Happy (Chinese) New Year!

This past week, our Kindergartners learned all about Chinese New Year (which is being celebrated right now) and the special dances that go along with it- the Lion and the Dragon Dances. See if your kindergartner can tell you the difference between the two!

Next week, our 2nd graders will perform their grade-level PTA musical, Squirm. Come out at 7:00 on Thursday night (February 28th) to see these worms, snakes, spiders, and bats sing and dance their way into your hearts! You might even learn a thing or two, as well!

Loving my job!

End of the Year Excitement

Well, as usual the last few days of the semester proved extremely busy for our all stars. Here's a quick run down of some of the wonderful things that happened in December for us:

• Our Winter Showcase was a HUGE success! Our 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders along with our specialty performance clubs did a phenomenal job. I can't say enough how appreciative I am of parents and family for supporting your talented kids by helping backstage, sewing homemade Nutcracker costumes, and applauding for all the 300+ rock stars that performed that night! (You can click on the pictures to make them larger.)
  
  
  
  
  
• Polar Express day came to GFAA! On top of that, it was also college day! (So of course I made my own homemade Baylor pj pants- sic 'em!) The whole school looked fantastic decked out in their pajamas and college gear. We had a ridiculously adorable polar express parade courtesy of our kindergartners which ended with the everyone in the cafe. There we sang songs and told the story of the best train ever. Afterwards we surprised Mrs. Sterling and Mrs. Becker with their own jar of bells. Just like everything GFAA does, it was pretty magical!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The next to the last day before Winter break, we had the honor of hosting Texas Commissioner of Education Williams for a visit to Garner! We wanted to show him all that we had to offer as a GPISD School of Choice and I think we succeeded! All Star Dancers and Crew lined our red carpet at the school's entrance and welcomed the Commissioner in with choreography they learned mere minutes beforehand (pretty professional for ten-year-olds)! Once our fourth graders who were at lunch formally welcomed him to GFAA, our stage curtains opened to reveal the Showstoppers who performed "Start It Up." The group toured our Early Education wing, a 5th grade math classroom (where they were learning fractions through music notes!) and our media center. Everything ended with our performance kids dancing and singing Commissioner Williams all the way to his car. He seemed very impressed with all we were doing here and at one point even got his iPhone out and started filming our performances! The whole experience reminded me of how proud I am to be a part of this school.
  
  
  
  
  
• With all that craziness under our belt, you would think we would try to have a nice relaxing final day before break, right? Nope! Mrs. Becker discovered a contest where our school could win $15,000 (and you know how much we could do with that money here at Garner) so we put our submission video together in less than 24 hours! Click below to see all the different way we can rock "Jingle Bells" at GFAA and vote for us EVERYDAY! Voting ends January 11th!
  
  
  GFAA "Jingle Bells" - Help us win $15,000!
  
  
  Whoo! It was a crazy last few days, but well worth it. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Here's to an All Star 2013!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

The 2nd Annual GFAA Winter Showcase

I'm hoping that most of you have this date on your calendar already, but here is my formal invitation to you!

Come out to see over 300 All Stars dance, sing, drum, host, step, and ring their hearts out! I'm especially excited about our full grade-level performances for 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade. They involve The Nutcracker, Polar Express, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. You can't go wrong with those soundtracks! This year you will also see our Audio Production and Steppers after school clubs perform, as well as performance groups- All Star Dancers, All Star Crew, Showstoppers, All Star Ringers, and Drama Club. 

There might even be a surprise performance of some sort, but shhhh, it's a secret... ;)

We've had attendances at past Showcases of close to 900 (standing room only!) so get there early to get your seats! Hope to see you there!

-Miss King

Happy Halloween!

I hope you and yours had a safe but spooktacular holiday! This past week to celebrate in dance class 2nd graders learned some original "Thriller" choreography! I had a bunch of mini-Michael Jacksons on my hands! Here's a picture of one of our classes in their best monster pose:




Other updates:

4th graders have been learning all about swing dancing! See if your kid can teach you the basic step, the dishrag, or any of the other fun moves we've been learning.

3rd grade had a fantastic PTA performance last week with their "Bebop with Aesop" program. We didn't have as much time as usual to rehearse onstage and there were some pretty challenging scenes and lyrics- way to rock it, all stars!

All Star Crew auditions were outstanding. I was blown away by the talent at GFAA yet again. 16 fourth and fifth grade boys made the team and I am expecting great things out of them all year!

In 1st grade we have already started preparing for Winter Showcase! Can you believe it? I'll give you a few hints concerning their performance: there will be toy soldiers, mice, and sugar plum fairies involved! :)

Excited for our Apex fun run tomorrow!
-Miss King

Welcome Back! I have a big announcement!

In just a few short days, the halls of GFAA will once again be filled with almost 600 all stars! I am so excited to be starting this wonderful journey again and am sure it will be even better the second time around. This year will be different in several ways- first of all, we now have five specials teachers instead of three! All Garner students will have rotations for art, music, dance, theatre, and strings. The new subjects and teacher additions to our team are fantastic!

The only sad part of this equation is that I had to choose between two of the things I love most- dance and theatre. At first I was a bit heartbroken until I found out that the theatre teacher transferring to our school was none other than Ms. Cassie Bann! I went to college with Ms. Bann and taught with her my first year in Grand Prairie. I can guarantee that she is the real deal! I can pass off the theatre program at GFAA knowing it is in good hands. Look for a change to my title bar soon since "From Pantomime to Pirouettes: The Actors and Dancers of GFAA" is no longer quite appropriate. Any suggestions out there?? :)

This past week, our very own All Star Dancers, Showstoppers, and Drum Club had the privilege of performing at GPISD Convocation. This is an annual event held for all GP employees at Verizon Theatre. Seventy of our All Stars got to sing, dance, and drum on the same stage that other stars like Coldplay, Kelly Clarkson, and Aretha Franklin have performed! They got two (count 'em- TWO) standing ovations. The dancers have been practicing since July for this performance- what dedication! This was the first test for our new team that had auditions in May and what a huge one it was! They passed with flying colors and I really couldn't be prouder.

Also this past week, Garner Fine Arts Academy teachers have been hard at work giving our school a little facelift. If you came to the back to school picnic last night, you could definitely see all our fun hallway and classroom creativity! If you had to miss the picnic, then I look forward to seeing you on Monday! Have a blessed weekend!
-Miss King

Dancers prepping for their performance on Verizon stage

Happy Summer/National Dance Day!

Well, unfortunately the end of the end of the school year really got away from me! I was so busy with end of the year cleaning, All Star Dancer auditions, and planning for next year that I never got to wish everyone avery happy SUMMER! I think we've all earned this time off. ;)

In other news: the third annual National Dance Day is coming up! On Saturday, July 28th, think about how YOU can celebrate movement in your life! You don't need years of training or perfect technique to have dance make a positive impact on your life. It's wonderful for your health and spirit in any form! So whether it's taking a Zumba class, checking out your local swing dance society, or just jamming out in your kitchen- have fun and let that music move you!

To find out more about NDD and the official routines for this year (there's a really fun Zumba one I've already done at my gym) visit the Dizzy Feet Foundation's website!

http://dizzyfeetfoundation.org/national-dance-day

-Miss King

Delightful Designers!

It's a common misconception that all "theatre" people are actors. The fact of the matter is that more men and women make their living in the theatre offstage than on it! These people are a part of the technical side of theatre. We're talking about directors, choreographers, stage managers, set designers, lighting designers, costume designers, makeup designers, backstage run crew, box office personnel, etc. Their contributions to theatre are just as important as any actor's!

Last month, third through fifth graders studied several aspects of theatre design - costume, makeup, set, and advertisement. The then created their own fairy tale and designed a theatre production based on it. The following pictures are some of my favorite products from these classes!

Enjoying these last few days of the school year!
-Miss King