August 2017
Welcome back dancers! I am so proud of all three of our June recitals. What wonderful feedback we received, and the dancers were just beautiful. Congrats to everyone! We have some new policies, information, and some friendly reminders to get the year going:
Registration/Open House. Open House is Friday, August 18th from 6:30-8:30 pm for returning students and 4-6:30pm for new students. We will have summer office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-6pm until classes begin. You may mail in your registration form any time before Open House or join us on the 18th. As the studio continues to grow, it is important for me to stay on top of class numbers – so mailing in your registration early is always appreciated. The younger classes, especially, tend to fill up quickly.
A $25 Registration Fee per family is due upon registration by AUGUST 18th!
Even if you register by mail you may want to come to Open House to pick up your recital pictures, DVD’s, and picture CD’s.
Please send your check and the registration form and class choice to:
DanceStation, 220 West State St, O’Fallon, IL 62269
Desk/Phone help: This year Hayden Gittner, Sydney Griffin, Natalie Kunsemiller, and Sydney Osborne will answer phones and help out at the front desk. They will hold office hours Monday through Thursday 3:30-5:30pm in the fall. I will do my best to answer the phone whenever possible. If there is no answer, I am probably teaching. However, the machine is always on, and I check the messages nightly. Phone calls for student absences are greatly appreciated, and I will try to return all questions and messages promptly. You can also email me at edancestation@yahoo.com.
Teachers. We are so blessed to have all of our teachers returning this year. Lisbeth Brown (upper Cecchetti levels and primary), Jennifer Fischer (Pre/K, Cecchetti, ballet), Jennifer Battenberg (modern, jazz, and Pre/K), and Sonya Doerr (tap – all levels). I will continue to teach all levels of ballet, Cecchetti, pointe, jazz, broadway, Pre/K classes, etc.
Classes begin this year on Monday, September 11th – (the first full week of September after Labor Day). We are offering a Boys Hip Hop class on Tuesday evenings from 7-8pm this year. Don’t forget, we offer 20% off the 2nd family member’s tuition, and 50% off the third family member. So hopefully some of you can take advantage of our discounts! We are also offering Adult Tap on Tuesdays from 7:30-8:30pm – experienced and beginner adults welcome! It’s a lot of fun!!
Monthy newsletters: Please keep and read your newsletters. I know they seem long sometimes, but I spend a good deal of time on them to make sure that everyone gets dates and information well in advance. The September newsletter will contain a calendar for the entire year, it will be also available online in September at www.dancestation.biz.
Tuition: Tuition for the 2017-18 year remains the same at $45 for the first class ($225 for the semester) and $30 for each additional class. Exceptions being the longer ballet/tap/jazz combination classes and upper level Cecchetti classes. Also, the few 45 minute classes we offer are just $25. Tuition is due with the first class of every month. If you are unable to make your payment that first class, please speak to me (or email me) and we will work something out. Remember that tuition is charged by the semester and then broken down into 5 equal payments for your convenience. So, you are not paying for weeks in the month, it is actually an installment towards the semester. Jennifer Fischer will be helping as Office/Tuition Manager this year again, so you may also receive emails from Jennifer.Fischer@saintclareschool.org as well.
LATE FEE: Due to enormous amounts of extra work to collect tuition last year, we are imposing a $10 late fee after the 15th of the month. Your Tuition installment is due the first class of every month, and we will give you until the 15th of every month to pay your tuition. I promise I do not actually want your $10. This studio is artistically and emotionally very important to me, but it is still a business… and tracking down tuition payments takes time and energy. I have teachers, insurance, rent, and bills to pay just like anyone else and we had so many missing payments last year. For our part, we will send home an invoice in Sept, so that everyone is clear on what exactly the tuition amount is (it can be confusing with multiple children).
**Nutcracker Performances December 15th and 16th **
Some of you may know that I was brought on as adjunct faculty and dance minor director at McKendree University last year. This year they have asked my State Street Dance Company and my studio to co-present a weekend of Nutcracker performances. It’s actually a really big deal! We have full advertising in their playbill and website, and tickets are available to the general public through the box office at the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts. All children involved in preschool, kindergarten, combination ballet/jazz/tap, and ballet classes 2 – Adv will be involved. You can opt out, but most of the kids (and parents!) will be thrilled to be part of something so fun and professional. I will go into much further detail in the September Newsletter once classes begin, but every class through ballet 5 will be involved in one of the three shows. Classes in Ballet 6 and up (and members of SSDC) will be in all three shows.
WEBSITE and FACEBOOK Page: Did you know DanceStation has a Facebook page? If you “like” us on Facebook, you will immediately be notified of any posts about weather-related class cancellations, reminders about tight orders, or news and pictures posted throughout the year. Also, our website is being redone for easier access and a much-needed update. I have decided against online payments for now. The amount I would have to charge parents to pay online is somewhere around $8 a month above and beyond your tuition. That’s $80 extra a year to just pay online, when you can just set up monthly automated payments to us from your online banking. Your bank sends DanceStation a check from your account in the mail every month (and then you don’t have to worry about any late fees either!!!).
Lastly, the dress rehearsal dates for next year are June 6th – June 8th and June 9th is recital day. Please, please try and take your vacations after the recital. It seems like a lot to ask, but missing the extra rehearsals the week before the recital is very hard on your child – and also for the other children in class who are trying dance around an empty space.
Contact Info: If you need to talk to me personally – my home phone is 618-667-1912.
We only use the line as an answering service, so just leave me a message and I will call you back as soon as I can. Even better, you can email me at:
That’s it! We separated our Open House into returning students and new students again this year, so make sure you come during the correct times. Class descriptions, dance attire, weather policies, etc. are included in the pamphlet and on the website. Recital pictures and DVD’s will be available at Open House.
Can’t wait to see you all!
Thanks, Elizabeth Conway
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