Hello everyone!

We hope that you have enjoyed a relaxed and memorable summer with your family and that you have gently transitioned 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 and a personalized schedule.

We have just recently wrapped up our summer camp with our 3-10 year old dancers. As well, we slowly but surely closed down our east side location and renovated the Post Office location. We are looking forward to beginning September in newly updated studios and offices and are sure that the students will enjoy this fresh start as well. We may be putting the finishing touches on things for the first week or two but trust this will in no way hinder our Fall launch and appreciate your understanding as we iron out a few possible kinks.

We are excited to have a new format in which to communicate with you and hope that as we continue to develop this system you will find everything you need in one place, your MHSB Class Monkey account. We know that for some of you it has been a longer process than anticipated and we apologize for the delay in confirming your child’s registration. The transition from our old system to the new one has been a little lengthier than we thought, mostly to do with the complexity of the old system and our desire not to lose valuable tools that took years to develop. Having said that, we are confident that the new system will ultimately make things more efficient and convenient for you and we welcome your input if you have any ideas or suggestions.

Thanks for joining us for the 2010/2011 season – we are looking forward to another exciting year of dance and are so glad your child will be a part of it.

"Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired."
- Martha Graham, choreographer.

With a school this size, it is not surprising that each year we have several changes in the staff. We are always sorry to see people leave but understand that circumstances change and with that people come and go. Dana Bondy, Kristine Steffanson, Lisa Hrycajkiw, Melissa So, Nicola Pantin and Wendy Villegas have all left MHSB to pursue other endeavors. We are sure you will, along with everyone here at MHSB, wish them the best in their futures. We are happy to welcome back Wilson Wong on staff and know that his advanced Hip Hop class and Salsa with a Partner class will have many eager participants! As well, we would like to welcome Tanya Kosanovic to her Friday teaching position with our littlest dancers. On another happy note we would like to extend our congratulations to Dana Bondy on her wedding back in the spring. Angela Adams, who worked here for several years both in the office and in the studio was married in mid-August. Wilson Wong will be married in a few weeks, as will the lovely Lindsay Roden. We wish all these couples a lifetime of happiness!

Due to limited space at our Yonge Street location, we will only continue to carry a small uniform inventory. We will be carrying pink bodysuits, all sizes of pink tights, foot thongs, and ballet shoes up to size 2. The rest of our current inventory will be sold off and not replaced with new stock. So come to our uniform days to get great deals on these discontinued items.

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, hop 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.

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.

Our safety arrival attendant is someone who will ensure your child gets to their dance class at the 2384 location, without you having to find parking and accompany them up the stairs. This service is provided for our younger students primarily and will also wait with them after class if you happen to be a bit late. Check the Safety Arrival Attendant section in the handbook for this year’s days and hours.

Your detailed Personalized Schedule provides you with all the information that you will need until December 2010.

The information that you will need beyond this point will be sent to you in early December 2010.

Address: 2384 Yonge St. 2nd Floor, Toronto ON M4P 2E0
Telephone: 416.484.4731
Email: office@mhsb.ca

Copyright (C) 2010 The Martha Hicks School of Ballet Inc. | All rights reserved.