This page will contain reminders, notes, etc from your director, teachers and parent liason (scroll down for previous dates)
12/16/15 Six flags performance this weekend! Please be at Santaland stage at 2pm. Park opens at 12pm. Rehearsals end at 12:45. Check out these links for park info: Holiday in the Park Park Policies Frequently Asked Questions Parking is $20 unless you have a season pass holder in the car. Bring money to eat or food (food must remain in your car though and be eaten there or in the picnic area outside the park gates). Bring a sweatshirt or jacket even if you're not cold when we perform. Wear black leos, black jazz shoes, black booty shorts, nude tights, the red tutus I made and
the headpieces. I will bring bobby pins so they won't fall out of the girls hair.
Nursing home visit will happen 12/20 in the afternoon at a to be decided location. I'm bringing slipper socks, adult coloring books with markers or pencils and scarves. Feel free to bring your own gifts, but no food items please.
11/18/15
Remember that the studio is closed all Thanksgiving week and there will be no Dance Force rehearsal the Saturday after thanksgiving (11/28).
We are participating in the City of Irving Holiday parade on Dec 5th. Ariana's mom and dad are letting us use their pickup truck for the dancers to ride in. Parents may choose to walk alongside the truck or simply watch the parade. We'll decorate posterboard and use garland to decorate the pickup truck bed. The theme is the 12 days of Christmas so anyone who can bring a related item for dancers to carry at the parade will help meet the theme. These include any bird, pears, trees, anything gold, dancers (figurines, toys, whatever), drums or flute type instruments. Waiver forms need to be signed by a parent for each dancer prior to Dec 1st to be turned in at the parade meeting Tana will attend.
Secret Santa forms will be filled out this weekend by all dancers and teachers who wish to participate. $10-15 maximum spending limit per person please. The party will most likely occur on Dec. 18th.
All dancers need to pay $65 for the team suit and bag and $6 for Christmas tutus ASAP so we can get these made/ordered. Parents may also order team suits and/or bags (or just jackets)-check with me for prices on separate items.
11/10/15
Remember all of our December show dates: 12/4 Irving Arts Center open house, 12/5 City of Irving Christmas parade and tree lighting (I submitted our parade application yesterday so hopefully it will be accepted), 12/19 Holiday in the Park at Six Flags. I'm probably forgetting something.
I'm thinking we could do our Christmas party on Saturday 12/12, if that's alright with J. I'll see if I can arrange a few nursing home visits that same weekend too.
Please limit the absences and tardies. We need to get ready for shows. And remind your dancers to practice!
10/12/15
A few important notices to remember!!
The show this Thursday is at Valley Ranch Elementary, located at 9800 Rodeo, Irving, 75063. The girls will be doing Lyndee's younger group piece, and they will wear black Jazz pants and a solid color tank top with tan jazz shoes. I am pretty sure my kids have a few extra solid color tank tops if anyone needs to borrow one for the show. Those who were in it and are still with us, will also perform "La La La" in their costumes from last year with tan jazz shoes. Makayla will borrow a pair of my daughter's.
Call time is 5:45 and you'll check in with me and Lyndee at the Cafe inside the school. Show begins at 6:00. You're welcome to stay for the Fall festivities after the show.
Next reminder...the deadline for the Six Flags tickets is this Saturday. Cost is $27 each, and anyone can have a ticket at that price. All dancers who do not have season passes MUST HAVE a ticket to get in for the performance. Parents do not need to attend (but its fun if you do!), but if you don't plan to attend with your dancer, please make sure they are in the care of someone (make arrangements with one if us other parents, etc) and have money for food or something to eat for dinner unless they're leaving before then.If you don't get ticket money in on time, Jacquelyn will be ordering them without you and you'll be responsible for getting tickets on your own at full price. If your employer offers a lower price with their discount, please feel free to get it through them. Six Flags Holiday in the Park performance is 12/19.
12/4 is the Irving Arts Center open house and we will perform along with Momentum. The show is at 5:45 on the Dupree stage which leaves plenty of time after to enjoy the family friendly event so plan to stay and take part in those festivities. As always, ask for help if you'll have difficulty getting your dancer to this event. The City of Irving Christmas Tree Lighting is the next evening, and we'll most likely be performing in that as well, but Jacquelyn still needs to confirm that for sure. Lastly, we'll try to arrange to perform at a couple of Irving nursing homes. We'll take a collection of scarves and socks to the residents if anyone would like to donate or knit/crochet/sew some.
Our annual FDF Christmas party will be scheduled for one of our free afternoons. There's an optional Secret Santa gift giving for teachers and dancers ($10-15 maximum spending limit per person). We'll have forms to fill out so you know what your recipient likes and dislikes and we'll pick names the week before Thanksgiving in case anyone wants to do black friday shopping.
Looks like pretty much every Saturday in December will have one performance or another so please keep all Saturdays in December before Christmas open for those. We'll schedule the Secret Santa party for one of the afternoons in December and will let you know about that before Thanksgiving break for those who like to do Black Friday shopping.
Remember to ALWAYS be at least 15 minutes early for rehearsals and use that time to change (if necessary), put on the correct shoes, put your hair up up and STRETCH AND WARM UP!!!!! I am at the studio to open it every Saturday by 9:30am so your dancer can get dropped off anytime after that. Remember to ask any of the other parents if your dancer needs a ride and keep asking until you find one (start with me-I have the biggest car!).
Below is the text from the parent information that went out, in case you need to refer back to it later. Ask questions if you need to!!!!
Costs for the year
Here is a list of costs you can expect to incur over the course of this dance season:
•Dance tuition (of course). FDF fees are in addition to regular dance class tuition &dancers MUST remain enrolled in at least Jazz and Ballet to stay in Forcher’s Dance Force. Technique, &therefore performance of the whole team, suffers when classes are missed regularly.
•Costumes –averaging around $50-55 per costume. Dancers will need one for every competition piece they are in.
•FDF gear –There is a Dance Force gear package available. A group discount may be offered, but the basic cost of the package is $275 & will include a team jacket and pants (warm up set), shirt, bag, jazz shoes, jazz pants, tights, booty shorts. Purchase of this is optional, but will add to the cohesiveness of the group’s look at outings & competitions. Dancers are required to at least have a dance force t-shirt which is approximately $20-25 if purchased without the package, depending on how many are ordered at the time.
•Six Flags discounted admission (averages around $25 per ticket) is required for each dancer to perform at Holiday in the Park. Parents, other family &friends may also attend at the same discounted price.
•Competition fees vary. We usually attend 1competition per year. Cost averages around $175-240 per dancer for the convention portion (required to compete) &$40-45 per dance that the dancer is in (add these amounts together to get your total). Solos &duos/trios are more expensive per dance.
•Travel to &from performances and competition –costs vary. Competitions/conventions are always within the DFW metroplex.
Fundraising
•Forcher’s Dance Force, because it is an entity of Forcher’s Dance Studio cannot apply for non-profit status and therefore cannot participate in fundraisers restricted to non-profit organizations. Please keep this in mind if you wish to bring forward any possible fundraising ideas. I try to keep up-front costs at a minimum when looking at fundraisers to use.
•Fruit snacks are available to sell. Purchase price is $12 paid to me &you (or your dancer) will earn $36 by selling the fruit snacks for $1 each, resulting in a profit of $24 per box. You are responsible for getting this money into your account at the studio. There is no limit to how many boxes you can sell. This fundraiser is available all year long. Fruit snacks sold at the studio go into a fund that is divided between all the dancers.
•Bake Sale –I will be arranging a bake sale at a to be announced public location as soon as the weather cools some so that our baked goodies will survive. Anyone who makes homemade baked goods or craft items can donate to this. All others can help run the booth when its time.
•Popcorn –we had great success with selling popcorn 2 years in a row & it can be a good money maker. Cons are that popcorn must be paid for before delivery. (Do not go door to door selling popcorn to people you do not know without an adult at your side! Sell to friends, neighbors, family, coworkers, etc.)
If you have other fundraiser ideas, please share them with me and if possible, help with or take over arrangements for it!
Practice makes nearly perfect
•There is no such thing as real perfection. However, practice gets you closer.
•Rehearsals are meant to be just that. They are not a substitute for regular technique classes (jazz and ballet at a minimum) or a replacement for solo practicing. Regular stretching should be done at home.
•Dancers may not always be rehearsing every piece every Saturday. Therefore, it is your responsibility to make sure your dancer is practicing their routines at home. Anyone with a 4 foot empty square of space inside their house has room for practicing. No one has to go full out and leap across the floor in order to get choreography memorized. Sometimes all it takes is marking it or listening to the music & running through it on their head a time or two per week.
•Music for each of the competition and Christmas pieces will be made available as soon as I have it to pass along.
•This is one of the most important components to our success as a dance team and it requires parental involvement. We’re not asking that you force your child to practice for hours on end, simply that they be asked every few days if they’ve gone over their routines and whether or not they’re having any issues with it.
•Dancers missing practice affects everyone. Vacations and emergencies happen. The more notice you can give of time off, the more likely it is that rehearsals can be scheduled with your dancer’s absence in mind. Have an emergency? Call the studio (972-255-2154), Jacquelyn or Tana ASAP to let us know your dancer will be out. See the contact page of this packet for more info.
Need to know:
. Rehearsals are Saturdays between 10am-1pm.
All dancers need to be at the studio AT LEAST 15 minutes before their scheduled rehearsal time.
Dancers are expected to use that time to warm up and stretch to help prevent injuries during rehearsal.
Christmas dances will be learned in a month or two. These are usually the same dances that we are already learning, but set to Christmas music. These will be performed at all Christmas shows.
Performances
Besides competition, FDF performs at numerous free shows throughout the dance year. Here’s a list of where/when we may perform this year:
Main Street Days-Irving -September
Holy Family Fall Festival –September or October
City of Irving Tree Lighting –December (usually first weekend)
Irving Arts Center’s Holiday Open House -December
Six Flags Holiday in the Park –December
Ice -December
1-2 local area nursing homes –December (and possibly spring also)
Euless Arbor Daze –April (usually near the end)
More may be announced
Where do I get my info?
•Every week, Tana will email the rehearsal schedule, important information, any upcoming performance dates, fundraiser details& probably anything else you need to know.
•Jacquelyn will also send out emails as needed regarding performances, costume fees, reminders about upcoming events, etc.
•BUT…that’s not the only place to find what you need! This year, there is a blog where all Forcher’s Dance Force info can be found in one spot.
–Want to make sure family members know when our performances are? Go to the blog!
–Want to see the rehearsal schedule, but your email is acting up or you accidentally deleted the email? Go to the blog!
–Can’t remember what pieces your dancer is in? Go to the blog! (cast list is the only page of the blog that isn’t viewable by the public. You must accept the invitation sent to your email in order to view that page, or Tana can send you the info by email or in a print version)
–Want to tell someone about how to become one of us? Go to the blog!
http://forchersdanceforce.blogspot.com/
How do I contact other parents or choreographers?
•An FDF directory will be emailed out to all as soon as information is updated/verified. Tana can also provide a paper copy to anyone who would like it instead of a computer copy.
•The directory will have names of each dancer and their parent or guardian, phone numbers for at least one adult associated with the dancer and details as to whether or not parents can text each other if needed. Email addresses for everyone will also be in the directory.
•Choreographers information will also be available, however, most information you think you would need from the choreographers can actually be obtained through Jacquelyn or Tana.
•Please remember that we are a family and try to act as such. If you can’t get your dancer to a practice, call someone. Tana has a 15 passenger van. We should be here for each other. It affects everyone when dancers miss. Don’t get overwhelmed by it all, especially close to competition time. Ask questions and remember that help is only a phone call away.
Contact information is available in the parent directory which will be sent out via email or printed for you if you want a hard copy and in the original parent presentation given out at the workshop (or via email if you missed it), which also contained the above information.
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