We hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your family. APA has so much to be thankful for. We are blessed with an incredible staff, hard-working students, and their dedicated parents. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for choosing APA for your child’s arts education!
We have such an exciting month coming up with lots of performances. Please make sure to read all of the information so you and your child are prepared for the upcoming events. We are looking forward to seeing our students perform this month!
Winter Break: APA will be closed December 22nd– January 1st Classes will resume on Wednesday, January 2nd. For those of you that have other students enrolled in dance classes or music lessons, we will not have dance classes on December 15th, due to our Showcase performances. Music classes WILL be held that day.
Winter Intensive Update: We will NOT have this event this year due to limited students being available.
Cold Weather Reminder: To aid in injury prevention, it is important that the dancer’s bodies are warm when they come to class. Dancers need to wear layers to and from dance class. Even though they may feel hot after dance class, it is important for their health to put back on pants and a jacket, socks and shoes.
Adult Classes: Starting in January, we will continue to run another 8- week session for our Adult Hip Hop class in Franklin and our Adult Yoga class in Oak Creek. If you are interested in details, please check out www.academywi.com/adult – Early Bird registration pricing valid until December 15th only!!!
APA Student of the Month: Competitive Dancer – Kyla Bartsch
Congratulations to Kyla, our Team Dancer of the Month. Kyla is in 2nd grade at Meadowview Elementary school where she enjoys writing and art. Her favorite color is Turquoise, her favorite food is Spaghetti and her favorite dessert is Cheesecake. Kyla’s favorite songs are Champion and Blown Away by Carrie Underwood. Her heroes are her Mom and Dad because “they work really hard so I can dance so much.” Kyla has been dancing for 5 1/2 years and has been on APA Team for 3 years. Her favorite styles of dance are tap and ballet. Her best dance memory is “going to the Showstoppers convention at the Kalahari because all my teachers and friends were there and we had so much fun dancing together.” Dance has taught Kyla “how important it is to be a part of a team and it has showed me to never give up.” Miss Jessie says Kyla is always quiet and focused in her classes. She’s eager to learn more and I enjoy watching her grow into a young dancer. She practices her dances and sets a good example for her teammates. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Kyla. Congratulations Kyla!
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Team Dance Fees due 1/2/2019: KAR and Rainbow Dance competitions are adding a $25 fee per dancer this year. See their announcement below about what $25 is for. The fee is being added to both competitions for the same reason. Unfortunately, this is not optional and came out over a month after we’d finalized our schedule. When we inquired about why this is being added, both competitions said they did a poll after their Nationals and the majority wanted this. APA was not a part of this poll because we did not attend their Nationals competition. However, we spoke to Rainbow and KAR and they are waiving the fee for 1 competition this year so it is only increasing the cost by $25 per dancer this year instead of $50. The total for the first routine will now be $394 instead of $374 as stated in previous Team Newsletters. Each additional routine is $237. Since we have already locked in our schedule for this dance season, we are unable to change this. APA will obviously take this into consideration and include in our Team End- of- the -Year Survey. (The reason why it is not $399, is because Thunderstruck verbally quoted us a $5 increase, however their paperwork/online enrollment does not show the increase!)
”We are proud to introduce the NEW All Inclusive Photo & Video Studio Package for the 2019 Regional Tour! For the low price of $25 per dancer or $35 per family, your studio will enjoy ALL your Regional Photos and Videos. The fee is required per dancer and will be due 14 days prior to the start of competition. Parents can access their dancer’s photos and videos inside their Parent Center online. Photos and Videos will be available 3-5 days after the completion of the competition.”
Injury and Doctor’s Notes: Anyone notifying us of an injury that takes them out of classes for more than 1 week will need to provide Miss Sarah with doctor documentation of the injury and the recommended treatment process. That also means if someone does get a physical therapy plan, we need to see it. Miss Sarah wants to make sure that students are properly seeking treatment for injuries that are taking them out of class and that they are also following the treatment plan thereafter so they return to dance safely. We want students to follow through with a treatment plan and not get re-injured. It also makes the fate of routines very up in the air for teachers and other dancers while kids come on and off the sidelines repeatedly or without a definitive return plan.
Optional Convention: NYCDA Dance Alliance, February 8th-10th, 2019 (Rosemont, IL Hyatt Regency O’Hare)
Registration Due Saturday, December 1st
The studio will be offering a registration sign up for the NYCDA (New York City Dance Alliance) convention – this will be similar to the Showstoppers sign up in that we are looking for at least 10 dancers to register to send an instructor and go as a studio.
The convention is February 8th-10th in Chicago, and features a schedule packed with classes plus special auditions for scholarships to a variety of dance programs and opportunities! The faculty includes professionals who have had ballet careers, dance on Broadway, in music and movies, and more; there will be some truly incredible classes here! Options include a “Ready, Set, Dance” 1-day workshop for younger dancers (ages 5-7) who are just getting into the convention world, and full 2-day workshops for age divisions split into Mini, Junior, Teen, and Senior. Cost is $110 of Ready, Set, Dance participants and $260 for all other dancers. Spectator fees are $50 p/p IF you choose to watch. Hotel and travel accommodations are extra. NYCDA Conventions are an incredible way for dancers to experience training from industry professionals and be inspired to grow and learn themselves as they are surrounded by their peers from around the country. Please pay at our front desk by Saturday December 1st. Visit this link for hotel information and more details http://www.nycdance.com/CHschedules.aspx
Important Upcoming events…
- Winter Showcase 12/15. This is mandatory for all our teams. Make sure to check the lineups carefully as some teams perform in two or more shows. Full hair and makeup IS required; Miss Sarah will be checking both at the Showcase to make sure it is correct for the competitive season. You can view hair and make-up videos at www.academywi.com/teams/ Team Hair: PreTeam, Mini Hip Hop and Petite Green – Double Buns; All other teams low bun with middle part.
- Competitive Fees are due 1/2/19. (Please contact [email protected] if you would like your total due)
- Solo, Duet, Trio and Small Group entry fees are due 2/4/19.
- ALL TEAMS 1st Competition – Sunday, January 13th Competition ~ Lakefront Classic
This competition is held at the South Milwaukee PAC (same place as our showcases). The Production Team and Tap Teams will NOT perform at this competition.
Times will not be released until the week of and will be emailed out. This is a common practice from all competitions. As soon as APA receives a confirmed schedule and sets up call times, we will email out the information. Please always plan to be at the competition the whole day or competition weekend until a schedule is released. There is a small spectator fee for this competition.
TEAM CALENDAR Click Here for the event calendar: Team Calendar
All events on this event calendar are required, unless otherwise stated. If you are unable to attend an event you need to email Trisha (team@academywi.com) and she will communicate with Miss Sarah to see if it could be excused. Each will be considered on an individual basis.
Lakefront Dance Classic Waiver: If you have not done so already, please click on the link and print off the Lakefront Dance Classic Waiver, complete it and return to the front desk. Your dancer is not able to compete without this form. Forms are now past due. Click here to download the form.
Winter DANCE Showcase Information
Tickets: Tickets are going fast for our December performances! Please visit the South Milwaukee PAC online to purchase your tickets – Click here. Our 3:30pm show is sold out! — if your students are in these shows and you have not already purchased tickets, we encourage you to do so immediately. IF you have extra tickets available for the 3:30pm show for us to purchase back from you, please let us know.
Volunteers: We are looking for parent volunteers to sit backstage with each 1st grade and under class. Please sign up at the front desk – you WILL be able to watch your child dance.
Dress Rehearsal: There is no formal dress rehearsal for our Winter Showcase.
Arrival Time: Students are to arrive 30 minutes early. Their teachers and APA staff will make sure their costume/hair are correct – but this can only happen if you pack everything you need!
Music: Teams can request to have their music emailed to them so they can practice at home. Please email us at [email protected] and we will send you a link to a digital file.
Complete Winter Show details including UPDATED show times, line ups, ticket sale information, hair and make-up click here.
Logo Wear for Sale: You can place orders from our online store from the 1st-10th of each month. We do not have these items available at the studio. All orders will take 3-4 weeks after the store closing date and will be shipped for free to APA. We will notify you when your items are available for pick-up. Click here to order!
Referral Program: Share us with a friend. When a new family registers and mentions your name, you will EACH receive a $50 tuition credit. (Credit given after 2 months enrolled and there is no limit to the number of families referred!)
Give the Gift of Dance: We’re excited to bring you a new way to give the gift of dance lessons to someone you know! Beginning December 3rd we will have FREE gift cards handed out inside of the classroom, or for you to grab at the front desk, and GIFT to someone who is not currently attending APA. This gift card gives them a full month of dance classes (group classes with openings only, up to $59 value) at no cost to them. All you need to do is write your name and theirs on the back of the gift card and give it to them. They can call us, stop by either location or go online to register for the dance class of their choice. *Please make sure to have them mention they have a gift card promotion.* If they choose to register after their free month and are enrolled for 2 month, you both will be eligible for the APA referral program credit! They must be enrolled by January 15th, 2019 and this offer is for NEW students only.
License Plate Winner: Congrats to license plate 292-WKA! One of our staff members spotted your APA window sticker while driving! Please contact the front desk so we know who you are and you will receive a $50 tuition credit. To participate, grab a FREE window sticker at the desk!
Facebook & Instagram: Interact with APA on social media! We have fun contests, photos from classes and more on both our Facebook and Instagram pages. Click here to join us on Facebook and here to follow us on Instagram!
Snow Days: APA will decide if we will remain open during a snow/ice storm. We use the Oak Creek School District’s verdict as a guideline. An email will be sent to all families by 3pm if we decide to close Monday-Friday or by 8am on Saturdays. We will post on Fox 6, as well as on our Facebook page. Because this is completely out of our control, we cannot provide make up lessons for each class, however, we will allow you to attend any group class the following week as a make-up. Please stop by the front desk to schedule.