Long Time, No Blog!

I have to admit- the last six weeks has really gotten away from me...as far as this blog is concerned! There is a TON I could update about, but here are three very important highlights:

At a very successful Spring Showcase, we premiered the highly anticipated GFAA Flash Mob video!! Watch it here on youtube and please share it with all of your friends on every social media site you can think of! We want the whole world to know about the greatness of Garner Fine Arts Academy!

Our website has a new address...and a facelift! Visit www.gpisd.org/garner from now on to keep up to date with all our events and information. Click under the "Programs" tab to find my little corner of "Theatre/Dance." Be sure to check out the photo galleries and helpful links I've added!

On our new homepage, you can download the audition information for Showstoppers and All Star Dancers. Can you believe showcase just ended and we're already planning for next year?? No rest for the All Stars! Incoming 4th and 5th grade girls that would like to audition for the All Star Dancers must attend a choreography session this Thursday (May 31st) after school as well as small groups tryouts this Saturday morning (June 2nd). More details are available on the website, but as always feel free to email me with any questions!

More updates to come soon!

Loving my job,

Miss King

Kindergarten PTA: Take Two!

Thankfully, we all survived Tuesday's bad weather. Mrs. Becker and I had a mix of kindergarten, Pre-K, daycare, and 2nd grade students that took shelter in the black box theatre with us and their teachers. Everyone handled the semi-crazy situation really well! The only problem was that our Kindergarten PTA showcase had to be postponed.

But no worries, because the show will go on! This coming Tuesday, April 10th at 7:00 our 110 Kindergartners will perform "When I Grow Up." Fun fact: this show is the original brainchild of our own music teacher extraordinaire, Mrs. Becker! Come for the PTA meeting and stay to see the cutest baseball players, doctors, firemen, and rock stars you've ever seen!

-Miss King

P.S.- Another wonderful news piece was written about Garner- this time in the Dallas Morning News! Read the article here!

Open House and Other Updates

Welcome back, GFAA family! I hope everyone's spring break was wonderful! Here are a few random - but important - reminders and updates...

Tomorrow is open house! I'd love to see and meet as many family members as possible, so be sure to stop by the theatre and dance rooms if you have time. I'll have some of the older kids' current design projects out for them to show you if they'd like.

Make sure to check out the new updates to our "Auditions around Town" board, right outside the dance studio! It will have information on three different auditions coming up for the musicals My Fair Lady, Annie Get Your Gun, and Gypsy. There will also be some info on some great children's theatre going on currently in the metroplex!

This Tuesday, March 20th was "World Theatre for Children and Young People Day." Whew, that's a mouthful! But it's of course something that I'm very passionate about. It's a little late, but here is a nice, short article about the importance on theatre in our youths' lives.

Also, don't forget that next week on Tuesday and Wednesday we have STAAR testing for some of our upper grades. I'm sure our All Stars will rock that test. :)

I hope to see you tomorrow!
-Miss King

Happy Spring Break to all!

Time has gotten away from me these past few weeks! Let's play a little catch-up, shall we?

*1st grade performed their fabulous PTA show "E-I-E-I-OOPS!" We had the most talented goats, sheep, ducks, chicks, and pigs I've ever seen. :)

*The GFAA Carnvial was a great success- thanks in huge part to our fantastic PTA. The All Star Dancers started out the talent show with a super performance. Those 18 girls make me prouder and prouder each week. Hopefully I will be able to post some videos of their performances soon!

*The All Star Dancers also had their official yearbook photo shoot! Here are some of my favorites-

*The new theatre performance group, the All Star Players, has begun rehearsals for a short play of "Hansel & Gretel." The plan is to perform for our younger grades at Garner. These 18 fourth and fifth graders have also been impressing me with their talents!

*3rd through 5th grade classes have been working on a really cool theatre design project in class recently. We will finish these up after spring break. Can't wait to post pictures!

*Last, but not least, Garner had another wonderful piece written about it by the Arlington News Network! Read it here. Everytime we have visitors, it reminds me of what a blessing this place is!

Whew. Life is crazy, but a blast! I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing week off!
-Miss King

The Greatest Show on Earth!

It's that time again! (PTA grade level showtime that is.) Tomorrow night at 7:00 our super 2nd graders will be clowning and cartwheeling their way through "Circus, Circus!" These kids are excited when the circus comes to town, but oh no! The ringmaster is sick! Whatever will they do??

Come join us for dancing bears, tightrope walkers, sword swallowers and more! It's our first production on the brand new GFAA stage and it will be one to remember!

-Miss King

An Important New Addition!

Happy Monday to all!

I'm really excited to tell you about a new addition to the fine arts hallway! It's a little project that I've been planning for a while and finally have gotten around to starting!

Outside of the dance studio is the newly created "auditions around town" bulletin board! I'm very passionate that each and every one of our kids gets as many opportunities as possible to perform and hopefully the information on this board will help provide that! We also want to get Garner's name out there in the local arts community- DFW needs to know discover the true all stars we have here!

I promise that I will only recommend theatres, dance studios, and companies that I know are safe and well-respected. I will also try to post as much of the information as possible here on my blog as well, so that everyone will have quick access to it.

Here's what's currently on the board:

Studio B Performing Arts is holding auditions for the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof on Saturday, February 11th. There are limited ensemble (chorus) roles for children. Families are encouraged to participate together! Kids should sing 16 bars of a musical theatre song (preferrably with accompaniment on a cd) and have a monologue prepared. For more information, visit http://www.studiobtheatre.info/

Also on the board (and also highly recommended) :

Dallas Children's Theatre (DCT) still has a few spots left in their Spring Classes which run from January 27th - April 21st. Tuition is $220 and all sessions are taught by seasoned theatre professionals.

Drama Level 1 (for Kinder/1st graders): work on your acting skills with the show "Mermaids and Pirates" every Monday from 4:00-5:30!

Drama Level 2 (for 2nd/3rd graders): "Act, Act, Act!" is on Tuesdays from 4:00 - 5:30 and "Be a Star!" is on Wednesdays from 4:30 - 6:00.

There is also a Scenes class on Thursdays from 4:30 - 6:00 where junior actors will work on scenes from DCT shows such as "Tom Sawyer", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Little Women", and more!

For more info, call DCT Education Director Nancy Schaeffer at 214-978-0110 or email her at: nancy.schaeffer@dct.org. Also visit http://www.dct.org/ for more information!

Since Math Night is this Thursday, take a second to stop by the board if you need more information! See you there!

-Miss King

Welcome back! We're on the news!

Welcome back to students and parents! I hope everyone had a restful and wonderful holiday break. In case you haven't noticed, GFAA has been in the news a lot lately! (And it's all good stuff!)

Last week Channel 11 filmed a story on our campus about why GFAA was formed and the impact it has had so far. In case you missed it, you can find that story here.

Today, I was super excited to have Channel 5 visit my Kindergarten class today to film their own segment on Garner. The students did so well- not only in their dancing, but also in their behaivor. I was a very proud teacher! To see Channel 5's story, click here.

So what are we learning these days in dance and theatre??

Kindergarten and 1st grade are learning all about ballet basics. Ballet is the foundation of all modern dance and dates back to the Italian Renaissance. It was further cemented as an art form in the royal courts of France, which is why it is mostly made up of French words. So your kids are currently learning another language! Quiz them to see if they can perform the following steps and/or tell you what they mean in English:
Plié - to bend at the knees
Relevé - to rise
Tendu - to stretch
Rond de jambe - circle of the leg

Second through fifth graders are working on developing their own character as well as writing their own monologues. (In monologues, one actor performs a longer piece of dialogue by themselves.) Be sure to ask your student about the character they have created!

One more note: the performance theatre group (currently called the All Star Players) is have auditions this Thursday after school. Any fourth or fifth grader may try out. We will practice every Tuesday morning before school starting at 7:30 sharp. (There is a possibility that we will have a few afternoon practices later in the semester.) I hope to put on a full production with this group! They will also be featured in the Spring Showcase at the end of the year.

There are wonderful things happening at GFAA! I feel very blessed to be a part of it.
-Miss King