November 2023 Newsletter
Welcome and Thank You!
Welcome back for another month with St. Vitus Catholic School of Dance! We are excited to begin classes this November with some improvements to our classes such as a new dance floor and an additional ballet barre for our older students. As the days grow shorter and colder, we are ramping up our practice and preparations for our end of year recital. Thank you to all of our parents, students and volunteers who have been supporting us, I am grateful for all of your time, effort and contributions.
Open House
This year’s autumn open house will take place on Saturday, November 25, 2023 and Monday, November 27, 2023. During open house parents, family and friends of dancers are invited to be seated at the front of class to watch as a formal audience.
Open house is an excellent opportunity for both the dancers to practice dancing in front of an audience before the end of year recital, as well for parents, family and friends to see what students have been working on in class. We encourage everyone to invite relatives and/or friends who do not typically have an opportunity to attend classes to watch and encourage our dancers.
Come out and enjoy an informal performance and help us celebrate all the progress our dancers have already made this season!
Recital
The Fergus Grand Theatre has been reserved for Saturday, June 29th, 2024 for our end of year recital, “Joyful Joyful”! Tickets for Joyful Joyful will be available for sale beginning in the new year on the Fergus Grand Theatre website.
Costume designs have been posted on the Backstage Portal on the website, and are available for parent review. Feedback on costume designs can be submitted via the costume feedback form online. Parents are reminded that feedback needs to be submitted before November 30th, so fabric can be purchased and sewing can begin. Measurements for recital costumes will be taken for students this month on Saturday November 11 and Monday November 13 during their regularly scheduled class time. If your child would prefer not to participate in the recital, please inform your instructor as soon as possible, and no later than the last day of classes before the Christmas Holidays.
St. Anne’s Sewing Club
We will have two sewing events this month, a costume fabric field trip and a veil making workshop.
The costume fabric field trip will take place during the day on Wednesday, November 29. We will be going to Ann’s Fabric Store in Hamilton, a store which specializes in dance, skating and gymnastics costume fabric. Participation is optional, and if you would like to participate, please speak to Gwendolyn. If you would like to be driven, you can be picked up either from St. Mary’s Catholic church in Linwood or from your home. If you would like to be picked up from your home you will be required to provide a phone number to co-ordinate pick up time. There are limited seats available if you would like to be driven, so please reach out sooner rather than later. If you are interested in participating and would like to drive yourself, anyone wanting to participate is also invited to join us at Ann’s Fabric Store at 11:00 AM. If you are intending to participate and claim this field trip as part of your high school volunteering hours, please submit the required form to your instructor as soon as possible to be signed and returned to you.
The veil making class will take place from 6PM to 8PM on Wednesday, November 29 in the basement of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Linwood. A limited amount of lace and lace trim will be available for participants, however participants are also encouraged to bring their own. Participants are required to bring a sewing machine, as sewing machines will not be provided. Participants will be walked through the fundamental steps of sewing, including threading a sewing machine, pattern preparation, pattern pinning, fabric cutting, fabric pinning and, of course, sewing a veil. Tools such as scissors and pins can be borrowed if participants do not have any to bring. If you are interested in learning how to sew or how to make a veil, or know someone who is, join us from 6 to 8PM on Wednesday, November 29. Everyone is welcome!
Starting the week of November 13th, the St. Anne Sewing club mailing list will begin receiving costume and event updates separately from the rest of the dance school. These emails will contain costume-specific information and instructions as well as updates related to costume-related events. Please watch for these emails, and check your junk mail.
The first email will contain a breakdown of patterns being used and sizes being sewed for classes (no student names will be included - only sizes and how many costumes of each size), as well as a list of target dates and participation requests. Please respond to this email to confirm your ability to participate as requested so that we can find alternatives as soon as possible if required.
Support St. Vitus
By popular request, there is now a formal way to support St. Vitus Catholic School of dance for individuals who would like to do so. We now offer T-shirts with our dance school logo on the front and either “dancer” or “dance mom” printed on the left sleeve. Other text ideas will be considered on request. We also have tote bags available with our dance school logo printed on the front. A selection of T-shirts are available to try on for size upon request. If you require a different size to try than are currently available, please let your instructor know so it can be ordered to try. 100% of proceeds from shirt and bag sales will go back into the dance school. Anyone who chooses to note on the order form what they would like their funds allocated to, specifically, will have their donation reserved for their request. Our donation store with full instructions on how to order and receive your items is now online.
Backstage
Most of the music for recital numbers has been posted online, with very few exceptions. Warm ups and stretches will be added as soon as possible. An email was sent out recently with instructions for how to access Backstage. If you are unable to access the Backstage portal, please email stvitusdanceschool@gmail.com or reach out to your instructor.
Important Dates at St. Vitus
November 11 and 13: Dancers measured for costumes
November 25 and 27: Autumn Open House
November 29: Costume Fabric Field Trip (11:00 AM), Veil Making Workshop (6:00 PM)
November 30: Last day to submit costume feedback
December 1: Costume Pattern Preparation Begins
December 16: Last Saturday class before Christmas Break, Last day to opt out of recital
December 18: Last Monday class before Christmas Break, Last day to opt out of recital
January 6, 2024: First Saturday class of the New Year
January 8, 2024: First Monday class of the New Year
Thank you to everyone for making the first half of our 2023/2024 dance season a success! I am so pleased with all the progress our dancers have already accomplished, and I am excited every week to come to class and see everyone’s smiling faces. Our dancers’ hard work, enthusiasm and love for dance is inspiring and I am proud of each and every one of you. I look forward to continuing to dance with you this season!
God bless,
Gwendolyn Witecki
