Ballet Boy NZ is now on You Tube

Happy New Year Everybody!!!!!

We thought it was about time to do things properly and have now got a You Tube channel up and going.
The channel is simply called Ballet Boy NZ : http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWosTjBuKQhhucPJMxSK7Xg/videos

I'll be up loading videos over the next few days, just got to go through them all and see if they are worth putting up.

To start of I have uploaded some old concert dances from when Salem was 9 and 10 years old.  It seems like a very long time ago.

Showtime - The Magic Toybox

Ready to perform in "The Lavender Story".

It was show day on Sunday for the DancePointe Academy and The ReelJig Irish Dancers.

We got to the Little theatre nice and early and settled into the boys dressing room to get into costume.
The younger boys didn't arrive until a bit later.

There was a bit of time before the rehearsal started and there were a few dancers practicing on stage while the music was being sorted out.

Salem had a bit of a practice of his jazz dance without his music then decided just to dance to the music that was being played and had a lot of fun with some ballet and jazz.

He seemed to entertain the parents in the auditorium and the other dancers on and off the stage.
I didn't seem that many of them had seen a boy dance like Salem.

Going Backstage.

The rehearsal was a bit chaotic and the show didn't start until about half an hour after it should have.
We both watched in the audience until a bit before Salem was to dance.

He was at the end of "The Lavender Story"which was between the Irish reels and the Irish hornpipes and jigs.  He really blew everyone away.

It was quite a buzz to overhear some parents say "That's Ballet Boy".

Jacqui was in the audience watching and was pleased with his performance.
Unfortunately she had to leave before seeing him dance in the second half.

Rehearsal time.

The second half was "The Magic Toybox which included both dance schools and Salem did his Krakowiak dance about three quarters of the way through.

People were very impressed with his costume when he was walking around and also when ducking into the auditorium to watch the other dancers.

His Krakowiak costume is very hot so he was getting very sweaty.

He performed his dance extremely well.  I don't think any of the kids had seen a dance like that before.
The boys definitely hadn't.

Watching the others.

He joined everyone for the final bow and stayed on stage for the trophy presentations as this was the end of year concert for both schools.

They put on a bit of an afternoon tea which was lovely, so we had some fruit and sponge cake with cream and strawberries to fortify us for our long journey home.

Salem was so tired, it was such a long day and it was straight to bed when we got home.

Rehearsal For The Magic Toybox

Having a bit of fun in the trees.

Salem has been invited to perform two of his dances at the end of year concert for Dancepointe Academy and the Reeljig Irish Dancers who are both based in Khandallah.

They are doing a combined concert, "The Magic Toybox", at the Little Theatre in Lower Hutt tomorrow (Sunday).  Should be a lot of fun.

Tree Ballet

Sharon Vanese, the teacher at Dancepointe, came along to see Salem dance at his lesson with Jacqui on Thursday.

So yesterday, after his Intermediate class at Waikanae Dance School, we headed off into Wellington and then caught another train up to Khandallah for a rehearsal with everyone else at the Khandallah Presbyterian Church Hall.

Outside the church hall.

We went there a little early so we could have a look around the village and have a hot chocolate.
It is really a lovely little village.  Salem had fun climbing and dancing in the trees.

Waiting!!!!!!

There was quite a long wait before Salem got to dance and he only did one of his dances, the jazz one.
There was the usual chaos in the waiting room, kids playing and being very loud, full of excitement.

Salem entertained many by practicing some acro.  Everyone impressed with his flexibility.

There were four young boys who were toy soldiers, they were wondering who this big boy dancer was.

It was a quick dash to the bus after he danced and we managed to get to Wellington Railway Station and on a train in just under 20 minutes.  We caught a very quick bus!!!!!

Exam Results and Another Chance to Dance

Salem with Jonty after performing at the
Coastlands' Star Search.

Since our last post, about one and a half weeks ago, Salem has a lot of good practices, fun lessons with Jonty, performed at the Coastlands' Star search, had a really good lesson with Jacqui today and has received his contemporary and jazz exam results ...........

Very proud of his performance.

He was very pleased with his exam results:

NZAMD Jazz Grade 5 - Distinction 95% + pass

NZAMD Intermediate Bronze Jazz Medal Award - Excellence Plus (Highest Mark)

NZAMD Contemporary Level 2 - High Honours 90 - 94% pass

NZAMD Intermediate Silver Contemporary Medal Award - Excellence Plus

Last Thursday he performed at the Coastlands' Star Search.
He did his classical dance "Valse", which he choreographed himself, and dianced so well, I was very proud of him.
He managed to fit it on to the very small ricketty stage.

Excuse the video, it is very shaky.

With some of the other performers.

Jonty was there to watch him and was very happy with Salem's performance.
Salem didn't get a placing but he impressed a lot of people.  We had so many people coming up to us saying that Salem should have been a finalist, even some of the finalists themselves.
Salem just loved having the opportunity to dance up on the stage in front of lots of people.

Performing "Ameno" at Waikanae Dance School's Concert

I've posted his dance which he did at the Waikanae Dance School concert.  It is "Ameno" which he also choreographed himself.

If you are receiving this post by email you will have to go to : http://balletboynz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/exam-results-and-another-chance-to-dance.html  to see the videos.

Tomorrow he is back to his Jazz/Lyrical class at Waikanae Dance School, and on Saturday he starts his Acrobatic class.

Also this weekend he is attending a Masterclass at the Royal New Zealand Ballet, then the weekend after that is the ABTC Comps at the Little Theatre in Lower Hutt.

Concert Day and Another Performance This Week

Practicing "Ameno"  on the stage.

Waikanae Dance School's "Showtime" concert was great.
Salem had a blast and had a great time with all the other dancers who shared one big room as their dressing room.
He spent a lot of time entertaining the little ones and even gave horsie back rides.

All the dancers did well and it really looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Salem danced his solo Ameno very well and his class dance was pretty good too.
I really enjoyed watching the show.

Salem will get to see it when we get the DVD of the show.

Well done to all the Waikanae Dance School dancers!!!!!!!!

Outside Kena Kena Resthome.

This afternoon, Salem along with seven other dancers from the dance school, performed for the residents at the Kena Kena Resthome in Paraparaumu.

What a great experience this was for him, being part of a group and doing something special for some lovely people in our community.

Everyone danced two items each, there was ballet, lyrical, modern and acrobatics.
Salem did Ameno and Valse.
This was the first time he has performed Valse before an audience.
There was only a small space to dance but everyone managed to fit their dances in.

With chocolate in hand after performing.

After they had finished performing, they were all given some chocolate each and they were asked questions from the audience.
Then they got to have a good chat with their very attentive audience.

Salem went around introducing himself and shaking hands and spent time talking to everyone.
It was a very good experience for him.  I think he got as much from talking to everyone, as they did watching him and the others perform.  He had the biggest smile on his face for the rest of the afternoon.

He would love to do this again.

Some of the other dancers.

Then it was off to his contemporary lesson at KDC.
He has his jazz and contemporary exams and medal tests next Thursday and Friday.
He is feeling very confident with those.

Salem and the Belly Dancers

Xmas 2006

I was going through some more of my old photos and came across these.

Salem has always loved performing and used to perform with me and the other belly dancers when I was belly dancing.

Salem and his mum 2006

Salem joined in with a Christmas performance we did at the Southwards Xmas Variety Show for senior citizens in 2006.
He was only six years old.  The audience just loved him.
I had made him is own coin belt, it was made with fur and coins which he loved.
So he would wiggle his butt to make the coins jingle.
He was very cute.

Belly Dance Performers at Solway Show Grounds 2007

We did an out of town performance at the Solway Show Grounds in the Waiarapa with my Tribal Belly Dance group and Salem joined us as the sword boy.

We joined up with two other belly dancers who were from the Waiarapa.
He liked being part of everything and of course enjoyed performing with me.
He definitely had the cute factor.

Salem the Sword Boy

He thought the swords were so cool and had to look after them when they weren't in used.
Then he had to pass them to the dancers when they were needed.
They were nearly as big as he was!!!!

Judith Fuge Dance School Concert 2006

For his last concert with the Judith Fuge Dance School, one of the dances he was in was "Aladdin".
They looked sooo cute on stage.

I added a bit more detail to his costume so he really stood out from the girls since he was the only boy as usual.  The costume definitely came in handy for other performances over the years.

Some of the "The Two Sisters" cast 2006

Salem and his older brother also joined in with a production of "The Two Sisters", a belly dance fairy tale, which I was in in 2006.
He had his stage smile all sorted way back then!!!!!

Kapiti Dance Centre Concert 2012

Jabberwocky, the Carpenter, Doormouse, Cheshire Cat and Dodo Bird

Kapiti Dance Centre Presents......

Alice  -  Grease  -  La Bayadere
Southward Theatre 25th August 2012
Two shows on Saturday at 2pm and 7pm

Salem's dance school had their concert on the weekend.  A lot of hard work and effort went into it.
I watched the evening show and it went really well.  Everyone enjoyed it.  The kids were brilliant.

At rehearsals

This term everyone was practising their dances during class time but over the last two weeks it was full on rehearsals for hours at a time, it was practically every day.  Then there were the rehearsals at the theatre every afternoon/evening. It was very tiring.  I made sure I had made dinner to take with us as when we did get home it was time for Salem to go to bed.

At the side stage door

Salem was the only boy in the whole concert so he had a dressing room to himself.  Apparently there are a couple of boys in the junior hip hop class but they weren't in the concert.  It's a shame more boys aren't involved.

Waiting to go on stage

But the girls in Salem's ballet class were next door so he was able to chat to them.  And they made sure that he now when it was time to get ready to go on stage which was nice.

The Jabberwocky

Salem's ballet class were characters from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and had to create/design their own costumes.  They came up with some really good ideas.

The back of Salem's costume, see his tail.

We used his old unitard from a previous concert (3 years ago) and made the wings from sequined fabric so he was very sparkly.  I painted the elastic and a pair of his ballet shoes green to match his unitard.   I made him a tail and had sewn triangles of the sequined fabric to match the wings.  I found a blue glittery mask in one of the "el cheapo" shops for $2 which was perfect.  I just had to trim it up a bit as it covered up too much of his face.

The Jabberwocky and the Walrus

Now a Jabberwocky has to have scaley skin so we used patterned fishnet tights for his legs and arms which worked very well and when we bought the two pairs they were half priced so this costume was very economical.

The Jabberwocky

The Jabberywocky costume looked very good from in the audience, he really stood out.  All the girls' costumes looked great too.  They did brilliantly in the concert and played their characters well.
The littlies that were on for Alice were so cute and all the costumes were lovely and bright.  Lots of beautiful flowers and butterflies etc...

Hanging around in the dressing room in his La Bayadere costume

La Bayadere was done by the senior classes and the grade fours.  All the girls were in tutus and Salem in his classical competition costume with a black leotard.  He was surrounded on stage by heaps of girls in tutus but he stood out again as his waistcoat was very sparkley with the red glittery pattern in the fabric.  It looked great from the audience.  Again, everyone danced very well and was well received by the audience.

Ready to go on stage

Salem was a very happy but tired and sleepy boy when we got home and had a good sleep in on Sunday.
Monday, it was back to getting some dance practice in at the gym and then half a private lesson and two classes in the  afternoon and evening.
Contemporary exams are coming up very soon and then it's his RAD ballet exam at the end of November.