Summer Term - lots to look forward to!

The start of a new term is always exciting for me - making plans of what I'd like to achieve in that term, welcoming lots of new faces into the school, preparing for exams and children moving up from my Little Bear Feet classes into the main school are just a few of the lovely things I look forward to.

The start of this term was even more exciting! Firstly there's the excitement of summer on its way - warm sunny days and evenings, BBQ's, picnic's (obviously this is all dependent on the British weather!) Then there's the excitement of finally having my ballet barres to use in my classes and dance flooring for Thursdays - no more slippy floor to tap on! Finally there's the excitement of SHOW PLANNING!!!

The show may not be until October, but this is the term where all the hard work will be done. Dances will be choreographed and taught, costumes decided on, measurements taken and lighting ideas discussed. I have already been busy deciding on all my music for the show and I even have a rough running order!

My favourite part is definitely choreographing the dances though - deciding on a theme or story for the dance, working out patterns and shapes I want to create, listening to the music to find the highlights and seeing what steps naturally come to mind and then putting it all together to create a dance. Then comes the teaching of it; developing it following some inspiration from a student, or adjusting the patterns so it works visually for the audience and sometimes changing it completely because it doesn't quite work in reality like it does in my head! The best bit will come at the end of this term, when the dances will be finished and I can watch the students perform them and feel happy and satisfied that something that was just a creative idea in my mind at the start of term has come to fruition. It is now a completed product ready for a little bit of polishing and an audience to perform it to! It really is an exciting process and one that I love.