HD Dance Newsletter, Spring Edition

Hosanna Dance Newsletter

Spring Edition 2019 ∙ 119 N Deadwood St ∙ Ft Pierre ∙ Artistic Director, Sunny Hannum ∙ Vol

Think Spring!

Cinderella is behind us and what an experience it was. I think it drained us all and left us needing a week off. We had not planned for that, so we were at the studio doing classes for the few who showed up.

I am very proud of the Hosanna Dancers and all the hard work they did getting ready for Cinderella. When asked to put some acting into their parts, they rose to occasion with great facial expressions and pantomime. It was definitely dance theater and the audience loved it.

We had thought our spring, end of the year, in-house performances would be some of the dances from Cinderella but the Lord made it real clear to me that He wants another worship dance performance. He began giving me songs to use the very next day. Save the date: June 1!

Gracie Zeeb will be examining in Sioux Falls for Cecchetti Grade IV this spring. Gracie has been working on this grade since the spring of last year and her technique definitely shows it.

The Cecchetti Intensive in June will be earlier: June 8-9. Cecchetti examinations will be held prior to the intensive and notification has to be given by April 1 for those who are approved. We currently have two preparing for June exams and one for the coming fall.

Pas de deux class has ended until fall. This class has helped our upper-level dancers learn some of the basics of partnering as well as strengthen their pointe work. We hope to also offer a variations class in the fall.

Two pre-pointe students have been approved for beginning pointe. They are Sheridan and Bellah Nickolas. This will require appointments at Dance line in Sioux Falls on a Saturday. Ms. Sarah and/or Ms. Sunny will accompany the girls for their fittings.

The theme for the Summer Dance Camps will be Frozen on the weeks of July 8-11 and July 15-18. 

Nutcracker classes and practices will begin Tuesday nights in August for Ballet V  dancers and we will also begin Nutcracker casting in August!
Nutcracker performances will be during the after Thanksgiving weekend.

Fall classes will begin the first Tuesday after Labor Day. Look for the summer and fall schedule on our website. Please call 605-945-1044 or 605-220-1032 for information and registration forms or visit the website.

New students: It's March and we are currently taking new student registrations for the last quarter. If you or your student would like to learn ballet, come join the Hosanna Dance family! Sign up for classes this week! Registration closes soon. Contact us today!   Go to the classes tab to see the schedule and more.

Coming soon!
Ballet for Skaters class for ages 8+ on Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

    Beginning Ballet for Skaters -- Ages 8-12, Ages 13+
Class wear
    Solid color leotard

    Pink or tan tights

    Ballet shoes, canvas or leather

Possible future class -- Young Skaters PreBallet/Movement class for Ages 5-7, 45-minute class

Dates to remember (also see the calendar for dates and times)

⇒Dress rehearsal for everyone at the studio: Tuesday, May 28 from 5:30-8:00

⇒End of year showcase: June 1 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Class attendance is extremely important. Make sure you add all classes and all dates for rehearsals, pictures, etc., to your calendar. Ballet class must not be viewed as choreography or just another style of dance but as your fundamental training for executing movement correctly and safely which takes consistent work in class.

We Encourage All Our Students to Prepare for Cecchetti Examinations This is such an excellent way for students to become technically proficient and thoroughly learn the terminology of ballet. There is something about preparing for an exam that makes students work harder and helps them develop as dancers. And bonus, you get a certificate as a memory of all the hard work, study, and effort.

If you or your student are interested in getting started with Cecchetti student examinations let us know. Ballet III and up are eligible to start working on Grade 1. Examinations take a lot of preparation, study, and commitment. (Normally 1-2 years is spent studying per grade. More as you progress through the grades.) Our studio is affiliated with the Cecchetti Council of America. We added the Cecchetti syllabus to our classes 6 years ago. All teachers are professionally examined by the CCA to hold certificates in the Cecchetti Method grades.

A Cecchetti Grade IV class is being taught on Thursday nights from 5:30-7:00 pm. A Cecchetti Grade III class is being taught on Tuesdays from 5:15-6:30pm. Even if you are not interested in doing exams, attending these classes is an excellent way for ballet IV/V to get another ballet class in and work hard on perfecting technique and getting more one on one corrections.

I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. Isaiah 44:6 b

HD Dance Newsletter, New Year Edition 2018

Hosanna Dance Newsletter

New Year Edition 2018 ∙ 119 N Deadwood St ∙ Ft Pierre ∙ Artistic Director, Sunny Hannum ∙ Vol 1

A Happy Belated New Year!

Here we are already a month into the New Year and we haven’t brought you up to date on our spring plans. We are doing our spring performances in the studio on our in-house stage. This is another exciting new experience for us and one of the reasons we relocated to the new space.

As some of you know, we have struggled every spring finding a date early enough for our missions bound students and when Riggs Theater is available - a near impossibility. This fact definitely affected our casting for Esther last spring.

We have some work to do on the stage area to prepare the surface and need to add some lighting but will gear our performance to be simpler than the lavish one we do for our dance theater performances at Riggs Theater.

We plan to do a performance entirely of worship dances. This performance has been on our bucket list for a while and should fit perfectly on our studio stage. The bonus will be having worship dances available for any church or concert that want us over the summer.

We have not yet picked our next winter show but it will once again be a dance theater performance at Riggs Theater. We are currently researching possibilities including Cinderella. We were very pleased with the response to our “Greatest Gift of All” performances in January. They were very well received with bigger audiences than in the past in spite of a cold weekend.

Todd Thompson graced us with his beautiful photography during dress rehearsal and we will be preparing a display of his photos soon. Our faithful videographer came out of retirement to give us very good video of the matinee performance. A showing was held for Ballet IV and V on January 20th at the Hilmoe’s home and refreshments were served.

We offer Cecchetti syllabus classes for those interested in progressing as a dancer and who take more than one ballet class a week. We have a Grade IV class going and would like to have a Grade I class for those that would like to get started with Cecchetti examinations or would like to work on perfecting their technique. So please sign up! Ask Gracie Zeeb and Becca Brusven about how Cecchetti has helped them become better dancers!

We encourage all our students to try Cecchetti examinations!
This is such an excellent way for students to become technically proficient and learn the theory and terminology of ballet. There is something about preparing for an exam that makes students work harder and helps them progress as dancers.

Ms Sunny, Josh, and Sarah will be attending the Cecchetti Intensive June 17-21 at Dance Gallery in Sioux Falls. Parents, we will let you know when registration opens. When information and brochure are available they can be found by going online to www.dancegallerysd.com/workshops.
We usually rent a couple rooms at Home 2 Suites and split the cost. Tuition to the workshop is very reasonable.

We have added a few new classes since the show. A Cecchetti Grade IV class is being offered Monday nights at 5:30 pm. On Tuesday night is a Variations class at 5:30pm. Adult Ballet is being offered Thursday night at 7pm and Adult/Youth Line Dance at 7pm Friday night. On Saturday at 10 am a Strength & Conditioning class. In order to attend the Friday or Saturday classes please contact us in advance to register.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!  — Phil 4:4