It's Showtime! - Tozer Dance Studios

I hope you have all had a peaceful Christmas & a Happy New Year and ready for another busy term at Tozer.

Show Timetable:
This term is dedicated to rehearsing for the Tozer show on the 1st & 2nd April at the Palace Theatre in Mansfield. A letter will follow during half term with more details about the show performances and exactly what will happen on each day at the theatre.

The show is a very important event in the Tozer diary as it comes around once every two years & gives all the students an opportunity to perform in a working theatre with the largest audience they have ever experienced before. The preparation for a show on this scale has been ongoing virtually since the last one & again the staff & I will be asking for your patience and co-operation during a very busy, evolving rehearsal schedule.
The timetable for this first half of the term is displayed on the website & may alter slightly at short notice, but I will try and keep this to a minimum or give as much notice as possible.
Those students who are involved in the opening number and the duets and trios will be advised in due course.

Those pupils who took Modern, Tap or Ballet exams last term will move up to their next grade & if you are not sure or have a question please email to find out.
You will note that there is no Primary tap class this term as those in this lesson at this age will have enough choreography to learn for the show with their Ballet, Modern & Junior Jazz inclusions (Jazz for those that normally take part in this lesson).

Commitment:
The show rehearsals rely on a lot of team work & commitment, therefore all students are expected to attend all rehearsals. Please remember that it is impossible for work to be created when pupils are missing, the whole group is affected & problems arise. If for any reason your child has a legitimate reason for being absent please inform me as soon as possible so we can work around.

Show Costumes:
For those who are new to being part of the Tozer Show routine there are a few details which you will need to know. ALL costumes (both girls & boys) are sourced & ordered by the school and paid for by the parents, there will be costumes needed for every number your child/children are in. A deposit for costumes will be required by everyone and the deadline for this is Saturday 14th January so we can get organised with ordering the hundreds of items needed. There will be some costumes that can be recycled from past shows if possible and those will be sourced on an individual basis. Please factor this into your budget this term as no-one will have a costume until it is paid for. All costumes will be available on our ‘Costume collection day’ scheduled for the 2nd weekend in March (to be confirmed near the time) when the remaining balance for costumes will be payable. This system creates hours of work for the staff & myself, but is successful for the pupils all having the correct costumes on stage. I will do my best to advertise costume costs as we go along.
Costume deposit:
1-2 numbers in show £25 payable
3 or more numbers in the show £50 payable
Cash or any Chqs payable to Tozer Show Account and please no Bacs payment to Tozer Studios Account.

Lesson Fees:
Please also note as always every lesson/rehearsal your child takes part in during the show term will need to be paid as a terms tuition, this is particularly relevant to vocal classes as these are twice a week this term and are normally once a week during a non show term.
Fees are due at the start of the term please!

Notice Boards & Changing Rooms:
From now on the notice boards will now be relocated to the Waiting Room opposite studio 1 and not in the entrance area of studio 1.So please refer to these boards for show information. We are in the process of updating the changing areas and the room located before Studio 3 will be a study/changing area for the senior students who can study in between rehearsals so please support us in encouraging the students that these areas are to be respected and tidied up after use.

Half Term Rehearsals:
When we have a show term we always continue rehearsing through the February half term break in order to keep the consistency & momentum of rehearsals going, therefore there will be rehearsals on the following days of half term:
Saturday 11th Feb, Wednesday 15th Feb, Thursday 16th Feb, Friday 17th Feb & Saturday 18th Feb.
These will be held during the day, a full schedule will be advertised as soon as it has been finalised. As these are extra lessons & not part of the termly fees each rehearsal will be charged at £5 per class/rehearsal, per person which will need to be paid in cash in a named envelope at the beginning of each day. If this system can be followed it would help enormously in order for our rehearsal period to run efficiently allowing more time spent on rehearsing show numbers.

Prize giving:
Please put the date Sunday 5th February in your diary if you haven’t already done so for our annual Prize giving afternoon. This will start at 2pm. Trophies and awards are now due back cleaned & engraved (please engrave Year 2015 & name of recipient if you haven’t already done so-awards are presented based on previous 12 months work). All exams certificates will be awarded & there will be a few individual Vocal performances at prize giving, but no Vocal group work this year as we are working on show material. It’s always a lovely social afternoon so please support.

Chaperones:
In order for the show to be performed all helpers in the dressing rooms are to be licensed chaperones. If you hold a license to chaperone or are willing to get one to help out please put your name up on the notice board so I can make arrangements for the licenses. To gain a voluntary license will involve attending a morning at the studio for a few hours for some training & reading through some information regarding the safe guarding of children and young adults. The license is valid for 3 years from the date of issue. If we don’t have enough chaperones the show will not happen. These regulations are put in place to protect our children and must be adhered to. There are two shows and a tech rehearsal to cover so please help! More information will be available soon for those who wish to help and obtain a chaperone license.

I also need help with costumes & props if anyone can offer time, skill and help please let me know as soon as possible.

I will let you know when show tickets are available to purchase from the box office at the Palace Theatre Mansfield in due course.

Thank you all so much in anticipation for your support and help and here’s to another successful term & a great show!