APRIL 2023
TAKE A PEEK!
HIP HOPPIN' OUR WAY TO SPRING!
Our character focus for the month of April is GRATITUDE and we are SO grateful to have our dance families as part of the Backstage Dance Studio community. We are grateful for the opportunity to teach your children every week, not only their dance education but social-emotional development as well.
This month we are focused on finishing and cleaning our choreography for our spring show dances! Most dancers received their costumes last week and they will continue to be handed out in class for anyone missing theirs. Make sure your dancer attends class regularly so they don't miss any of the important show preparations.
SHOW UPDATES/DANCING DADS - 12
Exciting news! Did you see that we are bringing back the Dad's Dance to our Spring Shows? All dads are welcome to participate! See page 12 for more details!
Enjoy the long days and peeks of sunshine here and there! And as always, thanks for dancing with us!
WELCOME - 1 DANCERS OF THE MONTH - 2 SPRING BREAK CAMP - 3 TEACHER SPOTLIGHT - 4 SUMMER REGISTRATION - 5 ADULT HIP HOP POP-UP - 6 APRIL BIRTHDAYS - 7 CHARACTER FOCUS - 8
EDUCATION -
PARENT
9 APRIL-NATIONAL PET MONTH - 10
SPRING SHOW TIMELINE - 11
SHOW CALENDAR - 13-14
SIGNATURE TEAM UPDATES - 15
STARS TEAM UPDATES - 16
& ENDS
EVENTS
19
2023-2024 REGISTRATION - 17 ODDS
- 18 UPCOMING
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DANCERS OF THE MONTH!
AS we begin a new month, we are excited to announce our next round of DANCERS of the MONTH for the month of March! ANNA, JOLENE and SATYANA were recognized by their teachers for their hard work and great attitudes! CONGRATULATIONS! Make sure to stop by the front desk to pick up your certificate and prize! WAY TO GO, DANCERS!
ANNA RIVETTE
Anna is enrolled in a number of classes here at Backstage--Ballet 203, Jazz 3, Tap 3 and Pre-Pointe! She was nominated by her Ballet teacher, Miss Elise. Elise says that Anna is always on time, focused, and works hard in class every week.
AWESOME WORK, ANNA!!
SATYANA ZOPE
Satyana is a member of our Signature Competition Team. She takes classes at Backstage almost every day of the week, in Ballet & Ballet Tech, Tap Tech, Jazz Tech, Hip Hop Tech, Leaps & Turns, in addition to myriad team classes. She was nominated by Miss Marty, her Tap Tech teacher, who says that Satyana is always smiling, tries everything, volunteers to go first and be an example to her classmates.
SUPER JOB, SATYANA!!
JOLENE HALL
Jolene was nominated by her Ballet/Tap teacher, Miss Tani! Miss Tani is proud of Jolene for practicing at home, which helps her and the whole class when they practice their dance during class.
EXCELLENT JOB, JOLENE!!
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SPRING BREAK CAMP
LASTCALLFORSPRING BREAKCAMP!
Space is still available, but REGISTRATION CLOSES on TUESDAY, APRIL 4th. If you are looking for something fun for your kids to do next week, make sure to REGISTER TODAY!
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LETA! Ballet Teacher Spotlight
Leta started dancing when she was 6 years old and has had a lifelong passion for dance and music. She studied ballet on a full Ford Foundation Scholarship at the School of American Ballet in New York City for two years, and she has danced professionally in ballet and musical theater productions. She loves teaching ballet and pointe and has so enjoyed teaching students in these disciplines at Backstage for the past 19 years!
Leta has lived in the Seattle area most of her adult life with her husband and three children. She is so grateful to teach at Backstage among talented, creative, and dedicated co-workers and management.
Elise enjoys teaching at Backstage Dance! Prior to moving to Seattle, she taught ballet technique at Brigham Young University as well as choreographed a full-length ballet for BYU's Theatre Ballet. In addition to teaching at BYU, she co-directed for non-profit ballet company, Utah Valley Civic Ballet, and directed private studio ballet programs, including the ballet program for Danceworx in Delhi, India. Elise attended the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Teacher Training and is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique. Elise started dancing when she was 3 and has danced for a variety of ballet and contemporary companies, including UVCB, SALT, The Gray, and at b12 in Berlin. She currently dances for the contemporary company, SLOWBURN Dance as well as freelances with other dance companies and choreographers. She is also a choreographer and her work has been presented at shows all over Seattle and Utah. She enjoys being a mom to 9 month old Lewis and loves spending time outdoors with her family. Fun fact: Lewis can army-crawl faster than her Ballet 204 class!
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ELISE!
SUMMER FUN AT bds
DON"T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR SUMMER 2023!
BACKSTAGE IS OFFERING 6 WEEKS OF CLASSES AND 5 WEEKS OF CAMPS, JUNE 26 THROUGH AUGUST 4. THERE ARE ALSO TWO WEEKS OF INTENSIVE 3-DAY WORKSHOPS FOR EXPERIENCED DANCERS (JUNE 13-15 AND AUGUST 8-10).
REGISTER TODAY ON THE BACKSTAGE WEBSITE!!
Our LUCKY DRAW raffle for $50 OFF summer registration is still going on! So, if you haven't yet registered your child for summer, now is the time!
Current Backstage families who register for a class, camp or punch card before April 10th will be entered into a raffle for $50 off summer tuition. There will be 3 winners--we hope YOU are the LUCKY dance family!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAYDANCERS!
Make sure you wish these dancers a HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY this month!
APRIL BIRTHDAYS!!
Aadhira Aravind, Kiseki Baker, Kayla Beade, Brooklyn Belcher, Jordan Belcher, Quincy Charles, Cindy Chen, Qwin Chen, Adeline Comer, Connor Duldulao, Addison Emmel, Emily Farrell, Katherine Franco, Ashley Fransson, Blake Gilmore, Chelsea Harrington, Sacha Johnson, Scarlett Johnson, Lael Joo, Aria Kaplan, Harper Kaplan, Sophie Kobuki, Nirav Koganti, Virinchi Koganti, Nathaniel Lee, Zachary Martin, Emilia Melikov, Neha Mukhara, Marabella Muller, Chi Nguyen, Iris Novsky, Emma Rayes, Soline Riem, Natalie Sears, Sydney Sirota, Veritas Slaczka, Priyanka Thiagarajan, Claire Wadkins, April Wang, Amy Xia, Rei Yamazono, Stephanie Yang, Brandon Yin, Adrianna Zeng, Lynn Zhang, Ella Zimmels
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FOCUS
ACCEPTANCE
Gratitude
We are encouraging our dancers to focus on GRATITUDE this month! Let's all earn a card for having an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE during the month of April!
MONTHLY CHARACTER
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PARENT EDUCATION
Parents of teens, this parent ed session is for you!
Highly Effective Adolescents
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
2:00pm
REGISTER HERE
Christine Carter, Ph.D., and Laura Kastner, Ph.D., will reference the latest findings in neuroscience, sociology and psychology to equip parents with realistic strategies to help motivate their teens to find focus and fulfillment through the development of effective habits, goals and authentic leadership skills.
Brought to you by Parent Map, teen
CHRISTINE CARTER, PH.D , IS A SOCIOLOGIST AND THE AUTHOR OF “THE NEW ADOLESCENCE: RAISING HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL TEENS IN AN AGE OF ANXIETY AND DISTRACTION,” “THE SWEET SPOT: HOW TO ACCOMPLISH MORE BY DOING LESS” AND “RAISING HAPPINESS: 10 SIMPLE STEPS FOR MORE JOYFUL KIDS AND HAPPIER PARENTS.” CARTER DRAWS ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TO HELP PEOPLE LEAD THEIR MOST COURAGEOUS, MEANINGFUL AND PRODUCTIVE LIVES
LAURA KASTNER, PH.D., IS THE AUTHOR OF A NUMBER OF PARENTING BOOKS, INCLUDING THE INDISPENSABLE “GETTING TO CALM: COOL-HEADED STRATEGIES FOR PARENTING TWEENS AND TEENS,” “WISE-MINDED PARENTING: 7
ESSENTIALS FOR RAISING SUCCESSFUL TEENS,” AND “GETTING TO CALM: THE EARLY YEARS ” KASTNER IS A CLINICAL PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
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whisperers
April is National Pet Month!
Celebrate your pet by bringing in a picture to display on our bulletin board by the back doors in the main studio. We will begin to put up photos after Spring Break, on Monday, April 17th. Drop your photos off at the front desk (please write your name and your pet's name on the back of the photo!)
Creative Movement In-Class
Performances
Our tiniest dancers will be having a show of their own during their last class, Saturday, May 20th through Friday, May 26th! Parents will have the opportunity to come into their child's studio room during the last part of class to watch their child's performance and celebrate them! More details to come via email--stay tuned!
april PAGE 15
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Spring Show Timeline
Spring Show preparations are in full swing! Costume are being distributed, dancers are continuing to polish their dances, and attendance in classes is SUPER important. Make sure your dancer comes to class regularly between now and SHOW TIME so they have the best opportunity for a successful performance on stage!!
May
The Final Countdown!
Tickets go on sale May 3, online through Dance Recital Ticketing!
Class pictures in costumes, May 13-19
Dress Rehearsals at the studio, May 30-June 1.
SHOWTIME: June 3-4 !
April
Costumes continue to be passed out in classes.
Dancers continue to rehearse their show piece, as well as the Grande Finale Bow!
Media Fee of $60 per family (covers photo and video digital downloads) charged on April 17.
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SPRING SHOW COUNTDOWN
JUNE 3, 2023
RED SHOW, 11:00 AM
ORANGE SHOW, 2:30 PM
YELLOW SHOW, 6:00 PM
JUNE 4, 2023
GREEN SHOW, 11:00 AM
BLUE SHOW, 2:30 PM
PURPLE SHOW, 6:00 PM
The DANCING DADS ARE BACK!
After a few years of hiatus, we're officially bringing back our famous Dancing Dads for our 2023 Spring Shows! Every studio dad is welcome to join in the fun of performing in ALL SIX Spring Shows, June 3rd and June 4th!
In order to participate, Dads must commit to dancing in ALL six Spring Shows. We also ask that participants commit to attending at least five of the six studio practices in order to participate.
Rehearsal Dates, held at Backstage:
Thursdays, April 27-May 25, 7:45-9:15pm
Thursday, June 1, 8:45-10:00pm (Dress Rehearsal)
Friday, June 2: stage run-through at IKEA PAC, 8:00pm (tentative)
Register ONLINE through your Backstage
Dance Studio Portal.
Registration deadline is Saturday, April 15th!
We can't wait to share our Spring Show with you in June! As a reminder, our Spring Shows take place on Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4 at Renton High School's IKEA Performing Arts Center.
Did you forget which show your child is performing in? Check out our EVENTS page on the Backstage website for details on class show assignments, class picture and dress rehearsal dates.
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PAGE 12
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OUR SIGNATURE COMPETITION TEAM HAD A BUSY MONTH IN MARCH, PERFORMING THEIR FOOTNOTES SHOWCASE, THEN ATTENDING COMPETITIONS AT CELEBRITY AND ENCORE COMPETITIONS. CONGRATULATIONS ON RECEIVING THE STUDIO SPIRIT AWARD FROM CELEBRITY FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW! WE ARE SO PROUD OF THESE DANCERS FOR THEIR POSITIVE, SUPPORTIVE ATTITUDE TO ALL DANCERS!
GNATURE TEAM ORMATION 023-2024 Signature Team Updates
PAGE 11 Planning for next year's Signature Team is already underway. For information about auditions and other Signature Team requirements, visit the Backstage WEBSITE. PAGE 15
STARS TEAM Updates
rticipated in their first st weekend at Kids Artistic 4 teams performed tap, hip hop, jazz and contemporary dances and left it all on stage! Great job STARS dancers!
Want more information about our STARS Team program? Visit the Backstage WEBSITE!
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2023-2024 Registration
Dancer Assessments Coming Soon!
We have enjoyed teaching your children this year! This month, teachers are assessing student progress and making recommendations on class placements for next year. Watch for this information to come you way in May. Our teachers put a lot of time and thought into each dancer's recommendations to ensure that dancers are placed in a class that is the best fit for their growth..
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT MOST STUDENTS SPEND AT LEAST TWO YEARS IN EVERY LEVEL. THEIR FIRST TO SECOND YEAR, THEY ARE CONSIDERED A LEARNER; THEIR SECOND TO THIRD YEAR, THEY ARE CONSIDERED A LEADER!
Every dancer's journey is COMPLETELY UNIQUE. Your dancer may progress at a different rate than their classmates. What is MOST important to us is making sure your dancer is in a position where they are challenged, but not overwhelmed, to ensure the best chance for success.
New Concierge Registration for 2023-
2024
As we prepare for the 2023-2024 School-Year Session, we are working to make things as easy and simple for our families as possible when it come to registering for classes. Since you will be receiving class placement recommendations from teachers in early May, shortly thereafter we will send out a form for families to complete to let us know your dancer's plans for next year. If you plan to have your dancer continue, we will automatically renew your registration with the discounted annual membership fee of $40 on June 5.
Concierge Registrants save on their Annual Family Membership Fee ($40). Families who do not participate in Concierge Registration have a Membership Fee of $50.
Benefits of Concierge Registration
If you elect to participate in concierge registration by June 5th, you receive priority access to class enrollments. You get your first choice in classes before they fill up!
Families who participate in Concierge Registration will have access to a priority ticket window for purchasing tickets for Backstage's Spring Shows 2024.
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& ENDS
The Barre at Stage Left - Survey
Stage Left Dancewear is working on a transition to "The Barre at Stage Left", a space where dancers can not only pick up needed dancewear, but also where parents and students can grab a snack or drink and hang out! Please fill out this very brief SURVEY to help us best serve your needs!
Last Day of Classes?
Students not participating in the Spring Shows are welcome to attend classes through the end of April. During the month of May, classes are geared toward students participating in the Spring Shows, with show pictures and dress rehearsals. You will receive an email notification at the end of April to confirm the end of your dancer's enrollment.
For all other dancers (including those in classes that do not participate in the spring shows, like Creative Movement and Acro) the last day of classes is Saturday, May 20 through Friday, May 26.
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ODD
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Upcoming Events
Ongoing
April 10-15
April 10-14
April 18
April 27
Registration for Summer Classes & Camps
Spring Break-NO CLASSES (STUDIO CLOSED)
Spring Break 2-in-1 Camp with Gym East
Parent Map Teen Parent Education Session
Dancing Dads Show Rehearsals BEGIN!
