Hello and Happy New Year!
What a month it has been! This honestly is one of my favorite months of the year as the 2 month hectic-ness of the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Winter holidays are over and a routine really starts to take hold. Classes settle in and we start to see real progress. And of course – recital costumes.
Let’s talk our Sparkling Stars classes. This month our theme was circus. This included 2 follow along songs the first of which being Circus Clown Circus Clown by The Kiboomers. We get to run in place, beep our nose, pretend to paint our face and much more. It is a great activity that bring a little silliness back to the group while also bringing them together to start the 2nd half of class.
Our large motor skill practice for the month was the Animal Freeze Dance also by The Kiboomers. Here we got to challenge our muscles and balance as we stomped like elephants, waddled like penguins, swum like polar bears, hopped like kangaroos and swung like monkeys. As an extra bonus sometimes we made the noises too!
Our small prop for the month was ribbon wands. We used to work on tempo changes (fast/sl0w), directional changes (high/low, side to side, front/back) and also to be expressive as we moved to the music.
Our large prop for the month was the ever popular trampoline. Safety was stressed here as hands MUST be held of the teacher/apprentice when stepping on, jumping, and stepping off the trampoline. And anytime our dancers can jump you know they are smiling! Our acro trick this month was crab walks. Crab walks help to strengthen back, arm and leg muscles while working on coordination of hands and feet and moving backwards.
Our Sparkling Stars 3 and 4 also worked on dancers walks concentrating on moving forward and pointing the toe as they stepped.
All classes this month started their recital dances – the younger dancers have started their songs and the older have jumped right into choreography. Our technique continues to grow and I am so proud of all the hard work they are putting in as we get ready for spring community performances.
Fun thing to note – last Saturday Miss Katie had the pleasure of taking Natalie and Grace to get fitted for their first pair of pointe shoes. What an exciting day and the fitter was very impressed with their foot strength. Great job girls!
Also thank you to all who attended the PJ party! We had such a good time and can not wait to do it again in April!
