© 2011 The Lynden School of Dance

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“Lynden for a lifetime...”

Congratulations to all of the children who danced in the recent Medal Test; all of your hard work and practice in the months leading up to the day clearly paid off and was reflected in your exceptionally high marks. Well done!

Regular and consistent practice is the only way to ensure the best possible chance of a flawless performance but is never a guarantee against the inevitable, but hopefully occasional, lapse of memory or concentration. The children are well prepared for this and are taught how to 'hide' or 'cover' their mistakes as part of their training. (In a similar way that an actor who forgets his lines learns to 'adlib') They are also taught to deal with the situation in a professional manner i.e. Do not stop dancing, do not just stand there and cry, and do not stomp off the stage in a huff!

Considering how little experience the children have had in dealing with mistakes on stage, those who found themselves in that situation coped extremely well and it is worth remembering that often more is learnt from mistakes than from victories.

I felt that the whole event went very well and I thank all of the parents for their time, commitment, and co-operation. The calm and supportive atmosphere created by the parents really helped to make the afternoon enjoyable for all.

Our next Medal Test is scheduled for Thursday/Friday 2nd/3rd June 2011 (half term). If your child is unable to make this date, please let me know as soon as possible, as it may affect others if they work as part of a duet or trio.

It is my aim to ensure that all of the children will have something new to perform at the next Medal Test either solo, duet or trio, but they must also continue to rehearse their previous routines to ensure that they are not forgotten.

All of the children's routines are choreographed and allocated to individual children based on their teacher's assessment of what is suitable and within their personal level of skill and not at the child's or parent's request. The children are assessed on flexibility, co-ordination, existing knowledge or experience, confidence, technique, style, showmanship, ability to take direction, ability to apply corrections, class discipline, commitment, co-operation, attitude, and determination. It is our goal to bring out the best in all of our young dancers and the quantity of routines that they have to perform never surpasses their quality.

As the children will be learning new routines during their medal classes, it will not be possible for us to practice all of their previous routines every week. It is important that the children find their own time to practice them. They will be asked randomly at medal classes to demonstrate their routines and if they are not up to standard, they will not be permitted to perform them.

All Dance Academy students may use Studio One on Saturday afternoons from 12.15 - 1.45pm for practice. Please purchase a ‘Medal Extra’ ticket, priced £1.50 from reception and hand it in to the class teacher. This will be a supervised, but not coached session and all dancers are strongly encouraged to use this valuable opportunity to practice their routines and work on flexibility and technique. Lynden students should continue to use the practice time available on Monday evenings at The Fieldgate Centre.

Keep up the hard work, practice, practice,…and then practice some more!