PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE - SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2014

There is a Public Open House scheduled for SOBT on Saturday January 11^th. If you know anyone who may be interested in learning more about what SOBT has to offer, please pass the information along!!  This is not a parent observation day, though the lobby will be open for all.  We will have our first parent observation week in February.

The plan for the Open House is to have classes running continuously in Studios 1 and 2 from 9:00am – 2:00pm, trial or sample classes in the Pilates Room, pointe shoe demonstrations, an SOBT information booth, an OBT/SOBT boutique, and coffee and bagels for refreshments.  

Due to the Open House the Saturday schedule will be altered from our normal Saturday class times.  The altered schedule will be posted later this week. We will also be looking for student helpers from levels 3P - 5.  If interested you may sign up next week when you are at the studio.  

Thank you in advance for your support of this event.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

LAST DAY OF THE FALL TERM

Just a reminder that the Fall Term for SOBT ends tomorrow, Saturday, December 7th.  Please clean up the locker room and look through the Lost and Found.  All items left outside of the lockers will be washed and donated to a local charity.

We will hold warm up classes for the Nutcracker at the Keller Auditorium (the schedule can be found on the OBT Children's Coordinator Blog.

Adult Drop in classes will continue through December 20th.  Classes are on Mon, Wed, and Fri from 9:30 - 11:00am.  Adult classes cost $7.00 and are open to students in Level 4 or higher -
you MUST have an Adult Class Registration and Release form signed by SOBT Faculty and a parent/guardian.
 

The Winter Term begins Monday, January 6th.  You can find the 2013/2014 Annual Session calendar to the right under "Pages".

Have a joyous and peaceful holiday season!

SOBT is OPEN - Please be careful!

Classes will be held tonight at the studio, however if road conditions where you live are treacherous and you will not be able to come in, please call the studio to be excused:  503-227-6890

SOBT School is OPEN

Good Morning!

At this time classes for the School of OBT will be held as scheduled this evening.  
Please check back for updates.   

A NUTCRACKER Message and Request From Kristan Knapp:

Hello SOBT Families:

This year The Nutcracker will feature a photo opportunity in a special "Land of Sweets" location on the first balcony level. The Sugar Plum Fairy, a soldier and a mouse will be there, along with the Land of Sweets model train, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Candy Cane Lane, and select boutique items for sale.  We are hoping to have your assistance to make this new experience a lot of fun for children attending The Nutcracker. Would you be willing to purchase a kit at Fred Meyer or Trader Joe’s and create a Gingerbread House for our Land of Sweets?

 

I can offer you two-four tickets to the Dress Rehearsal on Friday, December 13 at 7:00pm for every Gingerbread House you turn in by noon on Dec. 13^th.  Please let me know if you are going to do this project; depending on interest, we may need to limit the number of houses, and I would like to get tickets to you ahead of time since there is no Box Office open that night. We’d be happy to return the house to you after the show closes, for your family to enjoy.

 

We are also looking for large (Styrofoam) candy canes (2-3 feet tall), large nutcrackers, drums, rocking horses, and other items to decorate our Land of Sweets. The train locomotive is about 8 inches tall, and the buildings we have are about 12-18” tall, but we hope to have things of various scales, so size is not the most important consideration. Any ideas or extra trimmings you may have to lend or donate will be welcome and seriously considered.

 

We also will need volunteers to help staff the Land of Sweets and to guide traffic to the new location for the photos at every performance. Students, ages 12-15, may work a shift with their parent; students, 16-17, may volunteer to work unattended with parent permission.  We have a few extra party girl / boy and soldier costumes - we will do our best to find costumes for any student helpers who might want to work a shift.

 

Please contact Kristan Knapp, Retail & Volunteer Manager, about your availability and interest. Many, many thanks for all you do for your students and for OBT. We look forward to working together on this project.

 

SPECIAL EVENT:  This Saturday from 9:30-3:30 or so there will be an OBTique Pre-Sale in the studio lobby just for you and other volunteers. You’ll have first pick of the ornaments and nutcrackers we have this year.

Check it out!

 

Thanks again,

Kristan

 

Kristan B. Knapp

OREGON BALLET THEATRE

Retail & Volunteer Manager

 

Kristan.Knapp@obt.org

 

503.227.0977 Ext. 240

 

ASP Forms and SOBT Class Schedule

REMEMBER to turn in your ASP form NO LATER THAN Wednesday, Nov. 27th!!!

SOBT Classes will be held Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this coming week - 
November 25 - 27.

There will be NO classes Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday!

PE Credit for High School Dancers!!

Dear SOBT Students and Families,

Mike Weddle, a volunteer member of our School Board Committee, has worked tirelessly with many local school districts and schools to foster initiatives that will allow high school students to receive credit for PE, art or as an elective by attending classes at SOBT.  This exemption is not automatic and will only be given if a student requests it.  For most schools it will be a new process, so if anyone experiences any trouble, please let us know and Mr. Weddle will gladly contact the school on our behalf.  Listed under "PAGES" you will find specific information for each school or school district on how to navigate the process, as compiled by Mr. Weddle.  Newberg and North Clackamas school districts are currently not on the list, but Mr. Weddle expects he will be able to add them in the near future.  This is a wonderful benefit for our students and I am sure many of you will join me in sending out a well-deserved and warm thank you to Mr. Weddle!

Best wishes,

Anthony Jones

School Director

PLEASE READ - Changing Room Revisited

Dear SOBT Students and Parents,

This is a quick reminder that at all times only students in Level 3 through Apprentice are allowed downstairs and in the changing rooms in the OBT building.  All other students please come dressed with your street clothes over your dance clothes.  There are cubbies on the ground floor where personal items can be stored or students can simply store their street clothes in their dance bag.  In the rare case a student needs to completely change in or out of their street clothes, please quickly use one of the restrooms on the ground floor.  Monday to Friday from 3:00PM until closing and on Saturday from 8:15AM until closing there is always at least one SOBT staff member in the reception/stretching area of the OBT building.  These staff members are there during school hours primarily for the safety of all students.  The best way we can provide safety for our younger students is to have them remain on the ground floor of the OBT building where they are always in clear view of an SOBT staff or faculty member, whether in the reception area or in the ballet studio.  All of us at SOBT are committed to making it a safe, secure and nurturing environment for everyone.  

I thank everyone, students, parents, staff and faculty alike, for their cooperation. 

Best wishes,
Anthony Jones

School Director  

TUITION PAYMENT #3 - DUE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH

Please drop payments in the slot by the receptionist's desk or hand in to Karin or Shari.  Credit card payments will be accepted during office and class hours Tuesday - Friday and 9:00am - 1:00pm on Saturday. 

Parents: Please Share with Your Child(ren).

ONLY students in Level 3 AND ABOVE are allowed downstairs. 

Pre-Ballet, First Steps, Level 1 and Level 2 students may not go downstairs.  

Cubbies are provided upstairs for the students' belongings.

SOBT Closed in honor of Veteran's Day

PLEASE NOTE:  The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre will be closed Monday, November 11, 2013 in honor of Veteran's Day.  

There will be no Adult or Student Classes.

Thank You for a Successful Open House and Welcome Mr. Jones!

Dear SOBT Parents and Students,

A big thank you to all who came to our Open House yesterday in honor of Anthony Jones, our new SOBT Director. It was a wonderful afternoon and would not have been so without the presence of all our SOBT students, families, S/OBT staff and OBT Trustees.   We had 300 attendees who came to show their support and meet Mr. Jones.

If you were unable to attend the Open House and would still like to meet Mr. Jones, he will be returning to SOBT on a permanent basis starting December 10, 2013.

We want to thank everyone for their continued support of SOBT and for welcoming Mr. Jones to SOBT. 

Warmest regards,

Nancy Locke and Dean Richardson

OBT Trustees

SOBT Co-Chairs School Board Committee

Boys Breaking Ballet Stereotypes

This is an interesting article about Canada's National Ballet School.  Enjoy!

http://www.thestar.com/life/2013/11/01/boys_breaking_ballet_stereotypes.html

OPEN HOUSE RECEPTION - Sunday, November 3rd

You and your family are cordially invited to an

Open house reception

In honor of 

Anthony Jones

 School of Oregon Ballet Theatre Director

Sunday, November 3, 2013

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Parent-Child, Pre-Ballet and First Steps

2:00-3:00 PM Levels 1-3

3:00-4:00 PM Levels 3P-PD

At

 Oregon Ballet Theatre

818 SE 6th Avenue

Important, if you have not already done so,

please RSVP to: nancyrlocke@gmail.com

We have suggested a time range for various class levels to accommodate the large number of SOBT students and families attending this event.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A message from Mr. Jones:

All students in levels 2, 3, 4, 6, PDs and Apprentices are invited to don a costume to class on Thursday, October 31, 2013.

Costumes should allow for the perfect Pirouette, the grandest Grand Plie, and the biggest Battement and should not interfere with any range of motion

or cover your face (no masks).  Also, we need to be aware of our youngest dancers who will be here on Halloween; no gory costumes, please!

Come one, come all, to class in your finest garments, your scariest suits, your frilliest fineries on Halloween! 

See you there…Bwhahaha….

Absence Reporting

Dear SOBT Families,

Please direct all absence requests and notifications to schoolofobt@obt.org. You will receive a response. If your child is ill, transportation falls through, or an unexpected event occurs and your child must miss class, he or she will be excused even with same-day notification. If possible, please report all same-day absences before the start of your child's class time. Phone calls are also accepted for same-day absences. If you are going out of town or your child has a prior commitment, we prefer at least one week's notice. Thank you.

Updated Schedule Items

Please Note: Changes to Weekly Schedule for Thursday - Saturday, October 17 - 19th

Thursday Ballet 6 class will be from 5:00 - 6:15p

Friday Ballet 5 AND 6 will be combined in Studio 1 from 5:45 - 7:15p - Daniela Deloe will be teaching

Saturday 9:00am Pre-Ballet - Katarina Svetlev-Thompson will be teaching

Saturday Ballet 4, 5 AND 6 will be combined in Studio 1 from 10 - 12p - Kevin Poe will be teaching

Saturday COMPANY Class + PDs will be in Studio 1 from 12 - 1:30p

Keeping Quiet In The Lobby

Dear SOBT Parents,

We've been having trouble with excess noise in the lobby and could benefit from your cooperation in preparing your child for his/her arrival to SOBT. All children in Levels 1 and 2 (as well as First Steps on Saturday mornings) should arrive no earlier than 15 minutes prior to class start time. Please remind your children that during this time they should store their belongings in the cubbies and return immediately to the main lobby area for self-directed stretching exercises.

While we do our best to keep noise volume down with gentle reminders, your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Karin Cravotta
School Receptionist

Blog Access

Dear SOBT Students and Families, 

Please note that for increased security for our SOBT Blog and the OBT Children's Coordinator Blog, we have removed the links from the public website.   

To access the new updated SOBT Blog and the OBT Children’s Coordinator Blog, you do not need an invitation.  

For your convenience, the blog links are listed below.  

SOBT Blog Access: 

http://schooloforegonballettheatre.blogspot.com/

Children's Coordinator Blog Access:

http://obtchildrenscoordinator.blogspot.com/ 

Please use the links above and bookmark the pages so that you may access them daily and remember to check the SOBT Blog and OBT Children’s Coordinator Blog (if in Nutcracker) daily for updates, schedules and news.

If you have any questions please email Shari Goss at Shari.Goss@obt.org

TUITION PAYMENTS AND REGISTRATION FORMS DUE

Registration Forms:

Karin will be handing out registration forms this week to students who have incomplete files. 

Please make sure to turn in these completed forms no later than Saturday, October 12th!

Tuition Payments:

 

PAYMENT #2 IS NOW PAST DUE!

This week, October 7-12, is amnesty week and all past due tuition and late registration forms will be accepted without any late fees. Beginning October 14, a late charge of $25.00 will be applied to any delinquent account.  

 

Payment #3 is due November 16 and the final payment is due January 25, 2014.   Any account not paid on the scheduled due date will be charged a late fee.  If a late payment is not remitted by the next payment due date, the account balance will immediately be due in full.  Failure to pay may result in the withdrawal of the student from SOBT.  All accounts must be paid in full by February 1, 2014, for participation in the 2014 Annual School Performance.  A non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee of $20.00 will be charged for any check returned unpaid to SOBT.

SOBT Listing of Additional Charges/Fees/Fines

Late tuition Fee                                   $25.00
Non-Sufficient Funds Fee                   $20.00
Late Registration Forms Fee              $25.00

Tuition invoices will not be generated unless your payment is late.  It is the responsibility of the parent(s) to keep track of payments.  Please note the payment dates and amounts on your calendar. 

If parents have questions about tuition or registration forms due to SOBT, please email: schoolofobt@obt.org

SOBT SCHOOL CLOSURE - FRIDAY, OCT 11, 2013

Following the schedule of the Portland Public School System, SOBT will be closed on Friday, October, 11th in observance of Columbus Day.

Please check the updated Weekly Schedule for changes.

WELCOME!

Welcome to the NEW School of Oregon Ballet Blog at:  http://schooloforegonballettheatre.blogspot.com/
Please bookmark this page, as there will be NO link from the OBT/SOBT website.

Beginning Monday, October 7th the old SOBT blog will not be accessible.  Our recent attempt at a secure blog only allowed access for 100 readers (my mistake, I didn't realize that 'team members' meant readers.) While the new blog will be open to the public, it is more difficult to access then the previous link posted on our homepage.

As with the old blog, you can sign up for Google Alerts.  The instructions are posted below.

We ask that all SOBT students/families begin using the new blog immediately.  In the right hand column you will find "Pages".  Under "Pages" I will post schedules and documents for easy accessibility.  Click "Return to blog" to continue reading blog posts.

Please remember to check the SOBT blog daily for updates, schedules, and news.  If you have any questions, please email Shari Goss at shari.goss@obt.org

How to Sign Up for a Google Alert

Once you are comfortable accessing the SOBT Blog, consider signing up for a Google Alert.  A Google Alert notifies you by email that a posting has recently occurred.  To sign up, follow these simple directions: 

1.     Go to this website: www.google.com/alert

3.     Enter the following information:

Search query:       “School of Oregon Ballet Theatre” (be sure to use quotation marks)

            Result type:            Everything

            How often:             as-it-happens

            How many:            All results

                  Deliver to:              Enter the actual email address to which you want the email sent

                  Click:                    CREATE ALERT

4.     Each time the School Administrator posts to the SOBT Blog, an email will be sent to the registered email address.  You can have the email sent just to your home email address or you can sign up multiple times and, for instance, have it sent to your work address as well.

Freed Pointe Shoes, Level 3 & 4

After communicating with the rest of the faculty, we have jointly agreed we would like all Level 3 and 4 students dancing on pointe to eventually switch to Freed Studio pointe shoes.  Freed Studio shoes were developed with the young dancer in mind and provide students with a stronger and more durable shoe.  We feel this will be a positive change for the younger students in the school.  The Freed Studio shoes will not only offer more support in the early stages of pointe training, they will also last longer than Freed Classic shoes.   This is not a policy to be implemented overnight.  Please continue wearing what you are wearing until they have worn out, then consider purchasing Freed Studio for your next pair of shoes.  In addition, we are in the process of trying to get a representative from Freed to come to SOBT in January to do fittings for all students.  You are welcome to wait until this time to switch shoes; this would be a perfect opportunity to be professionally fitted and make the change to Freed Studio.  We will have more information about this visit in the near future.  OBT and SOBT are very committed to Freed of London and feel strongly they provide company and school dancers alike the highest quality product currently on the market. 

Anthony Jones

School Director

A Message From Anthony Jones, SOBT School Director

Dear SOBT Students and Families,

I am glad to hear from afar the school year is off to a good, productive and busy start.  I again thank the staff and faculty of SOBT for keeping everything running so smoothly until I arrive.  As I believe most of you are aware, I am working for the Palucca Hochshule für Tanz in Dresden, Germany.  I have been working with the school in Dresden the past couple of weeks on my exit plan with a goal towards finding a solution that would give the Palucca School sufficient time to organize things on their end, while also providing me with the earliest possible start date at SOBT.  We have come to a compromise whereby I will begin at SOBT on Monday, October 21, 2013.  I will then be in Portland for three weeks up until November 9, 2013, at which time I will return to Dresden for a few weeks to wrap up my time at the school and a few projects that need my attention.  I will be in Portland and at SOBT permanently from December 9, 2013, onwards.

The teaching schedule that is in place now will remain so till the start of the Christmas holidays.  I do anticipate, however, that there will be some modifications to the teaching schedule during the three weeks I am in Portland to afford me the chance to teach as many classes as possible in an effort to get to know the students and the school better.  I will work with the faculty on this interim 3 week schedule and have it to you very soon.  Starting in January, there will be a somewhat revised teaching schedule where I will be taking over some of the classes in various levels.  It is with much anticipation I look forward to getting in the studio and beginning to work with the students of SOBT!

During the weeks I am in Portland in October and November we are planning an Open House and informal reception for all SOBT students and their families.  The date and time are yet to be determined but that information will be forthcoming very soon.  This will be a wonderful opportunity for me to introduce myself to the SOBT family and have a chance to meet as many of you as possible.

The SOBT Wellness program is an important new component for our ballet school and I strongly encourage all students, levels 3 and above, to take part in the assessments this week. I am very excited for my start at SOBT and I look forward to seeing everyone when I arrive in Portland next month.

Keep up the good work!

Anthony Jones

SOBT School Director

WELCOME

Hello and Welcome,

We have created a new private blog for the families of SOBT.  Once invited, we ask that you check this blog regularly for information and updates.  You may want to connect this blog to your email, so you will be informed when a new post has been uploaded.

Please note the right side bar where you will find older posts along with pages that have pertinent information such as the dress code and/or schedule.  Just click on a title to open and view a page.  Click "Return to Blog" when you are finished.

We look forward to a new and exciting year at SOBT!

Shari