September Monthly Blog
- info8850977
- Oct 4, 2024
- 9 min read
Welcome to a new term at TDC. It has been a full month since our show and a full month of classes from our brand-new timetable. We have welcomed back so many of our loyal and wonderfully talented pupils and have been so proud to watch them thrive in more classes this year, trying new things and even moving into new levels from age groups to advancement in gymnastics classes. We have also welcomed lots of new friendly faces to our team who have embraced our school and pupils, fitting right in to our world of dance. If you are new to our TDC family you will not be familiar with our monthly newsletters. We take the time each month to share a recap of everything we got up to over the weeks of classes and behind the scene. We like to highlight individuals and classes who have shown us an extra bit of sparkle, standing out to our staff. We also share with our supporters’ things we have been working on, thinks to look forward to and all things new. Thank you all for supporting us, coming to class, embracing new protocols and trusting TDC with your dance stars journey. Please read and enjoy.
What we got up to in September...
Our highlights from Classes September 2024:
The 2nd of September started our new journey as we opened our doors for the first week of a new term. Welcoming in friends, old and new for their dance journey with us.
We have been Pushing challenging technical moves with our Junior and Inter Lyrical classes on a Wednesday. Who have both been working on leg holds/tilts, Firebird Jumps and turns with leaps, intermediates now progressing into a calypso. The improvement in these hard moves from week 1 to now has been amazing.
Musical Theatre class have been working hard on embracing new styles, working on acting and singing along with dance as always. They have been introduced to musicals such as Wicked, High school Musical, and so much more. We want to highlight our senior MT class who are steadily coming out their shells, exploring different songs and characters. Supporting one another and coming out of their comfort zone! Well done, seniors.
Our senior classes have been moved to a Monday night where the have been working with Gemma on building the fundamentals of dance. Technique first before building our confidence and exploring new styles of dance. Can’t wait to see how these girls progress in a new environment.
Our Junior classes have been thriving across the week. We had lots of dancers move from preschool into the big junior class this term. Our Existing Juniors have become little role models, setting an example, helping others and improving leaps and bounds; Dancers – Bobbie, Aurla, Halle and Matilda have been superstars with the new pupils coming into class.
Our Pre-schooler's who have now made the jump to junior, have completely embraced their love of dance, coming into new classes and learning in a completely different way from last turn. We are so proud and cant wait to continue to watch you grow!!
One of our new Senior classes – Lyrical performance class, have been working on their leading skills, were hoping to teach this class to build their confidence more as individual dancers and lead them into becoming choreographers. They have started this in their first month by making their own travelling sequences. And have been tasked this week with homework to add on to Ellie’s choreography. Good luck girlies!!
This Month we celebrated lots of birthdays in and out of class. Happy birthday to all our September Birthdays including our Teacher Gemma!
We cannot forget how we started our month… with our outstanding performances in ‘Dancing Through the Decades’ by TDC – 2024 Annual Show! Check out our blog all about our show, BTS and all our amazing professional pictures. We are still getting over this one!! Our best show yet…
Class Stand Outs
This term we have watched all our pupils shine. Watching new pupils starting out and loving being in class with us has warmed our heart, overwhelmed with how well our newbies have fit into classes. We have had lots of our existing pupils try new classes this term, which has been amazing to see them shine in a new style. We have watched our pupils move into new levels, where this can be a challenge our pupils have been thriving and have been more than ready and able to advance with us.
We see this especially in our seniors who have recently aged up; Ruby, Haley, Millie who have been at TDC since they were juniors have fit straight in with our seniors and embraced the challenge, as well as new seniors; Sophia and Phoebe who have moved up and are challenging themselves even further by trying out new styles too.
Here are some pupils who have been shining especially bright in this new term, so far. These are taken from our TDC achievement book, where our staff take note of all our notable wins during class;
Analucia stood out to us in Inter ballet for perfecting a beautiful arabesque and demonstrating with the class.
Millie H has been true star when it comes to our TDC values, she has been caring and inclusive of all her peers during classes. Making sure no one is left out is so important to us, Millie works hard in class, loves to dance and truly supports all her class mates. We love to watch her shine.
Rubie B moved up to intermediate this year, and is trying out new styles, she is absolutely thriving being in our inter classes, shining with confidence and trying and succeeding with every move she has learned, she has grown massively as a dancer this past month.
Another superstar who has recently moved into our inter classes is Charlotte R. Though shy, this girl is one to watch coming into our jazz technique classes we are blown away with her ability and technique at her age … with NEW styles. Wow! Keep up the hard work.
Our helpers across the week are more of our stand outs this month as they work on new responsibilities and helped the staff with settling in our new pupils (especially the younger ones), to make them feel a part of our family.
Libby and Breagha from our Junior classes; both sassy and full of mischief have been working their socks off trying new styles this term. We are so impressed with Libby’s beautiful Technique and Breagha’s convince and performance in class.
Rayne after taking some time off the dance school has returned to classes, after being inspired by her big sister in this years show. This girl is trying new styes, works super hard, has been amazing us with her flexibility and is bursting with confidence. We are so glad to welcome you back!!
Lastly, most of you will know our senior Ellie A who has been an inspiration to all our pupils for years. Ellie has stepped up this year as a class assistant before heading off to college next year to continue her dance journey in a new and challenging venture, hopefully following in the footsteps of our staff! We are so proud of the dancer and mentor you are becoming. Keep up the hard work and continue to shine.
Class of the Month
We have been loving the energy and enthusiasm in all our classes this new term, to come to class with so many changes can be a challenge but our stars have been working and loving what they do like true professionals. A class that has stood out to us this first month in a new term is a new style and class – Intermediate Commercial on a Wednesday. This class is full of energy, sass, performance, the girls scream and cheer each other on, they work hard and fill their teachers with so much joy, dancing choreography with is not easy and giving it their all.
The class structure starts with a warm up exercise, then into travelling steps focusing on timing and matching the energy of different song, moving with confidence. We then progress to travelling sequences in small groups, trialling new moves and working on performance. Before working on some choreography, so far they have learned two new dances. Here they are showing off one of their travelling sequences.
All things new …
Thank you all for adapting and responding so well to our new protocols coming into a new term. As you all know we have now implemented a 1-way system when entering and leaving our studio, as well as introducing new equipment – with our ring door bell and locking system, as a safety precaution during classes. We feel this has been working well and have been working hard to make sure our studio is safe for all those walking through our studio doors.
Here are all the new things we have been implementing to the studio this month. Because a full new timetable just wasn’t enough at TDC…
Studio Improvements
This month with Implementing our new protocols, we have made some changes within the studio. Renovating the back door pathway and installing flood lights, has been a work in progress but we have made the well needed changes.
Over the October break we intend to freshen up the studio with some paint and making some changes to our spare room.
New Styles
Our new timetable has introduced 6 days’ worth of classes for our pupils, our new day being a Wednesday and now running all classes from TDC studios, which we have been absolutely loving. With these changes we have started up classes with two new styles of dance, as well as introducing Cheer to new age groups, more lyrical classes and adapting our acro class to be more dance focused.
We have added Commercial as a new style for Juniors, Inters and Seniors, and added a Lyrical performance class for our senior pupils. Take a look at our class descriptions for more information about the classes and where they fit into our new timetable.
We cannot wait to showcase our changes and new styles throughout the year ahead.
New Equipment
We have invested in some New Equipment for our younger classes -Baby and preschool, including ribbons, tambourines, parachutes and more; to embrace creative learning. This has made our pupils so excited to come to class, growing confidence and allowed us to work on and build new skills. Look out this week on our socials to see them in action.
New Staff
The new term has brought some changes to our staffing. Our class teachers, Ellie, Jordyn and Gemma have worked hard to take on new classes this year, to challenge the pupils to work with different teachers each class. We sadly said goodbye to our lovely Abby who has begun her career as a primary teacher and our wonderful Sophie who has taken on university to become a paramedic. We have already had visits from the girls so their definitely not gone for good, but we will miss them and wish them all the best.
We have officially welcomed back our leader and principal Emma from maternity leave. We are so glad to have her back, she is always reachable for all our TDC family during working studio hours, and will be in the studio day to day as continued support for all our staff, pupils and supporters at home. And we just love when she brings baby Maddison to see us all.
Lastly, we have introduced Jamie to our team as a class assistant. Jamie has been helping us out since our show rehearsals, the pupils love her, she is full of knowledge about all things performance and we are so glad to officially have her as a member of our team. Welcome Jamie!
Dates for the Diary
October Break
We will be taking October Break along with the schools as normal. TDC will be closed
Monday 14th of October to Monday 21st of October,
when classes will return to normal timetable.
Halloween Week at TDC
Halloween week at TDC will run from
Monday 28th October to Saturday 2nd November.
Pupils will be invited to dress up for classes, where we will have themed Halloween fun during class time, including games, prizes, tricks and treats and spooky choreography. This is across all classes, it is not mandatory to dress up, however we do encourage it for all so that no pupil is left out.
First Ever Annual Floor Show 2024
After some thought and following a meeting with the events team yesterday, we have decided to keep the floor show for stretch and skills classes only.
The purpose of the floor show was to allow the stretch and skills students to showcase what they have learned to their family and friends as they did not participate in our annual showcase in August. Due to the size of the school and the with the number of classes we deliver up to 40 a week now it’s really impossible to be able to showcase every class within a short timescale on the day.
Baby stretch and skills will be 11am - 12pm
Boys & level 1 will be 12.30pm - 2pm
Level 2 will be 2.30pm - 3.30pm
Level 3 will be 4pm - 5pm
We will be opening our studio doors to all other classes throughout the full week to give to for the parents to come in and watch their children in their classes. We will have to limit this to one parent per class unless your child only attends one class a week then two parents/ carers can attend.
Please note if your child doesn’t not attend Friday stretch and skill classes, OR Boys only stretch and skills on Thursday, they will not be required on Sunday 1st December!
Show Dates 2025
We have announced our 2025 Annual show dates. We will be working hard to start making plans for this to begin show prep after Christmas. Please keep the following dates free, for the biggest event of the year;
Sunday 30th of March – On Stage Rehearsal
Saturday 17th and Sunday the 18th of May 2025 – TDC Annual Show at the Beacon Arts Center
We cannot wait to start planning!!
Thank you all for taking the time to read through our Monthly Newsletter. Can't wait for a new month this term, with lots of things to look forward to! We now share a WhatsApp group with all our parents and guardians, to discuss important updates.
We hope you all have an amazing month, we will see you at class.
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