Dear Dance Star Parents and Students.

Welcome back to 2012! We hope you have had a relaxing and rejuvenating holiday season and are starting to get into the groove of the new year. 2012 brings new growth for Dance Star with the introduction of new classes, integration of the ATOD syllabus, FREE trial classes for the first two weeks of term and stunning new uniforms!

FREE TRIAL CLASSES

For the first two weeks of term one, Dance Star is offering FREE classes. Every class (excluding eisteddfod) are open for all to try. Come along, give it a go, and feel free to bring a friend! These FREE classes are on offer until Saturday 11th February. All Welcome.

MEET AND GREET

For the next two weeks (until Saturday 11th February) the first 5-10minutes of each class will be open for parents to come and meet the teachers and ask questions. We would love to meet the parents of each of our beautiful students as this gives us an easy flow for feedback on student progress, questions, queries and encouragements.

EISTEDDFOD AUDITION

An audition will be held Tuesday 7th February,4.15pm at Dance Star,for any students wishing to further their stage experience and enjoyment of performing in costumes on stage. Eisteddfod is open to all students of all ages who take at least one Ballet and one Jazz class per week. As eisteddfods are an external event amongst other schools, a high standard and quality of technique must be maintained to represent your school. This can only be achieved by attending ballet and jazz classes each week and working to your very best each week. The audition will be in a class setting with Joanna taking the class and assessing the students. All levels are welcome to attend.

NEW CLASSES

This year Dance Star has added Musical Theatre and Contemporary to its class options. This is a new and exciting endeavour as students will be able to add new skills to their dance vocabulary.

Musical Theatre is a vibrant, fun new class that fuses all 3 performance disciplines into one stunning masterpiece. It is a form of theatre that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement. We will create works from “Annie”, “Wicked”, “Oliver”, “Mary Poppins”, and much more.

Contemporary Dance is characterized by its versatility: contemporary can be danced to almost any style of music, or united with other dance forms to create new styles of movement. Contemporary seeks to work with the natural alignment of the body, and is therefore safe and accessible for beginners. At the same time, the ease of movement promoted by contemporary dance technique allows experienced dancers to push new boundaries of body movement. It fuses dance techniques and methods found in classical ballet with the freedom and airier aspects of jazz and modern dance. The goal of the lyrical contemporary dancer is to convey the emotion of a song’s lyrics through dance. Intense emotional expression of the face and body are necessary to tell a story that evolves along the lines of the song to which lyrical dance is performed.Choreography can be gripping and exquisitely delicate, at the same time.

THE 2011 CONCERT DVD IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

Only 40 copies printed. Second batch will cost $37.00, so be quick to get your the first batch. These Dvds are a great learning tool for the students. They also see their fellow friends along side them on stage. Maybe a gift to someone! Past concert DVDs are available also, $15.00.

BALLET

We are excited to have Miss Kristin Brookman teaching a few of the ballet classes this year. She is a highly skilled classical dancer and is passionate about sharing her gifts and knowledge with her students. (please see timetable for classes)

Which Ballet Class am I in for 2012?

All students who attended Grades 2, 3, 4 or 5 in 2011 remain in the same grade/day/time until May 2012. Once the students have done their exams (which are optional) it is after this exam period that the whole class moves to the next grade. May to May is the change over to a higher level from Grade 2 onwards.

Pre Primary Ballet, Primary Ballet and Grade 1 Ballet do not do exams so they move to the next grade at the beginning of each year. February to February is the change over to a higher level for Pre Primary Ballet, Primary Ballet and Grade 1.

JAZZ

Full immersion into the ATOD Syllabus.

2012 is an exciting time for the Jazz students as they will begin to learn the ATOD Jazz Moves Syllabus! Students will no longer be in Jazz levels 1-6, instead they have been graded into the standard ATOD levels. This is a challenging syllabus, with great movement, stretches and energy giving students everything they need to excel in their Jazz movement.

DANCE STAR UNIFORMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AND LOOK STUNNING!

Its important to have good attire in all classes.Teachers and students need to see the clear line of the body to correct alignment and technique. Baggy clothing is not suitable for this. Correct attire for every class and movement style, is essential.

CONNECTING WITH DANCE STAR

Any complaints and/or difficulties can be easily resolved as Miss Anne is always available. Please feel free to contact Anne by phone or email. We encourage you to contact us immediately should a concern arise. If you wish to speak with Anne directly she will be at the studio and totally available on Monday from 3:00 – 4:15, Friday 3:00 – 4:15 and Saturday 2:30 – 3:30.

We wish you all an amazing term one, always strive to do your very best at every lesson.

yours sincerely,

Anne Dyer A.R.A.D

Joanna Cook

Damien Grima

Kristin Brookman