Gulfshore Ballet’s Spring Production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Casting & Performance Preparation
At Gulfshore Ballet we believe that performing is a vital part of each dancer’s education and we do our best to provide a successful performance experience for our students in Pre-Ballet 2 through Pre Pro.
Our Fall production is Tchaikovsky’s family favorite classic, The Nutcracker. We invite Professional Ballet Dancers to dance in our productions, giving our Students the exciting opportunity to work alongside them.
In the Spring, we draw from other well-known classical works and add new works within our students’ range and depth of experience. Some previous Spring Ballets have included A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia and Don Quixote, among others.
Both Shows are professionally produced and enormous undertakings, requiring many hours of rehearsal and preparation for our dancers, staff and volunteers.
Casting, Fees & Rehearsals
Casting
All students involved in production will be cast in roles appropriate to their age and skill level. Roles are given according to each level at the school and not at the parent’s request but at the discretion of our Artistic Directors.
The Artistic Staff at Gulfshore Ballet will cast the production as a team. Roles will not be up for discussion with Instructors or the Artistic/Executive Directors. Attendance in class, energy level and effort, ability to receive and apply corrections toward improvement, attendance and general attitude and behavior are all considerations when casting students for particular roles.
Parents and/or students may be less than thrilled with the part(s) for which they have been assigned. Each student needs to find within themselves a way to make their role(s) interesting and exciting for the show and audience.
Having a negative or inattentive attitude adversely affects not only the individual but the entire group performing the dance. We seek to educate our parents and students to understand that there are no small roles in a production. Each role is integral to the entire performance and contributes toward its success in both story-telling and dancing. We ask all of our parents and students to embrace their roles with enthusiasm and dedication.
Performance Fees for Non GSB Students:
All students who are not enrolled full time at Gulfshore Ballet but want to participate in any of our performances must first get permission from the Artistic Directors, take any classes required by the Artistic Directors as well as attend scheduled rehearsals.
Non GSB students are required to submit a signed commitment/consent form and a non-refundable performance fee of $350.00 for Pre Ballet, Level 1, Level 2 or $450 for Levels 3-Pre Pro.
This fee includes extra studio and theater rehearsals, costume orders, costume cleaning and preparation, hair accessories and other performance related expenses.
Full time GSB Students do not pay a separate Performance Fee.
Rehearsals
Attendance in all classes and rehearsals is essential to improving classroom skills and to successfully prepare for a performance. Excessive absences (3 or more) from classes or performances may affect a student’s readiness for a performance. Excessive absences will result in a determination made by the Artistic Director and/or instructor as to the student’s readiness to perform on stage. We strongly encourage students who have excessive absences to either (1) attend a make-up class at a level lower than the current level, or (2) schedule a private lesson (additional fees apply).
It is especially important not to miss rehearsals when a dance is being set during class time. If you do miss class during this time, it is the student’s responsibility to catch up and learn what he/she has missed. It is not time-efficient for the instructor and students to repeatedly go back to re-teach a segment of choreography due to a student missing class/rehearsal.
Parents, it is important to understand the nature of technical rehearsals. There is no exact time to give you when your student will begin or end. If rehearsals are from 5-8 PM, we expect students to stay the entire time, unless an early dismissal by level is noted on the rehearsal schedule. We do our best to stay as close to the schedule as possible, but there are always unforeseen circumstances. The dancing is only a portion of the whole production – when light, sound, scenery and other technical components are added there may be delays. Please be patient with changes and delays.
Rehearsal Schedules:
Rehearsal Schedules are sent out prior to performances and are usually very detailed.
Please note that Rehearsals, especially for the Intermediate-Pre Professional Levels can be almost daily just before the performance and the expectation is that all participants will attend all rehearsals. Missing excessive Rehearsals may result in your Student not being able to perform as it’s not fair to the Instructors and other Dancers who have learned and rehearsed the choreography.