Important Reminder - Please Note and Save this Coming Sunday Afternoon for Rehearsals!

- Full Cast Rehearsals - Ballet at 1PM and Modern at Noon- Sunday, May 18th! at ABT Studios in Tucson...

- That's This Sunday!!!

- These are extremely important large rehearsals, as we rapidly approach this Performance Season.

- Thank you for keeping up to date by tuning into my daily blog!

Good Morning Dancers, Dreamers, AND Graduates,

Ballet Classes today - as usual. Saturday classes - as usual.

Full Cast Rehearsal (Ballet) 1PM & (Modern) Noon- Sunday, May 18th! This Sunday!!!

Come prepared to Purchase Tickets, ask questions about supplies your dancer may need (or any other topic), and be prepared to pitch in to help!

Today I am the Proud Mama of a U of A College of Science Graduate, and I am walking on air! Thank you Universe!

May all your celebrations be joyful, sunny and bright! May you be contented in your lives and full of hope and dreams.

Since graduation day is all about Mom, Mommy, and Mamma, I will rerun this video in honor of graduation Day Moms Let's remember to appreciate our Moms everyday. (Dads too, but that's another story.) To underscore how important Moms are, here is "The Mom" song, sung to the William Tell Overture, by Anita Renfroe.

What a Mom says in 24 hours, condensed into 2 minutes and 55 seconds!!! !

TaDa!!

Where would we be without the love and support of our Moms?

Important Reminders

Buy Tickets for Both Performances!!

We are full speed ahead towards our Two Performances May 31st and June 1st. Please invite all your friends and family to attend; tickets are selling well. Our goal is to be Sold-Out before we even go into the Stevie Eller Theatre for rehearsals after Memorial Day Weekend. We can do it if we work together!

This coming Sunday, May 18th, we are spending several hours rehearsing at the Arizona Ballet Theatre Studios. Norman will see his dancers for his modern piece from Noon to I PM. All performers in my Ballet - Homage 2008 - are expected at 1PM. The Pre Ballet groups should be finished by 2 PM. Tween, teen, and adult performers will be done at 3PM. Margaret and her costume team will be fitting costumes throughout the afternoon. Please check for details posted in the Lobby when you attend your regular classes today, Friday, and tomorrow, Sarturday..

Keep in mind that we expect to see our performers more than usual during the upcoming days which lead to the all important performances. Plan to spend extra time at the Studios before and after classes when questions can be answered and difficult dance passages can be reviewed.

Also, this is the time to be preparing fresh & clean dance shoes and other necessary items for the shows. Purchase extra tights just in case, and make sure to have plenty of hair supplies. I cannot count the number of times little performers have appeared at the theatre with no hair fixing items of any type. Each dancer should have her own hair brush, hair nets, hair pins and bobby pins not to mention spray, gel or mousse to hold wispies in place.

I will keep these little reminders coming over the next few weeks. The Shows will be upon us almost before we know it, and they will be magical! See you soon for classes and rehearsal on Sunday which takes place AT THE ABT STUDIOS!!!!!!!

I'll See All My Wonderful Dancers Soon at Our Cozy Love-Filled ABT Studios!! - ¡Nos vemos en los Estudios ABT!

Smiling Miss Cecily, Excited About Dancing and Rehearsing with You - Señora Cecilia

Good Morning Dancers, Dreamers & Graduates,

My son, Raf, graduates today, and I am in "Proud Mama" mode. Congratulations to all the graduates who are attending commencements this week, and to their families and friends.

ABT is on track and humming like the sweetest and prettiest hummingbird in the Old Pueblo. Enjoy the day!

I'll see everyone this afternoon, tomorrow, or Sunday, May 18th for our next Full Cast Rehearsal.

Miss Cecily Feeling Especially Proud

Good Morning Dancers & Dreamers,

Congratulations to Tuesday's dancers! We got an enormous amount done in both of my classes yesterday, and I was very pleased with the good behavior and excellent focus. Norman's dancers also had a very good rehearsal; I understand that his classes were somewhat different than the norm. I think there may be some squawking quads in town today...dance is forever challenging and, therefore, forever interesting.

Megan informed me that both she and Michael need to hold their Saturday classes over the Memorial Day Weekend, so plan accordingly. I was quite dismayed to learn that Saturday attendance has been so spotty since the beginning of April that progress on the pieces for the show has been affected. It is very frustrating for teacher/choreographers when dancers are missing and the whole cast is never actually together. Many dance schools simply solve the dilemma by forbidding dancers who don't attend from performing. While we at ABT have gone to great lengths to avoid such harsh measures, there comes a moment when the piece is in jeopardy and that is unfair to those who attend steadily as well as the teachers who want everyone to look their best!

Having said that, I know that each of you will pace now yourselves in all your various activities so that you can focus to the best of your abilities in your dance classes. I have confidence in you all and want you to be the very best you can be.

Remember that we have a Full Cast rehearsal this coming Sunday, May 18th. The only dancers not required to attend are the few of you who appear in Megan's Jazz piece ONLY and are not participating in any of the ballet pieces.

I'll see you all later today and I can't wait!

Miss Cecily Keeping Us On Track

GOOD MORNING DREAMING DANCERS, READERS, AND BUSY PEOPLE!!! -- ¡HOLA BAILARINES! ( ;-)

Good Monday Morning Dancers & Dreamers, As the countdown continues to Show Time, a few dancers are informing me of conflicts with our regular classes which, of course, we need to use for rehearsal time. I appreciate being told in advance because it helps me plan how best to use that precious time. I have always made an effort to accommodate other extracurricular activities which also come to fruition at the end of the school year, just as do our performances. Keeping that in mind, please remember that I expect those same dancers to be be available for extra rehearsals as the Shows get closer and closer. This year, I expect to have all my teen and tween dancers come to the Studios for at least one extra rehearsal session after school gets out AND before we go into the Theatre. I realize that a very few dancers who go to schools not in TUSD have a longer school year. We will find a way. It will be tricky, we will manage, and the results will be excellent.

This seems a good time to remind people of the ABT cost structure which is so reasonable when compared to other local schools. Most schools charge about $100 per costume for each dance in which your child appears. In addition to many other associated performance fees and charges, they also charge for extra time spent with instructors outside the normal class times. Rather than going that route, Arizona Ballet Theatre actually vastly undercharges for those extras, and, instead requests that you PLEASE purchase as many tickets as possible for BOTH shows. Please invite your family, friends, and any other people you know such as your more elderly neighbors who may not get out much to come to our beautiful shows. I guarantee without reservation that you and your guests will not be disappointed. Our older dancers are professional level, there is not one school or company in town who presents the level of choreography we do - Mr Walker is so far above anything else presented in Tucson - even a dance novice could recognize the difference! And, the way we integrate the littlest dancers with their older fellow students is without parallel.

Believe me, our little ones steal the show every time, no small feat! I personally promise that you will be enchanted with our production.

We will be handing out the basic rehearsal schedule leading up to the shows this Sunday, May 18th, at our Full Cast Rehearsal which begins for most at 1PM. Those dancers performing in Norman's modern piece know that they begin at High Noon. This is the time to ask your questions. We are more than happy to answer them AND to have your input.

One final note - The afternoon classes on Memorial Day Monday