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Thursday, September 14, 2006

Where and When

Ballet Gloria will meet at OHC in the D1 wing on most Friday afternoons. See the different level descriptions for different times.

Dates: These dates are planned meetings. Please be sure to check this blog on Thursday afternoons to be certain that there are not schedule changes. The slim schedule in October and November is due to Miss Josie's travel schedule and college audition/interview dates. It is possible that we could arrange a substitute teacher for those Fridays on which Miss Josie is unavailable. Again, please check this page for schedule updates.
2006
September 8, 15, 22, and 29
October 13 and 20
November 3, 17, and 24 (yes this is the day after Thanksgiving!)
December 1, 8, 15 (Christmas party), and 22

2007
pending

Guidelines for Participation

1. Dress Code:
Solid color leotard – no low cut front or back, and preferably no spaghetti straps.
Pink tights.
Pink ballet shoes (avoid Starlight or Dance Now brands)
Ballet skirt (optional)
If wearing cover up pants, please make sure that they are not too tight – and no slogans across the backside.
If you do not have ballet attire, a modest tee shirt and leggings or sweats are fine.

Cover ups should be worn to and from class. Please do not walk around the building in your leotards. If you leave the area to use the restroom, cover up. Ballet attire helps you move freely. It also allows the teacher to see where your technique needs correcting. It is NOT to show others the beauty of your body. God knows how beautiful you are – He made you, and He is who counts. Please think carefully about your clothing selection and why you choose to wear what you wear. A current ‘Christian’ tee shirt has the slogan “modest is hottest” across the breast area. So it begs the question, how does an invitation to look at the breast area in order to read a slogan show modesty? It doesn’t. And does the word ‘hottest’ lead the mind to pure thoughts? No. That does not mean that you cannot have any slogans on any tee shirts …just be careful.

Please remember that modesty is a form of respect for our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is one of the ways that God has called us to bless, love, and protect those around us, both on and off of the dance floor. If you know that you should not wear a certain outfit to Ballet Gloria because it violates our modesty rule, then don’t wear that outfit – anywhere!

2. Parental Supervision: Parents need to be with their children. Do not leave your child unattended. If your child will need a snack, please provide that, and encourage your child to clean up after the snack. Because we cannot adequately track all food allergies, please ask your child to eat only the snacks that you provide.

3. Safe Place: Ballet Gloria is a safe place. Competitiveness, defiance, degradation of self or others, or disrespect of parents will not be tolerated. We are here to be the hands and feet of Jesus to each other. Please choose to bless others with our words, actions, and attitudes.

4. Respect the Building: Please respect this place which so many people call their worship home. Please minimize messes and clean up trash. Please do not play with the foam art work on the walls.

5. Attendance: Although we do not require perfect attendance, and understand everyone’s busy schedules, we do ask that you attend as often as you can.

6. Borrow Box: The Ballet Gloria borrow box has extra skirts, tights, leotards, and old shoes. Please feel free to borrow as needed, and recycle what your child no longer needs for the use of her classmates.

7. This is a free class. If you feel led to give, please consider making a donation to Christian Hope Resource Center or Fundacion del Suenos. Information on both programs is available through the OHC office.

What Ages? and What Times?

Level 1
Suitable for 3-5 year olds Fridays 2:15-3:15
This class will introduce the concept of using movement to glorify God. We will learn:
Stretching and strengthening our bodies.
Moving with music
Using movement to tell stories about God
Elementary ballet steps
Scripture memory
Mothers are invited and encouraged to participate with their children. If you elect to watch, we ask that you still stay to watch your child dance. If you cannot stay at the building with your child, then we ask that you delay your child’s participation in the program.

Level 2
Suitable for 6-10 year olds Fridays 3:15-4:15*
*We realize that the early start time may pose a problem for some children just getting off school. We apologize for the necessity of this time this year. We will spend the first 15 minutes on our scripture memory and stretching. If your child will be arriving at 3:30 instead of 3:15, please work on the scripture memory in the car so that this essential part of the curriculum is accomplished. Also, if your child’s energy level is sufficient (especially for the older children in this group), please consider allowing them to stay until 5:15 for choreography application of technique. As with Level 1, this is not a drop off program. Please stay on campus with your child.

This class will builds upon the concept of using movement to glorify God. We will learn:
Stretching and strengthening our bodies.
Scripture memory and scripture expression through our body
Counting and recognizing patterns in music
Understand and apply dance language
Dance as worship


Level 3
Suitable for 6-10 year olds dependant on energy level, and suitable for age 10 through adult. Fridays 4:15-5:15

As with Levels 1 and 2, this is not a drop off program. Please stay on campus with your child. If you will not be on campus, please make arrangements with another adult to be on campus with your child. Miss Josie must leave OHC promptly by 5:20 to keep her training commitment.

If you are coming only to this class, please plan to arrive early and spend at least 10 minutes warming your muscles. The entire dance is devoted to active dance, without a traditional warm up time. A cold muscle is an injured muscle.

This class is dance applied in active choreography for the glory of God. We will learn:
Dance as worship
Dance as communication
Dance as prayer
Improvisational Choreography
Lyrical, Ballet, and Modern styles
3-4 complete dances over the course of the 7 month class

The Goal of this Ministry

This dance ministry is, obviously, about glory. But it is not our glory in dance, but the glory of God seen when young women offer their heart, mind, soul, and strength in worship to Him. It has been said that God’s glory is revealed in us, only when we are fully alive, awakened by the knowledge that ‘surely God is in this place.’ We dedicate the 06-07 year to celebrating the presence of Living God. The ground that we stand on is holy, and so we dance in discipline, and honor, knowing that we dance to the music which the Father of our Master Jesus sings over us all.