for this fundraiser.
PICTURE DAY FOR NUTCRACKER IS DECEMBER 8th
Annette Drake is such a blessing! Her gift to the studio is providing
a wonderful picture day before the performances with proceeds going to
the studio. I have worked with other photographers at past studios and
as a poser, and NO ONE takes so many pictures of each child and makes
it so affordable and convenient to order! See the schedule in your folder
and we will post it on the bulletin board, too! Sitting fee of $20 due
at the shoot.
Visit http://www.dayballet.org/performances/index.html
for all the necessary forms for Nutcracker related activities!
From The Desk of Mrs. Day
How Do You Know When You Are Ready For Pointe?
There are many schools of thought on this subject, but all have the general
principles of proper alignment, balance, strength, and accomplishment.
While some studios start students as young as 7 and some wait until 12
no matter the level, I take the approach of my teachers. That is that
every dancer is an individual. Some dancers will be ready as early as
10 and some will never be able to dance on pointe. The ankle, though stable,
must be stretched enough to create a minimum of a vertical line on releve
so the dancer will be over the tip of the shoe. There are standards which
include enough ankle strength to releve on one foot 16 times with proper
form and without hops, enough balance to hold a one footed pose on releve
for 16 counts, and enough flexibility to demonstrate all splits. The accomplishment
section of my evaluation includes completion of a wide range of steps
including--but not limited to--double pirouettes, intermediate jump enchainments,
adagios including promenades and penches. Generally the student should
be in the academy level for a minimum of 3 years and nearly complete with
intermediate level (but before graduating to Intermediate II). Consistent
attendance is key as is dedication to the art. Dancing on pointe is not
a novelty. At ABAC I require a minimum of 3 technique classes/week in
addition to the pointe lesson. Doing ballet on pointe is a very liberating
experience and takes all avenues of expression to another realm of possibilities.
It is also a labor of love for it is definitely sometimes painful when
we get a blister or are exhausted from intense practice. Dancing on pointe
requires extreme attention to detail which must be consistently demonstrated.
It is a responsibility that requires a high level of maturity. But most
of all pointe is a gift both to the dancer and the audience, a way to
defy the unrefined side of human life and be truly ethereal. It is very
obvious to a well-trained teacher such as myself ? without question what
dancers are ready. We don’t want to rush ahead of their development,
and we also want to have our dancers be at a progressive level.
GO GUILD!!
This month I would just like to say thanks and point out all of the wonderful
things our Dancer’s Support Guild is doing, both in preparations
for the Nutcracker and for our studio in general. The parents that are
involved in the guild just really love all of the children and are giving
extra towards their dancing dreams. As of our last meeting on October
27th I am happy to say that our Volunteer Co-ordination Committee has
processed all of the audition forms and ensured that our dancers will
have 100% support in the house and behind the scenes at the Nutcracker!
The Sewing Committee is fashioning lovely new costumes to enhance our
already gorgeous selection and are rallying for support on Sunday Nov.
4th 12-4 @ our sewing workshop. The fundraising committee generated over
$500 towards our budget with the candle sale! The promotion committee
is trying to help us get a nice full audience at both shows in our unbelievably
large 850 seat theater. Any parents who are interested in getting involved
with the guild’s varied activities should contact Mrs. Day at sara@dayballet.org
to be placed on an appropriate committee.
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