June-July 2016 Newsletter-Post Recital News
What an amazing recital! I could not be any more proud of TMDA!! I know that it is hard to believe that our shows get better and better every year but somehow, they do! What an absolutely amazing show with amazing dancers, an amazing set, amazing crew, amazing staff, amazing audiences, amazing effects….did I tell you that it was AMAZING??? So all the nagging we do, all the practicing we do, all the redo’s we do…somehow it pays off!! We are so proud of all of our dancers…I cannot tell you just how much! Nothing makes us happier then when someone from the public comes up to us to tells us how wonderfully talented our students are. We always say, “We can only teach the children, they are the ones that have to put on the performance”. You did it with high style again this year and maybe I have to admit, you might have outdone yourselves! The audience was kept in stitches…I loved hearing all the laughter….the seniors were on FIRE!! They’ve said it again that THIS SHOW was definitely our best… even you parents of our children have let me know that you think this was our best yet….maybe everyone just forgets how great you all have been in the past or maybe you just did amazingly awesome!! I certainly can speak for my staff in that this was definitely our easiest show to produce….the senior rehearsals were seamless, the dress rehearsals were almost too easy and the three shows were beyond what we could have ever hoped for. The show went on without Clarann or I behind the scenes…that means these shows don’t even need us anymore!!! HOLD IT!!! Not quite yet!!!!
Once Upon A Time was a huge hit with everyone and I thank you for being so professional, so gifted and so AH-MAZING!!! I have to say…it was the least stressed Clarann, Danielle and I have ever been. I think you kids are just becoming so professional that everything just seems to roll easily. Thanks for giving us the best experiences of our lives!
I know that people will be talking about this show for many more months to come….and I am glad you kids are all getting the attention and notoriety that you so well deserve! Bravo to all of you…you made all of us so proud!
Thank you to everyone who helped with our show. The organized secretaries (Deana, Vicki and Michelle), the very patient DM’s (you were so amazing back stage), all the ladies at all the fund raising booths, Kim, Jeff & Lyndsey for taking ridiculously amazing pictures, Clarann for the keepsake DVD (coming to you soon at Dance Camp!), Heather for creating a beautiful castle, our main men John & Larry in the sound booth, our muscle men Bryan, Bryan Jr. and Roger for building the set and then for bringing the props back and forth, the dedicated clean-up crews, the well-humored decorating committee, our talented dancers, … our creative and fabulous instructors and junior instructors that I love with all of my heart and our super, talented 10 seniors…I am so proud of you kids…. no one will ever forget Once Upon A Time -TMDA style because of you! Good luck to all of you….Maria, Malerie, Jillian, Molly, Chelsea, Mollie, Kenzie, Shaye, Kate and Lindsey as you leave us to begin your next amazing journey and remember, we need you to come visit. Our studio will be a little quieter without you there! You will all be remembered and cherished and our younger students will continue to look up to all of you. You have left your stamp on TMDA forever. We will miss you. Remember that you will always be part of our family and we are just a phone call away in case you ever need a life lesson or two. Thanks for being our daughters and for letting us love you!! Take good care and have a beautiful, warm hug filled life!!!
Without everyone mentioned above, we could never put on a show of that magnitude. It really was a great weekend and I am so glad that I get to live these beautiful moments with all of you!
How do we top Recital 2016? With great new choreography, beautiful dancers, a brilliant new set , incredible music and a lot of great ideas that are for now….just on paper but hold on tight…..in just 10 ½ months we will be preparing for opening night of …..
“Hercules”
And there you have it….our new show is Hercules. We have so many new ideas for this show ….with a new idea for our set….you just wait….it will be an incredible new look for our show.
PS: Don’t tell other dancers…just tell them to read the newsletter to find out what our show is!!
HERCULES NEWS:
Hercules is a 1997 Disney Movie that has some of the best music Disney ever created. The story is about believing in yourself and becoming who you were always meant to be. Of course we have already put our spin on it so get ready for some twist and turns.
We are going to need some younger actors this year (5 in all) for our show so we will be holding auditions on August 17th at 7:30pm for this show…..this audition is for our returning seniors as well as for kids who want to audition for the following parts:
5 young parts for Hercules are as follows: 2 younger Hercules, a young Megaera, Pain and Panic.
Child Actor Requirements:
1-If you are aged 7-12 and want to audition for the above parts, please email me and I will send you the song that you will need for the audition. We will only be accepting people who want to try out for this part until July 15th. You will receive the music you need for the audition on July 18th.
2-You will need to act, dance and lip-sing for your audition.
3- You have to be a proven “practicer” each week….if you do not practice your regular classes each week then we ask that you not audition as we need children who will not only practice their regular classes but the extra choreography they will need to practice as their part in the show.
4- You will need to purchase “extra” costumes for the part you will play.
5- You will need to attend extra classes in the evening of senior practices and you will need to attend all of the ones that are required of you. No exceptions.
6- Our decisions will be final and we ask that the Parents of these children prepare them for possibly not receiving a part ….we do not want any hurt feelings and we do not want to lose children over our decisions either. Not everyone can get a part….that is part of the audition process. Let’s make this a positive experience for all that are auditioning.
7- Finally, you may be a great dancer, you may have had an excellent audition and yet you may still not get the part. You still have to fit the part that you may be auditioning for. For example….( I did get Jillian’s ok to do this) Jillian Flynn is a great dancer and actress yet she would not have fit the part of Cinderella….she made a wonderfully, wicked step-sister but she would not have made a soft and sweet Cinderella. Therefore keep this in mind when you are preparing your children for these parts.
To all of our returning seniors…we want you to audition on this night as well so that we can organize the order of our songs for this show so that there are few conflicts for the songs you need to be in and your class songs. Seniors, I would advise you to watch this Disney movie so that you can familiarize yourself with this movie as well as the characters so that you have an idea on what part you might want to play. We will send you seniors a copy of your music on July 18th as well. (We are assuming all of our current Juniors who will be seniors in the fall are returning so you will receive this music. If perhaps you are not returning, just let us know).
We are excited about this show because we are going to try a few different things…we hope you will be excited with our ideas as well.
VERY IMPORTANT DATES:
July 18-22, 2016: Dance camp: Ages 3-18 years old.
July 28-31, 2016: NYC trip!!! Please read your up-date on Dropbox.
August 17, 2016 from 4-7pm: 2016-17 Dance/Tumbling Registration and Audition Day.
August 17, 2016 @ 7:30pm: Auditions for HERCULES for new seniors and younger actors.
September 20, 21 & 22, 2016: Fall Dance and Tumbling begins
December 11, 2016 @ 2pm: Christmas Show @ C-Pac
December 13, 14 & 15, 2016: Christmas Parties in all classes, last week for Fall Classes.
Summer Dance Camp:
Dance Intensive Week:
This will be July 18-22, 2016. We will have 7 instructors for this camp: Miss Clarann, Miss Danielle, Delaney Williams, Emma Jandreau, Meredith Sleeper and of course, me. The flyer for this can also be found on the opening page of our website. This will be quite a different camp this year as we have so many instructors with so many different areas of concentration. Many of you keep asking for Celtic Technique and so Clarann has again designed her entire week around making sure everyone has the tools they need to do Celtic. If you need extra help in Celtic…we really recommend that you attend summer Camp. Miss Clarann is choreographing the two songs she will be using for Celtic this year. If you are in Troupe, Company and Mini Troupe or are hoping to be placed in these groups then I suggest you get a hop on this choreography so that you have the attention you will need to master this difficult genre of dance. Miss Danielle will be working with our younger dancers doing “Dance Art” with them; the break they need in a “tiring: week for them. I will be teaching our 2016 Finale at summer camp. Our three returning graduates will be teaching routines they have learned while they have been away at college….and they have also been given the task of starting some of our Hercules songs. Every day will feature a new instructor so that every child we have something new to challenge themselves with.
I will be accepting registrations for this camp through July 15th….so please get me your registrations before this. This is a very important camp (especially for anyone wanting to get into troupe classes) as your skills will be the key in moving you from class to class. We have a great week planned for all of you with so much happening each day…please take advantage of the talent that has come to TMDA this summer to help teach you. Hope to see a lot of you there!
NOTE: All deposits are non-refundable…please adhere to this rule. Thank you.
New York City Here We Come!
You all should have received the NYC update through Drop box…if you haven’t then you can read this update in the NYC box that you can find under the News Tab. This is going be such a great trip!!!
2016-17: Dance and Tumbling Schedule:
As promised, I have posted the entire schedule for our next dance/pointe/tumbling season. Just double click on the tab that says “2016-17 Schedule” for a print out of next year’s classes. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation. (I do not know when all the classes will be exactly or on what days as we always need to know what the numbers are before we can put classes together.)
Remember: Your children will always be taught by well qualified instructors and they will be well taken care of in my absence during the winter months. I will always choreograph in advance and I promise they will have plenty to do …plus Miss Clarann loves it when I’m away because she can concentrate on Celtic!! Remember to download Dropbox!!
Dropox:
Please download this app as this is how we will be again sending you all choreography this upcoming dance season. It is very easy to use and we will be instructing all of you who don’t know how to use it the first day of dance. You will be receiving the 2017 Finale by Dropbox even before dance starts so please…get ahead and download it today. Use the link below and follow the simple instructions. If you have any difficulties downloading this app then please contact any of your instructors for further instruction. The Dropbox link is:
https://db.tt/KVZgsqRI
DVD’S AND PHOTO’s:
Below is the link you will need for photos of the dance recital. Kim is not charging for this link….this is her decision. Therefore these photos are all free for you to download. This is a one-time deal…..we will handle this differently next May. Thank you to all the photographers, Kim, Jeff and Lyndsey who helped supply photos for this link. We appreciated your time and effort and professionalism. (The photos are beautiful so thanks Kim, Lyndsey and Jeff!) Password: colleen
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkimgriffeth.zenfolio.com%2Fp900164920&h=ZAQFC2ymN
If you still wish to purchase a DVD of recital , we have ordered extra and you will be able to purchase them for $35 at Dance Camp. DVD’s will be available for pick up starting Tuesday, July 19th at dance camp. You will need to sign for these when you pick them up. A lot of time and effort has been made for this DVD this year and we hope you enjoy these recital memories!
A very special Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who donated so generously to our recital fund raisers. All of our fund raisers were again a huge success! Thank you to our very generous audience member who donated their 50-50 winnings back to TMDA’s NYC trip….Mr. Michael D’amico….you are an all-around sweetie! Because of everyone’s generosity, our NYC kids will have the opportunity to do a few more special things while they are in NYC. Thanks everyone for being the wonderful TMDA families that you are!!
Good Luck!
Good luck to all of “our” area pageant winners at the Potato Blossom Pageants in July. We know you will be wonderful as you always are and we thank you for representing your towns/cities, families and our dance academy so beautifully. We are very, very proud of each and every one of you! Please let us know how you all do so we can recognize your achievements!! Go TMDA ladies!!