Summer Camp Games and Manners Sampler

We're going into our third week of summer camps this morning, and with three weeks on our resumes for Summer 2013, we thought we'd share some of the fun things we've been working on so far this summer! 

Teachers, campers, parents all agree: camp weeks are some of the most fun of the year. Camps include fun games and crafts that regular ballet classes don't have. But the real fun in camps come from the creativity of our teachers and from new experience each week and each camp brings. How do you make each new day, week, month of camp a new adventure?

You have to mix it up!

Joint snack time for a treat last week! Three camps all eating and chatting together!

Ballerinas always want to behave like princesses, especially at the table. Dancers always sit with their legs criss-crossed applesauce, and they are very careful to keep their feet away from the food. We remember our pleases and thank-yous and enjoy sharing our Nilla cookies and Goldfish with our new friends!

Playing "Something's Missing!", led by Miss Katie!

"Something's missing, something's missing,

Can you tell, can you tell?"

The game starts with a handful of items in the center of the circle: i.e. a pumpkin, a teddy bear, a CD, a scarf, etc. Then, one or two people leave the circle; meanwhile the remainder of the circle decides on a couple of items to pull and hide. Miss Katie takes those items and hides them behind her. The two people return to the circle and have to guess which items were taken! 

We're looking forward to even more games and dances this summer! Have pictures from your camper's performance in the previous weeks? We'd love to see them!

Welcome Campers!

It's the second week of camps here, and we're sending out a big welcome to all of our lovely campers! 

Have fun everyone!!

End of Spring Session, Happy Summer, and Goodbye Teachers!

On the last days of the Spring Session, the effects of Summer are really showing. The studios are a little less packed than usual, but it's just as loud as the excitement of all present dancers makes up for the absence of our already Summer-vacationing friends.

And though there's always more fun and more dancing possibilities waiting right around the corner,the end of the Spring Session does mean transitions and changes, no matter what adventures are waiting for us in the coming months. Right now, it's time to say "Happy Summer!" to our friends as well as "Goodbye!" to three of our favorite teachers! 

Miss Mallory

Miss Mallory Duff is from Lynchburg, Virginia, and is a graduate of Sweet Briar College '06.  She received a  BA in Dance and has choreographed plays and instructed dance classes for many schools in her community.  She fell in love with dance at the age of 8 and found her joy in Tap, Jazz, and Ballet.  Mallory began teaching at Ballet Petite and Youth Performing Art's School in March 2012 and enjoys teaching children of all ages, in all genres.  

 

She is  leaving Ballet Petite in order to move closer to her family!

Miss Sarah

Miss Sarah Gonzalez began her dance training at the School of Music and Dance in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She studied Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Tap, Hip-Hop, and Modern, and she went on to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance. She has trained at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, at Shenandoah Conservatory, and with the River North Chicago Dance Company. She has performed all over Pennsylvania and the Washington, DC area. 

Miss Sarah is moving to Colorado with her husband!

 

Miss Sarah Elizabeth

Miss Sarah Elizabeth Lahoud has studied dance and music from the age of five and has been teaching for four years. She received her BA in English, with minors in Music and Irish Studies, from Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. She performed as part of Fordham Flava Hip-Hop Dance Company for two years. She studied classical piano for nearly 17 years and and also plays the Irish whistle.

Miss Sarah Elizabeth is moving to Cork City, Ireland to pursue her Masters degree in Ethnomusicology.

Hannah Montana- Party in the USA! Camp

I spent this afternoon getting ready for next week's camps--specifically, our Got Hip Hop! Camp. We knew from the get-go this was going to be an exceptionally popular camp, as the Hip Hop genre has just EXPLODED in Betheda since we first started to offer it last fall. This camp in particular was just so heavily requested (obviously every little girl LOVES Hannah Montana!) that we had to up our limit from 12 to 16 and schedule two teachers!

Keep Dancing!
Sophie

Ballerina Camp- Lili at the Ballet

This week our Tutu Sweet Ballerina Camp is doing "Lili at the Ballet." Our ballerinas always particularly enjoy reading stories about other ballerinas, and this book in particular seems to be a big hit! I walked by the studio today while the girls were doing their story dance, and they were dressed in pink from head to toe, standing at the barre doing plies! What fun!
Keep Dancing,
Sophie

American Girl Camp- Julie

Our Week 5 Camp for 5-7 year olds is the American Girl Camp-- the girls are learning all about Julie this week! This camp is EXTREMELY popular; we actually have 13 girls in camp this week, even though we usually limit our camps to 12. It can be hard to say no to excited ballerinas!

Our American Girl Camps are perfect for our 5-7 year olds. In addition to a ton of ballet, the campers learn a bit of history, dances from the doll's decade, do crafts from the decade, etc. What fun!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Week 4 of Camps?!

Can you believe we're nearly half-way through camps already?! I was SHOCKED to find myself cancelling those Week 5 low-enrolled camps this morning! These weeks are just flying by! Registration for our Fall Session is really starting to pick up now-- people are already getting excited for Back-to-School.

Our back-to-school stock has started to be delivered in massive amounts! You would not believe how many of boxes of tights we had in last week. All to get our little ballerinas ready for their classroom debut!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Fixin' up Ballet Petite

Well, we have all sorts of exciting things going on in Bethesda! In addition to the end-of-the-week camp shows, we are getting ready for next week, AND we have tons of repairs going on! Everything looks bright and shiny here, and we're definately in for an exciting week of camps next week!

Next week is the first week this summer that we have camps running in all six studios! Camps are filling up quickly here in Bethesda!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Summer Interns

As we offer camps primarily for our younger students, we offer internship opportunities for our students ages 9 and up. This gives aspiring dance teachers the chance to assist in a classroom for a week of camp and to learn the ins and outs of Ballet Petite. In addition to helping to prep and break down the studio each day, interns will help with crafts, play games, and sometimes even add to the choreography the teacher has written!

Our intern program has gotten VERY popular this year, especially in Bethesda. We have at least one intern in every camp, sometimes even two! It is a wonderful way for our older students to build confidence and experience.

Keep Dancing!
Sophie

Back to Camp!

I can't believe we're already into our third week of camp here at Ballet Petite! The weeks are just FLYING by! Camps are pretty filled this week, and seem to be filling up for the rest of the summer as well!

This week is a short week at Ballet Petite, as we were closed yesterday because of the holiday. That means teachers and students will be working extra hard to prepare their dances for the big performance on Friday!

Keep Dancing,
Sophie

Fourth of July

We are all ready for a 3-day weekend here at Ballet Petite. Camps are such fun, but those kids have SO much energy! I think we are all looking forward to a few days to rest and relax.

Even though we're closed on Monday, we have incorporated some holiday treats into next week's camps. Campers can prepare themselves for a very patriotic week at Ballet Petite!

Happy 4th,
Sophie

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

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

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

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

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

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