OPTIONAL FRIDAYS!
This year we have rearranged the schedule to give our Advanced dancers the option of training five days per week instead of six. We will no longer have regularly scheduled rehearsals on Fridays to allow our Advanced dancers the option of taking Friday off.
Why?
We find that often times our Advanced dancers become stressed, burnt out or overwhelmed, especially when they have a heavy rehearsal schedule or when a performance is approaching. Many times personal issues at home or with friends can also contribute to this overwhelmed feeling. Last year many of our Advanced dancers needed to take mental health days from time-to-time. In an effort to maximize our rehearsal schedule and minimize the stress on our dancers, we thought that it would be helpful to make Fridays optional. Consider it a built-in mental health day.
Note that the Academic Conservatory meets Monday-Thursday this year. If you are an academic student at PB and choose to take Friday off from ballet class, you will have the whole day free to rest and recharge before your long Saturday. Since we cannot give you Saturdays off (since that is the only day that works for us to gather complete casts of upper and lower level students together for major rehearsals), we thought the next best option would be to have Friday be optional so you can recharge before Saturday.
WHAT WILL FRIDAYS LOOK LIKE AT PB?
Every other week our Project Ballet clubs and workshops will meet on Friday mornings. Activities such as 4H, Culture Club, Student Council, Mental Health workshops etc. will be held between 10:30am-12:30pm on the following Friday mornings during the fall semester: September 10, September 24, October 8, October 22, November 5, November 19 and December 10. On those seven Fridays the building will open at 10:00am. This will be indicated on the web calendar. If you attend club meetings or workshops in the morning, you do NOT necessarily have to stay to take ballet class that day. You are welcome to attend morning club meetings and workshops without staying to take class.
On the alternating weeks there will not be club meetings in the mornings and the building will open at 12:00pm. This will be indicated on the web calendar.
The Running Club will meet every Friday from 12:15-12:45pm. See the "clubs" section of the Advanced Orientation Webpage for more information or CLICK HERE. If you attend Running Club, you do NOT necessarily have to stay to take ballet class that day. You are welcome to attend Running Club without staying to take class.
Mrs. McLeish will hold mentoring check-in meetings with Advanced students from 1:00-2:30pm on Fridays. You will attend two 30 minute one-on-one meetings with her each semester. SIGN UP HERE for your meeting time. You do NOT necessarily have to stay to take ballet class on the days that you sign-up for your check-in meetings. You are welcome to attend your meeting without staying to take class.
There will be an optional 2-hour Friday ballet class from 2:45-4:45pm, taught by Miss Laura. This class is a drop in class for Advanced dancers. The class will be a combined level class with Level 5. Please attend any time you are in the mood to take a Friday class. Note that dress code is still required on Fridays, even though it is a "drop-in" opportunity for Advanced dancers. We encourage you to take class when you have a lighter rehearsal week, or a lighter homework week, or when you are just in the mood to take an extra class! There is no additional charge for the Friday afternoon class. Drop-in as you like.
The building will close at 5:00pm every Friday.
NOTE: We want to make sure that our Advanced dancer parents know that we are NOT taking attendance for Advanced dancers during the 2:45-4:45pm class. We will not know if your child was supposed to take class and didn't show. Since it is an optional class, we will not call you to check on their whereabouts if they do not show up for class. You will have to create a level of accountability for your child if you prefer they take class and/or if they drive themselves.