Getting Ready For "Annie" - Part I

Pink hats for NYC?????

It's that time of year - dance school concert time!!!!!!

Salem is dancing at Hayley Johnson's Academy of Dancing in Tawa, and this year they are doing a production of "ANNIE".

Salem has been cast as the male lead, Daddy Warbucks.

This is so exciting for him as it is the first time he has had a lead role.

Having a quick break.

This is a bit of a catch up, there will be a few more posts.  We have been a bit slack due to so much happening for Salem which I will also do posts about........So much news!!!!!!!!

He has joined in with the performance troupes for the dance to "NYC" which he is enjoying as he hasn't done jazz in a class situation for a little while, he has just been doing a bit of jazz with me in the practice studio.

In full swing

Daddy Warbucks isn't in the first act, so Salem has joined in with the senior jazz students to be part of the dance for the city dwellers and street sellers, "Putting on the Ritz".  Just loving every moment and is getting to know a lot of the other students that he doesn't usually get to see in the times that he is at the dance school doing his lessons.

He has had to miss out on tap this term due to his casting, but he is still tapping at home and at the practice studio at the gym.

Lots of Exciting News

Salem with his Ballet Exam Certificates.

It's been a very exciting time for Salem lately, He's had his ballet exam results back. 
He passed with distinction with a mark of 96%. I am so pleased for him as he really worked hard. Because he got over 90%, he received a BTDA Platinum Award too.

Preparing for his exams

We have had lots of good feed back from the documentary about Salem on Attitude, you can watch it online at http://attitudelive.com/blog/dan-buckingham/documentary-salems-ballet .
We have people coming up to us to say hello and how much they enjoyed the doco.
There was a lot of lovely footage of him dancing.

At practice at the studio at City Fitness.

Salem is also a finalist in the Attitude Awards for Creative Achievement so they will be flying us both up to Auckland in December for the awards which is a black tie event. 
I will have to get Salem a new suit as he keeps growing out of all his other ones.
His old "Bond on Bond" suit is so small on him.

A film crew will be interviewing him some more in just over a week so he will be on TV again in October and December.  
You can check out the finalists at http://attitudeawards.org/2014_awards.html.

We have just found out yesterday that Salem is a provisional finalist for the Pride Awards for Creative Achievement and Innovation (Senior) Awards. He will be interviewed for that in the next week or so.  http://www.prideawards.org.nz/.

Tired out at the gym after having a fun practice in a grass skirt.

Plus Salem have two competitions coming up, the first in two weeks time up in Palmerston North where he will get to perform his new jazz solo for the first time. He's very excited about that, it's quite a funny dance. 
Then the next one in October, which is modern and tap up in Upper Hutt, Salem will be doing his first ever tap solo.  He has choreographed a tap dance and it is looking great.

Warming up at the Auckland BTDA Festival.

Straight before that he has his contemporary exams. 
For his medal exam he gets to do one of his own dances, "In the Shadows" which we have shortened.  He has to do two dances for the medals.

Waikanae Dance School Exam Awards Presentation

At his dance school in Tawa, Hayley Johnsons Academy of Dance, Salem been cast as Daddy Warbucks for the end of year production of "Annie". 
It's going to be very busy in Term 4!!!!!! 

Upper Hutt Comps June 2014

Upper Hutt Competition Society

Competition Results 

20-22^nd June 2014

Salem received a Upper Hutt Competition Society Incentive Award for Restricted Jazz.

Results for the weekend were:

Second Place - Restricted Jazz

Third Place - Musical Theatre

Very Highly Commended - Self Choreographed

Highly Commended - Contemporary

                         Lyrical

                                      Jazz Impromptu

Salem competed at the Upper Hutt competitions for the fist time in June and had a lot of fun.

A new theatre to dance in and some new faces for him to compete against.

Warming up backstage for lyrical

It was a nice big stage at Expressions Theatre and the boys had two dressing rooms to themselves which was a bonus.

In the dressing room.

It was a modern and tap competition, so no ballet this time and it will be a little while yet before he competes in tap.

They had a self choreography section which required a time limit of two minutes, Salem had wanted to do his acro dance "Safety Dance" but that was well over that time.  So he choreographed a new acro dance "Cotton Eye Joe" for a bit of fun and performed it for the first time at these comps.
Hopefully he will get to perform it again.

Cotton Eye Joe

Truffles was due for another performance so this time Salem entered "Robin Hood" in the Musical Theatre category so he sang while he danced.  He was very nervous beforehand as he had never sung on stage but he had a real blast doing it and achieving a third placing was a bonus.

Robin Hood and Truffles

He was a bit dissappointed with the Jazz Impromptu section as they played a very contemporary piece in which basically everyone danced contemporary while Salem, being the Aspie (Aspergers) that he is, only did jazz steps which was very, very hard with the choice of music.  Well done him for keeping to the style!!!!

Warming up for jazz

All in all it was a great weekend, just lot's of time spent travelling and getting home very late.
Public transport is pretty bad on the weekends especially when the trains are replaced by buses making for a very long journey indeed.

Incentive Award for Jazz

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.

Dance Journal Entry No. 3

Salem's Dance Journal

***************************

Jazz Exams

When I was at Summer School at the New Zealand School of Dance in January, one of the classes was jazz.  I had not done jazz since I had finished doing Grade 2.  This class was a lot of fun so I thought I would do jazz again.

So this year I did Grade 5 NZAMD Jazz.  Jazz has more sharper moves than ballet but sometimes I slip back into ballet habits.  When I am practicing jazz up at the studio at th gym, Mum says "This is jazz, not ballet!!".  This makes me laugh.

On Thursday the 26th September I did my Grade 5 Jazz exam at KDC.  There were four of us in our exam group.  There was Hannah, Ainslie and Florance.

Our examiner was Mrs Patten.  She was very nice and made the exam very easy.

The next day I did my Intermediate Bronze Jazz Medal Award.  I had to do my jazz exam dance.  This time I was in a bigger exam group with my friend Bethany.  Our parents were allowed to watch us this time.  It was nice to have an audience.

Mrs Patten was very friendly and talked to us about our dancing and gave us tips too.  She presented us with our medals.

I got Distinction (95% +) for Grade 5 Jazz exam.  And I got Excellence Plus (highest mark) for my Intermediate Bronze Jazz Medal Award.

Krakowiak Costume Arrives and Today's Jazz Exam

Krakowiak Costume

On Wednesday evening we had a lovely surprise waiting for us.....
the long awaited Krakowiak costume from Poland.

We had been watching it's progress through tracking with the postal service and it seemed to have stayed in Sydney, Australia for over a week.

Looks great at the back too.

But it was finally here and we were so pleased, it was really well made and of very high quality.
The kaftan and hat were made from a very nice wool fabric so it will stand up to a lot of dancing.

It was well worth getting the costume from Poland.
Take a look at their website:  www.perfekt.krakow.pl

Salem is thrilled with his new costume.

Needless to say, Salem tried it on straight away and looked so good in it.

For the competitions on Labour Weekend (25th - 28th October) we will have to borrow a proper pair of character boots.  I will get him his own pair made next year after the summer holidays as his feet usually grow a bit then and of course no more comps this year after these ones.

We added the feathers to his hat.

I had ordered the hat without the peacock feathers, which they usually come with, as I didn't want any hassles with it getting into the country.  So we added our own ones.

Now he has to practice his dance with all his costume on so he can get used to it before the comps.

Warming up before his exam.

Today Salem had his Grade 5 NZAMD Jazz exam.
He was very pleased with how he had danced and said that the examiner was very nice.

After that, we had some lunch and then it was off to the gym for some dance practice.
Mainly concentrating on his contemporary syllabus stuff as he has his contemporary exam tomorrow morning.

Very pleased with himself afterwards.

So it is up early tomorrow to get ready for his contemporary exam and his jazz medal test and contemporary medal test.

Then later he has his Lyrical/Jazz/Acrobatics class at Waikanae Dance School.
He is a busy boy ...... but he loves it!!!!!

Success At The Ribbon Festival Competition

Wellington Region Dance Teachers Competition Society Inc

Ribbon Festival

15th - 17th March 2013

Little Theatre, Lower Hutt

Back stage getting ready for the Restricted
Ballet Championship 

This weekend was very busy.
On Friday we made our way by buses and train to Lower Hutt for the Ribbon Festival.
We arrived quite early so hung around in the library reading some funny books.
The library was right next door to the Theatre.
Salem was a bit nervous about dancing that night as it was the first competition of the year.
The last one he was in was in October.
He wasn't expecting to win anything, just to have fun, but he did really well.

Alayna Ng

The adjudicator for the Ballet and Modern classes was Alayna Ng from the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
She has had a knee injury so she wasn't on tour with the RNZB so we were lucky to have her as adjudicator.

His first dance was his classical for the
Restricted Ballet Championship - Under 14 yrs.
He danced really well and was up against some stiff competition.
When all the competitors were lined up on the stage for the presentation, they were all given a bag of lollies which was really nice.
Then they started reading out the placings in reverse order, Salem's name hadn't been called out and they were up to the fist three placing, this was getting very exciting.
Third place - Elorah........Second was Georgia ....... First was Salem.
I could see the surprise on his face.
This was his first win.
Alayna put his sash on him and he was delighted.
I was very proud of my boy.

With his 1st place ballet Championship sash

He was so happy and excited when I went to the dressing room to help him into his next costume for the Junior Variation.
We forgot to take a photo of him with his sash in his classical costume so I took one of him with his sash in his variation costume.
He didn't get a placing for the variation but we didn't expect him to as he was competing against some very talented girls.

His reports for his dances contained good comments and pointers to make his performances better.
Some of his comments are:

Restricted Ballet Championship - Under 14 yrs.  First Place.
"You look very happy Salem, on stage.
I can see you're working your legs and feet very hard.
You showed off some good jumping strength, keep working hard on this."

Junior Ballet Variation
" You look good in white tights Salem.
Keep working hard on your jumps, really pushing hard off both legs to really get the power to get off the floor.
Good job."

Waiting to be called backstage for the
Junior Variation

We didn't get home that night until 12.30am due to lack of public transport.
Salem was very tired and we had to be back at the theatre at 8.30 Saturday morning, luckily we had a ride in with friends.
First up was the Restricted Jazz - 10yrs and over.
Salem was dancing Proud Mary in this.
This was to be his first jazz solo ever.
He was dancing against some very talented and older girls and was blown away when the results were announced..... he came third.
 We stayed and watched some of the other classes for a while then went off with friends for a pot of tea and something to eat.

The Junior Ballet Variation Award Presentation

That afternoon we were back  for him to do his classical dance again in the Restricted Classical Ballet Solo - 9 & under 13 yrs.
He danced very well again and as soon as he had finished I went and helped him get into his costume for the class that was up next.  Unfortunately due to the heat in the theatre, Salem had a bleeding nose so we had to do our best to stop it bleeding.
Luckily we were sucessful and stopped the bleeding.

He was doing his Du Hast dance in Contemporary/Modern Expressive - under 13 yrs. 
It was nice to see him do this dance on the stage.  It was very different compared to what the girls were dancing.
When he finished dancing he came and joined me to watch the others and wait for the results.
He got first place for the ballet and very highly commended for his contemporary.  A second place hadn't been awarded so in essence he was third.
He was absolutely thrilled.

Ready for his Proud Mary dance

After dinner it was back to the theatre again.
This time it was the Junior Modern Championship - under 13 years.

He was doing his contemporary Du Hast dance again.

He was very tired as it had been a very long day and a very late night last night.

But he danced very well again and all the other dancers were doing a jazz dance except for Elorah who did her Lyrical dance.  

Everyone danced really well.

After they had all danced, they were all up on stage again for their award ceremony.  

They were all given a bag of lollies again, Salem just loved that.

They said the placings in reverse order again, the first name up was Salem.  He came forth place.

He looked so happy and very surprised and was thrilled to get another sash.

He was a very happy boy.

We had a ride home so were home by 9.30pm.  Had a great nights sleep and we didn't have to be back at the theatre until 1pm the next day.

Salem with Elorah who placed 2nd

Restricted Jazz - 10yrs and over.  Third Place.
"Great song choice Salem!
It looked like you were enjoying yourself."

Restricted Classical Ballet Solo - 9 & under 13 yrs.  First Place.
"Your shoulders were better today but keep working hard on them.
Keep working hard.
Good Boy!"

Contemporary/Modern Expressive - under 13 yrs.   Very Highly Commended
"I think this is a great solo for you to keep working on and progress your skills."

Junior Modern Championship - under 13 years.  Forth Place.
"An improvement on this afternoon.
Keep up the good work on this."

We had a nice sleep in on Sunday morning, and we were lucky to have a ride in again.
First up was the Neo Classical - under 14 yrs.
Salem was doing his Bond on Bond dance for this.
We had a bit of a surprise to find that the ballet flooring was gone as it had to be taken up for the tap classes that were held in the morning.
Salem had to dance on a wooden floor which was slippery for him in his ballet shoes so it was a mad dash to the dressing room so I cold sand paper the soles of his ballet shoes and also wet them to stop him slipping on the wood floor.
I was in the audience watching him dance and he was doing a great job and he slipped and fell but he got straight up kept going without missing a beat.  He was so focused.
It was a quick change after that as he was in the next class, Modern Jazz Solo - 11 & under 13 yrs.
He was doing his Sh-Boom dance for this.
He was all ready to go but the theatre had gotten so hot that they had to have a ten minute break to open all the doors to cool the theatre and stage down.  It was so hot and humid.
I had to scratch up the soles of his jazz shoes as they were slippery on the wooden floor.
He danced well but didn't put as much energy into it as he was afraid of slipping again.

After watching the next two classes it was time for the last results and presentation of special awards.
They announced the results for the jazz but seemed to miss out the results for the neo classical.
Salem came second in the jazz, another surprise as his style of jazz is different to what the girls were doing.

He picked up his neo results when he got his ribbon and report for the jazz.
He was placed third for the neo even though he slipped over.  Well done Salem!!!!!
This was a very successful competition for him.
The next competitions after the Alana Haines Awards, he will be competing in the 13 years and over age groups.

Neo Classical - under 14 yrs.  Third place.
"Don't you look smart Salem!
A great action energy shown on the stage.
Nice tour.
Keep working hard.
Good Boy."

Modern Jazz Solo - 11 & under 13 yrs.  Second Place.
"It's all nice, neat and tidy.
Keep up the hard work."

"Sh Boom" Costume

Sh Boom ,Sh Boom

Yesterday The pair of white cricket pants arrived in the mail.  I had bought them off Trade Me.
It was the only way we could get a nice pair of white pants for Salem's Sh-Boom costume.
So Salem had to try the whole costume on and it looks so good on him.
He looks so smart and grown up and it is easy for him to dance in.
I will put elastic braces on his pants so that it helps keep the shirt in place.
And I have to hem up the legs on the pants as they are a bit long for him, but that means it will last him a while as he is getting taller.  He grew 5cm over the last couple of months.

Just wait til you see him in his Proud Mary costume!!!!!!!!

Now every time I look at you

Salem had his private lesson yesterday and that went well, his teacher will used most of the choreography that we worked out for the Peasant Pas.
And he had his first Level Two Contemporary class for the year.
Plus practiced at the gym before both classes.
He is very dedicated!!!!!!

If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love

His old contemporary Sh Boom costume

Sh Boom, Sh Boom

"Life Could Be A Dream"

by The Crew Cuts

 
Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang
Boom ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodle-ay

Oh, life could be a dream sh-boom
If I could take you up in paradise up above sh-boom
If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love
Life could be a dream sweetheart
Hello hello again, sh-boom and hopin' we'll meet again

Oh, life could be a dream sh-boom
If only all my precious plans would come true sh-boom
If you would let me spend my whole life lovin' you
Life could be a dream sweetheart

Now every time I look at you
Something is on my mind dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-duh
If you do what I want you to
Baby, we'd be so fine

Oh, life could be a dream sh-boom
If I could take you up in paradise up above sh-boom
If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love
Life could be a dream sweetheart

Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da, sh-boom

Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da, sh-boom

Every time I look at you
Somethin' is on my mind
If you do what I want you to
Baby, we'd be so fine

Life could be a dream
If I could take you up in paradise up above
If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love
Life could be a dream sweetheart

Hello hello again, sh-boom and hopin' we'll meet again boom sh-boom
Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang sh-boom
Ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodle-ay
Life could be a dream
Life could be a dream, sweetheart

Life could be a dream
If only all my precious plans would come true
If you would let me spend my whole life loving you
Life could be a dream sweetheart

dee-oody-ooh, sh-boom, sh-boom
dee-oody-ooh, sh-boom, sh-boom
dee-oody-ooh, sh-boom, sh-boom
Sweetheart!!

A Very Jazzy Practice

It was very hot and extremely humid at practice today.
Poor Salem had sweat pouring off him.
Had to have a lot of water breaks.

As well as working on his contemporary and ballet dances, he spent  a bit of time on his jazz dances and they are coming along really nicely.

He is still experimenting with changing some of the steps around and adding in how he would react to an audience with his facial expressions etc.

Tomorrow he has a private ballet lesson to work on his dance for the Alana Haines Awards which is coming up very soon.  It will be held over the Easter weekend.