What’s New at The Academy of Dance & Theatre Arts?

Huge congratulations to my first set of competitors that entered the Dance World Cup qualifiers in Jersey this week!

Grace Purvis & Sian O’Hanlon performed their Princess and the Pea duet, and despite nearly having a props disaster 5mins before dancing, they still won a bronze medal each, and are through to the finals in June!

Felicity Ferbrache also danced her Tooth Fairy solo on Thursday, she was 4th youngest in her category, yet still received a qualifying mark, against children who are at least 3 years older than her!

Although I don’t have photos, Giorgia Phillips performed a ballet solo and also received a qualifying mark, and Ewan Mauger received a silver medal and is through to finals for his ballet solo.

Great start to our first major entry into the Dance World Cup competition!

Throughout this summer, we have been working hard to update the studio decor, and upgrade the changing room so it can be adapted as either a changing room or second studio.

I have to say, I am so pleased with the results! We had our open day yesterday to great success, and the word “wow” was used frequently!

Take a look at our photos below.

A huge well done to all ballet, tap and modern students who passed exams recently! We had a phenomenal 26 Distinctions, 32 Merits, and 8 Passes, which means 100% pass rate, and 3/4 of students receiving above the 70 mark.

Our biggest congratulations go to Jessica Quittenden who today placed 8 out of a class of 21 in the Dance World Cup Finals in Romania.

Thanks to the live streaming that has been provided this year, I was able to watch her class, and the standard was phenomenal – and Jess was up against dancers aged 16 and 17 from all over the world. She really held her own, and I could not be prouder!

What a fantastic way to finish up the term!

TAPATHON!

On Sunday 15^th November 2015 at 1pm the UK-wide Tapathon will take place again, and this year I would love it if the Academy of Dance and Theatre Arts could take place!

Unlike the name suggests, it is not a marathon tap session, it is a Guinness World Record attempt to have as many dancers as possible across the UK performing the same dance at the same time.

This year, the routine is to “Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk” and there are two different levels of difficulty to allow beginner/younger tappers to take part alongside the experienced/older tappers.

I suggest that the groups are split as follows.

Level 1 Grade 2-Grade 4 or new tappers from February ’15 onwards

Dance includes: shuffles, shuffle ballchanges, pas de bourrees, stamps, 2 footed crawl & ball beats.

Level 2 Grade 4 and up or tappers practicing for over 1-2yrs

Dance includes: quick shuffle hop steps, separated crawl, paddles, wings, Charleston step

The dances are to the entire song, so I envision that we will need several rehearsals on this! The dance itself is on Youtube so the students can practice at home.

If your child is interested in taking part, please fill out the form below and return it before the end of term.

Each rehearsal will be £2.50.

Tapathon 2015

We will start with 1hr sessions over the summer.

Please circle when your child/ren would be available for rehearsals on the following dates:

29^th July, 30^th July, 31^st July

10^th August, 11^th August, 12^th August

17^th August, 18^th August, 19^th August

(I will have to go by majority)

September, October & November:

Saturday 19^th September Level 1 – 1.00-2.00pm Level 2 – 2.00-3.00pm

Saturday 26^th September Level 1 – 3.30-4.00pm Level 2 – 1.00-1.30pm

Saturday 17^th October Level 1 & 2 1.00-1.45pm

Saturday 7^th November Level 1 & 2 1.00-1.30pm

FINAL REHEARSAL:

Saturday 14^th November Level 1 & 2 – 1.00-2.00pm

Hello there it’s Vanessa Mee!

Last year the College of FE ran a really successful level 2 dance course at The Princess Royal Centre for Performing Arts. Students were able to attend classes to develop their contemporary dance technique and their creative choreography as well as perform in the theatre for live audiences. This gave them a qualification that was equivalent to two GCSE’s.

I would really like to start the course again in September. However, there have been some changes to the level 2 courses by the exam board and it is now equivalent to one GCSE and run on only one session per week – between 4.15-6pm on a week day TBC.

I would like to recruit year 11 students but may consider some year 10s if they are academically and technically sound! So it’s early days in the planning process but in this first instance I’d like to know just who out there is interested so please get in touch.

Please contact Vanessa Mee on vanessam@gcfe.net to register interest and sign up to the taster workshop in early summer. I’d be keen to know your name, age, school, school year and ballet/modern grades achieved. If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks!

The past two and a half weeks have seen a flurry of new enquiries for the school!

Remember: if you recommend a friend to the Academy, and they sign up for classes, from the Autumn term you will *both* receive 5% off your term fees for as long as both children dance at the Academy.

Get recommending, and make sure you let me know who introduced who!!

 

If you study modern or ballet with the Academy, you can now add tap for a reduced price of £79 per term until Grade 3!

All ballet classes are welcome to attend grade above/below during the week, free of charge, for extra strength and placing.

• Primary ballet Please attend Wednesday & Friday classes
• Grade 1 ballet Please attend Wednesday & Friday classes
• Grade 2 ballet Please attend Wednesday & Friday classes and/or stay 15mins after Weds class for Grade 3 barre work
• Grade 3 ballet Please attend whole of Grade 4 class or just 15mins barre
• Grade 4 ballet Please attend whole of Grade 5 class
• Grade 5 ballet Please attend ½ hour pointe work (as demi pointe) or return for Grade 6 ballet class
• Grade 6 ballet Please attend Inter ballet or Advanced 1 ballet (latter only if you have been studying Grade 6 previously)
• Inter ballet Please attend Grade 6 (en pointe) or Advanced 1 ballet
• Advanced 1 ballet Please attend Inter and/or Grade 6 ballet (one of these classes en pointe)

All tap and modern students are also welcome to attend the next class above their own (from Grade 3 upwards) for strength, technique, and to help push through the grades a little quicker where possible.

Body conditioning is available to students studying at Grade 4 ballet or modern and above. In this class we cover stretching, strengthening, and advanced steps and routines of differing styles. We have put on a Flash Mob in the centre of town, and currently working on an Uptown Funk number, and later will work on a spoken-word dance (as creepy as possible!)

 

Special Offers

The month of March is bring a friend to dance month! Once your child’s friend has signed up for class/es, you will both receive 5% off your term fees for as long as both students dance at the Academy.

If your child already does modern or ballet, they can now add tap at a discounted price of £79 per term until they reach Grade 3! Please contact me for the best class for your child.

 

Easter Workshop

This Easter I am excited to announce that I will be running a workshop from 7th – 11th April for ages 4-7, 8-11 and 12+. Please see the board at the studio for how to sign up!

Ages 4-7 9.00am – 12.00pm

Ages 8-11 12.30pm – 3.30pm

Ages 12+ 2.00pm – 5.30pm

This will involve singing, dancing, and a small script to learn and block, culminating in a performance on Saturday 11th April (depending on the number of children involved, we may do two performances ).

Any ex-students home for the holidays and missing dancing are welcome to attend as well!

 

 

Achievements by the Academy of Dance and Theatre Arts from November 2014 – February 2015

We have been busy!

TROPHIES

GUERNSEY

Ewan Mauger Guernsey Festival of Dance Boy’s Cup (adjudicator’s choice)

Felicity Ferbrache The Ann Winter Award

Neroli Queripel The Julie Lowe award for Classical Greek

The Cambridge Trophy for Modern

JERSEY

Ewan Mauger Junior Tap Award

Most Promising Boy

WORLD CUP

Jessica Quittenden Most Outstanding Performer Over 13

Ewan Mauger Best Boy Award

1st place

GUERNSEY

Neroli Queripel Greek

Neroli Queripel Modern

Ewan Mauger Modern

Neroli Queripel Ballet

Abigail Dempster Character ballet

Felicity Ferbrache Baby Class

JERSEY

Ewan Mauger Tap

WORLD CUP

Ewan Mauger Modern

Jessica Quittenden Modern

2nd place

GUERNSEY

11 & under 20 modern, Bugle Boy (with 93 marks!)

Clemmie Reid Modern

Drew Queripel Modern

Ewan Mauger Ballet

Drew Queripel Tap 

Lily Wyatt-Nicolle Character Ballet

Jessica Quittenden Character Ballet

Neroli Queripel Character ballet

Kirsty Dempster Song and Dance

JERSEY

11 & under 20 modern, Bugle Boy

Neroli Queripel Modern

Neroli Queripel Ballet

WORLD CUP

Ewan Mauger Tap

Jessica Quittenden Tap

3rd place

GUERNSEY

9 and under 13 modern, He Lives In You

9 and under 13 ballet, Miss Potter’s Creations

Under 9 tap, Jive Tappers

Lily Reid Modern

Eve Le Savage Modern

Rebekah Le Friec Ballet

Lily Wyatt-Nicolle Ballet

Adele Carre Ballet

Vicky Perrio Tap

Emily Mourant Tap

Ewan Mauger Tap

Ellie-Mae Le Tissier Character Ballet

Emily Gregson Character Ballet

Olivia Le Friec Character Ballet

Giorgia Phillips Character Ballet

Grace Purvis Pre Primary Class

JERSEY

Ewan Mauger Modern