The Martha Hicks School of Ballet

Senior Pointe of View Newsletter April 2012

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:23:51 GMT

POINTE OF VIEW – SENIOR

APRIL 2012

Important dates: April 27th and April 28^th.

Middle School: Ocean Adventure rehearsals and performances at Eglinton St. Georges United Church.

There ARE classes for the Junior school (i.e. Snow White) on both the 27^th and 28^th.

Junior school and Senior school classes are ON during both days.

April 30

Snow White rehearsals at the 2384 Yonge Street west side location.

Senior school regular classes.

May 1

Snow White rehearsals at the 2384 Yonge Street west side location

Senior school: NO classes

May 2, 3, 4 and 5

Pre-Ballet and Pre-Primary Snow White performances at the 2384 Yonge Street west side location.

No senior school classes.

May 18, 19, 20 and 21

Victoria Day long weekend: No classes

May 7 – June 5

Check personalized schedules for rehearsals.

June 3, 4 and 5

Senior School onstage rehearsals.

June 7, 8 9 and 10

Senior students perform in “Oscar” shows

Oscar Deadline:

The deadline to order tickets to all performances of “Oscar” is Monday May 7th, 2012.

Please have your order in by this date in order to guarantee your tickets.

FLOWER BOUQUETS FOR YOUR CHILD

For any “Oscar” show you can pre-order a bouquet of beautiful flowers before the performance. We have included an order form for your convenience. Our flower supplier will have lovely bouquets of mostly roses.

SUMMER IN THE CITY

Mini camp – 31/2 – 41/2

Junior camp 5-7

Inter Camp 6-9

Senior Camp 8-10

For more than 14 wonderful years, MHSB has been delighting children with a unique and rewarding camp experience right here in the city.

Our summer programs are a perfect way for children of all abilities to try new dance forms. Children can continue to dance in the forms that they enjoy the most in our 2012-2013 dance season beginning this fall.

If you would like additional information or to register, please go to our website at

www.mhsb.ca

WHEN WILL FALL 2012-2013 REGISTRATION PACKAGES BE READY?

We are gearing up for full online registration for the upcoming season. We are very excited about this development and expect the fall schedule and recommendations will be sent to you on May 14^th. Registration will open on May 22nd. If you need assistance regarding registration for 2012-2013 you can either call or email one of us in the office.

Since we are striving to do everything online, it is very important that we have your current email on file. Please contact our office if you need to update this.

IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2012-2013:

You will be receiving information about registration for the fall season on May 14th. With this information, your child will receive a recommendation from their teacher(s) as to which level will be appropriate for them for next year. Most times this is simply the next level up. Sometimes however, it is necessary to keep a child in the same level for one more year, or alternatively, perhaps bump them up two levels. We are aware that the friendships your child has made here at MHSB are important to her/him and we appreciate how this is a factor in their enjoyment of the class.

For older students, we often recommend additional dance forms that complement their existing one; for example, we strongly believe that jazz students benefit from taking ballet and therefore we may recommend an appropriate ballet level in addition to their jazz class. Please remember that if a student is recommended to an “A” stream in jazz, they must be taking a ballet class as well.

We are happy to discuss with you any concerns you may have about your child’s recommendations and we always strive to make their experience as rewarding and enjoyable as possible.

DIRECTOR’S LETTER

Hello to all our MHSB families! We have quite frankly been pretty happy about the lack of winter this year and feel we have all gotten off relatively easily in terms of winter’s usual harshness. Apologies to skiers and snowboarders. We now look forward to the summer months which are quickly approaching. Many of the staff are busy preparing for upcoming recitals, summer camp and fall registration. This is indeed our busiest time of the year.

The junior school will be performing in “Snow White” from May 2^nd – 5^th. These are our youngest dancers, and I’m sure many of you may remember your child being in this production. It is very sweet to see some of our older students who were once in these shows - now assisting them!

On June 7^th, we will begin our run of 6 shows featuring our senior school. These shows are exciting and diverse, showcasing students in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, musical theatre and our talented MHSB Company. This year we are presenting the recital based on the theme of ideas coming from movies. We presented a similar show 10 years ago entitled Oscar. Since then of course there have been hundreds of new movies to choose from and inspire our teachers. We are very excited about this show and know that it will entertain all age groups. Each show should run approximately two to two and a half hours with an intermission. Once again we will be presenting our shows at St. Michael’s College School Centre for the Arts. For those of you who are coming to the theatre for the first time, please note that it is conveniently located near the subway, as well as having many parking spaces to accommodate us. We were thrilled with our experience there last year and received a great deal of positive feedback from parents and students. We look forward to seeing you all there in June.

Each year we depend on and appreciate the help of dozens of parent volunteers. Many of you have helped us out before and find it exciting to get a behind the scenes look at the shows. We hope that many of you will offer to lend a hand again this year, as we truly could not pull this off without you! We have included a volunteer form with this package, which you can fill out and return or simply call the studio and we will gratefully put your name on our list.

We understand that it is a commitment on your part to get your children to their classes, rehearsals and performances. It is very important that your child’s dance teacher(s) be informed of any special circumstances that would prevent her/him from participating in rehearsals or shows. If children are missing, it affects the entire group and can compromise the performances that they are all working so hard towards. Thank you for your ongoing support in this regard.

Thank you for being part of our 2011-2012 dance season. We have thoroughly enjoyed teaching your children this year and are excited about their upcoming dance performances – and look forward to seeing you there!

Important Show Details

Enclosed in this package you will find:

A class schedule for regularly scheduled classes and rehearsals until the end of this dance season. Please note the dates and locations of rehearsals very carefully. Some of the rehearsal classes are on different days of the week, at a different location, or may even be a different length of time than what you are used to. If you have any questions please contact the school for clarification.

A new show group notification - ONLY if your child’s class has been changed and a new performance group has been created.

A class show schedule which includes show(s) your child will be performing in, what they will be performing, what they will need to bring with them, and how they will need to have their hair.

A ticket order form - which must be returned to the school by Monday, May 7th, 2012.

A map to the theatre - including parking details.

A volunteer form & donation form for teacher’s gifts.

If your child is not able to be in a show that they are scheduled for it is very important that their teacher and the office staff are informed before May 1^st, 2012.

For those of you who have already been part of our “big show”, we know that you are aware of and appreciate how complicated putting it together really is. Each year we try to make the process more efficient and straightforward for all involved. We try our very best to make everything work as smoothly as possible; however, things can and will go wrong and we certainly could not get through this busy time of year without your cooperation and understanding.

On the Day of Your OscarPerformance

Please arrive at the St. Michael’s College School Centre for the Arts (1515 Bathurst Street), 45 minutes before your show time.

Use the theatre’s main entrance, located on Bathurst. Go into the main foyer, from here you will be greeted by staff and volunteers who will direct you.

Parents of little ones please remember that it is your responsibility to make sure that you have taken them to the bathroom before all the excitement begins. We ask that only one parent help their child into their costume as quickly as possible and make sure that their hair is done.

Show time is approximately 2 and a half hours with a 20 minute intermission. We do our best to schedule younger dancers near the beginning of an evening show. However, it can be disruptive to take a child out of the show before it’s conclusion, so we kindly ask you that unless there are special circumstances, to allow your child to stay until the very end of the performance. You will want to see them in the curtain call anyway!

Once the show is over and you have taken your child’s costume off please put it back where you found it so that it is ready for the next performance.

Older students are responsible for the care of their costumes. Costumes are NOT to be worn outside of the theatre. These students are also responsible for keeping their change rooms neat and tidy - this is not the responsibility of our volunteers!

Unfortunately, again this year we will not be allowing students to watch the performance from backstage. Dancers, please remain close to your changing area and performing group so that if someone needs to find you it will be as easy as possible. Also, if your dance requires a prop, it will be given to you right before the performance and should be returned to your teacher directly when you

Tickets

The “Oscar” show TICKET DEADLINE is Monday May 7th, 2011! AFTER THIS DATE we will not guarantee any tickets.

Once again we will not put a limit on ticket maximums this year. This eliminates the process of having to request “extra” tickets beyond the designated limit. However, if you are ordering many tickets, we strongly suggest that you get your ticket order in WELL BEFORE THE DEADLINE!

On your ticket order form we have indicated which show you will be ordering tickets for. Even if your child is performing in numerous shows, we need you to order for the show that we have indicated. Great care and trouble has gone into calculating which shows will have adequate space for each student’s guests; therefore, space assignment is very important. If you have a special situation and cannot order tickets for the show which we have assigned you, please contact the studio at 416.484.4731. Under some circumstances, if there is room, you will be able to order for a different show.

Tickets are allotted on a first come, first serve basis and the seating is pre-arranged. Please return order forms as soon as possible, the deadline is MONDAY MAY 7th, 2012. If you return your ticket order form after the deadline we cannot guarantee any tickets and your order will only be processed after we have taken care of all of the orders which were returned on time.

Tickets will be handed out during in-class rehearsal beginning on Sunday May 27^th until Saturday June 2^nd. Afterwards, tickets will be available for collection at the on-stage rehearsals at the St. Michael’s College School Centre for the Arts on June 3rd, 4^th and 5^th. And lastly - your tickets can be picked up at the box office at the theatre before your show.

Tickets will not be handed out to anyone with an outstanding balance. In order to receive your tickets all accounts must be paid in full.

Oscar Volunteer Opportunities

Being a volunteer at your child’s performance provides an opportunity to share the wonderful “backstage” experience of which they are a part. There will be 6 senior shows this year and in order for everything to run smoothly we will need the help of 12 volunteers per show.

If you would like to be a volunteer kindly return the enclosed volunteer form.

We will contact our volunteers closer to the show dates as a reminder. If you volunteer and something important does come up and you are unable to keep your commitment, please contact Miriam Rottapel at robert.rottapel@sympatico.ca ASAP. We need as much time as possible to find a replacement so that we can ensure adequate supervision of our students. Students are supervised at all times during the performance - it is very important that children are never left unattended.

We are sorry, but we cannot guarantee volunteers will be allowed to watch the show from backstage. Volunteers also need to be willing to work wherever they may be needed. We would like to have games, cards, etc. for the students to play with backstage, and are looking for suitable donations. Please drop off any new or gently used games to our 2384 Yonge St. location.

Thank you so much for considering volunteering, we really do need and appreciate your help!

Final Notes

In May we will start our rehearsal schedule. From then on, it is especially beneficial to your child to rehearse with the actual group that they will be performing with. If you need to make‑up a rehearsal please consult with your teacher about which class would be best to attend.

Reminder about missed classes:

As stated in the studio policy under attendance (page 1), after February 1st, 2012, students who miss three or more classes/ rehearsals without written consent from Martha Hicks, may forfeit their opportunity to dance in the recitals.

Reminder to all jazz students:

Part of your required uniform at the beginning of the year was a pair of “suntan” coloured tights - you will definitely need these for the recital! These tights can be purchased at the MHSB shop at our 2384 Yonge St. location.

Mini Pointe of View Spring 2012

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:15:38 GMT

POINTE OF VIEW – MINI

March 2012

DIRECTOR’S LETTER:

Hello to all our MHSB families! We have quite frankly been pretty happy about the lack of winter this year and feel we have all gotten off relatively easily in terms of winter’s usual harshness. Apologies to skiers and snowboarders. We now look forward to March Break and some well deserved time off for students, and hopefully parents too! At MHSB, although we don’t have classes scheduled from March 10 to March 22 (inclusive), many of the staff are busy preparing for upcoming recitals, summer camp and fall registration. This is indeed our busiest time of the year.

Our middle school will be presenting “An Ocean Adventure on April 27^th and 28^th at St. George’s Anglican Church on Duplex Avenue. This recital is a lovely way for our younger dancers to perform in a larger setting than the studio, yet still feel connected to their family and friends. In previous years your child may have performed in our in house recitals of Snow White or The Wizard of Oz. Sometimes people ask us why we charge for tickets when the children move into the Middle School. Since we now have to rent the facility for this production, and have more overhead costs because of that, we have to charge our students for the tickets they order. We try to keep the ticket prices low and have a reduced rate for children between the ages of 3 and 8 as well as free admission for children under the age of 3. We hope you understand our situation and trust that you will appreciate the lovely venue for these shows. We anticpate you will want to videotape your child and you are most welcome to do so, but we also have a professional who will film the shows and you will receive a copy of that as well.

The junior school will be performing in “Snow White” from May 2^nd – 5^th . The children have been working diligently on this for several weeks and perhaps have shared some of their songs and dances with you at home. We have learned however, that the unexpected can often happen and tiny dancers may need to run to parents for a brief hello or freeze in one of their dances taking in the many faces smiling at them. One thing is for sure, it is a very special event for the children as well as their families and we know that it will be a sweet memory for you of your child’s first dancing experience. We do not videotape this performance and encourage you to bring your cameras.

On June 7^th, we will begin our run of 6 shows featuring our senior school. These shows are exciting and diverse, showcasing students in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, musical theatre and our talented MHSB Company. This year we are presenting the recital based on the theme of ideas coming from movies. We presented a similar show 10 years ago entitled Oscar. Since then of course there have been hundreds of new movies to choose from and inspire our teachers. We are very excited about this show and know that it will entertain all age groups. We have found that many students in the junior and middle school have been curious about what they may experience down the road here at MHSB. By attending the senior show these young dancers will see first hand what is in store for them and may inspire them to try a different dance form in the future. There are matinee performances – which may prove the most suitable for younger audiences.

Important dates: April 27 and April 28

Primary 1, Primary 2, Pre-Jazz, Jazz 1, Pre-Hip Hop, and Junior Tap: Ocean Adventure rehearsals and performances at Eglinton St. Georges United Church.

All other classes please refer to your personal schedules regarding these two days!

Monday April 30 and Tuesday May 1

Pre-Ballet and Pre-Primary Snow White rehearsals at the 2384 Yonge Street location.

All other classes please refer to your class schedules regarding these two days!

May 2, 3, 4 and 5

Pre-Ballet and Pre-Primary Snow White performances at the 2384 Yonge Street location.

All other classes please refer to your class schedules for these four days.

June 7, 8, 9 and 10

Senior students perform in Oscar Shows.

PURCHASE OCEAN ADVENTURE TICKETS

Tickets may be purchased by filling out the ticket order form in your show package. The ticket deadline for this show is April 4^th. Please try to get your ticket order in by this date.

Tickets for Ocean Adventure will be handed out during your child’s class beginning on April 18^th. Tickets will not be handed out to anyone with an outstanding balance.

General Admission: $10

Children between 3 and 8: $5

Children under 5: free

COME TO OUR EXCITING SENIOR SHOW!

Once again our senior students will be showcasing their talents in our closing recitals June 7-10. We hold these performances at the beautiful theatre at St. Michael’s College School at St. Clair and Bathurst. It is very entertaining for young and old alike, and as mentioned earlier, we have found that many of our junior school students enjoy attending one of these exciting and colourful shows. We will be sending you an email sometime in May that will have a link for you to download a ticket order form in case you would like to attend. Two of our shows are matinees, and there is an intermission, so if you would like to bring your child it will be very to attend a daytime show and slip out half way if need be. We are certain your child will be inspired by these older dancers!

REGISTRATION INFORMATION FOR 2012-2013:

You will be receiving the registration package for the fall season either on April 27 and April 28 if your child is in The Ocean Adventure or on April 30 or May 1, if your child is in Snow White. We will clearly outline what level is recommended for your child for the next year, as well, if they are old enough, an option for another dance form. Registration is set to be open on April 30 – online as well as the old way on paper.

OCEAN ADVENTURE FLOWER BOUQUETS

For any Ocean Adventure show you can purchase a bouquet of beautiful flowers right in the main lobby of the church before the performance. There is no need to pre-order and our flower supplier will have lovely bouquets of mostly roses, costing between $10 and $25 plus HST.

LEAP INTO SUMMER

Mini Camp – 3.5 – 4.5 years old

Junior Camp – 5 – 7 years olds

Inter Camp – 6 – 9 year olds

Senior Camp – 8 – 10 year olds

MHSB has been running a very fun and eclectic summer camp for almost 15 years. Our summer programs are a perfect way for children of all abilities to try new dance forms. Children can continue to dance in the forms that they enjoy the most in out 2012-2013 dance season beginning this fall. If you would like additional information or to register online, please go to our website at www.mhsb.ca.

Classes Added and Changed

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 21:36:13 GMT

Welcome back to dance at MHSB! We are gradually starting classes and are happy to hear the music through the office walls again! We have added a few classes to our schedule as well as moved a couple around.

For our Modern dancers, we are adding a Modern 2 class on Mondays from 3:45 to 4:45 pm at the Post Office location with Alysha Lockyer. We know this time is a little early, but for those students who attend North Toronto Collegiate or Northern Secondary, you can most likely make this time. Following this class, from 4:45-5:45 we will be offering a Hip Hop 6 class - also with Alysha. The only other Hip Hop 6 class is very full so we are happy to have this option for you if you still haven't registered. We also now have another Hip Hop 2 class on Wednesdays from 4:15-5:15 at St. Cuthbert's Church.

The Senior Ballet 1 class moved from Mondays to Wednesdays and is now running from 8:30-9:30 pm with Kiyoko Makimura.

A reminder that the Body Conditioning/Stretch class on Sundays from 10:45-11:30 am with Wilson is open to anyone over the age of 15. That means parents, friends, etc are welcome to drop in to this class and experience one of Mr. Wong's famous bootcamp-ish style workouts! You can buy 1 class, 10 or the whole year which is 30 classes. Special rates for MHSB families.

Thanks for reading - we are looking forward to an exciting year of dance!

Uniform Days At Our 2384 Yonge St. Location

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:57:19 GMT

Due to limited space at our Yonge Street location, we will only continue to carry a small uniform inventory primarily for our younger dancers. We will be carrying pink bodysuits, all sizes of pink tights, and ballet shoes.

Director's Letter Fall 2011

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:14:57 GMT

Hello MHSB families! We hope that you have been enjoying a relaxed and memorable summer with your family and that as it winds down you can gently transition into “school mode”.

We know this can be an extremely busy time and that there are many changes that come with the month of September. It is often tricky to get in the swing of things and get used to a new schedule. We are striving to provide you with all the information you need for your child’s dance lessons commencing this fall, including dates, dress code, reception/office hours etc.

We just wrapped up our last two weeks of summer camp with our 3-10 year old dancers. It has been a terrific summer with lots of excited campers/dancers and we hope they have all had a very fun experience learning new dance forms and making new friends.

As you know, we are implementing a new software system for the school. The system is called Jack Rabbit and we are striving to transition smoothly from our old system that was in place for over 10 years into this new one. You can expect some things to change and the look of some reports etc. will be slightly different. We trust however, that as the year progresses we will iron out any kinks and will be able to continue to meet your needs from an administrative perspective. If at any time you have any questions regarding your account and how to access it, please feel free to call or email the office.

In June we added a Facebook page for MHSB. We encourage you to “like” the page – that is how you get access to information and pictures – and post any comments or pictures yourselves. This is a fun place for MHSB families to keep in touch, learn interesting dance related facts and be informed of things going on at the studio. Of course our website will also give you additional information and we encourage you to visit www.mhsb.ca often as well.

Thanks for joining us for the 2011/2012 season – we are looking forward to another exciting year of dance and are so glad your child will be a part of it.

Sincerely, Martha Hicks

MHSB Comings and Goings

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:56:35 GMT

Every September we have a few changes to the staff and we know that many of you like to know where people go and who the new people are.

This year we said good-bye to a few special teachers. Ulrika Englund has been with The Martha Hicks School of Ballet for 10 years. In this time she became a beloved teacher of hundreds of students, especially our youngest dancers. Ulrika and her husband Stewart and their little girl Astrid moved to Guelph this summer where she will continue to teach. Many of you will remember Briana who taught at MHSB for many years and opened a school in Guelph five years ago. Ulrika has been driving there every Friday to teach tap and will now be teaching several days for Briana. We wish Ulrika and her family success and happiness in their new home and city.

Pam Reid was also with MHSB for several years teaching jazz and hip hop. She and her husband Chris have moved a little further away – to Texas! We hope Pammi and Chris are very happy down south and wish them all the best.

Also leaving us this year are Lilia Leon and Ofilio Coto Portillo. Lilia taught Modern classes here for a couple of years and also taught during summer camp. Ofilio taught senior Hip Hop. We wish them all the best as they pursue teaching and choreographing.

Joining us this year are 3 new teachers.

Sarah McQueston will be teaching the Modern Classes on Sundays . Sarah trained at York University and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. She has an extensive performing background and we are very excited to have her join our teaching staff.

Aly Robb will be teaching the Jazz classes on Thursdays here at the main studio. Aly taught in London Ontario for nearly 10 years in the competitive stream. She has taught jazz, musical theatre, lyrical and acro and we are looking forward to her bringing her wonderful energy to the MHSB studio.

Julia Gropper is entering her third year in The Teacher Training Program at the National Ballet School. For two years she has been assisting the students in the Associates Program as well as teaching adults. Julia has previously taught in Germany and the Netherlands to children ages 3-16. She will be teaching the junior levels on Saturdays at Lawrence Park and the Tuesday classes at Fairlawn as well as some senior classes at the main location on Mondays. Julia is very excited to have the opportunity to teach here at MHSB and we know she will challenge and inspire your children.

You can learn more about our new talented teachers on our faculty page.

Dress Code Reminder

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:47:06 GMT

Although MHSB will no longer continue to stock all dancewear items, we will still have a dress code in effect.

Dancers will be expected to wear black attire to jazz, tap, modern, hip hop and musical theatre. As mentioned, we still have a pretty large inventory of many items but once they are sold out we will not be getting any more.

Ballet students in levels Ballet 1 and up will need a black bodysuit, pink tights and pink ballet shoes – either leather or canvas.

Hip Hop students will need clean running shoes – ones that they have not been wearing outdoors, some type of cargo pants – no low rise sweat pants please! – And a t- shirt.

A NOTE ABOUT HAIR:

This is mentioned in our MHSB Handbook, but is worth repeating here:

Ballet students in Ballet 1 and up MUST have their hair in a bun. If you do not know how to do this please go online and learn how to make a ballet bun. Jazz students – MUST have their hair pulled back in a TIGHT pony tail – not a loose one. It is impossible to execute a pirouette without hair firmly in place.