Director’s Let ter

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I am delighted that the majority of you are reading the MHSB newsletter online for the very first time. It has been our goal to have our mailings become electronic – and we are so pleased that we are finally able to do this. Included in this email are your child’s personalized schedule and progress report. The wonderful thing about having this in your email box – is that you always know where it is! We anticipate that all our future mailings will be done through email, but of course if you ever need us to send you one through Canada Post we will be happy to do that as well.

As usual it has been a busy start to the year, and even now things are not calming down as we gear up for the annual Open House classes beginning on December 7th. For those of you who are new to MHSB, the Open House classes are held during regular class time, but are open for family and friends to observe the progress the students have made since September. You are welcome to speak to the teacher at the end of the class with any concerns or comments regarding your child’s progress and report card. The dates for these classes are listed on the inside of this newsletter.

By now, you will have received your child’s individual and group photos. Remember that re-prints are available directly through our photographer Katherine Aczel at 416-701-1702.

Last year we said goodbye to one of our most beloved and longstanding teachers; Angie Seto. Angie had been teaching at MHSB for 12 years and has had a tremendous influence and been an incredible role model and friend for hundreds of students. We wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors and know that she will never be too far from us here. In fact, rumour has it that she will be choreographing a piece for our next recital for any interested alumni students. If you are interested in being part of this piece please contact Angela in the office.

This past October, Lisa Hamilton-Hrycajkiw – who also has been with MHSB for 12 years as a teacher and office administrator, travelled to the Ukraine with her husband Andrew to complete the adoption process for a little child. We have all been in great anticipation watching the blog they set up to keep their family, friends and co-workers

Holiday Reception HoursOur regular reception hours at 2345 Yonge St. East Side will continue until Saturday December 20th.

From Tuesday December 23rd to Monday January 5th the reception will be closed for the Winter Holidays.

Regular reception hours resume on Monday January 5th.

Don’t Forget To...Mark your child’s Open House class in December on your calendar.

Family and friends are welcome to attend these special dance classes.

Bring your cameras!

2008 Recital DVDs are Here!All DVDs have been delivered to your child’s class. If you missed that class then you can stop by our 2345 Yonge St. East Side location to collect your copy.

Enjoy re-living these wonderful performances!

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D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 D a n c e S e a s o n 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 0 9 , I s s u e 2 mhsb

Keeping You Up-To-DateThe MHSB Junior and Senior Company auditions were a huge success and numerous talented dancers came out to show us their best. Thank you to everyone who came out - we were impressed with all of you; which made forming the Companies a very difficult task!

Both Junior and Senior Company dancers started their first session with ballet. I had requested that the choreographers give the dancers a more contemporary ballet piece. All the dancers were excited to start working with these amazing choreographers. Wait until you see the end product, both dances are spectacular. We owe thanks to two wonderful choreographers; Perri McCall who created the beautiful Junior Company dance and to Courtnae Bowman who choreographed the energetic Senior Company ballet piece. Both these Companies will have the opportunity to perform these dances at The Koffler Centre for the Arts open house showcase in mid December.

The second session has begun and the Junior Jazz Company is working again with the ever so talented Faye Rauw, whose energy and enthusiasm abound in this piece! One of the Senior Hip Hop Companies is graced with the talented Mario, known as “Jungle”. He choreographed a very memorable hip hop number two years ago and we just had to get him back!

Both Junior Company and Senior Company members can look forward to seeing two fantastic performances this year. I won’t give it away as to what they are, but check your mailboxes soon! Also, this year, I have decided to enter the Junior and Senior Ballet Companies into Sur La Pointe, this is a wonderful festival that highlights ballet only. All the dancers will have a wonderful time participating in this event. As well, the Jazz and Hip Hop Companies will participate in The Dance Connection, which is a festival for Jazz and Hip Hop only. This will be the first time we have entered this festival, it should be a wonderful performance opportunity. Information regarding all the events listed above will be mailed out at a later date.

To All Company Members: Wonderful job so far, keep up the terrific dancing!

Lindsay RodenMHSB Company Assistant Director

Progress ReportsIn this package, there is a Progress Report completed by your child’s teacher for each class that they attend. We do not critique our youngest dancers, those enrolled in the Pre-Ballet, Pre-Primary, Pre-Jazz, and Primary 1 levels. However, if you would like to discuss your child’s progress, you may talk with his or her teacher at their Open House class or over the phone. If you would like to speak to a teacher, please call the studio and we will be happy to pass your phone number on to them. MHSB does not give out staff phone numbers.

There are various styles of reports based on the various dance forms offered at MHSB. Students are graded in several categories. Students will receive one of four possible marks: needs improvement, satisfactory, good, and excellent. The criteria needed to obtain an “excellent” in each category are listed in the MHSB Handbook, 6th edition (pg. 15 & 16).

Please be aware that a “needs improvement” mark should not be taken as a negative comment, but rather as an observation that a particular area of dance requires some extra attention. It is our goal to be both encouraging and informative, and we trust you will receive all comments and grades with that understanding.

Open House DatesPlease review the dates and information below very carefully as well as the information provided on your child’s Personalized Schedule.

Sunday, Dec. 7th Open House for all Sunday classes.

Monday, Dec. 8th Open House for all Monday classes.

Tuesday, Dec. 9th Open House for all Tuesday classes.

Wednesday, Dec. 10th Open House for all Wednesday classes.

Thursday, Dec. 11th Open House for all Thursday classes.

Friday, Dec. 12th Open House for all Friday classes.

Saturday, Dec. 13th Open House for all Saturday classes.

Holidays & Special Dates

December 2008

Sunday, Dec. 7th to Saturday, Dec. 13th

Open house classes.

Tuesday, Dec. 23rd to Sunday, Jan. 4th

Winter Holidays: No classes; The school is closed.

January 2009

Monday, Jan. 5th - All classes resume.

February 2009

Monday, Feb. 16th Family Day: No classes.

March 2009

Sunday, Mar. 15th to Friday, Mar. 27th

Spring Break: No classes; The school is closed. (With the exception of Monday, March 23rd: All classes as usual.)

Saturday, Mar. 28th

No classes for Junior School ONLY.Middle and Senior Schools have classes as usual.

Sunday, Mar. 29th - No classes; the school is closed.

Monday, Mar. 30th - All classes resume.

By mail, in early February 2009, you will receive information about our

SUMMER 2009 PROGRAMSLast summer we changed the age groups slightly to accommodate the demand for younger campers. Therefore, the age groups are now 4-5, 6-8 and 8-10.This past summer was a wonderful success. A special thank you to everyone who was a part of the fun! Don’t miss the opportunity to dance the summer away - register early for Summer 2009.

Personalized SchedulesThe detailed Personalized Schedule that you recently received provides you with all the information that you will need until mid April 2009.

The information that you will need beyond this point will be sent to you in early April.

Don’t forget that MHSB can host your child’s next birthday party! You can choose a hip hop, jazz or ballet theme for children as young as 5. An MHSB teacher, assistant and party coordinator will oversee the event from beginning to end and will teach a fun dance routine to the birthday child and their guests. We are now happy to provide costumes for the little “show” at the end of the party, so the children will have a truly theatrical experience! Call the office and speak to Katarina to book your next party.

CELEBRATE YOUR

AT mhsb

office@mhsb.cawww.mhsb.ca416.484.4731

The Martha hicks school of Ballet

mhsb

Final NotesMake-up classes are available and encouraged when your child misses their regularly scheduled class. Please refer to the studio schedule for times and days. Our 2008-2009 schedule has evolved many times so you may not have an up-to-date copy. If you need to attend a make-up class, please look at the schedule online (there is an up-to-date version on our website), collect a new schedule at our main location, or call the school and we will be happy to mail you one!

When not in use, our studio space is available for rental; we would love our studios to be filled with creative energy at all times! Limited evening and weekend hours are available, but during the daytime we are quite flexible. If interested please contact Katarina Tyson at 416.484.4731 ext. 224.

As you may know, MHSB has thousands of beautiful costumes that are stored on the premises. We are able to rent these out to various groups for a reasonable fee, If your skating group or theatre group etc is looking for an economical way to costume your participants, please contact us in the office and we would be happy to show you our inventory.

The LOST & FOUND at both Yonge St. locations will be emptied of all of its contents and donated to Goodwill once a month!

Contact Katarina Tyson regarding outstanding accounts at 416.484.4731 ext. 224.

Please remember that if your child is a student in one of the last classes of the day, please arrive on time to collect them. If you are late, a teacher has to stay with your child. If every parent is late, just once, the teacher has to stay late many times.

Bottled water, juice, and Gatorade are available for purchase at our 2345 Yonge St. East Side location.

informed. Very recently the process was finalized and they are now the proud parents of an 18 month old little girl named Sophia. Many of you have known Lisa for several years and will undoubtedly be just as thrilled for her as we are here at MHSB. Lisa will be returning to teaching in January (a little later than she had anticipated) and will return to her office work in August.

Another wonderful teacher here also became a mother on November 5th to a sweet baby girl named Astrid. The baby was born very early, but both mother and daughter are doing well and Astrid is growing stronger every day. We are so happy for Ulrika and her husband Stewart.

We have added many new wonderful teachers to our roster this year. Annie Wood is a well known and experienced Jazz teacher and we are so happy to have her teaching here on Mondays. Giorgia Muratori and Wendy Villegas have joined the ballet staff and are currently enrolled in the Teacher’s Training Program at the National Ballet School. Although we lost one Angie – we have gained a new one! Angie Kourkounakis has also joined the ballet department and has many years of teaching behind her at various reputable schools in the GTA. Lilia Leon has joined the Modern dance department bringing a wonderful energy to the studio on Sundays. Frank Norquay is accompanying her classes on the drums – something new for the modern students at MHSB and most certainly adding a unique dimension! And finally, we are delighted to welcome Melissa Nascimento-So to our hip hop department. She is one of the directors of the well known Hip Hop Company THRIVE

and has many years of performing and teaching experience – we are so lucky to have her!

For the first time, we are putting together an MHSB calendar for 2009. We are excited to be using photographs from the past two senior shows – “Genres”, and “Heroes and Villains”. Our resident photographer Katherine Aczel has provided us with the action shots from the shows and we are sure you are going to want to pick up one or two as they will make great holiday gifts.

Speaking of the holidays – it is always amazing how quickly they come upon us, and I would like to take this time to wish you and your family a wonderful season and hope you attend and enjoy the upcoming Open Houses classes! Very best wishes!

Director’s Let ter cont. . .

Update Your Email AddressTo be more environmentally friendly MHSB will be phasing out paper mailouts in favour of electronic mailouts via email.

To ensure that you receive all future studio correspondence, we kindly request that you submit your email address if you haven’t done so already, so that we can update your file.

You may do this by filling out an Email Address Request Sheet at our 2345 Yonge Street location or you may submit your email address by email to our staff at office@mhsb.ca. Please include your last name and your family ID if you are going to provide your email address by email.

mailing address2384 Yonge St.2nd FloorToronto, ON M4P 2E0

walk-in address2345 Yonge St.

East SideToronto, ON

Nutcracker PrintsMHSB is once again proud to be offering two lovely fine art prints for sale at our main location at 2345 Yonge Street. “Waltz of the Flowers” and “Snow Queen” have been reproduced from Rajka Kupesic’s paintings done for “The Nutcracker”, written by Karen Kain, former Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Canada. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Children’s Wish Foundation – an organization whose primary goal is to grant wishes to children with high-risk life-threatening diseases. MHSB is carrying a very limited number of these prints and will now be selling them at the special rate of $20 each. Framing is not included. These prints make a beautiful gift for the ballerina in your family, and at the same time they help to support this most worthwhile cause.