Hi Everyone

Week Three already
This term is flying past.

Our Dance Drama is the main focus of our lessons this week.

Over the last two weeks we have been learning about locomotion (fast and slow), moving between different styles of locomotion (walking, skipping, hopping etc), working with partners and making our bodies look happy or sad.
This week we put all that together with "The Villagers and the Tyrant".
Some of us will be villagers playing in the sun and being happy, until the Tyrant appears and starts to demand that we pay him some money. At first we are scared (and show this by sad, unhappy bodies) and give him what he wants. After a while we realise that he is not that scary and gang together to sneak up on the Tyrant and give him a scare instead. The Tyrant goes from being loud and scary to being unhappy and sad.

Of course we show all this using our Mime and Movement skills - no talking - just lots of facial and body expressions. And of course every class is different in the portrayal of the story.
I can't wait to see how your class does it!

Lower Primary classes our Improvisation this week is about having "Fun in the Sun" at the beach. Don't forget to bring your props.
Upper Primary, our Improvisation is called "The Bus Accident".  We might have to practice our first aid skills to help the injured passengers.

Keep up the good work on your ad libbing. Your speech is coming along, but remember practice makes perfect. So that is what we will be doing - practicing so we can be perfect.

See you all at class.

Bye

How's It Going??????

Have you all settled back into your school routine?

I really enjoyed our first week back, seeing all the old faces and meeting lots of new ones. The start of the term is always a little unsettling but we too will soon be into our routine.

It has been good to hear lots of fine voices. I can tell that some of you have been practicing your speech exercises. Your ad-libbing is coming along too and it has been great to hear this during our classes last week. Dust off those imaginations and get all those creative minds working. We can have sooooooo much fun.

The subject of our "snippets" this week is "Why did you put the phone down when I came into the room?" - That's a very long sentence by itself. Can you come up with some answers to it. I look forward to hearing them all.

Also I have really enjoyed watching some of our younger members having fun with crepe paper. We have been making flames and fires and dancing around the room using them as streamers. Just remember, while it is fun to pretend to be flames, we don't play with matches or fire as it can be very dangerous.

Have a really good week. I look forward to seeing you at class.

Bye for now

Here We Go

Welcome to Term One 2012

Hello to all of you who are returning for another year and a BIG WELCOME to all our new students.

Yes classes are starting this week and I have a very busy term planned.

The first thing we need to do is get those voices back into fine form after their rest over the holidays, so......
more projection, articulation and forward placing required. I will need just as much practice as you so it's something we'll be working on together.

Mime and movement is next on the list. I don't know about you but I will have to start limbering up to get into all those wonderful shapes that we make. I may be getting to old for this bit, so you will have to do it for me.

Improvisations or The Weekly Play.
This week some of us will be going to a barbecue with Timothy who loses a tooth, can you guess where??? Others of us will be off to the fairground to see if we can win a prize by Ringing the Bell. I wonder who it will be.

Snippets are returning this term. This week: "School was unbearable today". I hope this wasn't really the case for you.

See you all at class

Bye for now


Helen

Happy New Year Every One

 

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas and New Year.

Well, term one for 2012 is starting shortly and with it our drama classes. Many of you enquired about our classes last year but were unable to take part in our wonderful programme so I warmly welcome you to come along and join in our fun for 2012.

Our classes in:

 Dunedin for 6 - 11 year olds are:

Monday Wakari School Hall, Helensburgh Road    3.45 – 4.45 pm - Starting Monday 13th Feb

Tuesday  Musselburgh School Hall, Marlow St    3.30 - 4.30 pm - Starting  Tuesday 7th Feb

Thursday  Green Island School Hall,Howden St    3.30 – 4.30 pm - Starting Thursday 9th Feb

Friday  Dunedin North Intermediate School Hall, North Road   4.00 - 5.00 pm - Starting Friday 3rd Feb

Youth Theatre for students - 12 - 16 years

Thursday - St Clair Womens Club Hall. 47 Albert Road, St Clair 7.00 - 8.00 pm - Starting Thursday 9th Feb

Invercargill class for 6 - 10 year olds

Thursday Holy Trinity Church hall, King Street, Windsor, Invercargill 3.30 - 4.30 pm - Starting Thursday 9th Feb.

The lessons are divided into three sections.

Speech: Projection, articulation, helping children to speak clearly with clear beginnings and endings of words. We learn rhymes and poems to help keep this fun and to stimulate the imagination.

Mime and Movement: Learning to move our bodies in different ways and to make different shapes with our bodies. Sometimes we have partner work and we also act out short stories (plays) to music.

Creative Improvisation: We learn a short play each week where the emphasis is on making up our own sentences to react to a scenario.

The students work together to help them feel confident in class. 

Youth Theatre includes all of the above concepts and combined with stage craft and performance skills helps young adults grow in confidence and self esteem.

These classes are like a youth group, a safe environment without peer pressure or the other negative issues young people can face in society today.

Our programme runs for the full school year with classes held each week of the four terms. The fee for Term One is $135.00 all-inclusive or $250 which include a family discount for 2 children. Fees are paid at the first lesson of the term, however, I can offer you an installment plan and internet banking is available if this is more convenient.

For those students who may take a little while to settle into our programme and  to enjoy the benefits we provide, we offer a 4 week trial period for $60. This ensures we both find the programme of benefit to your child. 

Please access our website at www.helenogrady.co.nz. for more general information, testimonials etc.

Students are encouraged to call me Helen. I am a fully trained Helen O’Grady Drama teacher. Michelle Penny is my wonderful teacher for the Invercargill class. 

At the end of Term Two you are invited to our End of Term Presentation and Prizegiving. At the conclusion of Term 4 we welcome you to attend a play presented by the children especially for parents and friends and our end of year prize giving.

Parents are not encouraged to stay at class as this can distract the children, is not conducive to creative development and can make teaching difficult.  

If you have any questions please phone on 03-465-8412 or email gdwilson@xtra.co.nz.

I look forward to meeting you and your wonderful, creative children in the very near future.

Kind regards

Helen Wilson

Hello and Welcome to....

Week seven........ already. I just can't believe we are so close to our performance days.

Thank you all for really trying hard with your roles in the plays. At this time of the term it is all getting a little trying and tiring for everyone. So.... we all need to put in that little bit more effort and concentration to make our plays the most wonderful thing our parents, family and friends have seen.

Most of us have finished learning the lines and moves, now it is a matter of putting that little bit more acting into your character, having lovely loud, clear voices, (both speaking and singing) and adding that bit of sparkle and dazzle.

Dress rehearsal is only a couple of lessons away. Have you thought about what you will wear??? Lots of colour and sparkles will be great.

See you all at class

Remember keep smiling

It's Show Time

Dear Parents,

Its Show Time!

We are delighted to present our End of Year productions:

Circus Capers                                                                                                                                        

   Roslyn           - Monday December 12th - 4.15 pm

Musselburgh  - Tuesday December 6th - 4.00 pm             

The Gardens  - Friday December 9th - 4.30 pm

Pirate Joe

Invercargill     - Thursday December 8th - 4.00 pm

Green Island  - Thursday December 8th - 4.00 pm

Murder at Mornington Manor

Youth Theatre - Thursday December 8th - 7.30 pm

DRESS REHEARSAL TIME IS: Half an hour before the production for a final run through

Students please be there on time and in costume. We will perform for our parents and guests during the second half of the lesson

Its really important we support our class mates by attending and being on time.

Please dress in costume for the performance, it would be fantastic. However this is not compulsory, please do not go to a lot of expense.

As always, your co-operation at this time of year is much appreciated.

The students have worked incredibly hard to bring these performances together.

See you there

Week 10 - End of Term

TERM 4 and THE PLAY!

This week is the last lesson of Term 3. Term 4 starts the same week as school.

THE PLAY!

As you know, our Academy year is divided into 4 terms. Terms 1, 2 & 3 concentrate on our extensive, developmental programme designed to help your child gain confidence and self esteem. Term 4 amalgamates the drama and life skills learned during the year into a finished product - the end of year play. This is a very exciting and rewarding time for the children as it gives them all an opportunity to be part of a very successful activity and to show you how they have progressed!

It is really important to make every effort to ensure that your child completes the year and gains the benefit of this unique experience. Children are encouraged to invite their family and friends to come and see the play and celebrate their achievement.

In Term 4, all students will be rehearsing for the end of year play.

Each student has been given a role in the play.

Very few students leave classes at this time of the year so we assume that your child will be continuing and playing a role in the play. Please let us know if this is not the case. To avoid clashes with school activities, the plays will be presented between December 6^th and December 12^th 2011 on the same day of the week you normally have class.

Please put this in your diary to ensure your child can attend and be part of the production.

Fees

Term 4 is an eight week term and the fee is reduced to $120. If you send your fees in with your child, please enclose in a sealed envelope, with your name and the amount clearly marked. Or payment can be made online to our account ASB 12-3150-0266940-00

An installment payment plan is available to help you spread the fee over the term. Please phone or email me if you wish to use the payment plan.

TERM 4 COMMENCES IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

I look forward to seeing you all again and enjoying the fun of producing our play. 

Have a great break. See you next term