Thursday 8 December 2011

Confirmed kids for Country & Western term...


Next term will begin mid-Jan 2012 for approx 3 months.

The theme is Country and Western, so Country music, cowboy hats, lots of denim, waistcoats, line dancing, etc. There will be a small end of term show as usual at our place or at Spaces or in the plaza - or at the beach - we will see.

The main plays we will work on for late or end 2012 will (most probably) be:
Beauty and the Beast
    Sleeping Beauty
Harry Potter - 2

We will work on these plays through the three terms, and do the show in Nov/Dec. If children have to leave inbetween I will adjust.

A to Zee timings: 3.30pm till 6pm on Fridays. Two and a half hours would be better than two - gives me more time to do all the things we would like to do with the kids...of course if you need to fetch them earlier you can, but ideally I would like to have them for this amount of time if at all possible.

Also, in addition to the regular Friday class, we will throw in a special singing session every three weeks (or so) on a Saturday either late morning or early afternoonThese special singing dates will be announced at the start of the term.
Fees for each 3-month term are Rs.3500 for each term in the year 2012. These can be paid either later this term or in the first week of next term. 

The offering remains the same, each class will have at least three of the following elements:Theatre, Singing, Dancing, Poetry, Art/Craft, Gardening, Photography, Baking...and forgot to mention Carpentry will be incorporated at some stage in 2012 - with workmen's gloves and goggles, and only for those who want to do it.

Do let me know if these new timings work for you, and if your child is coming back for more A to Zee Creativity next term! :) As always gave priority to current A to Zee kids  till a cut off date

After this date I will open up to new children and existing children. The following have expressed interest / confirmed so far:


Aalia - confirmed (paid on 24 Nov 2011)


Adam - confirmed 


Ameya - confirmed (paid on Dec 6, 2011)


Arav - confirmed (paid on Dec 10, 2011 - 500 due)


Chahna - confirmed (paid on Dec 16, 2011)


Dhruv - confirmed (paid on Dec 11, 2011)


Kyra Philip - confirmed (paid on Dec 10, 2011 - 500 due)


Kyra Patel - confirmed (paid on Dec 9, 2011)


Mahima - confirmed (paid on Dec 12, 2011 via chq)


Muskan - Surbhi out of town - am holding a spot for her.


Nayantara Subramaniam (6) - confirmed (paid on Dec 12, 2011)


Rahelle (8) - confirmed (paid on Dec 15, 2011 via chq)


Rishaa (7) - confirmed (paid on Dec 12, 2011)


Riyah - confirmed (paid on Dec 10, 2011)

Rohan (11) - confirmed (paid on Dec 15, 2011 via chq)


Sadhvi - confirmed (paid on Dec 8, 2011)

Saniya - confirmed (paid on Dec 10, 2011)

Sitara


Tarush - confirmed (paid on Dec 6, 2011)


Tulasi

Zai - confirmed

New children interested to join next term:


Rishabh (6.5)


Shruti (11)


Yana (5)

Rose Anne's son (Age?)


Adia (6)


Another child - MRC Nagar...cannot recall name!

An 8-year-old boy from Sishya - Afshan pls help! I did not catch his name.

I cannot really manage more than approximately 20 kids, so do let me know asap. If you know any 10/11 year olds would love some older boys especially - for the various roles!

Take care,

Shaan

Sunday 4 December 2011

Final week: Rehearsal schedule + Costumes!



CHRISTMAS MAGIC

3 Short plays and Christmas Carols

Show dates: 
11 Dec (Sunday) 10.30am Freemasons Hall (cast please be there by 9.30am)
16 Dec (Friday) 1.30pm Abacus school Perungudi (pls volunteer cars for carpooling to get there)

We will perform the 3 plays plus the Christmas Carol medley 

Order of plays:
Cinderella
Room on the Broom
Harry Potter
Christmas Carols

Rehearsal schedule in the run up to the shows:

5 Dec (Mon):
3.30pm-5pm Cinderella rehearsal

6 Dec (Tue):
2.30-3.30pm Room on the Broom rehearsal
3.30pm-5pm Harry Potter rehearsal

7 Dec (Wed):

3.30pm-5.30pm Cinderella rehearsal + Room on the Broom rehearsal

8 Dec (Thu):
3.30pm-5pm Harry Potter rehearsal
                   
9 Dec (Fri):
3.30pm-6pm
Dress Rehearsal All 3 plays + carols + dances – whole cast needed.

Please send the children in costume – no need for make-up on dress rehearsal day

10 Dec (Sat): Might do a morning rehearsal. Not sure.

11 Dec (Sun): Showtime! Freemason's Hall. All children to be there by 9.30am! Show is from 10.30am till noon.
Bring costumes, water bottle and a snack. 

 

Dear All,


I have listed each child’s role(s) and costumes below. The highlighted items will be made by my Mum or sourced from our costume box at no extra charge to you. After the show these items are to be returned to our costume box for other shows please. Many thanks.
The items that are NOT highlighted are to be sourced from home – they are all fairly standard things that most should have.

Please dress the children in costume and send them to me on Friday this week (9 Dec) at 3.30pm for a full dress rehearsal. Make-up not needed on the 9th, but on the 11th please put some on at home. I know sharing lipstick amongst children is not the most hygienic thing, so suggest you do it at home before you send them. I may put on some powder rouge here if that is ok.

Take care,

Shaan

ROLES AND COSTUMES:

CINDERELLA

Narrator Sitara - white pretty shirt, collared, black skirt, white socks and black shoes.

Narrator Adam: White shirt, black trousers, socks and shoes

Cinderella (toddler) – Zai – pretty dress, then puts on an old apron when stepmother arrives

Father – Samar – dark trousers, checked shirt, tie

Cinderella – Chahna – pink dress / blue dress – old torn housecoat over it – to hide dress
 
Stepmother – Esha –a ball gown (pretty party dress) with a pretty housecoat over it

Pretty (but nasty) stepsister AnastasiaRiyah - a ball gown (pretty party dress) with a pretty housecoat over it + hat

Pretty (but nasty) stepsister DrizellaMuskan - a ball gown (pretty party dress) with a pretty housecoat over it + hat

Fairy Godmother – Kyra Philip – Pretty sparkly dress (but the one from home is too short) - wings – tiara – need a long underskirt – frilly light pink. Length same as Muskan’s.

Rat/Coach driver– Arav  - Brown clothes with rat mask + tail

Mice/Horses – Tulasi, Veer - White clothes (kurta pyjamas?) with mouse masks + tails

Cat – Saniya – Black and white clothes – trousers and full sleeved top, tail, cat mask

Prince – Dhruv – long dark trousers, nice formal shirt, shiny blue cape, crown

Aalia – Queen – party dress, shiny, long + crown

Udhav – King – long trousers, formal long-sleeved shirt, shiny purple double cape, crown


ROOM ON THE BROOM



Narrator: Kyra Patel – white pretty top, black skirt, white socks and black shoes

Witch (Mahima) – long skirt, top, black cape, black hat, wand, cauldron, bow, broom

Cat (Vaishnavi) – stripy orange and black trousers and top – else plain black – cat mask + tail

Dog (Samar) – brown clothes

Birds (Ameya and Zai) – parrot green little ballerina dresses – wings – beaks (?)

Frog (Viraj) – frog mask, dark green clothes - baggy

Dragon (Sitara and Sadhvi) – red cloth with elastic on sides over them…dragon tail, dragon mask


HARRY POTTER


Harry – Adam – smart black trousers, white shirt, house tie, black robe, shoes and socks

Hermione – Tara – White collared shirt, red/yellow striped house tie, black robe, black skirt, closed shoes and socks.

Ron – Tarush – smart black trousers, white shirt, house tie, black robe

Prefects – Kyra Patel, Sadhvi, Shruti – to wear white collared shirts, black skirts, white socks and black shoes black robes, house ties, witch hats

Professor Snape – Vinod – big black robe, own black clothes

Troll – Yusuf dull grey or slimy green baggy costume with a hood 

Dumbledore – Yusuf long purple robe – brocade on sleeves and down middle + cape

Professor McGonagall (Transfiguration teacher) – Tehzeeb long back dress or skirt and top, black cape. 

 Sybill Trelawney (Divination teacher) – Sharon – thick glasses, gypsy attire – long skirt, scarf on head,

All the rest of the children will also be other school children in Hogwarts:
House ties: 7 of each – red/yellow striped,   plain yellow,    plain green,   plain blue and witches robes for each child – black long robes with high collars down to the ground to be worn over previous costumes.


The cast:
Children:
1.    Aalia
2.    Adam
3.    Ameya
4.    Arav
5.    Chahna
6.    Dhruv
7.    Esha
8.    Kyra Patel
9.    Kyra Philip
10. Mahima
11. Muskan
12. Riyah
13. Sadhvi
14. Samar
15. Saniya
16. Shruti
17. Sitara
18. Tara
19. Tarush
20. Tulasi
21. Udhav
22. Vaishnavi
23. Veer
24. Viraj
25. Zai
Adults:
Sharon
Tehzeeb
Vinod
Yusuf

Wednesday 23 November 2011

No Cinderella rehearsal this Thursday + Securing places for A to Zee's next term Jan 2012

Hello,

I have to go to Abacus tomorrow to discuss stage and arrangements for the children...so no Cinderella rehearsal this Thursday.

Look forward to seeing all the children on Saturday at 2pm. Please can the children be fetched after class at 4.30pm.

For those children who are interested I would be happy to sign the children in at the Madras Club for an hour of of Christmas stories, a puppet show, and some informal carol singing for all the children. 5pm-6pm on the same Saturday Dec 3rd. Just let me know? I will leave for the Madras club at 4.30 with the said kids in tow.You can fetch them from the club at 6pm.

Any children who are members should be fetched and taken separately - I won't be able to ferry them - have limited space in my car.

Fees / booking places for next term
I am delighted (and slightly taken aback) at the number of calls I am getting - new children wanting to join A to Zee, but I can really only handle a limited number, so as always those already in the class will get priority until a certain date - December 10th. 

Please can you let me know by the end of this week, and to secure places please can you send the fees for next term? The details about next term's theme and the fees for 2012 are listed if you scroll down.

I will open up to confirm new kids from Dec 10th onwards. Hope this sounds fair?


The plan for the rest of this term:

Show dates: 
11 Dec (Sunday) 10.30am Freemasons Hall
16 Dec (Friday) 1.30pm Abacus school Perungudi (pls volunteer cars for carpooling to get there)

We will perform the 3 plays plus the Christmas Carol medley - none of the Sixties items since we already performed those earlier this term - we will surely revisit the Sixties at some point - so many more lovely songs we could do!

Rehearsal schedule in the run up to the shows:
24 Nov (Thu): 3.30pm-5.00pm Cinderella rehearsal
27 Nov (Sun): 3-5.30pm All children A to Zee regular class (3.30pm Harry Potter adults to arrive)
29 Nov (Tue): 3.30pm Harry Potter rehearsal
3 Dec (Sat): A to Zee regular class (2pm-4.30pm)
5 Dec (Mon): 3.30pm-5pm Cinderella rehearsal
6 Dec (Tue): 3.30pm-5pm Harry Potter rehearsal
7 Dec (Wed): 3.30pm-5pm Cinderella rehearsal
9 Dec (Fri): 3.30pm-6pm All 3 plays + carols + dances - full class
10 Dec (Sat): 2pm - will try to get venue for a rehearsal there...tbc
11 Dec (Sun): Showtime! Freemason's Hall. All children to be there by 9.30am! Show is from 10.30am till noon.
Bring costumes, water bottle and a snack. 

Please read on...

As you know next term will begin mid-Jan 2012 for approx 3 months.

The theme is Country and Western, so Country music, cowboy hats, lots of denim, waistcoats, line dancing, etc. There will be a small end of term show as usual at our place or at Spaces or in the plaza - or at the beach - we will see.

The main plays we will work on for end of 2012 will (most probably) be:
Beauty and the Beast
Snow White and the seven dwarves
Harry Potter - 2

We will work on these plays through the three terms, and do the show in Nov/Dec. If children have to leave inbetween I will adjust.

A to Zee timings: 3.30pm till 6pm on Fridays. Two and a half hours would be better than two - gives me more time to do all the things we would like to do with the kids...of course if you need to fetch them earlier you can, but ideally I would like to have them for this amount of time if at all possible.

Also, in addition to the regular Friday class, we will throw in a special singing session every few weeks on a Saturday at the old timings of 2.30 to 4.30These special singing dates will be announced at the start of the term.
Fees for each 3-month term are Rs.3500 for each term in the year 2012. These can be paid either later this term or in the first week of next term. 

The offering remains the same, each class will have at least three of the following elements:Theatre, Singing, Dancing, Poetry, Art/Craft, Gardening, Photography, Baking...and forgot to mention Carpentry will be incorporated at some stage in 2012 - with workmen's gloves and goggles, and only for those who want to do it.

Do let me know if these new timings work for you, and if your child is coming back for more A to Zee Creativity next term! :) I have the following who have expressed interest so far:

Aalia - confirmed (paid on 24 Nov 2011)
Adam - confirmed (smiled at me)
Ameya
Arav 
Chahna
Dhruv
Kyra Philip
Mahima
Muskan
Riyah
Sadhvi
Samar
Saniya
Sitara
Tara
Tarush
Tulasi
Zai - confirmed (big toothy grin + kiss)
New children interested to join next term:
Rishaa (7)
Rahelle (8)
Rishabh (6.5)
Rohan (11)
Shruti (11)
Nayantara Subramaniam (6)
Yana (5)

I cannot really manage more than approximately 20 kids, so do let me know asap. If you know any 10/11 year olds would love some older boys especially - for the various roles!

Take care,

Shaan

Monday 21 November 2011

A to Zee this week: Schedule changes + Question!

Hello,

This week:

Harry Potter rehearsal and recordingTuesday Nov 22nd (Tara, Tarush, Adam, Kyra (Guddi's), Sadhvi, Shruti)
3.30pm till 4.30pm

Cinderella rehearsal and recordingThursday Nov 24th 3.30pm till 4.30pm
(Zai, Samar, Chahna, Esha, Riyah, Muskan, Kyra, Arav, Sanya, Dhruv, Aalia, Udhav)

Regular class is on Sunday this week
Sorry about this - am away at a conference in Ahmedabad over Friday-Saturday - only back Sunday afternoon. 

Class will be from 3pm till 5pm - please do try to send the kids! 

Room on the Broom recording will take place on this day, Cinderella will be rehearsed.
Christmas Carols will be practiced and the dances for the Christmas show.

There is no need for the Harry Potter adult actors to come in on Sunday...we will meet again on Tuesday next week if that is ok?

Show date: Sunday December 11th confirmed 10.30am show  - most likely at Freemasons Hall. 
Should end by 12noon

Question: We have also been invited to perform for Abacus school on Dec 16th from 1.30pm to 2.30pm in Perungudi. How many of you would be able to do this? Based on this we will either go ahead or not...

Do let me know.

Take care,

Shaan

Friday 18 November 2011

Upcoming Christmas show - Sunday December 11th morning


Sunday December 11th at 10.30am!

This is our big annual show. Our A to Zee Creativity kids aged between 4 and 11 years will enact three short plays - Room on the Broom, Cinderella, and an extract from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Some of the children have been on stage before - others are new, and this is an opportunity for them to gain confidence and to have fun. Hopefully the audience will enjoy what we have planned for you! :)

Some experienced adult actors will join them in guest roles as part of the Harry Potter play. This is to inspire the little ones.

All donations you make go straight to our chosen charity the very same evening. This term it is Asthtva Foundation who run programmes to empower women and educate children. http://www.asthtva.com


Sunday 13 November 2011

60s show + request for photos/videos...

Hello all,

Hats off to the children for a fab 60s show this morning. We missed the three who were unwell and out of town. But, the best is yet to come...Christmas show coming up on December 11th morning! :) Harry Potter, Room on the Broom, and Cinderella!

Those who took photos and videos, please can you email them to me or give me a cd? I would like to be able to share these. I was so distracted I did not take a single photo!

Take care,

Shaan x

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Sixties term - small show for parents/grandparents only - space limitation

Hello,

We had a successful recording of the six numbers the children will be singing. Manikandan and Prarthana very kindly brought in some serious recording equipment, and the children sang beautifully. We will give you all a CD of this for the children to keep and hopefully listen to whenever.

The children will be singing the songs in the following order:

Yellow Submarine
Obladi-Oblada
The Boxer
Confidence
Man Gave Names to all the animals
Let it be

They may or may not perform When I'm 64 and Paperback Writer.

Saturday class will be from 2pm till 4.30pm.
Sunday 13 November - show day - same place - 10am.

Children to wear: Jeans or loose trousers, short kurtas, or brightly coloured tie-dye type stuff - funky Sixties
style. Long hair with centre partings, bandanas, beads, etc.!

The show will consist of poems, songs, and dances done this term, and will last about an hour - if that. 10.30am to 11.30am. We will then have some cake and coffee/juice for everyone.

I do know that one child will not be there and am sorry to hear it - anyone else?

For our Christmas show (the plays) on December 4th am hoping all the children will be there?

Take care,

Shaan







Monday 10 October 2011

October 8th 2011 recap + some of the Cinderella cast: 2pm on the 15th!


A to Zee Creativity: Winter Term (Mid-September to Mid-December 2011)

Saturday 8th  October 2011 (2.30pm – 4.30pm)

2.30pm – 2.45pm: Circle time
Oms, voice exercises, stretches
Attendance was taken by one of the older children.

2.45pm - 3.30pm: Singing with Sharanya
Moves have been decided for the following songs:
In the Beginning (Bob Dylan)
Confidence (Elvis)

The Under-7s listened to the following songs all learnt this term (whilst colouring):
Twist and Shout (The Beatles)
Let It Be (The Beatles)
The Boxer (Simon & Garfunkel)
Yellow Submarine (The Beatles)
Oh-Bla-Di- Oh-bla-da (The Beatles)

3.30 – 3.50pm: Photography with Shaan
We built upon perspective – learnt at the last lesson. We focussed on learning how to do the following:
-       Holding the camera steady, focussing.
-       How to keep it straight so as not to get a weird angle
-       Different types of backgrounds and their effects – busy backgrounds v solid coloured backgrounds

We used the diyas they had painted last class, they created patterns with these on different backgrounds, and they photographed these.

I noticed quite a few children were having to share my camera. These days you get fairly reasonably priced digital cameras – or if you have an old one – do send it with your child in a case. We will be doing photography every other week this term.

3.50– 4.10pm: Rehearsal of Room on the Broom - with Shaan

4.10 – 4.30pm: Rehearsal of Cinderella Scene 1 - with Shaan

4.20pm: Snack for all – Banana chips + Murukus (both from Nuts n Spices – no homemade this week…L)

4.30pm: End of class

PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING FROM THE CINDERELLA CAST ARE NEEDED AT 2PM ON 15TH OCTOBER FOR AN EARLY REHEARSAL OF THE FIRST 3 SCENES PRE-CLASS! THAT IS, CINDERELLA, STEPMOTHER, STEPSISTERS, FATHER, GODMOTHER, CAT, RAT.