Monday, February 28, 2011

ATTENTION ALL PRIVATE TUITION STUDENTS

Just a reminder to all those wanting to participate in Eisteddfods this year as soloist or those doing a duo that entries for Gulgong Eisteddfod CLOSE TOMORROW!!

If you do not have a syllabus yet, contact me ASAP as i have a spare.

late entries are accepted, however there is a late fee.

Also note that Dubbo and Cowra entries will be closing soon as well. You need to get onto the Eisteddfod websit, try www.dancephoto.com.au and get the syllabus for each eisteddfod you wish to compete in. Remeber this is up to the student/parent of the soloist/duo NOT your teacher.

Happy entering!!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

CAN FORBES PUT ON A SHOW OR CAN FORBES PUT ON A SHOW!!!

WOW! What a great way to spend a Sunday! Congratulations to Miss Emma and Miss Jacinta for a FANTASTIC concert!!! I Must say the Intermediate Contemporary gave me goose bumps!!!

I would like to individually thank the following Orange students who performed today;
Miss Steph
Bree Selwood
Tina Jones
Samara Lloyd
Dimity Bartlet
Belle Worrard
Lara Dunston
Jodie Burns
Emily Collins
Gabby Gough
Dee Larkin

and A MASSIVE THANKS TO Tegan Oswald and Miss Kath Smith who travelled from Sydney!!

We really appreciate it guys. To be able to show support and dance with our fellow Stepping Out friends and families! It was great to see. Was also so great to see Miss Rikki, little Miss Evie and Gail!! Safe travels back to Forbes, Dubbo and Sydney everyone! See you all soon

Friday, February 25, 2011

STEPPING OUT NEWSLETTER - 21st FEBRUARY 2011

Hey Everyone,

We hope you have had a relaxing and fun holiday break.

We would like to welcome back our existing students (it's great to see a lot of you have taken up an extra class this year). we would also like to welcome the new students and families to Stepping Out in 2011.

Congratulations on a fastastic concert in December, we would love to include your photos on the blog. please send them to lessa@ steppingoutdance.com.au.

UNIFORM
We ask that all students have the correct footware for their chosen dance style by week 4 this term. it is really important for your child's safety and technical development that they wear the correct footware.

Kingfisher uniform in Summer street have a great range of dance ware and attire. Ballet studnets must wear a leotard to class (any colour) and stockings teamed with either a skirt, dance shorts etc. hair is to be pulled back into a bun.

For all other classes, dance attire must be worm.

Stepping Out t-shirts are available at Kingfisher uniforms, these can be worn with either black dance pants or shorts. Red and black dance outfits are also suitable.

Jeans, skirts (non-dance) and school uniforms are not to be worn to class. Grooming is a really important aspect of dance training. (please ensure hair is pulled back)

PERFORMANCE TEAM
Performance classes are on offer this year for Intermediate group and Seniors. To be eligible for this you must be taking 2 or more classes. Please come and see us for more information or if you would like to sign up for this class. Students have up to week 4 to join the Performance team.

The Eisteddfods we are competiting in this year:
Dubbo for Senior students (June)
Orange and Bathurst (Seniors and Intermediate students ) (September)

WE are currently on the search for more performance team members between the age of 9-12, already studying 2 or more styles of dance who especially love contemporary.

SOLOS
There are limited spaces available for solo eisteddfod work, please see your teachers if you are interested.

FEES
Term invoices will be handed out next week, please be aware of due dates as late fees will be added. We accept credit card, cash, cheque or money order. please hand out payment to your teacher in the payment envelope or send to PO Box 8160 Orange. Please note: feees are charge per term. Weekly payments will not be accepted.

ADULT CLASSES
We currently have a couple of Adult classes on offer this year. these classes are designed for fun and fitness for those with or without dance experience. you can come and try a class and pay $15 trial offer or sign up for a 10 class package for $120. Monday Night Hip Hop class 7.30 to 8.30pm or kick off your week with Monday morning Adult Jazz class at 9am to 10pm.

FORBES CONCERT
Due to flooding in December last year, we had to postpone out Forbes concert. It will be held this Sunday 27th Feb at 11am (Orange Civic Theatre)
If you are interested in coming to watch a great show, tickets are available through Orange Ticketek.

SAFETY
WE would like to express out concerns regarding our studio as we all want to keep our little ones safe. we ask that students NOT be at the studio any earlier than 10minutes prior to class start times. please ensure your arrive to collect your child promptly at the end of class. if parents of younger students are going to be late for collection we ask that students remain in the hall to wait.
All Saturday students must be picked up from inside the dance studio room.

We look forward to meeting our new students and families over the up coming weeks.

Please expect term 1 invoices next week (week 4). Thank you to those who paid for term 1 at Enrollment day.

Please ensure you have handed back enrolment forms and fees, if not, please give them back asap. if you have lost your copy, you can download a form from our website. we are still trying to finalise mailing list for future newsletters. Invoices will be emailed from term 2.

If you would like to try different styles of dance classes that are on offer, please see your teacher to discuss suitable options and to set up a trial class.

Thanks

The Team at Stepping Out Dance Factory

LOGISTICS FOR FORBES CONCERT!!

Hi All,

Attention all Senior students! This is a reminder that THIS SUNDAY IS FORBES CONCERT! For all those students that were in Senior Jazz, Senior Ballet and Senior Contemporary last year, you have the opportunity to perform again!

Incase you missed the note that was handed out in class this week, here it is:

Just a reminder that the Forbes concert that had to be postponed last year due to flooding, it is Sunday 27th Feb commencing at 11am at Orange Civic Theatre.

The Orange seniors are still performing 3 groups from last years concert.

Please be at the theatre ready with hair and make up done, ready to dance no later than 10.30am.

Order of appearance:

1st Half: Number 3 - Senior Ballet

2nd Half: Number 3 - ANZAC Contemporary
Number 7 - Senior Priscilla Jazz

We will be conducting a last minute rehearsal this Saturday 26th Feb at the Studio from 3pm to 5pm.

It will be so great to see you all perform these routines again! You all did just a great job last year!!

Cant wait! See you all tomorrow afternoon! Sleep well

Saturday, February 19, 2011

FORBES CONCERT

Hi Everyone!!

I hope everyone is settling into dance for the year! It has been an amazing first few weeks. The energy and excitment is great!!! Everyone is working so hard which is so great to see!

Just reminding our senior students who danced in senior jazz, senior contemporary and senior ballet, that this weekend coming (Sunday 27th Feb, 2011), is FORBES STEPPING OUT CONCERT! We will be having a rehearsal on Saturday 26th Feb. Time is yet to be set. If you were in these routines and are unable to dance next Sunday, please speak to your teacher ASAP. Looking forward to seeing you all dance these routine again!!!

Keep up the great work everyone!!!

Monday, February 14, 2011

ADULT JAZZ

The kids are back to school and its time for our adult friends to have the fun too!
Do you wish that you could do dance or exercise classes but can't because they are on in the afternoon or night time.... we have the solution for YOU!! Drop the kids to school and 10minutes later you are stretching, strengthening and unleashing that inner dancer!!!!


What? Adult Jazz class - a fun way to exercise, includes; warm-up, stretch, conditioning, technique, corner work and a routine.

When ? Every Monday at 9am - 10am

How ? Just turn up at Anglican Church Hall or call Stepping Out

Why ? Bring out that inner dancer in you while exercising with friends!! Who would think exercise could be so much fun!!!!


No experience needed! If you are eager to learn how to dance, enjoy a laugh then JUST DO IT!! Come and try the class ~ decide after if you "can't" dance.....

See you then!!

WEEKLY UPDATE FROM TEGAN...

Hi Everyone!

Wow week two...what a crazy week. I found this one a lot easier to cope with...I think I’m starting to get used to it.
Monday morning I had cardio which we are going to have every Monday morning. It’s basically a circuit that we do for 90mins. We are starting with a minute at each station and are aiming to be up to 2.5mins for term two. It was a fairly easy lesson because all we did was go through each exercise as a class so we knew what to do. Next week is when it’ll be hard and I’m sort of dreading it.
We then had acting which was fun...We played acting games and exercises to start with. We then got in a circle and did improvisation exercises individually in the middle. We were basically given an activity that we had to act out with no dialogue or props.
I finished the day with jazz and ballet. Every Monday we have William for our Jazz lesson and he’s simply amazing. Such a great choreographer, teacher and so is inspiring. His classes definitely aren’t easy though.

Tuesday I had warm-up in the morning followed by History of Musical Theatre. After lunch I had Hip Hop which is becoming my favourite class of the week, which is funny cause it’s never been one of my favourite styles. My Hip Hop teacher is just so amazing and it’s just such a fun and active class. It’s non stop but afterwards I really feel like I’ve had a great work out and we get so much of a routine learnt in one lesson
I finished the day with Musical Theatre. This is when I met my Musical Theatre teacher for the year for the first time. She’s so lovely and is from the USA. She likes us to wear all black to her lessons and our hair and make-up to be done. We learnt a fun Musical Theatre piece.

Wednesday I started with Yoga which isn’t my favourite. But I feel really relaxed and stretched afterwards. That was then followed by singing with the Vocal Majors. We learnt a song which we needed to know by the next day for our auditions for Rep.
After lunch I had drama. I really like Wednesday drama lessons cause I feel like I learn so much and I’ve never done a lot of acting but I really love doing it and want to improve. My day finished with tap which was so fun. We started with two tap games and I won both so I was pretty happy and then we just did little routines.

Thursday we had warm-up again followed by Music Theory. I enjoyed this lesson because we are learning how to read music and our aim is to be able to look at a sheet of music and sight sing which I’m looking forward to be able to do.
We then had Rep for the rest of the afternoon but we had auditions for “A Chorus Line,” our rep showcase we are putting on at the end of term. The auditions were quite scary because they treated us exactly how we will be treated at auditions in the future. We then had a big talk at the end of the day about what we did right and wrong for an audition. For our singing audition we had to say our name, age and tell a joke before we sang. I don’t know if anyone remembers but I told the joke I told to the Performance Team just before we were about to go on stage for contemporary at Orange Eisteddfod... haha

Friday morning we had normal warm-up. I then had contemporary after this which is probably one of my least favourite classes at the moment. We haven’t had time to learn any routines yet so I’m sure my opinions of it will change soon.
After lunch we had acrobatics for the first time. This was fun. It’s recommended to have a few “tricks” up your sleeve for an audition just like it is for jokes. So I’m looking forward to seeing what I’ll be able to do at the end of the year.
I then finished my day off with Performance Coaching for the Vocal Majors. I sang for the first time in front of them all. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be because we’re all like a little family and everyone is very supportive. And at the end of the day I drove home to Orange for the weekend!

Hope everyone’s first week back at dancing was fun! And I hope everyone isn’t too sore...

Love always,
Teges

Sunday, February 13, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS LEESA



STEPPING OUT would like to WISH MISS LEESA A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

1ST WEEK!!

What a FANTASTIC week!!!!! It was so great to welcome back students and meet new students this week. Classes were absoultely buzzing with excitement and energy. We are so excited to see what this year will bring us all!!

Make sure your keep up to date with the blog!!!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

THE WAIT IS OVER!!

Whoo Hoo!!! The countdown is over.. we have no more sleeps to go....

DANCE STARTS BACK TODAY!!!!

We are all sooooo excited to see you all and can't wait to start the 2011 dance term!

See you all this week!!

TEGAN FIRST WEEK AT ED5 INTERNATIONAL

Hi Everyone, here is a little bit about my first week at ED5!!

My week started off with acting on Monday morning. We basically just played acting games and got to know one another as well as our teacher who's done so much work around the world and in Australia, including starring on All Saints. We then had Warm up which we have in the morning 3 times a week. This was with William, the director of the school. After lunch we then had Jazz with William again. He showed us the warm ups slowly, so we did everything correctly and we didn't have time to learn a routine.After Jazz we had ballet. My ballet teacher is in her 60's and a little bit scary, but I still really liked her. We just did barre work and she was watching us to see if we would be in intermediate ballet or advanced ballet.Then it was home time and I came home and collapsed on the lounge.

Tuesday we started with the warm-up class again. We then had a theory class called History of Musical Theatre, which i really liked. I then had Musical Theatre and we learnt a routine from Chicago, “Me and My Baby.” After Musical Theatre I had Hip Hop. Our Hip Hop teacher graduated from ED5 in 2009 and he was amazing. Our warm up nearly killed me. We did an ab work out and there were some things I physically couldn’t do. He then taught us a routine and he hardly gave us any time to get it through our heads and he didn’t go over it much. It was so fast but such a cool routine.

Wednesday started with our warmup class. We then split into three groups for singing, drama and tap. I had singing first and we had to individually sing to the director and the three singing teachers. This was to determine if we were going to do Vocal Major or Dance Major, for the year. I was hoping to do Vocal Major and I sang the song I sang for my audition, “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera. The next day I found out that Vocal Major is what I’ll be doing. So instead of having two ballet classes a week I only have one and have Performance Coaching instead. I then had tap. We were taught a couple of exercises and had to do them for the tap teacher and the other director. This was to see if we were going to be in Advanced, Intermediate or Beginner tap. I was put in beginner, which wasn’t surprising. We finished the day with drama where we played a few games and got to know each other. We also had to split into groups and do a TV commercial that involved singing, simultaneous moves and had to be about time travelling sneakers.

Thursday we started with Yoga instead of Warm-up. We then had Music Theory for our theory lesson. However, because we didn’t get to do group singing on Wednesday we sang instead. We learnt “Dancing Queen” by Abba and sang in different harmonies as a choir.After lunch, the rest of the afternoon we spent doing Repertoire with William, the director. Rep is where we learn a musical and put on a showcase at the end of each term. This term we’re doing “A Chorus Line.” William taught us about 8 counts then asked us to do it with music. As soon as the music started he had already stopped it because we had done it wrong. We had to start standing facing the back with our legs straight and our leg muscles working, our shoulders down and arms back but relaxed and our core switched on. He then walked around pushing people from behind and if they stepped forward he’d yell at everyone telling us to use our core. He kept pushing people until they would stop moving. We then spent 5 minutes on one count until it was perfect. I was so scarred my eyes kept getting teary. It was like the army for dancing. We then moved at a quicker pace and learnt the rest of the routine and went over it and over it for 3 hours. I had never been so sweaty and tired ever. By the time 330 came I was so relieved and William gave us all a talk congratulating us for working so hard and warned us that this is what rep will always be like because they only want to see the best in us.

Friday morning we had a meeting with the directors and recieved our individual timetables.Usuaully we would have Acrobatics but our Acro teacher is away for a couple of weeks so instead we did Jazz. We learnt an awesome commercial Jazz routine to “Sweet Dreams” by Beyonce. Afterwards I had contemporary and went through the exercises. I finished my week with Vocal Majors had Performance Coaching. Each week in Performance Coaching we will be singing songs of different genres and being trained on how to perform them properly. It was a great way to end an extremely hard week, mentally, physically and emotionally. But I survived it and I was so relieved it was the weekend!!!

Have a great first week back to class everyone! Talk with you soon

Love, Teges!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

WHOA ITS HOT



Trust that our summer finally hits when school and dance goes back!!! As dance goes back on MONDAY, 7th Feb, I wish to remimd EVERYONE to be prepared for dance... some top tips for ensuring your child is ready for dance:

- Clothing: ensure you dress appropriately for the heat. eg: shorts or 3/4 tights with a singlet top. (I would advise against long tracksuit pants and long sleeved tops!)
- Hair: Girls, please ensure to have your hair tied up and off your neck.
- WATER, WATER, WATER: THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP!! PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD HAS A WATER BOTTLE WITH THEM!! Ensure they have enough to last the entire class and for as many classes as they will be doing!!
- A small towel: for our older students, it may be a good idea that you bring a towel


With these top tips you will be ready and racing to go this week! Can't wait to see you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

BACK TO SCHOOL!!


Most of our students went back to school this week, some making that big step from primary to high school and from high school into the work force or so to be university!!! but the biggest step for our now Junior Jazz and Junior ballet (and their parents) STARTED BIG BIG SCHOOL!!!!!!! I wish all of our students all the very best with their academic year.


Picture of Amelia Bartimote on her first day of school