Openings in Wee Ballet 1!

A few weeks ago, we told everyone that our classes were full; we had no more room for new students. Well, we were full. And then several families dropped out, for a variety of different reasons. Wee 1 now has only 3 little girls in it, and we need at least 4 in order to hold class. If you have a 4-5 year-old daughter who would like to take ballet with us, or if you know someone who has a daughter that age, there is still room for them!

Wee Ballet 1 meets at Fountain of Grace Church on Tuesday afternoons from 4:00-4:45, and is taught by Miriam Davis and Abigail Pace. Tuition is $30 per month. If you would like more information on signing your daughter up for class, please e-mail Natalie Pace at pacegirls@kingscourts.com.

Thank you so much for helping us fill this class!

A New Semester!

As everyone gets back to school, we're about to get back to dance! Classes for The King's Praise Ballet begin next week on Tuesday, September 3rd! By God's grace, every class is full or nearly so, and we're excited to be adding an Introduction to Pointe class for girls in Ballet IV and V! There are a lot of questions and unknowns as we look towards the Christmas performance, but we know that the future is in God's hands.

Speaking of the Christmas presentation, we have decided on the theme of "Emmanuel: God With Us." This unique presentation will highlight various stories throughout Scripture where God was with His people, from Moses and Joshua to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; from Jesus Christ walking among us to the Holy Spirit living in us!

We appreciate your prayers as we adjust to new schedules, begin class plans and choreography, and finalize arrangements for the Christmas presentation. May we do everything that we do for God's glory and the encouragement of others!

On Choreography

This year, for the first time, I choreographed and taught an entire dance to other class members. I've done smaller dances before for me and my three younger sisters... but this one was for 9 girls (including me), two dads, and a brother. I also helped with the choreography for another dance. Along the way, there were unexpected challenges and equally unexpected rewards. For instance, I have learned that:

• Nine girls in a very small room makes it very hard for everyone to focus, but...
• Even when nothing seems to be going right, God gives me the patience and grace to keep my head. Which is a miracle in itself.
• It's easier to teach people in twos and threes than all at once.
• The things I thought would be easy for everyone to understand were hard, and the things I thought would be challenging were mastered quickly.
• No matter what they say and do while I'm teaching the dance, there are girls who care as much as I do about learning it well ... and it shows!
• If you dance outside in bare feet on a cold day, you can't feel the ants when they bite you.
• I can't teach a dance and answer costume questions at the same time.
• I wish that, in the past, I hadn't asked Anna costume questions while she was teaching a dance.
• If you're not going to write down your choreography, you'd better practice it OFTEN, or you will forget it by the time you have to teach it and, therefore, will have to make it up on the fly.
• The device that plays music from a disc is called a "CD player," not a "boom box." And it is a very important device!
• When asking people to play the part of Adam and Eve, be sure to specify what they're wearing up front. =) (Which, by the way, is a tan tunic with tan pants or a tan skirt.)
• Having a former gymnast who can do handsprings is helpful when choreographing the fish in Creation. (Don't ask, just come and see!)
• When there's no one else around to video the dance for the girls to practice with, a 6-year old can run a camera just fine!
• Seeing everything come together, despite all the train wrecks in practice, sends chills down my spine.
• Hearing your sister say that she didn't like the song that much initially, but now she likes it because of the way the dance interprets it, is one of the highest praises.
• If this dance really does come together, all glory goes to the God who gave me the creativity, energy, peace, patience, and wisdom to choreograph and teach it. And to the God who took the little I could do and brought it all together.

The other day, I was listening to music for next semester and started thinking, "Whoa, I wonder what we'll be doing to this!" And then I realized... I very well may have to come up with what we're doing to that particular song! And if I don't, the other girls my age will! It will definitely be an adjustment to not have Anna here. But it will give us all the opportunity to grow. Choreography is fun, but sometimes stressful because there is a deadline... you can only teach what you've come up with so far, and the girls can't practice until they're taught. It's a privilege, but it comes with a risk. But God's grace is sufficient. Even when time is not.    

More Fun Ballet Attire

 Due to a busy last few weeks (including sewing my wedding dress with my sister-in-law and finishing up all "Creation's Promise" choreography except for my solo!) I hadn't yet posted these fun ballet attire pictures from October 23 & 25.

Ballet III (green)

Ballet I (royal blue)

Ballet IV (2-day students) - I always forget how MANY there are in this class! :)

Ballet IV-B (maroon)

Ballet II-A (purple) - these girls keep me laughing!

Ballet IV-A (cream)

Maroon, Purple, & Cream

 Last color day of the semester!

Maroon

Purple

Cream

Wee 2 (yellow) pictures!

Smiling girls - a joy to teach!

Practicing an arabesque...

Green, Royal, Cream & Maroon

More colorful classes were held today!

Green - they said they felt a little like leprechauns, especially with the Irish-sounding music I used for jumps. :)

 

Royal Blue - splash of color!

 This class has a LOT of girls, with all of Ballet IV-B (maroon) and part of Ballet IV-A (cream)

But they work hard and are a true joy to teach!

Red, Peach, Pink, & Lime

This week it's "class color day" for The King's Praise Ballet!

This year we've assigned each class a color nickname to make things less confusing. So, this week students are invited to wear something fun in their class color for class!

 

  Red

Peach

Pink

Lime

Ballet Organization

 Have the student handbooks, hair ribbons, newsletters, and payment coupons been helpful? Thank these girls (and a few others not pictured)! 

The Thursday before classes started, these helpers were sweet to come together and help formulate everything. Many hands make light work!

Cutting out close to 70 family's payment coupons takes time...

Putting final touches on September's newsletter. 

Just remind me to not leave my computer up and logged into Facebook when I go to buy things we run out of and leave them there alone... ;)

Thanks for your help, girls! We had a smooth, organized first week of classes thanks to you!

Practicing in class

Wee 1 tiptoes in a circle with their left hand in - they're remembering their directions well now!

Basic 2 shows their tendu devant

Ballet II's ending pose for "Faithful God"

Strong feet balancing in Ballet IV

More t-shirt fun

An arabesque rainbow

The camera settings were off for this picture, but it still shows this sweet, large class of 5-6 y/o's!

Ballet friends!

Showing off the back!

"Unchanging" t-shirts

An amazing mom designed a t-shirt for us this year! Proceeds from them went towards the ballet roll-out floor I bought last fall.

The front has our name, plus a silhouette a dad made from a picture of me a few years ago. It's fun to now see it on a t-shirt!

The design is perfect - the back has words from the songs we're dancing to this year, each describing God.

The girls were so excited to get them, so I let them wear them in class, this week only! :)

Ballet III shows off the front and back of their shirts. Can you tell most of them had the favorite color of blue? ;)

Fun Ballet Attire (Thursday)

Ballet IV

Ballet I/A with Miss Rachael - overlays were definitely the theme. :)

Ballet III - Funny things was, during barre ,the 3 girls wearing the same costume were on the same barre, the 3 wearing pink/purple combinations were together at the same barre, and the 2 wearing the same skirts were together. :)

Fun Ballet Attire (Monday & Tuesday)

This week is Fun Ballet Attire week! With Valentine's Day being on Tuesday, a lot of pink and red showed up. :) Everyone was very creative!

Wee 3 (missing two girls) with Miss LeAnn

Basic 1 with Miss Jubilee

Wee 2 with Miss Anna

Ballet I/B (missing one)

Ballet II (missing one)

Basic 2 (missing two) with Miss Natalie

Wee 1 with Miss Miriam and Miss Anna

They kept wanting to do their own pose instead of standing in neat rows, so I finally let them. :) This picture always shows why I don't let them dress up every week - they're much more distracted with looking at themselves!

Ballet IV - splashes of color!

A New Year

A new year is in full swing. Dance classes started back on January 9th with some new students enrolled, bringing this semester's total to 84 girls. Eighty-four lives that I'm privileged to touch and work with on a weekly basis. The number can be daunting, but 7 of my oldest girls help out with various classes, making my job less stressful. As always, it's a joy to see my older students continuing to progress, and a joy to see the younger ones discovering more of ballet.

There are definite challenges, and tiring days full of details. First I mapped out the dates for the spring and get everything printed to hand out. Then, I ordered costumes ($2500 worth!), making sure I got everyone measured and sized correctly. Having the moms come in on the first day of class to measure helped this go quickly. Through it all, and even before classes started, I've been working on choreography. So far I have 9 full and 2 half songs choreographed, bringing me half-way to the 20 total song goal.

"Unchanging" is the theme of this spring's ballet presentation, set for May 11 & 12. We'll be celebrating our Savior and each song extols different attributes of God. From lace parasols to a dad & daughter dance, I'm excited at the diversity and sweetness this one will hold.

"Captive Faith" is, Lord willing, the summer musical I'll be directing. It's the story of Naaman, with a special focus on the Israelite slave girl that was captured and served his family. It's also one I'm writing, which was a step of faith in itself, with the busy days this semester holds. But, by God's grace, I was able to complete the first draft on January 7th, just in time before dance classes started back!

Things are finally settling into somewhat of a routine for dance, so I hope to start editing the script soon. It will be a long road of typing things in, editing, typing more, and editing again. But, it's always exciting to see a script take shape. A dear friend and student is composing music, as well as my talented brother-in-law (to share the work load), so I'm excited to see how the songs will turn out as well.

I'm not sure what this year will hold for The King's Courts, beyond the two planned productions, and even those are in God's hands - only through Him will they take shape. Of course, I already have ideas for next Christmas, but nothing concrete. :)

God continues to teach me to trust Him through each year, each semester, each production. There are new challenges, but He's always shown Himself so faithful.

I am battling some tiredness this month, as the workload continues to increase. So, I'm hoping to adjust to a good schedule, and take some time for personal projects and "down time" so as to not burn out on production work. God continues to give many opportunities, and I'm seeking Him for wisdom in how to face each one.

May God be glorified through The King's Courts in 2012!

"Unchanging" Presentation Poll

For parents of students in The King's Praise Ballet:

Last year I heard from some parents that they would enjoy having two presentations for the spring presentation, like we do for the Christmas presentation. After all, you buy costumes and the girls work hard learning their dances, so we get to use all of that more if we present twice instead of once.

However, I also know that the spring is a busy time, with many recitals and trips, and I don't want to overload your calendar.

Please vote in the poll below.



Right now I'm planning two presentations of "Unchanging" (the spring recital celebrating the attributes of God) but if the majority shows you would prefer one, then I can go with that.

Feel free to clarify your vote or add any comments you have in the comments section of this post.

Thanks for your vote!

Thankful for Ballet

This week, the week before Thanksgiving, I asked the girls what they were thankful for. Some classes I asked for anything, some classes I had fun asking what specific ballet movement they were thankful for. But for Ballet III, I decided to do something different, and ask what aspect of ballet they were thankful for. Their thoughtful replies encouraged me.

"I'm thankful for a time to be with friends."

It's been fun to see many friendships develop as a result of ballet classes. Some people join because their friends are taking (and then stay because they enjoy it so much!), but many become friends through the class. I don't allow much talking in class, but they take advantage of time before and after. There's also something special that happens when you dance with someone, especially for a few years. As you learn to move together, to move as one person, you get attuned to the other members of the class, as you match your movements to theirs. This draws you together in a special bond of friendship as well.

The Godly, encouraging friendships developing between the girls of The King's Praise Ballet are beautiful. To see them encourage and support each other in and out of class is truly a blessing.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity to praise God with dance."

My students usually start taking classes because they want to learn to dance - a logical reason. However, especially in the older ones, I've seen the reason that we dance - to praise God - truly taking root in their hearts. It comes out in their movement. They're not just going through the motions of ballet. Their hearts are using the movement to bring Him praise, and there's a noticeable difference. God is raising up worshipers of Him in girls from 4 to 17. It's a beautiful thing.

"I'm thankful for the way we get to move to the music."

It's such fun to listen to a song and get the movements to match the music. The way the two intertwine and complement each other is a lovely thing. As the girls progress, their musicality also develops, and I can see them listening and fitting the movements to match each different beat or music style. It's rewarding to see them truly dancing!

"I'm thankful that your focus for us is not to glorify our bodies, but to glorify God."

The world of dance can be a difficult one for young ladies. You spend hours watching yourself in the mirror, trying to correct all of your mistakes, and it's very easy to get self-focused. The amount of eating disorders among dancers is also sobering, as they strive to have the perfect body and compare themselves to each other.

But our focus is to praise God with dance - not push everyone to have the perfect, same size body. The girls I teach are all shapes and sizes, and yet they learn to move together, and the diversity is beautiful.

It was rewarding to see this student (who has taken from me for 4 years now!) recognize this. Her heart is fixed on glorifying God through dance, and that comes out in the way that she dances.

"I'm thankful that we get to move in a way that most people don't."

Ballet isn't natural - I tell my students that a lot. The way we hold our back and head, and turnout our legs isn't something people just naturally do. But, as you master the art, it's fun and rewarding. It's hard, but it's exhilarating. As dancers, we get to experience movement in a way that the majority of people never experience.

"I'm thankful for you - a kind teacher!"

That, of course, warmed my heart. :) I strive to teach in a positive way - not yelling or threatening or pushing, but gently encouraging the girls to do their personal best for God's glory. They respond to this encouragement, pressing on even when it's hard. It's rewarding to see them progress, and to see their absolute joy in it.

It's a blessing to not just count them as students, but as friends. They have respect for me, but they aren't afraid of me. Their hugs, smiles, cards, words of encouragement, and the way they dance for the Lord are all very rewarding for me.

Thank you, Lord, for this art of ballet, for allowing me to dance for You, and to pass that joy on to so many girls.

Fun Ballet Attire (Thursday)

Final day of "Fun ballet attire" for the fall was yesterday!

Ballet IV

Taking two days/week now, they were happy to be able to wear fun ballet again!

The girls got this idea of a pose a while ago, and decided to try it out. They come up with creative ideas and make class fun!

It's a cool class. :)

Actually, they're wearing these glasses for one of their angel dances. I know, angles in sunglasses?? You'll have to come to "The Coming King" to see where it fits. ;)

Ballet I/A with Miss Rachael

I've taught many of these girls since they were 4 or 5, and now at ages 8-10, it's fun to see how they're really improving and growing in ballet this year!

Ballet III

These girls are working hard with the challenges I continue to give them in their dances this year!