Cinderella show!

On 15th December, the last class of term, the students of Butterfly Ballet from the Nursery class upwards took part in a very loose version of Cinderella!  Considering that some of them are only 2.5 years it was probably a tad ambitious however there's nothing like aiming high!

We hired a new venue in the form of Kitson Hall and were able to do a run through the week before, however it was still always going to be a case of expecting the unexpected.

My little students however were little stars and the Cinderella show went off very well. Hair and make up was done in a seperate room and then 3 Cinderellas, 2 Ugly Sisters, mice, cats, Fairy Godmothers and stars did themselves proud with a lovely little display.  I was enormously proud of them and feel that it was a very worthwhile venutre.

Many congratulations to everyone involved and roll on more!

Photos will follow.

Rest up and have a lovely Christmas everyone!

Exciting times!!!

I am very excited to announce that Butterfly Ballet has been asked to take over the classes at Eddie Catz in Putney.

This is a wonderful opportunity and works perfectly as classes will be held on a Weds afternoon.
Attendance in the classes also includes a free play and there is a cafe for the parents to use whilst the children are in class.

It really is a fantastic set up and I was delighted to be asked. Class times are below and if you happen to want to change to the Putney venue then it is not a problem. Classes will be taught by me and I really look forward to bringing Butterfly Ballet to Putney.

Eddie Catz
3.00 - 3.30pm     Baby Ballet                                18mths - 2.5 years        (Parent/carer to stay in room)
3.30  - 4.00pm    Nursery Ballet                             2.5 - 4 years
4.00 -  4.30pm    Nursery Ballet                             2.5 - 4 years
4.30  -  5.10pm   Junior Ballet/RAD Pre-Primary    4 - 5 years
5.10 -   5.55pm   RAD Primary                              5-  7 years

A free taster class will take place on Weds January 9th. If you would like to attend this then please contact me on info@butterflyballet.co.uk

For more details of Eddie Catz visit - http://www.eddiecatz.com/

New Grade 1-3 syllabus

My Half term was actually spent at the RAD headquarters doing a course to learn the new Grade 1-3 syllabus. This was launched at the start of the year and so any of my students that progress up to those Grades will need to know it. 

I love the music and the use of props in the syllabus, I think the children will love that. However it came across as quite hard so I imagine it will probably take a term longer than usual to teach. It will be interesting to see but it made the Pre-Primary and Primary make sense as it all links into the higher grades.

Clapham Junction!

My friend who lives in SW11 has been begging me to teach classes closer to her so that she did not have to commute to Barnes. With a 2nd child born she said it would be very difficult to get across on a Sat morning and if she could guarantee the numbers would I then teach in her area?

I pondered and pondered and eventually decided to do it and found a nice venue in the shape of Fybre Fit Gym on the Northcote Road. As from October half term then, Butterfly Ballet classes can now be found in the Clapham Junction area on a Saturday afternoon.

I am going to trial them till the end of term so they will operate on a drop in basis and if they go well then I will look to do sign ups for next term.

Classes are:

Baby Ballet - 3.30 - 4.00pm
Nursery Ballet - 4.00 - 4.30pm

Fybrefit Gym
Croosh Alley
Off Northcote Road
SW11 1NJ

A free taster is available and if you would like to try then do not hesitate to contact me.

Cinderella workshop

I was delighted to be asked once again to teach a workshop for the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD)
This time it was a Cinderella one, held at the RAD headquarters in Battersea.

The day, on October 14th, went off very well and was split into 3 different classes covering the ages of 4 up to 12. The workshop contains many different elements and then culminates in a show at the end which the parents can watch.

It's amazing how much the children can learn in such a short space of time and they all worked really hard.

Here are some comments from the parents evaluation forms ~

"He loved the acting and dressing up"
"A fantastic experience for both our children. They thoroughly enjoyed it, it is so much more creative than their usual ballet class"
"Can't wait to return again"
"What a wonderful experience, fantastic!"
"So well organised and covered so much"
"Please keep up with the wonderful work"

"Our daughter said everything was really fun! Thank you"
"What a variety of dance and movements. She thoroughly enjoyed herself"
"To do so much in so little time - the girls loved it. Bravo"
"A great and welcome opportunity, Thank you!"
Favourite part... "Watch(ing) all the children showing what they had learnt, all looking extremely happy, working together and enjoying dancing"

I will definately let you know of any further workshops that are taking place as it is a great experience for the children.

Coming soon to a cinema near you..

Is Swan Lake!

On 23rd October The Royal Opera House will be showing live performances of the Ballet Swan Lake to cinemas all around the world. As well as the Ballet they also will be showing life behind the scenes including interviews with one of my friends Sabina Westcombe!.

For more details you can visit here - http://www.roh.org.uk/news/your-reaction-swan-lake-in-cinemas

New Term!

Here we are in a new term and I am delighted that there are so many new little ones joining Butterfly Ballet.

Classes are held on Saturday's as normal but now we have a weekday to join. Please refer to the website for more information and times.

After a long Summer break it is so exciting to see the children and parents again. 2 months is a long time in a child's life and their development over the summer break can feel vast.  Some children are moving up classes which is exciting and may the good toes roll for all!

Olympic Fever!

What a very special Summer it has been with the Queens Jubilee and then the Olympics. I don't think any of us could have envisaged just how brilliant it would have been, not only for sport but for the country as a whole.

When an opportunity came to audition for the Closing ceremony I jumped at the chance, although I declined to audition for the Ballet as I just felt a little too old to be mixing with school leavers!  Instead I found myself carrying a pole... unfortunately the wonderful whizzing and twirling we did with the pole was hidden to all those watching on tv, however let it be known much wonderful patterns were indeed made!  Our pole dancing culminated in the creation of John Lennon's face, brought together by about 100 jigsaw pieces.

I think I was his left cheek!

Although my part was tiny, to be involved in the Closing ceremony was an experience that will stay with me forever. The adrenalin I felt before running out into the stadium was incredible, it was literally coursing through my veins. How the likes of Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis were able to compose themselves only goes to show their strength of character as well as skill in sport.  I loved it with a passion and feel very lucky to have been part of such a special occasion.   Roll on the Commonwealth Games!!

After the fireworks

End of Term Olympic Demonstration take 2 !

Due to rain stopping the majority of play last week I did an extra class so we could do a display and turned it into a little show for the parents. Some new parents for next term came and it was a lovely day.

I can't believe that Butterfly Ballet is two terms old and thank everybody for the amazing support and kind words regarding the classes. I love it with a passion and hope everyone has a great Summer break.

The Story begins..

Flying on Bella's wings to the Olympics

Carrying the Torch

Walking to get the gold medals

Gold Medal celebrations with ribbons and flags!

So proud of my little Olympians!

Wet but wonderful!

You can plan, you can organise but you can't control the weather....

Our dear old British Summer certainly didn't come up trumps on Saturday with a very wet day. Regular Fair exhibitors said they had never known of one to be so bad.

My brave troops arrived at 3.30pm at which point the heavens opened. The stage area had not been able to go up due to it being waterlogged so a muddy grass area was the place where we would dance. Barnes Ballet School had cancelled their demonstration in the morning and making a call at 3.45 I sent everyone home.....

4pm, we come out of the church and the rain had stopped, I had put so much work into the display and I could see that the children were dissapointed that I rallied up those that were left and enquired as to whether they would be game for their daughters to take to the mud?!  Fair play to all the parents who were totally up for it and a bigger well done to the 5 little ones who were still left and who took to the demonstration in their wellies, tutus and wings.   I was so proud of them and I must have looked like a joke, my tracksuit bottoms were covered in mud and my new trainers were now black but the show still went on and it was so utterly British!

Thank you to Sean and Louise and Strangy and Lizzie who helped with the day and to the Barnes Fair organisers for the opportunity to do it. Excited for it to be a regular event.

A bigger thank you to the children and parents. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Barnes Fair Demonstration

Really looking forward to doing a little demonstration at the Barnes Fair.

Participating in events like this is a fantastic opportunity for the children, building confidence and enabling them to get an opportunity to perform to real audiences.

This year the theme is The Olympics so our torch is being made and we look forward to going for Gold!

The Barnes Fair is on Saturday July 14th so do come down and support if you are in the area, we are on at 4pm at the Events Stage.

Cinderella Workshop in October

The Coppelia workshop in Cardiff went really well. I loved it with a passion.

I have been asked to do a Cinderella one in London at the Royal Academy of Dance in October.
If you have a child age 4+ then more information on the workshops can be found here -
http://www.rad.org.uk/article_pink.asp?id=169

RAD Coppelia workshop

Really looking forward to going to Cardiff next Saturday after class ready to take the RAD Coppelia workshop on the Sunday.  The RAD do some great workshops and summer schools for children.

More information on the Coppelia one can be found here.

http://www.rad.org.uk/article.asp?id=535

Testimonial from the New Term.

A great start to the new term, some lovely new children and parents and fantastic as always to see familiar faces.

Some feedback from a new Mum.

" I must as well say it was a pleasure seeing you teaching the class, you do it in such a pleasant and passionate way, it is so nice to just observe the way you take them through the stories and exercises. Congratulations!"

Thank you very much. It's always good to know you are on the right track!

New Term, New Classes

Hope you all had a great Easter !
It was fantastic to have a few weeks off,  to be able to work on the plans and adventures for next term and look ahead to sunnier days.

It's really important to me to offer classes where I can can really teach every child. Therefore I like to keep my classes smaller and have a self imposed capacity of 10 per class. Of course it's possible to teach more than that, especially when you have an assistant however maintaining the standard and level of attention is my priority as opposed to bums on seats so to speak. With this in mind I have created another 2 classes so that the Nursery classes can remain smaller. This will also enable opportunity for other children to join should I have enquiries.

Therefore this term the timetable is as so:

Baby Ballet - 9.00 - 9.30am  -    18months - 2.5 yrs    (parent/carer to stay in hall)
Nursery Ballet - 9.30 - 10am -    2.5 yrs - 4yrs        
Nursery Ballet - 10.00 - 10.30am - 2.5 yrs - 4 yrs
Junior Ballet -     10.30 - 11.10am - 4yrs - 5yrs

Free taster still applies and free parking at the Girl Guide Hall too!

Check it out!

Day out

Louise Halliday, Communications Director of English National Ballet is a very good friend of mine who I first met at Elmhurst Ballet School. We danced together at ENB and she has gone on to become their marketing guru.

One of her little ventures is this - Sleeping Beauty, adapted especially for children -  http://www.ballet.org.uk/details.php?id=16

Do go along and support it if you can.

End of First Term!

Thank you so much to all those who have supported Butterfly Ballet during it's first term of flight!

It has exceeded my expectations and I am over the moon with the number of children that have signed up.
I love my Saturday mornings and appreciate all the networks that have supported it and I look forward to lots more wonderful adventures next term!

Have a great Easter!

Halfway though

Half term already!

I can't believe we're already at half term. The first half has gone really well, lots been learnt and tweaking structure and layout all the time but am very happy with all so far.

Have received some lovely feedback as well -

" Thank you for such a lovely ballet class today. Holly had a wonderful time. You are a beautiful teacher - so graceful and fun - it was heavenly to watch. "

Thank you so much for all feedback. It's really enouraging!

The launch

We have lift off!

All went really well. Lovely parents, lovely children, lots of things I will do differently next week but the most important thing is it went really well.  Lizzie, my assistant was great, I had my music maestro of my friend Catriona to do the music so all good!

Thank you to all those who came and thank you to all those who support.
.
We are in business!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Wishing all a 2012 that brings all good things.

So we are up and running with Butterfly Ballet. The hall is confirmed, some children have signed up, the music has been coordinated and the props are overflowing in the spare room.
I am now very excited!

I'm combining working on a Saturday with Butterfly Ballet with my full time job, therefore my evenings are long and my weekends have been busy but I'm ready....
Let the good toes roll... !

The art of flyering.....

Letterboxes....
I can tell you a thing or two about them now.

Spent the past couple of days walking around posting the flyers through letterboxes. For some reason I don't like the home owners seeing me do it, so I have taken to rising at 7am to tiptoe around the neighbourhood. 

So.. it has to be said, it's quite a mindless exercise, especially with flu brewing. However I comforted myself by learning everything there is to know about the different types of letterboxes. Wow, who would've thought.. Narrow ones that seem to be permanently open, the stiff, 'snap-shut immediately' ones and those with the brush .. Then there was the dilemma of which way to put the flyer in, main picture up... or main picture down, to enable it to float down and land face up.   After 2 hours of flyering I had it all going on...

My defining moment of my flyering experience though was one particular cold January morning. Now usually I dress up to do the flyering, wear my long Reiss coat to look professional. however said particular morning with flu brewing I had my daggy tracksuit bottoms on and my down puffa jacket.


I see a family leaving their house and with car seats in tow I know they are the right market. So plucking up courage I approach them.  They looked young, they looked beautiful, perfect people to approach.
As I'm chatting to the Mum asking how old her daughter is I couldn't help but wish I had worn my long Reiss coat, as  on that particular day, with my down puffa jacket on, no make up and spots, by all accounts I look rather grim and she by all accounts look beautiful.

So chat chat chat and I'm thinking 'Crikey, you really are beautiful, I must drink more water to try and get faultless skin like you'. Then suddenly her voice, well spoken, but husky resonated with me and I realised...   I'm only standing talking to Holly Willoboughy of This Morning, Dancing on Ice fame. If there was ever a time to be looking smart it was now but no, I'm looking minging.


However she was perfectly lovely and took a flyer and I went straight back to the car and applied some make up. Note to self ~ Pay attention to the advice your Mum gave you when younger ... "Always be prepared!!!"

Build it and they will come..

WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP!!


Houston .... we no longer have a problem !

2 emails waiting for me in my Butterfly Ballet inbox. Oh the joy. We are in business!

To rip Kevin Costner off one of his famous quotes "Build it and they will come!"