Alyssa Gramer, Co-Owner & Instructor, Stagelight Performing Arts

5-6-7-Update! October Edition

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IMPORTANT DATES

October 15th: Last day to opt-out of Holiday Showcase

If your child is not planning to participate in one or more of their showcase performances, you must log on to the Customer Portal and opt-out of each performance your child is not participating in to avoid being charged any performance fees. Showcase enrollments have the CAST (Green, Red, or Silver) listed in the class title.

October 24th-30th: Halloween Costume Dress-Up Week

One of our favorite times of year is on the horizon! During the week of October 24-30, your child is welcomed and encouraged to wear their Halloween costume to their class(es). We can’t wait to see the creativity of their costumes and to sing, act, and dance with them in style!

October 31st: The studio is closed for all afternoon classes on Halloween, Tuesday, October 31st. Morning classes are still being held.

November 20th-25th: The studio is closed for Thanksgiving Break. All classes resume Monday, November 27th.

Check out our Google Calendar to stay up-to-date on all studio closures and events.

DIRECTORS’ NOTES

We Need Volunteers for Holiday Showcase!

Putting on a show this size requires the help of many volunteers. Please consider helping us by volunteering for the show your child is not in. If you would like to volunteer to help during our Holiday Showcase, head to our Sign Up Genius.

Underdressings Required for ALL performers

All performers are required to wear underdressings beneath their costumes:

Girls are required to wear skin-tone leotard and skin-tone tights (pink tights for Ballet routines)
Boys are required to wear a white T-shirt and black shorts

We have girls’ leotards and tights available for purchase in-studio and through the Customer Portal. Once you purchase from the Portal, we have them ready for pick-up in studio by the following week. If we do not carry your child’s size, you can also purchase them here. Be sure to select a skin-tone color before purchasing.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Returning by popular demand! We are hosting our second annual Daddy/Daughter Dance on stage during our Holiday Showcase! This dance is open to actively-enrolled Stagelight girls and their parent. It costs $30 per person, which includes the cost of rehearsals, T-shirts to be worn during the performance, and the performance itself.

Rehearsals for both Dads and Daughters are Wednesdays from 6:30-7:15pm on the following dates:

November 8th
November 15th
November 29th
December 6th

Complete this Enrollment Form by October 15th so we can make plans for this awesome opportunity! The cost of this performance runs with tuition on November 1st. Please only submit one form per family!

Assigned Casts for Holiday Showcase 2023: “A Holiday Show-Ho-Ho-Case”

As a reminder, here are the assigned casts for our Holiday Showcase. Your child is automatically added to each applicable performance. You can log on to the Customer Portal to view your child’s performance schedule (showcase enrollments list the CAST in the title). If you choose to opt-out of any routines, you must do so by October 15th. More detailed information about this below.

GREEN CAST – Saturday, December 9th; 11:00am performer call time; 12:30pm show time
RED CAST – Saturday, December 9th; 3:30pm performer call time; 5:00pm show time
SILVER CAST – Sunday, December 10th; 2:30pm performer call time; 4:00pm show time

Please explain to your performer that participating in our Holiday Showcase is a commitment. Deciding to opt-out of the show after the drop deadline, once their choreography and formations are set, is unfair to the instructor, as well as their classmates. Please stress the importance of adhering to this commitment through the show in December.

If You Need to Opt-Out of Any Performances…

If you would like to opt out of one or more of our Holiday Showcase performances, here are the steps to do so:

Navigate to your child’s account here
Click on their ‘Enrollments’ tab
Locate the performance that they will be opting out of (be sure the enrollment says the CAST before the class title. Otherwise, you might be requesting to drop their class entirely)
Select ‘Drop Enrollment’
Select today’s date as your drop date
Optional: add notes regarding your reasoning for opting out

This drop request will be processed and will ultimately let our teachers know who is not participating in our Holiday Showcase. If your child plans on opting out of more than one performance, be sure to submit drop requests for each of the performance enrollments.

Ticket Sales for Holiday Showcase

The best part about performing is doing so for your friends and family. We know you are dying to see your child on stage, so don’t forget to put the on-sale dates in your calendars! If your child is a member of our Triple Threat Program (enrolled in 3+ classes), you have priority access to ticket sales. All tickets are $15 each and non-refundable.

To help ensure each Stagelight family has a chance to see their performer onstage, we are limiting purchases to 6 tickets per performer, per show. Tickets are not guaranteed and will sell out, so be sure to purchase them early.

Families of Triple Threat students are sent a personalized link to purchase tickets on Wednesday, November 1st.
If your child is not part of our Triple Threat Program, general tickets go on sale Wednesday, November 8th. You can purchase all Holiday Showcase tickets from our website on that day.

If you have any questions, please send us an email stagelightarts@gmail.com!

October 4, 2023

Graduating Senior Gia

Today we’re featuring another one of our graduating seniors, Gia! Gia has been a Stagelighter since we opened our doors when she was just ten years old.

💜 Gia graduated from Sonora HS last week, where she participated in theatre and dance, and will be attending Fullerton College in the fall.

💜 She wants to continue dancing and performing in theatrical productions through college and is thinking about studying journalism.

💜 She is excited for the independence the college years will bring her and for the opportunity to choose a course load that interests her, but she is nervous about choosing the right major to focus on.

💜 Over the years at Stagelight Performing Arts, Gia studied Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Lyrical, and was also a TA for our Combo level classes.

💜 Her dream role is Millie in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” because Millie is a tapper and tap is one of Gia’s favorite forms of dance to perform.

💜 When asked what her favorite performance was at Stagelight, Gia said, “My favorite piece I’ve performed was “Nicest Kids in Town” with all my friends because it was one of the more challenging dances I’ve done but it pushed every single one of us to become more animated and get us out of our comfort zones, both physically and mentally.”

💜 Her favorite memory was when was the “Cirque du Stagelight” ballet routine because that was the show she fell on her face off the trampoline in front of everybody. Luckily, it was part of her character to be clumsy, but it still cracks her and her friends up to this day! Check out the cute picture we have in her pink tutu with that treacherous trampoline behind her! 🤣

💜 Her favorite classes were the ballet classes with Ms. Bonnie Edwards and Bonnie QuaasBerryman (also graduating this year). They had lots of laughs and serious conversations about life, and Gia will always cherish what she was taught both in class and with life lessons.

💜 When asked what Gia has learned from Stagelight, she said, “Never say the word ‘can’t.’ Ms. Alyssa has engrained into my mind and other Stagelighters here that the word ‘can’t’ is just an excuse for not pushing yourself as an individual. There are so many things that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do a couple years ago, but with hard work I am able to do them today. From now on I try to keep ‘can’t’ out of my vocabulary.”

💜 Gia will miss spending time with her friends that she’s made over the years and growing as a dancer and person altogether. She will miss the family that Stagelight has created and the teachers that have taught her much more than just dance technique. And most of all, she will miss dancing at Stagelight and expressing herself through dancing. 🥺🥰

💜 Gia’s message to all Stagelighters is: “Always push yourself farther than you think you can. If you think you’ve perfected something, you haven’t. Even the professionals push themselves with basic technique. You can always be better and grow as a dancer no matter how good you are.”

💜 Gia “wills” a pair of her pointe shoes because being on pointe was one of her biggest goals when she was little. She never thought she would actually be “en pointe,” but after working hard and focusing on her technique, she made it a few years later. Her pointe shoes will always mean more than just a pair of dance shoes to her. They represent the blood, sweat, and tears of loving dance (“hahahaha”)!

Gia, you are exquisite. You are such a beautiful dancer, performer, and person, and we can’t wait to watch you continue to grow as a performer in your college years and beyond. Congratulations! We will miss you so much.

June 17, 2021

Graduating Senior Savannah to Study Behavioral Health and Music

Congratulations to graduating senior, Savannah! Savannah is graduating from La Habra HS where she was an active member in their Theatre and Dance Production programs.

Savannah is headed to Arizona Christian University where she’ll be working toward a BA in Behavioral Health and a minor in Music.

She is excited to grow, take college courses in subjects that interest her, and join a community she feels comfortable and accepted in. She is nervous about making new friends and to be on her own without her mom to rely on.

Savannah began taking classes at Stagelight when she was 10. She has studied Tap, Jazz, Contemp/Modern, Musical Theatre, A Cappella, Acting, and Acting for Camera at Stagelight.

Her favorite performance at Stagelight was “Here Comes the Sun.” She remembers learning it at our old location and practicing it all the time. She remembers that Contemp/Modern class as a really fun class with the “most fun girls.”

Some of her favorite memories of being a Stagelighter are laughing so much with Gia and then getting separated in class, and Ms. Danielle’s Acting classes because they provided such a safe space she looked forward to returning to every week.

She will miss dancing with people she’s known forever when she leaves Stagelight.

To all the Stagelighters still growing through our programs, Savannah says, “Take advantage of every opportunity you get, and spend lots of time with your family and friends. When people say, ‘Time flies,’ they really mean it.”

Savannah, we are so proud of the incredible woman, human, and performer you have become. We will miss you in our classes and on our stages. You will forever be “so silly,” and we can’t wait to watch you take on the world!

⭐️

June 8, 2021