Updates on ballet & rhythmic gymnastics

My 2 little munchkins completed their ballet exams last month. Evan took his 3rd exam: RAD Ballet Grade 1 and Marissa took her very first exam: RAD Ballet Pre-primary in Dance (PPID).

Sole to Soul Dance Studio organised a trial exam and parent's day for students taking the ballet exams. Both Evan and Marissa did well in their trials! In fact all the kids in Marissa's class were so cute!

Evan photographed above with his 2 classmates and their ballet teacher: Ms Alice. The girls were wearing their character dance skirts. And all 3 of them were wearing character shoes.

Marissa in her ballet attire

Easter at The School: International Rabbit Show and rabbit petting zoo. The kids were elated to be able to play with the rabbits. There was also free popcorn, balloons and cotton candy.

For the International Rabbit Show: lots of rabbits of different breeds were on display for the judging.  At the petting zoo, the kids get to go into a barn and pet the rabbits. Limited number of kids are allowed per session. Rabbits were also available for sale at a mini booth outside the barn.

Marissa joined the identification programme by the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (Rhythmic Gymnastics) at the National Sports Council, National Sports Complex, Bukit Jalil. The objective of the programme is to identify new talents for the development of the sport. She is currently under probation for 3 months together with a small group of 6 year olds. Her coach is Ms. Alisa from Uzbekistan. Training is for 1.5 hours per session every Saturday and Sunday…… adding on to my never-ending chauffeuring duties. She stills continues her rhythmic gymnastics classes with Ms Carolyn every Friday. 

As for me…. I have cut down on my cake orders this month of May. I hope to teach a few classes at Cake Connection SS2. Biz at The Red Cherry at Pop is improving and has expanded to include a wide range of homemade artisanal gourmet food and drinks. Do check it out if you are around PJ's Jaya One.

Coppelia Ballet Premiere

Coppelia Classical Ballet Premiere: Saturday night 8:30pm Istana Budaya

Evan & I arrived early and we went straight to the media registration table to collect our 2 complimentary tickets. In my earlier blogpost, I did mention the whole family is going but unfortunately, we were informed that only 2 tickets were allocated per blogger. I didn't want to buy an extra ticket for Marissa which costs RM123, as she may end up sitting on my lap which is strictly not allowed or she may even fall asleep during the performance as the ballet is over 2 hours long.  

We bought the program book for RM10. We also took the opportunity to purchase The White Bat DVD for RM35. The White Bat was a ballet production at Istana Budaya in 2011. Read all about our experience at Istana Budaya's The White Bat here. We watched the DVD just yesterday together as a family. We still kept the program book and our tickets stapled on the front cover although it has been 3.5years ago!

Anyway, back to the ballet, it was very interesting. Our seats at the Grand Circle were pretty good because of the good leg-room and clear view of the stage. Too bad we weren't close enough to see the facial expressions. 

Act 1 was the opening dance which we saw during the rehearsal. It was magical seeing the dancers on stage in full costume dancing on the set. 

Act 2 was my favourite - Evan loved it too because we get to see the various 'dolls' in Dr Coppelius' workshop! 

Act 3 was very nice as well where the dancers get to strut their stuff here. Pas de deux between the newly weds Franz & Swanhilda plus solos by the principal dancers and guest artistes. I love watching Connor Walsh dance - he has such a big on-stage presence. A group of children also performed during Act 3 and there were 3 boys! 

I wonder what ballet performance it would be next year and hopefully Evan will be able to audition for a role in the children's ballet. I'm secretly wishing it to be The Nutcracker. 

Coppelia Ballet Coming Soon to Istana Budaya

Just 2 more days to go before the premiere of Coppelia!

I am very excited and so are my kids especially my girl who will be attending her very first ballet performance at Istana Budaya.

BFM radio conducted an interview recently with Connor Walsh and Wan Ching on July 1st

Then on July 2nd, a few of the cast members were interviewed on Bella NTV7

The dance cast of Coppelia was featured on Capital FM88.9 on July 3rd. Listeners could call in to win tickets for the ballet show. 

L-R: Wan Ching, Xandria Ooi, Mark Brinkley, Connor Walsh & Joanne Kam


Have you got your tickets to watch Coppelia yet?
Tickets still available online: www.ticket2U.biz or Istana Budaya Box Office (03-40265558)
Show time: July 6th 8:30pm and July 7th 3pm

Coppelia Ballet - The Girl with Enamel Eyes

This year in July, Danceworks Production together with Ena Ballet Studio Company, will be presenting yet another exciting ballet production: Coppelia. It will be held at Istana Budaya from July 6-7. 

Evan & I had been attending ballet concerts produced by Danceworks in 2011 (The White Bat) and 2012 (International Ballet Gala) and we look forward to Coppelia this year. And best part is this year, all of us in the family are going, as I received a special blogger invite. And earlier today, all of us attended a closed-door rehearsal of the ballet Coppelia at Studio 10. We got to watch the dancers in action! 

Mark Brinkley from Australia gave us a brief introduction of himself and the ballet Coppelia. He will be dancing the part of Dr Coppelius. He has spent over 20 years as a ballet performer and also many years as a ballet instructor, examiner and advisor. For his outstanding service in ballet, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1993. 

 Kids with Mark Brinkley

So, what's the story of Coppelia about? It's basically a comic and romantic ballet. Dr. Coppelius is a mad scientist who created a doll so lovely that a village youngster, Franz became infatuated with it. Swanhilda, his fiance, was very upset and decides to take matters into her own hands by dressing up as the doll. Eventually the 2 love birds unite and all is well. 

rehearsal in progress

Ena Hirose in action

Ena Hirose is the founder of Ena Ballet Studio and the co-director of Ena Ballet Studio Company. She has won numerous awards and performed in various productions. I remember her performing in Istana Budaya for the past 2 years.  This time in Coppelia, she plays Swanhilda. Here's a group photo of Ena Hirose's current students and ex-students who went on to become professional ballet dancers:

Ena Ballet Studio Company

Connor Walsh (pic above) is the principal dancer of the Houston Ballet, USA. He will be dancing as Franz. Just like his other ballet co-stars, he has garnered various awards and has been in demand as a guest star. It was just great watching the ballet dancers rehearse together so well as they are from different countries i.e. Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Romania, Germany and USA. 

To get your hands on tickets for the ballet, hurry to Istana Budaya Box Office or call them at 03-40265558 to reserve your tickets. You can also purchase tickets online at www.ticket2u.biz. 
Timing: July 6th 8:30pm and July 7th 3pm.
Tickets are priced at RM200, RM160, RM120, RM90 and RM50. 
For further information check out Danceworks Production's website. 

Danceworks Production is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 by a group of dance enthusiasts namely Sunny Chan, Yupin Lee, Jie Choong Wan Chin, Chen Wei and Chua Meei Tyng. The organization aims to spread the joy of dance to all Malaysians - whether as a spectator or a participant, and at the same time, raising funds for charity. By the way, one of the charities to benefit from Coppelia is the SPCA Selangor.

It's gonna be a great ballet performance and highly recommended for families with children. I am counting down the days! I shall now leave you with this promo video of Coppelia - enjoy!

RAD Ballet Primary in Dance Exam

Evan took his RAD ballet Primary in Dance (PID) Exam recently. Pic above - getting his hair done for the exam at Sole to Soul Dance Studio (STSDS). About a month earlier, he took his trial exam. 

All ready! Final pose with his ballet teacher: Miss Alice Yap Cui Xin. Now, he's graduated to Grade 1. It's been almost 2 yrs since he started ballet lessons. I still remember the days when he could not do his splits during stretching time (cos he's not very flexible) but nowadays, he can do it without yelping in pain. All it takes is practice and perseverence. At times he told me he wants to stop ballet because he doesn't like stretching (due to the pain) but I know he enjoys dancing with his friends during the lessons so I encourage him to continue. Now that he can stretch better, he does not complain any more. 

As for Marissa, she has also graduated, but from baby ballet to Pre-primary in Dance  (PPID). She will take her exam next year. 

*Update: Evan obtained a distinction (79%) for his PID ballet exam, scoring a perfect 10 in the creative dance routine.

Sole to Soul Annual Concert 2012

Sole to Soul Dance Studio's Annual Concert 2012 was held at MATIC, KL on 2 consecutive days. First day was on 15th September - a Saturday nite and then a matinee on Sunday. Evan participated in the concert as his class had a joint performance with the Grade 1 ballet students. He is currently at PID level. The title of their performance - Music Box Dancers with choreography by STSDS principal and ballet teacher : Ms Alice Yap.  Evan and Jayson were the 2 boys performing in the ballet.

Turning the music box key

 The ballerinas twirling in their music boxes

The ballerinas in pink are from PID and the blue ones are from Grade 1.

Evan had make up on!

Striking a pose

The 2 boys!

Suddenly the ballerinas turned into scary dolls

 

 

 The ballerinas stopped moving

 

Are the boys in trouble?

The ballerinas attacking the boys

The boys have the keys and they wind up the ballerinas

All back to normal

The ballerinas dance around the boys

 Final jumps

 

Finale

There were 3 other ballet performances as well - one by the PPID class - very cute! There was a classical ballet performed by the Grade 4 & 6 classes combined. And another classical offering by the adult ballet with 2 men dancing. Other performances include Hip Hop, New School Hip Hop, K-pop, Belly Dancing, Breakdance, Solo singing and wonderful performances by the Senior & Junior Dance Company. The last performance was a Gangnam Style one by the dance companies and the instructors.

Quick Update

Yet another month flew by just like that! 

Was super busy with cake orders that I find myself baking and decorating every single day. 

Hope to take a breather next month.

Anyway, we attended the MPO's Family Fun Day concert which was really good. The International Ballet Gala at Istana Budaya was excellent as well - a full house concert! 

I signed up for a one-year membership at True Fitness gym plus personal training sessions.... need to lose some body fat! 

For August, looking forward to celebrating Evan's birthday.... and Marissa is going to be a flower girl for a fellow church member's wedding.... and starting Evan on fencing classes (I bought a Groupon!). 

RAD PPID Ballet Exam

Evan's Pre-primary in Dance (PPID) Ballet Exam was held at Sri Wilayah Ballet Studio on 26th April 2012. His ballet teacher, Ms Alice Yap Cui Xin ,helped with styling his hair and also for the girls. 

For PPID ballet, the ballet teacher will be able to accompany the exam candidates into the exam room. The kids will then perform their dance routine e.g. skips, walks, bounces, creative dance. They will also be asked questions by the examiner relating to their dance. The examiner this year was Ms Mary Schon from UK. Results will be known a few months later. 

In the mean time, Evan has started classes for Primary in Dance (PID) ballet together with 4 other girls. They will also be preparing to perform during Sole to Soul Dance Studio's Concert to be held at MATIC on September 15th and 16th.

Parents' Day

How time flies! It's April already! 

On Easter Sunday, we went to Sri Wilayah Ballet School for Parents' Day. This is because Sole to Soul Dance Studio is having the RAD ballet exams together with Sri Wilayah from 24-26 April 2012. Ms. Alice who is Evan's ballet teacher also teaches at Sri Wilayah.

Parents' Day is usually held about 2 weeks before the ballet exams. Purpose of Parents' Day is for parents to watch their children dance their exam routine. We parents get to comment on the kids' performance and see their progress.
One of the dance routines performed to the music of The Nutcracker.

Two weeks earlier on March 25th, we were at Sri Wilayah for Evan's ballet trial assessment which he passed. In about 2 weeks time, April 26th, Evan will have his Pre-Primary in Dance Ballet exam - also at the same venue. Got to practice everyday to build strength and flexibilty! 

A Series of Firsts

Over the weekend, Marissa started her baby ballet classes at Sole to Soul Dance Studio. Bought her a leotard (RM55) and paid up the fees : RM20 for one-time registration and RM50 fully-refundable deposit (cos got cases of students who attend one or two classes and just disappear!). Class fees are RM60 monthly and if you start like in the middle of the month - the fees are pro-rated. 

She wore a pink tutu which came together with a ballet book I purchased some time ago.... and pre-loved ballet shoes (although shoes are not required). She could follow the instructions and it was evident that she had a good time dancing during the entire 45-minute class. 

Then on Sunday morn, Marissa attended children's church together with her brother. Previously, she didn't want to go or she would only just stay for the singing. This time she stayed on from the start to the finish! 

Evan started on the Specialist Music program at Anne Perreau's (now known as V & A Music Center). It's a weekly 2-hour class on music appreciation where the children (max 5-6 per class) will learn about composers, instruments and theory of music but in a fun way. There's a 15-minute snack time for the children to socialize too. His teacher is a very young, nice and patient lady : Ms. Phylicia. I sat in during the class - only 3 students present.... the other 2 being girls! They were so talkative - just like Evan! He was quite comfortable making friends with the girls though..... ahem!

He will attend this program first until he is ready to progress to the piano. Fees are based on terms i.e. 3 terms in a year and each term is 15 weeks. RM500 - refundable deposit required but no registration fees.

Sorry for the lack of photos - for the first time.... I forgot to bring my camera and didn't take any pics! 

Anyone knows where I can get a used WHITE upright piano? May need one in future!

The White Bat

The first time I stepped into Istana Budaya was with my son - who was equally excited about the Sunday matinee ballet show..... The White Bat. Yeah! It's our first time viewing a LIVE ballet performance! All these while, only watching on the TV screen.

I bought tickets online via Ticket2U. Big mistake - had to pay ticketing and credit card charges. I also did not get my 10% early bird discount price despite buying before 10th December 2011. When I realised what happened, I called up Istana Budaya but was told nothing can be done i.e. they can't refund me and they can't even upgrade my tickets. Note to self -  just drop by the Istana Budaya box office next time to purchase the tickets. Anyway, I printed out the online purchase statement and presented it to the box office on the event day itself and collected the tickets.

The White Bat was presented by Danceworks Production with choreography by Jie Choong Wan-Chin. Since 1998, Danceworks has staged five major productions, including Carmen, Paquita, Don Quixote & the International Ballet Gala 2010, raising money for various charities.

Part of the proceeds from The White Bat will go to Hospis Malaysia, Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation, SPCA..... among other charities. 

Program books were given out by donation only of RM10 each. DVDs of last year's Don Quixote was selling at RM30, 'Just Dance' magazines were selling at RM10 for 3 copies (old issues) and the latest issue is RM10. All proceeds go to charity.

Smart Casual wear - no shorts, no slippers, no round neck or v-neck tee, no torn jeans, no babies, no cameras, no handphones, no food and drinks allowed in the auditorium.

We were seated at Upper Circle - cos that's the cheapest ticket price at RM50 only. Premium seats command RM220! Evan's ballet teacher said we should have taken the better seats i.e. RM100 or RM140 ones..... but it was OK - we could see the dancers but can't see their facial expressions. Again - note to self - buy seats in the Grand Circle next time. The entire performance was about 2 hours with a 20-minute intermission.

 The stage

view from my seating position

The main roles were danced by 3 Japanese : Hironao Takahashi (from Northern Ballet Theatre, Britain), Ena Hirose (Ena Ballet Studio Company, Japan) and Nobuo Fujino (formerly from Hong Kong Ballet). Music by Johann Strauss II -  an opera - Die Fledermaus. Overall the performance was enthralling. Costumes were beautiful, the set was very well-done and the neo-classical ballet - so creative!

I will definitely be back to Istana Budaya again for the International Ballet Gala 2012 in July this year.

Birthday Celebration at STSDS

Another birthday celebration - this time at the dance studio. Toiled on this mini  cake for half a day..... from baking the cake (lemon & poppyseed  cake with lemon glaze) and then covering the cake and cakeboard with fondant and then modelling Evan's favourite Angry Bird and an evil Pig ready to devour those eggs! The ballet class ended 10 minutes earlier to allow enough time for the birthday celebration.

 Evan - trying to split but not flexible enough. 

We didn't serve the mini cake cos aaargh! it was too cute to eat! So 'sayang' to put  a sharp knife through the cake. Anyway, I brought ready-cut slices of the cake and served those instead. The entire mini cake was presented to Evan's ballet teacher : Ms Alice Yap who very generously presented Evan with his birthday present : a pair of black ballet shoes - which he wore during the class!

Marissa also joined in the eating - she was pretty excited too even though it was not her birthday! Evan distributed the party packs and shook hands with his friends. Glad I made the last-minute effort to prepare the cake and all cos Evan told me that he enjoyed the celebration very much.

Ballet for Evan

Yes - you read it right! Ballet for Evan! He's currently taking ballet classes  on a weekly basis at Sole to Soul Dance Studio. He attended trial classes together with Marissa on the same day (but different class cos different age group).  Since he is interested to continue lessons - we signed him up for the beginners' ballet for boys' scholarship program.

Here he is posing with his ballet attendance book before the class. The children are rewarded with stickers after each lesson and they collect them in this book. It's important to wear the appropriate clothing for ballet, hence Evan wears a leotard and tights. His ballet shoes have not arrived yet cos have to pre-order - there are none in stock in his size.

Only 6 students in this class : 4 girls and 2 boys.  2 were absent during this particular class - I took a snapshot from outside the dance room. Parents can view their kids throughout the lesson. Ms Alice - the principal of the dance studio - usually has many props for the kids e.g. wands, feathers, pirate swords and glittery strings - as above.

From what I've observed, Evan tries his best to dance and follow the instructions although his movements are more comical than graceful. Well, at least he is having fun......