Ballet Petite Storyboxes

What a fun day of production at Ballet Petite! We spent the afternoon bringing boxes and costumes to our Production Warehouse to be refreshed for the start of the new school year. The company car was fully loaded with stories, stuffed animals, and costumes up to wazoo!

Its always interesting to walk down the street carrying an armful of tutus and other frilly costumes-- people don't know quite what to make of it!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

American Girl Beauties

This week at Ballet Petite McLean our American Girl Camp is focused on the character Molly! The ballerinas are having a lot of fun dancing to period music, and are really getting into the excitement of Molly’s world. Today the girls painted their set and it looks absolutely beautiful! I knew we had wonderful ballerinas, but who knew we had such wonderful graphic artists as well!!

Happy painting!

Elizabeth

Broadway Babies

Our Broadway Baby Camp is doing - every little girl's favorite - Annie! They look so sweet in their red satin dresses with the white collars. I know from experience that this camp can be particularly difficult to teach-- the students are expected to learn the music, lyrics, and choreography for THREE songs! At age 3, if they get 4-8 bars/song, I consider it a success!

It truly is a joy to watch them learn, though. They go home singing the songs and come back the next day dancing the steps!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Fairy Fun

Yesterday afternoon we had a fairy dust spill in our petite boutique! It wasn’t anyone’s fault, of course! The lid wasn’t on very well, and so when it was lifted from the top it opened and spilled! There was fairy dust everywhere!!! It was in ballerina’s hair, and on ballerina shoes, and it was all over Miss Leslie! As she tried to clean it up she begin to look more and more like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz (it was silver fairy dust, of course!).

I have since taken the faulty bottle of fairy dust off of display and am keeping it at the front desk. It’s never a bad idea to have some extra fairy dust at the front desk (this way ballerina’s who miss their mom can get an extra fairy kiss, just in case they need it!).

Have a fairy-filled day!
Elizabeth

Welcome Neighbors!

Ballet Petite McLean would like to officially welcome our new next-door neighbors! The library! Welcome to McLean Square Dolley Madison Public Library! I am sure all the parents of our ballerinas are thankful to have you so close by! In addition, I’m sure all of our ballerinas will begin to look forward to going to the library after class. What a special treat; now all of our ballerinas can check out their own copy of the story they hear in ballet class each day!

Happy Reading!

Elizabeth

Week 2- Off to a Great Start!

Week 2 of summer camps have just begun, and we're off to a terrific start! This week introduces our newest camp, Got Hip Hop?, and BOY is it popular! This camp runs from 9-3 each day for our 5-7 year olds, and it is nearly filled even though we've never run it before!

Additionally, this week we're running our "Broadway Baby" camp for 3-5 years for the first time this summer. The kids are doing "Annie"-- ALWAYS a huge hit!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

End of First Week of Summer Camps!

Well, the first week of summer camps at Ballet Petite is drawing to a close. I can hear "A Whole New World" drifting through the walls as our Happily Ever After Princess Camp performs their ballet version of "Aladdin." What fun! We are all relaxed and excited and looking forward to week 2!

Our summer classes in Bethesda start tomorrow. Boy, are they popular this year! Almost all of our Session A classes are booked!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

New Sign!

Our new sign is finally up!!! On Wednesday morning we bid farewell to our old “Grand Opening” banner, and said WELCOME to our brand new sign! Come drive by and check it out! There is even a beautiful castle that welcomes the ballerinas to the wonderful fairytale land inside. While your there stop in and say hello! We’d love to sign you up for an exciting summer camp or class and give you a copy of our fall schedule!!!

Happy Dancing!
Elizabeth

A quiet day at Ballet Petite

Things are quiet here today at Ballet Petite! We've had a lot of time to play catch-up in retail, and today was a day of (late) spring cleaning in the office! Our little ballerinas break up the day by taking field trips in choo choo trains to the restroom, etc. and it is just so nice to see their smiling faces and hear their excited voices!

We are DEFINATELY enjoiny summertime at Ballet Petite!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Bethesda Summer Camps

Today was the first day of summer camps in Bethesda -- what fun! So many excited little dancers were here early, ready to start the week off with a ton of energy! It was really nice to have them wander into the boutique with their adults after camp, some already decorated in their own arts and crafts projects!

Summer at Ballet Petite is off to a great start!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Summer Camp Fun!

Today was the first day of Summer Camp here at Ballet Petite McLean!! It was so much fun!! At the front of our Petite Boutique is a big, brightly colored sign that says “Welcome Campers!” and lots of balloons, too!
It was fun to see the difference between our Magical Morning campers (our 2 ½ year old to 3 ½ year old students) and our older Broadway Classics campers (5 to 7 years old). Our Magical Morning campers were a little timid at first, and there were some tears shed while saying goodbye to mom, but what a ball they had in the end! Our older campers, on the other hand, were more likely to shed tears when it was time to go; they wanted to stay all day long!
My campers are working on Rainbow Fish this week- and I am very much looking forward to their special performance on Friday!

Happy Dancing!
Elizabeth

Last Saturday of the Spring Session

Well, we've finally reached the final Saturday of the Spring Session! Things in Bethesda are relatively quiet, with many people away on vacation, etc. Today marks the last Saturday our Boutique will be open until August!

Students and teachers alike are a bit sad to be saying farewell to their new friends, as many dancers take the summer off before returning in the fall. This has been a year of tremendous growth at Ballet Petite, and we are all excited to see where the next year will take us!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Summertime is just around the corner!

Summertime is just around the corner here at Ballet Petite! Our offices are filled with snacks, crafts, costumes, and supplies to prep for our big opening next Monday! Excitement is high here, with tons of last-minute registrations coming in each day. Plus, we had our big Summer Camp Teacher Training session yesterday, so our teachers are pumped up and ready to go!

Happy Dancing,
Sophie

Ballet Petite Blues

Today marks the beginning of the final week of the Spring Session! As all of the ballerinas come in for their regular classes, and their make-up classes, I can’t help but feel a little bit nostalgic! The first full year of classes at Ballet Petite McLean is coming to a close! We have a wonderful base of students who I hope will return in the Fall (if not sooner in Summer Classes or Camps!).

Thank you parents and students for making Ballet Petite McLean’s first full year such a success. We couldn’t have done it without you. We look forward to watching your little ballerinas grow for years to come.

Happy Dancing!
Elizabeth

Break a Leg!

Just when you thought recital was over… there is one more! Today is our Thumbelina Recital for all of our Primary II Ballet students from McLean, Cabin John and Kentlands! There was certainly some excitement in the air this morning as some parents came in last minute to by hairnets and tights!

Break legs ballerinas!! We’re sad that you are missing Visitor’s Week (though I’m sure your teachers have rescheduled!), but oh-so-excited to have your parents see you perform on the real stage!!!

Happy Dancing,
Elizabeth

A Quiet Saturday at Ballet Petite?

Shocking, I know! With the start of summer just around the corner and SO many recitals last weekend, a lot of our students decided to end class a bit early. Although it makes things a little less hectic here, we miss our kids!

Attendance is generally low the last few weeks of the Spring Session, with school ending, graduations, and vacations. It gives us at Ballet Petite a little time to prep before the summer fun begins!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Dancing Together Visitors!

Friday mornings at Ballet Petite McLean are always busy, but today was extra busy! It was Visitor’s Day! I was so proud of all my ballerinas. I find Visitor’s Day in Dancing Together classes particularly fun. These students have one grown up (whether it is mom, dad, grandma, grandpa or a nanny) with them every week. But Visitor’s Week is extra special because we have new additional grown ups in the classroom! It is so fun to see the ballerinas put on a performance for their parents, and what a joy to see the proud expressions on the faces of our audience of parents!
Happy Dancing!
Elizabeth

A Beautiful Day at Ballet Petite

It is a beautiful day both inside and out at Ballet Petite today! Outside the weather is incredible, and inside the ambiance is comparable. With guests of all ages roaming the halls, it is truly an exciting place to be!

This afternoon my tap class had their Visitor's Week-- What fun! I was extremely impressed when they remembered the whole dance all by themselves after having some questionable attendance over the last few weeks. I'm looking forward to my final class with them next week.

Keep Dancing!
Sophie

Nutcracker Auditions

Nutcracker auditions are under way, held in the Kentlands last night and next Friday evening in Potomac. The Nutcracker is timeless, a show that every budding ballerina wants to be a part of. Many of our teachers have performed in The Nutcracker at some point in their ballet lives.

The Nutcracker performance is an extravagant production, and gets better and better every year. The set and costumes are amazing as always, and the girls work so hard on their parts. I had the pleasure of being an audience member last year and it was marvelous. If your child is over the age of five, make sure to attend the audition. They won't want to miss it!

All the best,
Sarah

Visitors Week and Recital Buzz!

We are in the middle of our Visitors Week in Potomac and Kentlands, and the girls are enthralled for me to meet their visitors. So many students have come up to me to introduce me to their family members. I always enjoy watching the families walk out of the classroom with big smiles on their faces after watching their little ones perform in class. It's a very exciting time of year!

This weekend marks the end of our recitals for 2010! Our 5 year olds from Potomac, Kentlands and McLean will be performing this Saturday. After having 5 recitals this past weekend (with 3 in one day), I'm thinking this will be a breeze. I can't wait to see all of the students I've been watching all year on the big stage!

All the best,
Sarah

Visitor's Week

It is Visitor's Week here at Ballet Petite and all of our tiny dancers are VERY excited to have their own miniature recital! There are parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, friends, etc in every studio to watch what their children have been learning all session long, and the students are all on their very best behavior.

My 3-year old ballet class yesterday was just wonderful. It was an extremely small studio, and we had a TON of visitors, but that just made it all the more exciting for my ballerinas! At the end of class, I nearly fell over when all 10 of my students tried to hug me at once! What a wonderful day.

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Summertime

Well, with 5/6 recitals finished, the focus has turned to our rapidly-approaching summer camps and classes. Our enrollment so far is unprecedented, so we are looking at a fun-filled summer at Ballet Petite!

I personally LOVE summer camps. Its such a nice time to really get to know your students by spending a full week with them. Its nice to have the day broken up with dancing, arts and crafts, games, and snacks.

Keep Dancing!
Sophie

I'll Miss You Until It's Autumn...

I am so impressed with how well my students did in yesterday’s recital. Not only did they do a great job on stage, but their performance back stage was impressive as well. They stayed quiet, they complimented other dancers, and they followed instructions- what a beautiful thing to witness.

What’s funny about recital is that it may be over, but there are still two more weeks of classes! You could hear students backstage bidding farewell to their teachers. As one of my students told me “Miss Elizabeth, I’m going to miss you until its autumn”… meanwhile, I’ll see her in class tomorrow!

How lucky we are to have a little bit more time together…

Happy Dancing!

Elizabeth

RECITALS

Well, this weekend was a recital MARATHON! With 2 shows on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, we are all pretty exhausted this morning! The shows were wonderful, though. Each and every student had their moment to shine, and boy did they eat it up! The costumes were exquisite, and the talent was overwhelming!

Just one more recital to go next Saturday, and I think I speak for us all when I say I can't wait!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

And so it begins..

What a crazy morning! Today is Day 1 of our 3 recital days. The phone was ringing off the hook from the moment I walked in today, with questions about tickets, call times, attire, pretty much everything under the sun pertaining to recitals.

Attendance was low because so many students were either performing or supporting their siblings and friends who were performing. We had some wonderful teachers come in to sub for those teachers who had to be at recitals today with their classes, and I think that everyone had just a wonderful time!

I can't wait for my class to perform tomorrow!

Sophie

The air is buzzing!

Right now at Ballet Petite it is all recital, all the time!!! Thursday night we had our dress rehearsal for The Spring Concert! My girls did a fabulous job, and I was very proud of their hard work! I can’t wait to see how they do tomorrow!

Today many of our teachers and staff are at the theatre for our Thumbelina and Alice in Wonderland recitals! But even back at the studios, we can feel the excitement! Parents have been coming in to buy tights, bobby pins and hairnets! I’ve also been getting phone calls to order additional tickets! The air is truly buzzing with all this excitement!

Can’t wait to see how tomorrow goes!

Happy Dancing!
Elizabeth

Literal Ballerinas

I love the way some of our little ballerinas take things so literally! This morning I was sitting at the front desk at McLean when a little ballerina walked in with her Nanny! I greeted them warmly, as I always do, “Good morning!”. The Nanny turned to the little girl instructing, “Say good morning!”. And how did my little ballerina friend reply? She looked up at me with a big smile on her face and said, “Say Good Morning!!!”.

What a lovely way to start my day!

Happy Dancing!
Elizabeth

Dress Rehearsal

Today is the dress rehearsal for our oldest students. Ahhh!

Potomac and Kentlands Summer Camps

Summer camps are almost here! It's hard to believe they only start in two and a half weeks. I'm very excited about the camps being offered this summer, and some of them are new themes for our imaginative dancers. New this year is our Dr. Seuss camp, featuring favorites such as The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. Another new camp we are offering is Animal Kingdom, featuring stories such as Rainbow Fish and Where the Wild Things Are. We will also be offering other beloved themes such as Disney Princess and Angelina Ballerina. For Potomac and Kentlands devotees, these camps are not to be missed!

All the best,
Sarah

Usborne Books- Sticker Dolly Dressing

I'll admit it, I love this activity book series. We carry the Princess, Fairy, and Ballerina books year-round. We also carry a few different ones for the holidays, and from time to time we have the Pop Stars book and (my personal favorite!) the Fashion Long Ago book. Oh what fun! It is a true testament to our tiny dancers' willpower to see them peruse the books in our Boutique without unpeeling the stickers to place at will. These books are a wonderful way to pass the time when traveling!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

June has arrived!

June is one of the busiest months of the year for Ballet Petite! We have 6 recitals in the next two weeks, Visitors Week, make-up classes, then summer camps and classes start up right away. The preparation for everything coming up is tremendous!

In addition to recitals, the buzz around Potomac is about classes in the Fall session. It seems as though everyone wants to get their plans together before summer starts. Planning ahead is key, especially for those who plan lots of vacation time during the summer.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!

All the best,
Sarah

This morning at Ballet Petite McLean we had a power outage!! What a way to start the week! The whole McLean Square shopping center went down for about 30 minutes! After taking a few deep breaths and getting over the stress of the situation, I was able to find some joy in the situation.

Our little ballerinas tippy-toed in with their grown ups all the way back to our one dance studio that has windows! Here they would be able to continue class easily! Except…

“What about music??” one ballerina asked! Our wonderful teacher, Miss Margie, assured all the ballerinas that she LOVES to sing! Some of the ballerinas chimed in that they love to sing too (do we have some future Musical Theatre triple threats on our hands??)!

Luckily, the power came back on only a few minutes into class! But even if it hadn’t, our dedicated ballerinas were ready to dance, as always!

Happy Dancing!
Elizabeth

June is Bustin' Out All Over!

I always wake up on June 1st with that song from Carousel playing in my head. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. We have less than three weeks left in our spring session, and then summer is here!

The pace always picks up with the start of spring, and now it is full-speed ahead until summer classes and camps begin! We all needed the Memorial Day Holiday to rest and rejuvinate ourselves before recital madness, which is now in full swing! Recitals will occupy us all this weekend and the next- what an exciting (albeit exhausting) time for us all!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie