Hello Ballet Gloria Dancers and Parents!
We are very excited about the start of the 2009/2010 season and about the opportunities it holds to grow in Jesus and closer to each other through learning the discipline of dance.
As we approach the beginning of this season, please keep in mind that Ballet Gloria is not designed to be a free substitute for traditional dance instruction. Ballet Gloria is designed to be a community of blessing and discipleship of the dancers and their families, and we ask that everyone pull together as a community to benefit those around them.
One of the ways that we are trying to serve this community this year is by limiting class sizes to 15 children per class so that no dancers get “lost”. Online registration will open two weeks prior to class start, and each class will automatically cap at 15 dancers—once this limit is reached, the registration form will switch to a waiting-list form. If there is another class available for your child’s age group, you may check for space in the other time-bracket. However, if all options for your child’s age group are full, please put them on the waiting list for your preferred time slot for their age group—we must keep everyone in their age brackets in order to serve the other dancers in the class. We will do our best to make room for waiting-list students as spots open up.
If you register, please consider this a long-term commitment (September-April). We will have occasional breaks for holidays, etc., and we do understand that absences are sometimes necessary, but if you don’t think that it will be feasible for your family to be there (on average) 3wks out of the months from September through April, please allow us to give your “spot” to a dancer on the waiting list. If you are absent for more than four weeks without prior notice, we will contact you and ask if we can transfer your spot to a waiting-list student.
We understand that Ballet Gloria will not be a fit for every family at any given time and we are more than happy to assist you in finding other venues for dance instruction that fall in line with the life of a disciple and work for the well-being of your family—we definitely do not want to put strains on your time with your family for any reason.
Another way that we ask that you participate in this community of blessing is by being ready to keep your children (dancers and siblings) under your supervision and discipline and being ready to help other parents do the same. We are so grateful for all of our dancers and their spirits of grace and joy, but dance is very much a discipline and that concept can sometimes be foreign to children. We ask that all parents stay on campus during their child’s class, and that all siblings stay with their parents at all times.
Also, please be mindful of the building. Oak Hills Church is so generous as to provide space and time to bless these dancers--please make every effort to bless them in return, as your brothers and sisters in Christ, by helping to care for the building in which they meet.
As our classes begin to fill, we will be sending out a request for “room parents”. We would be very grateful for anyone who is willing to volunteer one day a month to stay in the classroom with your child’s class, take attendance, put up the memory verses, know fire-escape routes, and be available to find other parents in case of “potty-breaks”, etc. In order to hold these classes, Oak Hills asks that we have two non-teacher adults in each class at all times for the protection of the dancers.
Our guidelines for dress are also based around the idea of this community of blessing. One of the fundamental principles of Ballet Gloria is that the human body is designed to be a temple of the Holy Spirit and an instrument to proclaim the glory of God to the community around each believer. When choosing apparel for our classes, please look through the eyes of one who wants to draw all attention away from them and onto the Father. For girls, our general rules-of-thumb are: no spaghetti straps, no low-cut fronts or backs, always wear tights, wear skirt/pants/shorts over tights, and always wear a cover-up to and from classes. For boys, we recommend sweat pants and t-shirts.
Also, please remember the importance of your words and actions to the other dancers around you—always approach your relationships with classmates with the purpose of blessing them and bringing them closer to Jesus, and never approach a situation with an attitude of competition or a desire to draw attention toward yourself. Especially when boys are in a class, please protect them from distractions (as your brothers in Christ) by dressing, acting and speaking in a way that brings the close to Jesus rather than close to you.
Please remember that Ballet Gloria is not a ministry of performance. We will have a small end-of-year demonstration on the last day of classes as a celebration for the dancers and their families of the work that God has done in us through the 09/10 season, but expect that there will not be presentations in Oak Hills corporate worship settings. We dance for an audience of One.
Thank you for bearing with all of these guidelines—please know these are not rules that we will keep legalistically, but guidelines that we ask for everyone to abide by for the good of the community. We are so grateful for each one of you and the unique stories and perspectives you each bring to the table, and we will do our best to serve you according to the place where you are now—please do the same for the dancers and families around you.
Here is our schedule of important dates and times as we approach registration:
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009—Online registration opens (Check blog for directions http://balletgloria.blogspot.com/)
Monday, Sept. 14, 2009—Classes begin:
2:30pm-3:30pm Genesis 1 class & Proverbs 1 class
3:30pm-4:30pm Genesis 2 class & Proverbs 2 class
4:30pm-6:00pm Psalms 1 class & Psalms 2 class
Class Descriptions:
Genesis 1 & 2—These classes will be identical offerings for 3-5 year-olds running at 2:30pm and 3:30pm on Mondays at Oak Hills Church, starting on September 14 and running through April 26. In this class, we will focus on movement as a means of storytelling and expression as well as basic stretching, introduction to rhythm, and scripture memory.
Proverbs 1 and 2—These classes will be identical offerings for 6-8 year-olds running at 2:30pm and 3:30pm on Mondays at Oak Hills Church, starting on September 14 and running through April 26. In this class we will learn about our body being a temple of the Holy Spirit and learn how dance can serve the two-fold purpose of communicating truth and protecting the body for the service of God. We will learn to recognize variations in music, rhythmically and tonally, learn the basic ballet positions and some basic steps, and work on memorizing longer passages of scripture.
Psalms 1—This class is our offering for 9-10 year-olds running from 4:30pm-6:00pm on Mondays at Oak Hills Church, starting Sept. 14 and running through April 26. This class will start with an introductory ballet barre-work warm-up, progress through one cohesive piece of choreography every 2 months, work on chapter-long passages of scripture, and encourage a free-flow of worship through movement in every exercise (rather than progression toward perfect ballet technique).
Psalms 2-- This class is our offering for 11 year-olds-adults running from 4:30pm-6:00pm on Mondays at Oak Hills Church, starting Sept. 14 and running through April 26. This class will start with an introductory/intermediate ballet barre-work warm-up, progress through one cohesive piece of choreography every 2 months, work on chapter-long passages of scripture, and encourage a free-flow of worship through movement in every exercise (rather than progression toward perfect ballet technique).
We’ll look forward to seeing you all soon!
Blessings of grace and peace to all of you,
Miss Josie
210-213-2831
balletgloriasa@gmail.com
http://balletgloria.blogspot.com/
