May recital packet

DanceStation 2026 Recital Packet

Lots and lots of information—PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY!

This newsletter is highlighted just for your child! Put it somewhere safe!!

We send out a ton of reminders through the app this month, so make sure you have

notifications turned on for the DanceStation app!!!

 

1. Picture Day is Sunday, May 31^st.  Class picture times will run from 9am – 7pm here at the studio. We would appreciate it very much if you would show up for the group pictures, even if you choose not to buy any.  The picture schedule will be posted by the front door and is on the back of the class picture order form in this recital packet. **Please make good use of street parking and not the ICE CREAM LOT during the large rehearsals and picture day**

2. Tickets! They will be on sale at the front desk the week before the recital starting on Picture Day, Sunday, May 31st. Adult tickets are $15 and children (under 12) are $12.  Please do not lose your tickets – or you will have to buy new tickets to enter.  Sorry! Just like any movie theater or performance hall, you will have to buy new tickets if you lose them or leave them at home.
3. Parents/guardians will need to pay for the last (June) installment before you purchase your recital tickets. Once the recital is over, families take vacations, and it can be difficult to track down missing payments. Most common June question: Why are you paying for a full month? It is because tuition is calculated by the semester, not the month, and then broken down into five equal installments for your convenience. Auto-pay families will have the final installment go through on May 31^st.

4. REMINDER: SSDC Auditions for Ballet 5 and up are Friday, May 29^th 5-6:30pm!!!

5. **Full cast rehearsals** The week before the recital (June 1^st-5^th) there are NO regularly scheduled classes. Instead, we have a few mandatory extra practices here at the studio and the Hett (as noted on the permission slip you signed back in January). Because each ballet tells a story, we need to have full cast rehearsals here at the studio before we get to the stage at McKendree University. This is a very busy week, but it really pays off with nicely polished/professional shows in the end. J

**Parents are encouraged to stay and watch in the auditorium for Dress Rehearsal!

 

Mon. June 1^st at DanceStation: 4:30-8:30pm La Sylphide dress rehearsal – in costume

4:30-6:15pm – Int Ballet Bridesmaids and Groomsmen, Lads and Lassie’s Ballet 3, Pointe 1-3, and all main characters (James, Effie, Sylph, Gurn, Effie’s Father, Madge)

6:30-8:30pm – Ballet 2 Fireflies, Ballet 4 Woodland Spirits, Ballet 5 Young Sylphs, Ballet 6/7 Gypsies, Adv Ballet Sylphs, James, Gurn, Madge, Effie, Effie’s dad, Int Ballet bridal procession

          8:30-9:30pm Int/Adv helpers for The Fairy Garden

Tues. June 2^nd at DanceStation: All 3-4 yr, 5-6 yr, and combination Ballet/Jazz/Tap classes

No costumes, All students will need both tap and ballet shoes, so bring their dance bags.

4:30-6:15pm Cast of Sat afternoon performance of The Fairy Garden – Mon 6:45pm Flowers, Wed 6:30pm Unicorns, Thur 5:15pm Bees, Thur 6pm Butterflies, Thur 7pm Fairies

6:30-8:15pm Cast of Sun afternoon performance of The Fairy Garden – Mon 5pm Unicorns, Mon 5:45pm Flowers, Tues 5pm Butterflies, Wed 4:30pm Bees, Wed 5:15pm Fairies

**SSDC 8:30-9:30pm

Wed. June 3^rd at the HETT: 5:30-9pm – One Hit Wonders Dress Rehearsal – in costume

 for Jazz/Tap 2-5, modern 1 and 2, Bway jr, Boys Hip Hop

Thur June 4^th at the HETT: 4:30-9pm Then and Now! Dress Rehearsal for Jazz and Tap levels 6 – Adv, Int/Adv Bway, Bway 5-7, Modern Int and Adv, SSDC pieces, alumni piece

Friday, June 5^th  at the HETT:  Dress Rehearsal for all 3/4 yr, 5/6yr, Combo classes. Please arrive 15 minutes early to rehearsal with hair and make-up done. Students should change into their costumes once they arrive and be ready to start on time. NO dance shoes should be worn in the parking lot – please wear street shoes on the way in. Bring their ballet costume and their dance bag with ballet and tap shoes. Their tap costume rental (and jazz for combo classes) will be in the dressing room with their name on the hanger. We will start with tap, so they can change into the tap rental costume with tan tights on upon arrival, and then they will change into their ballet costumes with pink tights after the tap section.

9:30am-11:30am Dress Rehearsal – yes costumes! Cast of Sat afternoon performance of Around the World/The Fairy Garden  – Mon 6:45pm Flowers, 6:30pm Unicorns, Thur 5:15pm Bees, Thur 6pm Butterflies, Thur 7pm Fairies

11:45am-1:30pm Dress Rehearsal – yes costumes! Cast of Sun afternoon performance of Around the World/The Fairy Garden – Mon 5pm Unicorns, Mon 5:45pm Flowers, Tues 5pm Butterflies, Wed 4:30pm Bees, Wed 5:15pm Fairies

2:30-5:30pm La Sylphide Sat performance – all ballet levels 2 and up

6:30-8:30pm La Sylphide Sun performance – all ballet levels 5 and up

 

6. Recital Days at the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts. Please arrive 30 minutes before the performance and change into costumes once you arrive.  Each performance has a 20 min intermission.

Sat. June 6^th 1pm performance  -The Fairy Garden/Around the World – Mon 6:45pm Flowers, Wed 6:30pm Unicorns, Thur 5:15pm Bees, Thur 6pm Butterflies, Thur 7pm Fairies

Sat June 6^th 5:30pm performance – La Sylphide/One Hit Wonders!  (all Ballet levels 2 through Adv, then after intermission is jazz/tap levels 2-5, Modern 1-2, Boys Hip Hop, and Bway Jr)

Sun. June 7^th 1pm performance – The Fairy Garden/Around the World – Mon 5pm Unicorns, Mon 5:45pm Flowers, Tues 5pm Butterflies, Wed 4:30pm Bees, Wed 5:15pm Fairies

Sun. June 7^th 5:30pm performance– La Sylphide/Then and Now: Celebrating 20 years of Dancing! (Ballet levels 5 and up, pre-pointe and pointe classes, Jazz/Tap 5-Adv, Int and Adv Modern, Bway 5-7, Bway Int and Adv, and the Alumni piece!)

 

7. Recital orders for tights, recital t-shirts, recital flowers, and a flashdrive/Blu-Ray recording of the performance are all available in an online store through our parent portal! The order form in this packet is just a visual we are sending home. You will log into your parent portal and go to our online store, put items in your cart to check out and prepay right there on the portal! If you would rather pay by check, you can opt to ‘bill to my account’ and bring in a check, but you still have to order it online. We encourage everyone to pay on the portal or bring in a check on the same day as we do not place orders without payment. T-shirt and tight orders are due by Fri. May 15^th, the rest are due by May 31^st (picture day). NONE of these items are mandatory. You do not have to buy tights from us, but I can get them for $10 which is usually cheaper than in local dance stores. All dancers in The Fairy Garden need both pink and tan or skin-toned tights. All ballet students need pink tights and all tap, jazz, modern, bway students need tan or skin toned tights. Recital t-shirt designs and colors will be in the lobby this week and posted online. We offer a flash drive recording of the recital, with high quality visuals, for anyone wanting an alternative to a Blu-Ray DVD.  Flower orders are an SSDC fundraiser, as is our bake sale. All proceeds go into the SSDC scholarship fund.  State Street Dance Company is our resident pre-professional student company. NOTE- class pictures are not through us and have a separate order form included in this packet and you will need to bring that form with you to purchase class and individual pictures for your child.

 

8. Sign-up sheets for our summer sessions/camps are in the waiting room. We have some fun new classes, the very popular kid’s camp (K-Pop camp this year!), a Disney Pre-k and Kinder-camp with a Frozen theme, and many wonderful guest teachers this summer. Please sign up by the end of May so we can have enrollment numbers for each session! Recital week is often confusing for new families. Please call, email, or come find me with any questions.