Fundraiser for Acrobatic Dance Teachers Course

Hi everyone, it's been a very long time since my last post, I really don't know where all the time has gone.

I'm starting up a bit of a fundraiser to help pay for a course which I will be doing on the 8th and 9th of October.
It is the Acrobatic Arts Teaching Module 1. I've been doing acrobatic dance for a few years now and would like to be a certified teacher to add to my teaching skills.

So this is my first raffle which is open to anyone in New Zealand and Australia.

RAFFLE NO. 1 -  A unisex t-shirt from my Red Bubble designs.
You choose the design and the size (their is a child's option too.
Tickets are $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00.
Limited to 100 tickets. As soon as all tickets are sold, the winner will be drawn by a Justice of the Peace, keeping it all legit. :
If you want tickets, there is a paypal button on the left hand corner of this page.

I will be doing more raffles with different prizes as well, even one with items I have made.:D
Thank you for your support.

Have a look at my t-shirt designs at https://www.redbubble.com/people/ballet-boy-nz/shop/unisex-tshirts?ref=portfolio_product_refinement&asc=u

Will do an update in a day or two, I have so much to share.

Salem

T'was The Week Before Christmas.....

But it still means plenty of practice for a dancer.
This week Salem had two lessons with Jonty as Jacqui was away.
Jonty said that Salem's feet have improved so much in 5th position, is looking very good.
Thank you Michelle for all your work with getting Salem to position his feet correctly.

At Salem's practice sessions at the gym this week he has been going through all his competition dances, and some jazz, contemporary, barefoot and some impromptus for all styles.

And added in some acro for good measure too.  Always good at the end of a session as he is very warmed up and flexible.

Practicing Headstands

His acro is going well and is getting to master headstands.

Salem has just finished choreographing an acro dance to a good old 80's song, "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats.

Salem performed it for Jonty on Thursday and Jonty was most impressed.

Over the next week or so, Salem is having a break from lessons and just doing a couple of practices at the gym and some at home.  Our front lawn is great for practicing dances and acro.  If Salem doesn't do any dancing, he doesn't know what to do with himself!!!!

Acro, Intermediate, Grade 1, Swimming and on the Leader Board

Salem has been busy as usual with his dancing.  He has been having his lessons with Jacqui and Jonty as usual and his Acro class and Lyrical & Jazz class as well.

On Monday he started doing his BTDA Intermediate class with Michelle at Waikanae Dance School.  He was very excited about that and found it very different to the RAD syllabus.  He is enjoying this a lot more.
So he has been practicing his new exercises up at the gym before he gets into his own dances etc.

What was even more exciting for him, was being the teachers helper for the Grade 1 class afterwards.
He really enjoyed being with the younger kids and is looking forward to next week.
It's a good sized class with six girls and one boy.

He is enjoying the challenge of his acro class and is so pleased at being able to stand back up after doing a bridge and is working hard at doing a tidy walkover.  Luckily we have a large flat lawn, which we just had mowed, for him to practice on.

It's a bit scary watching him sometimes!!!!!!!

Salem has been having swimming lessons once a week with the Kapiti Homeschoolers at the Aquatic Centre and after two lessons, can swim a length of the pool, back stroke, without stopping and can swim freestyle a bit.  He gets in to the big pool and practices for over half an hour before his class starts.

Not bad for a kid who hadn't been in a pool for over five years.

It's great exercise for him, really gets those leg muscles working.

Every Wednesday at City Fitness, they have a 1 Minute Challenge which Salem has a go at.
Last week it was how many push-ups can you do in one minute.  Salem did 35 proper push-ups, which isn't too bad for a thirteen year old.  He made it up on to the leader board.

Then today, the challenge was how many sit-ups in one minute.  Salem did 50 which put him up on the leader board and was still there when we left two hours later.

Well done Salem!!!!!!

Practicing in Costumes and More Acrobatics Practice

In most of his Krakowiak costume and the boots

Last week was very busy, lots of practice sessions at the gym as usual.
On Tuesday Salem had a great lesson with Jonte, Salem is improving all the time.
They went over his variations,Siegfried and James, and smoothed a couple of things out.

Practicing with kilt and sporran.

Then very bright and early on Wednesday morning we headed into Wellington to pop into the Royal New Zealand Ballet to borrow some boots for Salem to wear at the up-coming competitions on Labour Day, and also to watch a company class which was really fun.
Salem really watched the technique of the guys and would have loved to join in.
It was lovely to see everyone again and to see some new members of the company.

When we got back to Paraparaumu, we bought our tickets to see the RNZB's "Tutus On Tour" which will be at Southwards Theatre.

At the Acrobatic workshop.

On Thursday Salem went to the Acrobatic Workshop run by Michelle from Waikanae Dance School.

He had such a good time and learnt a few new things and enjoyed helping some of the younger ones too.

We parents got to see all the kids perform at the end of the class and we were all very impressed at what they had managed to achieve in one morning.  Their performance was so good!!!!!

The Bridge

So now at the end of every dance practice session, Salem practices some acrobatics and is doing things now which he though he wouldn't be able to do for quite a while.

He could do a bridge from the ground and now does it from standing up and goes all the way over too.

More Acrobatics Moves

Salem has entered in The Coastland's Star Search again this year, the heats have already started and Salem will be performing on Thursday.   

So he had a practice on the stage today, boy it is worse than last year, there is a lot of movement on some parts of it and is very uneven so the only dance he feels safe doing on it is Valse.  

He had a bit of an audience watching him today and got lots of claps.

James Variation Practice

This week Salem has been practicing in some of his costumes to get used to them for the comps.

He has been wearing his kilt and sporran for James.  His legs have gotten longer so his kilt is a little short for him but it will do for the mean time.  I'll get him a new one next year.

He has been wearing the heavy wool jacket, belt, hat and boots for his Krakowiak dance.  He gets really hot in them.  It will be great in winter!!!

Tomorrow he has a lesson with Jonte and we will be getting his exam results.

We are dying to know how he did.

To our friends who subscribe by email, you will have to go to:    http://balletboynz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/practicing-in-costumes-and-more.html     to be able to watch the videos.

Jazz and Contemporary Exams Then Acrobatics

Acrobatic practice

On Friday Salem had his NZAMD Contemporary exam along with his Jazz and Contemporary Medal tests.
This took up all morning with a break in between each one.
So we went to get him a snack at each break at a cafe just down the road, The Jolly Rodger, a very nice little cafe with really nice staff.

Receiving his jazz medal.

Exam day is always a cafe day and he needed to keep his energy up.

The examiner was very nice and Salem said she had good chats with them, was really friendly.
She also got through the exams very quickly and was ahead of the allocated time.

Ready for some contemporary.

Salem was pleased with his dancing and had fun doing the exams.
The medal tests were great because parents get to watch, so of course I watched and he danced very well.
Just have to wait for his results now.

Receiving his contemporary medal.

On Friday evening he had his last Lyrical/Jazz/Acrobatic class in Waikanae and had so much fun as they did a whole lot of acrobatics.

It's bendy boy!!!!

He ended up getting a really bad headache from doing hand stands up against the wall which he had never done before and was a bit nervous about it.  And he wasn't used to being up-side-down.

He learnt a few things and was ready to challenge himself and has been practicing the acrobatics at the end of his practice sessions at the gym.  He leaves doing the handstands until the end and is not getting the headache any more.

He has been working hard and is learning which muscles to use and is so happy at being able to achieve things he didn't think he could do so soon.

Waikanae Dance School is having an Acrobatic Workshop on Thursday morning and is really looking forward to going.