Folks,

An update on the Daddy Warbucks head shave sponsorship in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity - the total is now £700, that’s just £50 off the target of £750.

So, well done and a big Warbucks THANKYOU for all your pledges and donations so far

I’m hoping to collect in the remaining money from those of you that have sponsored the event this weekend – so please come and see me – if you’re not sure who I am it’s the bloke with the shiny head and the evening suit.

If you want to check how much you pledged please email me at d.warbucks@ymail.com.

Wishing everyone Good Luck for the show this weekend.

Best wishes,

Daddy Warbucks (aka Mark Price)

P.S. If you haven’t donated yet and wish to do so please feel free to come and see me or you can donate online at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/marcuspretium.

Hi everyone

Well done again to everyone involve in the weekend’s shows, again very favourable comments coming through and very good audiences !

Please remember that there are no classes Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

Michael Akroyd will be there again on Friday evening to give out costume deposits to those of you who have missed him up to now. Please give any outstanding brown envelopes and dvd orders to him aswell.

May I remind you all that the use of video cameras and flash photography is strictly forbidden during the show, please pass this on to your guests as anyone found to be doing so will be asked to leave.

Parking over the weekend was rather chaotic, please remember to park sensibly yourselves and remind your guests that the bottom car park is available for our use – - parking on the grass verge is not allowed in any circumstances.

See you all on Friday!

Just to let you know that if you need help with hair, please make sure you arrive at school early! \Mrs. Burrell will be there from 5.30 to deal with French Plaits. We intend to run the ‘walk through audience ‘ part of the finale at 6.30 pm so the children involved in this need to be ready by then please.

Thank you,

Anita

Hi.

Well done to everyone on a successful Open Dress, we had very favourable comments from the audience!

There is still room for improvement in places but I know that we’ll get there.

Just to let everyone know that this Tuesday and Wednesday ‘s classes are on as normal. Tuesday girls try and get in for 5.30 please.

There are no classes on Saturday 10th or 17th July — think we’ll all need a rest then!

Thanks

If you haven’t got your tickets for Hooked on Dance 2010 yet, you’d better get down to the Buttonhole on Chapel St. Chorley. They are selling very quickly!

Enjoy the show!

Hello Everyone,

We seem to have some confusion about hairstyles – probably my fault, sorry!

I have therefore updated the relevant show page here which I hope will clarify matters.

Best wishes,

Anita

Please note that Mouse Waltz and Ladies Choice will not be needed this Wednesday (30th June).

A couple of other things that have been left out of Stop Press#2 :

• Ice Cream Freeze — hair in pigtails.
• Puddleduck — yellow tutu straps should be sewn crossed at the back, not just tied as halter neck.

Hello everyone,

First of all a big thank you to everyone who attended 26^th June Dress Rehearsal and worked so hard on probably the hottest day of the year!

There is still a long way to go to bring things together as they should be, but hopefully next Saturday will be better as we should have full lighting (including star-cloth) and sound.

The reheasal schedule for this coming Saturday 3rd July is here.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Best wishes,

Anita.

Hello Everyone,

First Dress Rehearsal today ! I hope you’re all looking forward to it.

Don’t forget too that Daddy Warbucks will be losing his hair at 1pm at St. Michaels today in readiness for the show and in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity. You will be able to sponsor Mark using the forms available at St. Michaels today or if you prefer to donate anonymously and securely you can do so online at Virgin Giving.

Many thanks to all who have sponsored Mark to date – the current total stands at £400 – and Mark hopes to top £750 before the shows are finished.

Here’s to a successful day.

By the way, I believe a very small number of parents have been commenting to others that they do not like receiving emails from the website. The school has invested in this technology in order to keep parents and students up to date and in response to previous complaints that parents were sometimes not fully informed.

However, if anyone should wish to remove themselves from the email mailing list simply click on the ‘Manage your Sucbscriptions’ link at the bottom of this or any other email and choose your email preferences.

Please bear in mind if you choose not to receive emails then you may not be fully informed of school news.

Best wishes,

Anita

Hi Everyone,

Hope you’ve all recovered from Saturday!

We’ve still a long way to go before we have a ‘slick show’ but with hard work we should get there (hopefully)!

As promised, I have looked at things that need the most work and between myself and the other teachers have come up with a revised rehearsal schedule which you can read here.

Best wishes,

Anita.

Hi everyone,

We are now just two weeks away from our first permormance on July 4th. It is vital that everyone attends all scheduled rehearsals up until then.

Our main dressmaker Michelle will be there at our St. Michael’s run thro’ tomorrow and will be bringing her sewing machine to sort any problems you may have with costumes. (Squirrel Nutkin girls please remember to bring your tutus and puy your name in them please)!

Tan tights will be on sale tomorrow (I have ordered the same shade for everyone) so please make sure you get yours!

As posted previously, Tiaras for Tinkerbell and headband / socks / tap shoe ribbon for Rockin Robin will ba available to buy from Joanne Mitchinson.

We need volunteers please for the following jobs on performance days / nights :-  Help with hair (people who can do French Plaits). Miss Sarah is hoping to do her own children’s hair as we want it for tomorrow so everyone can see how it should look. Help with raffle ticket sales, refreshments, parking attendants, runners (people who call children from the dressing rooms). If you can help with any of these things please hand in your name and the nights you are available to any of the staff.

See you all tomorrow!

Anita Murray

Hello Everyone,

You can now view the final Rehearsal Schedule for the show in the Next Show section of the website.

You can also access it from here.

I hope you’re all enjoying the buzz that the show creates – it’s a lot of commitment, I know, but if you can ensure that you attend all rehearsals then it really will make the show special for the audience and for yourselves.

Best wishes,

Anita.

Hello Everyone,

Time is marching on and the show will be upon us before we know it!

All costumes must be paid for no later than Saturday June 19th. When you receive costumes make sure that you try them on and if there are any problems get them back to Michelle or Kath immediately so that they can be sorted. Neither dressmakers want to be inundated on the day of the dress rehearsal!

Theres’ now a new public web page that details the performance times here.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday 14th June so if  you want to be sure of seats and you have not already bought tickets, there will be another priority sale at the Ambulance Hall Saturday 12th June between 2pm and 4pm.

Best wishes,

Anita

Hello Everyone,

You can now view the Show Accessory and Hair listings here.

One month to go !!

Best wishes,

Anita.

Hi everyone, hope you all had a good half term! Just wanted to remind everyone that our first priority sales day is this Wednesday, 9th June in the performing arts block at St. Michael’s School Chorley from 6pm until 8pm. Please remember that payment is by CASH ONLY. Cheques cannot be accepted. Ticket prices are as follows:- Sunday 4th July Adults £5 concessions £3. Friday 9th and 16th July Adults £7.50 concessions £5. Saturday 10th and 17th July all seats £7.50 – no concessions. Tickets will be on sale again on Saturday 12th June at the Ambulance Hall Chorley from 2pm until 4pm. As from Monday 14th June all tickets will be on sale at the Buttonhole, Chapel St. Chorley. (opposite the side of St. George’s Church).

Hi everyone

If anyone has any character shoes that they no longer need, we are looking for sizes 13 through to 3 for our welcome to the 60′s number. If you have any of these sizes and are willing to lend them out please let us know after the half term break.

Accessory list for all show numbers will be posted as soon as possible after our return on June 5th.

Have a good holiday!

Hello Everyone,

The lyrics for the final part of the finale, plus the accompanying music,  are now available here.

Hello Everyone,

Please carefully note the Show timetable updates in the ‘Next Show’ section of the website – you can read them here.

There are also some amendments to the running order which I hope are an improvement on the last one.

Hi everyone

Tickets for ‘Hooked on Dance 2010′ will be on sale very soon. We are having priority sales days (for pupils family and friends only) on Wednesday June 9th at St. Michael’s High School (Performing Arts Block) from 6.00pm – 8.00pm and again on Saturday June 12th at St. John Ambulance Hall, Fleet St. from 2.00pm until 4.00pm. (Volunteers to help sell tickets would be very much appreciated). Parents are advised to take advantage of priority sales in order to get good seats. (We do sell very quickly)! As from Monday June 14th Tickets will be available from ‘Buttonhole’ Chapel St. Chorley. Please note that this shop is closed on Wednesdays.Many thanks to Pat for helping us by doing this.

Ticket prices are:- Sunday Open Dress Rehearsal  Adults £5 Concessions £3

Friday 9th and 16th July   Adults £7.50  Concessions £5

Saturday 16th and 17th July  All tickets £7.50 (NO CONCESSIONS)

Proceeds (after expenses) this year will go to Children in Need

Hello Everyone,

The show Running Order and the Finale Line Numbers for the Seniors can now be viewed under the Next Show  sub menus on the website.

• Running Order
• Finale Line Numbers for the Seniors

Hello Everyone,

Please click here to see the line numbers for the Junior section of the Finale.

Please note these carefully and make sure your child knows which line they are on.

If there is anyone missing from this list, please let me know ASAP.

Hello Everyone,

As we are now less than 7 weeks to the show (6 with a week off for half term) it is essential that we make the best possible use of remaining rehearsal time.

In order to do this our Chorley Classes timetable as from Sat May 15^th 2010 has been revised and can be read here.

Croston pupils please note that there are Finale classes for them scheduled in this revision.

Please note that the gradings for the finale classes apply to Ballet, ie if your child is in Grade 2 ballet but Grade 3 Tap / Modern, they should attend the Primary to Gd 2 finale class. (scheduled for Saturday 2.15pm Ambulance Hall Chorley).

Hi, Everyone,

Latest Show news : Clare Price’s Daddy, Mark, has agreed to cameo Daddy Warbucks in the finale of the Annie sequences.

He’s also agreed to shave his head for the part and is therefore asking you to sponsor him and make a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity by clicking onthe picture below or going to  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/marcuspretium.

He’s hoping we’ll be able to raise over£750 by the end of the shows.

So some on, let’s give Mark some encouragement - you never know it might even turn him into a good dancer ….

Best wishes,

Anita

We have a slight problem with the Under the sea mermaid skirts. There is not enough ‘room’ for the children to move properly in them. Those of you who have already paid for and been given this costume please bring them in (skirts only clearly labelled with name please) to your next class and Michelle will make the necessary alterations. The remainder of costumes that have not been given out as they are not yet paid for , I will hand to Michelle.

Thanks

As you know, some costumes have already been bought from retail outlets and specialist dance catalogues. The Hairspray costumes are underway, being made by one of our dressmakers.

All other costumes are being made by our other dressmaker Michelle who has already been in to classes to take measurements at the Chorley school. Michelle will be in at the Croston school on Saturday (April 24th) to measure everyone so please make every effort to attend as without measurements she cannot start on costumes!

Payment method for costumes made by Michelle will be different to previously, details to follow.

Anyone with outstanding payments to date should settle these immediately please.

All cast members for Annie should attend at 4.15 on Wednesday 14th April. Mrs. Calman will be in to help with the singing. Please make every effort to be there! Normal times as from 5.30.

The school will fund all overheads for this lesson, there will not be any charge to pupils.

Apologies for the mistake in latest time table posting! Grade 2 ballet is missing from the schedule, this remains unchanged and should be shown as 11.10 am St Michael’s.

Happy Easter to all of you! The school will be closed for the Easter break from Saturday April 3rd – Friday April 9th inclusive. Classes resume on Saturday April 10th.

There are a few people who have not yet returned the consent forms for website photographs, please could this be sorted asap.

Chorley pupils please note that there are some revisions to times after the Easter break, (mainly show classes). Please make sure to check this out on the time table page.

On Wednesday 14th April Mrs Calman will be coming in to help the Annie cast with their singing. The time has yet to be confirmed but we are hoping that as the children are still on holiday from school, we may be able to start earlier than our normal time of 5.30. If any of you have a problem with this please let me know this week.

Show work is progressing quite well but we still have a lot to do and our show dates are getting closer. Please be sure to attend all scheduled classes!

We have recently had a photographer taking shots of classwork at both the Chorley and Croston Studios. Before any of these (or any future) photographs can be published on the website we need permission from Parents / Guardians. All pupils will soon be given consent forms regarding this. Please ensure that these forms are completed and returned as soon as possible. Please note that children’s names will not be published except in cases of award winning / audition or examination success etc. and only then with specific consent from the parents concerned.

Folks,

The school is now on Facebook.

Anita Murray School of Dancing now has it’s own page c/o Miss Murray’s profile.

Folks,

The school has just signed up for Twitter.

Follow us at :

AMSchoolDance

Folks,

The site email system has just been upgraded.

If you’ve received an email containing this post then you are subscribed to the site email function because you, or someone on behalf of you, filled in a form giving permission to receive email.

If you do not wish to receive future emails, or wish to receive them in digest form daily, weekly or even monthly then please click on the “Manage your Subscriptions” link in the footer of the email.

The site is also now GRAVATAR enabled. You can register yourself for a Gravatar, using your email address, at http://en.gravatar.com/site/signup.

By popular request there will be a half hour syllabus class for each of these grades starting this Saturday, 23rd Jan.

• 2.20 Grade 1    
• 2.50 Grade 2 
• 3.20 finish.

It may well be that nearer to the show we will not be able to do this as we will need the hall for full run-throughs.

The new timetable for Chorley classes, applicable from Tuesday 19 January 2010,  is here :

http://www.anitamurraydance.co.uk/timetables/chorley-classes/

N.B. Show classes will be charged (brown envelope issue) on a weekly basis. Fees £2 or £2.50 depending on duration. All pupils who are taking part in the show must attend scheduled classes. As in previous years, show classes will change according to progress made.

Pupils chosen for the Annie cast will be contacted individually and offered parts only if they are available to attend the 5.30 Wed lesson regularly. This will start on January 27^th.

Due to the time factor, Pointe classes have been cut to 30 minutes, Weekly fee will be reduced to £2

The Jazz class (8.10 Wed) has had to be split due to increased numbers, there is no alternative to this as there is not room on stage to accommodate everyone and for them to be seen properly. Pupils will be told on Wednesday who should start to attend the Tuesday Jazz class.

Now that the weather has improved, Croston classes will be back on tonight (Thurday January 14th) at Trinity Methodist Hall and Saturday Jan 16th at the Old School.

Unless there is a drastic change for the worse with the weather, classes will be back on at St. |Michael’s High School Chorley as from tomorrow, Tuesday Jan 12th. This information also applies to pupils of Sue Mackay at the Upstage Drama school. We would appreciate it if everyone could make every effort to be at class as there is a lot of work to be done!Should there be any change, updates will be posted tomorrow. Pupils from the Croston Dance school should check the website on Thursday to find out what’s happening there.

Congratulations to all 46 November entrants. Results arrived this morning and everyone has passed.

25 pupils gained Distinction and 21 pupils gained Merit. Well done to all of you.

Individual results will be given out at your next class.

Apologies if e-mails about class cancellations were late — slight hiccup with technology! Hopefully it’s sorted now, please keep checking site for updates. We are really hoping to be back to normal as from next Tuesday but will keep you posted. In the meantime all us teachers are working on preparing for 2010 show!

Sorry folks, St. Michael’s is closed again today so our classes for tonight are cancelled. The forecast doesnt look good for the next few days and driving conditions are obviously bad! I think the wisest thing would be to cancel all classes for the rest of this week. This cancellation applies to

• Croston Thursday Jan 7th and Saturday Jan 9th.
• All Chorley classes at the Ambulance Hall and St Michael’s in Chorley will also be cancelled on Sat 9th.

Not a good start to the new year / show work!

Hopefully we will be able to get back to normal from Tuesday 12th. Watch this space!!

PS    We are still waiting for the RAD Ballet results from the November session, I will let you know as soon as they arrive….

Tuesday Jan 5th 2010. Hope you all had a great Christmas! St Michael’s High School is closed due to the weather conditions so unfortunately tonight’s classes will have to be cancelled. Updates for the rest of the week will be posted on a daily basis.

Hello Everyone,

Don’t forget that we close for the Christmas break after lessons on Saturday 19th December.

All the teachers wish everyone a safe and Happy Christmas and thank you all for your continued support.

Thankyou also to the girls who are performing at the Gift Service at Trinity Methodist Church Croston on Sunday Dec. 13th, this is a very busy time for everyone so a special thanks to your Mums / Dads who are finding the time to get you there!

It really will be ‘SHOWTIME FOLKS’ when we return in January.

Best wishes,

Miss Murray.

To all pupils wishing to take part in the 2010 show!

Please remember that costume deposits and permission slips should be returned

NO LATER THAN SATURDAY DECEMBER 12th.

Results from the October I.S.T.D. Modern and Tap exams have just arrived. Everybody has passed, well done!

Individual Mark Sheets will be available to collect in lessons over the coming week.

Congratulations to Hayley Rigby, Verity Sandham and Ashleigh Turner, senior pupils at the school who won a special award for Dance at their former school (Southlands High School) earlier this week.

I am delighted with the progress of our new web site. There have been a few ‘teething’ problems but I’m sure they will soon be sorted out. Post your comments and tell us what you think!

Congratulations to Eleanor Derbyshire,  Eleanor Oates and Helena Tranter who succesfully auditioned for the English Youth Ballet’s production of Giselle.

This will be staged at the Charter Theatre Preston in March 2010.

Well done girls!!

Sure you will do us proud.

Miss Murray

The next show will be performed in July 2010.

Dates are now confirmed as follows :

• Saturday 19^th June : Full run through at St. John Ambulance Hall Chorley.(No lessons at Croston)
• Saturday 26^th June : All lessons will be held either on stage at St Michael’s and /or in the Performing Arts Studios. No lessons at either Croston or Ambulance Hall. Details will be given nearer the time.
• Saturday July 3^rd : No lessons at Croston or Ambulance Hall. DRESS REHEARSAL P.M.
• Sunday July 4^th : OPEN DRESS REHEARSAL 2.15 P.M. (THIS IS CLASSED AS A PERFORMANCE)!
• Friday July 9^th, Saturday July 10^th, Friday July 16^th and Saturday July 17^th : Evening performances starting 7.15 prompt (All children should arrive by 6.00 pm)

Please see below the holiday dates for the forthcoming year.

• October Half Term : School closed Sat 24^th Oct – 30^th Oct inclusive. Re-open Sat 31^st Oct
• Christmas : Break up after lessons on Sat 19^th Dec. Re-open Tuesday 5^th Jan
• February Half Term : School closed Sat 13^th Feb – 19^th Feb inclusive. Re- Open Sat 20^thFeb
• Easter : School closed Sat 3^rd April – 9^th April inclusive. Re-open Sat 10^th April
• Spring Bank : School closed Sat 29^th May – 4^th June inclusive.  Re-open Sat 5^th June

On Wednesday November 4^th we have a photographer coming to take shots of classwork for the website.

Please make sure that if you attend wednesday classes at St. Michael’s you are wearing correct uniform and that your hair is groomed properly.