AGE

Senior EEP students will be aged -

• 13+ on January 1st, 2024 and ideally in Year 8 onwards

When a student finishes Year 12, they “officially” graduate from our EEP program, however dancers are welcome to stay in the program beyond their schooling years.

We do not promote students leaving their educational schools to attend full time dance courses until they have finished Year 12, even those courses that combine high school and dance. Our EEP program can successfully prepare your dancer for acceptance into prestigious tertiary facilities in performing arts, without compromising your academic studies at school. There are many pathways of study - please see our VET and SACE course options below.

SACE & VET DANCE

We are proud to offer SACE Stage 1 Dance in 2024, for dancers in Year 10 or Year 11 at school. This subject is offered in conjunction with Thebarton Senior College and will flow through into SACE Stage 2 for 2025. Generation Dance has receive exceptional results in the SACE Dance subject over the 4 years it has been offered at the studio, with 3 merits received from Generation Dance students. This subject is offered at Generation Dance, on Friday evenings. To find out more please click here - SACE DANCE

We also offer Cert II and Cert III in Dance or Assistant Dance Teaching, which are VET courses. These can also contribute towards your SACE and assist in achieving a high ATAR, plus helping with employment opportunities. These courses are offered in conjunction with Empowerdance and students attend their practical lessons at Generation Dance but attend an online theory lesson with the Empowerdance facilitators once a week.

STUDENT TEACHING

We offer volunteer and paid student teaching positions at Generation Dance, which provides on the job learning for those dancers interested in a career in dance teaching.

Students who accept a student teaching position must attend our student teaching class, which is held every 3 weeks on a Wednesday evening. The cost of this class is $20.90 per lesson. Here they will work through theoretical and practical modules of student teaching. They must also attend their allocated student teaching shift every timetabled week, the attendance expectations are the same as the Generation Dance senior staff team so commitment to this program is essential and attendance is a priority.

We also recommend once a student teacher is in Year 10, to commence their Cert III in Assistant Dance Teaching

Whilst most positions are work experience, we may offer some paid positions. This will only be for student teachers who have completed a minimum requirement of 100 work experience hours, have completed or have enrolled in Cert III in Assistant Dance Teaching, have demonstrated exceptional teaching qualities during this time and have a genuine interest in becoming a dance teacher.

TIMETABLES

2024 Timetable

UNIFORM

2024 Uniform Policy

EEP PROGRAM DATES

EEP Program Schedule/Dates

EEP Competition Troupe Workshop Schedule

COST

2024 Fee Schedule

EEP ACCOUNTS

Each student will have a google sheet emailed to them at the commencement of the year, this is a personalised account of extra EEP charges. Please save this link so you can view at any time.

This sheet also contains the account details for you to transfer funds into your EEP account. You can personalise these payments to suit your needs and estimated costs for the year. Some parents choose to deposit a small amount each week rather than having to pay large amounts when due.

The costs below are all charged to EEP accounts and are separate to weekly class fees which are paid monthly via direct debit.

EXAM FEES

2024 Exam Fee Schedule

Exam fees will be charged to students EEP accounts at the start of the year, these can then be paid off throughout the year, but must be paid by the end of Term 3.

EEP COMPETITION TROUPE CHOREOGRAPHIC/REHEARSAL WORKSHOPS

Extra EEP Competition Troupe workshops are charged at $14.00 per hour, no discounts apply to these classes as it already a discounted rate. As an approximate costs - each EEP competition troupe dance will need a choreography workshop (approx. 4 hours) at an approximate cost of $56.00 per dance (once off). Each EEP Competition Troupe dance will also need around 5 hours of extra rehearsals (blocking/polishing/dress) per competition, so an approximate cost of $70 per EEP competition troupe dance per competition.

These costs will be charged to students EEP accounts.

EEP TROUPE EXTRA CHARGES

Each EEP Troupe dancer will have extra costs, per EEP troupe dance, these include -

• Competition troupe entry fees - tba

• Competition competitiors registration/passes - tba

• Costume hire and cleaning fees - tba

• Staff wages at competitions - tba

• Troupe competition photo and video costs - tba

• Showcase costs - tba

EXAMINATIONS

Please see link above for Exam Fees (in COSTS)

Examinations are an important part of a dancer’s journey; this is the only official way to document a dancers training and extremely important for acceptance into tertiary/VET full time dance courses and dance teaching courses. Enrolment in our exam classes is not compulsory, but all EEP students are encouraged to enrol and sit their examinations. Those dancers attending these classes will progress beyond those who don’t, this is because of the technical focus of these classes and the extra training time. Students do not learn any performance work in their exam classes.

We teach the Borovansky method of Classical Ballet which is delivered by the Australian Institute of Classical Dance. Most exams take a full year to learn and prepare for however once a dancer reaches the major levels (Intermediate, Advanced 1 & Advanced 2), 2 or 3 years of study may be required before sitting the exam. The Advanced 2 exam is open to students by invitation only and students must have received Highly Commended or Honours for their Advanced 1 exam, plus be exceptional en pointe.

All dancers in Grade 5 ballet and above must attend Open ballet and Pointe classes on Saturday mornings.

We teach the Tap and Jazz Moves syllabus from the Australian Teachers of Dancing. Most exams take a full year to learn and prepare for, but some students may need 2 years of learning before sitting their examination.

It is at the discretion of the class teacher and EEP Director to hold a student back who is not technically ready to sit their exam, which could be because the dancer hasn’t applied themselves to learn and polish the work throughout the year or were missing lessons due to injury or illness. We will only hold a student back if it is in their best interest and to ensure foundations are being learnt, developed, and executed before moving up levels. If the foundations aren’t secure, it is very hard to build upon that to successfully pass higher grades. If your dancer is technically ready for their exam, as advised by the teacher, the exam itself is not optional and students do not get to choose if they participate.

Our exam classes are generally grouped by school year, with the process (without any interruptions) have dancers completing their final exams in Year 11 and/or 12. Older dancers must commence exams at a beginner level (Up to Grade 2 ballet and Bronze Medal Tap and Jazz) From here, you move up levels by successfully passing exams each year. A new student starting at Generation Dance will be placed into an appropriate exam level after an assessment.

To begin your teacher training at Generation Dance you must have successfully passed your Gold Star exam (Cert III in Assistant Dance Teaching) and then Elementary exam (Cert IV in Dance Teaching and Management). To begin your AICD associate teacher training you must have successfully passed your Advanced 1 exam.

All exams are held in October and/or November at our studio. We are given exam dates by the relevant dance associations and have no say in when these are. Exam can be scheduled 7 days a week and most commonly are during school hours. Exam fees range from $70-$150 per exam. Majority of this cost goes directly to the relevant dance association however Generation Dance does add on a small amount per exam to cover incidentals such as studio hire, examiners transport and food and teachers wages on exam day. If you would like an accurate cost of each exam for your child, please contact the office.

PERFORMANCES / COMPETITIONS / END OF YEAR SHOWCASE

EEP Competition Troupe Items - Dancers will be selected dependent on the choreography requirements of each competition troupe genre an age group is learning. Dancers need to have the commitment, attendance, technique, skills, and performance quality to be selected. In some case dancers must also attend the compulsory technique and/or exam classes to be considered for a competition troupe piece. We put together our best performance team from each age group to represent Generation Dance at competition events. Some students may be given understudy roles, and this means they are not yet at the required level for that routine, but can continue to work on the choreography with the group to continue to develop. They could be selected at any time to perform the routine. We also try to choreograph as inclusive and fairly as possible however we do place stronger dancers at the front to help lead the group. We employ choreographers from all across Australia to work with our EEP competition troupes from 12 & Under and Senior age groups.

End of Year Showcase - All EEP students perform in our End of Year Showcase - Showcase Information and costs

Costumes - With performing comes costuming. We have a great hire service available, and parents hire all troupe costumes for the year. Absolutely everything is done for you and the cost is minimal compared to purchasing outright. Costume hire starts at $40.00

COSTUME HIRE AGREEMENT

Behaviour - All dancers and parents representing Generation Dance at any event must always follow our Code of Conduct.

COMMITMENT / ATTENDANCE

Commitment to the EEP program is for a full year. When you accept a place in this program, it is important students and parents understand and agree this is a full year commitment. Dancers who are selected for a spot in our EEP competition troupes must agree to be available for all performance events, workshops, and rehearsals, as per the schedules.

Consistency and commitment is key to the success of our program. Like anything, if you show up and put in the work consistently, the results will follow. Enrolling in our EEP stream requires commitment to classes and performances and we expect students in attendance to all classes and performances.

Missing technique classes is at a detriment to the students individual growth and development as a dancer. However, missing an EEP Competition Troupe class or rehearsal is at the detriment to the entire team, means your dancer will fall behind with choreography and will impact the progress of the entire group. Your dancer cannot learn if they are not in class. The theory, analogies, anatomical information, technique fundamentals plus the choreography and musicality is given from teachers in class and our dancers need to hear and practice this to fully understand what is being taught. Learning off any videos taken during a missed class is helpful to catchup but missing the foundations of the class can be detrimental to the dancer’s growth and development.

We work a lot on encouraging a growth mindset with our dancers. They will learn a lot about growth vs fixed mindsets, accountability, and responsibility to help promote success within their individual goals, whether it be achieving a skill, achieving a certain mark for an exam, selection in a competition troupe or future goals such as acceptance into tertiary/pre professional training schools and performing pathways. The life skills they learn in their dance lessons will follow them well beyond their years of dance lessons.

Family holidays, events, birthday parties, other sporting commitments must be arranged around your dance commitments. We will accept absences for compulsory school events or camps only.

If your child is injured, it is expected they will attend classes to observe.

If your child has a contagious illness, such as gastro, it is expected they will stay home for the government recommended time.

If your child must miss a lesson, it is expected they catch up on what was learnt, in their own time, prior to the next lesson. Teachers will not re teach choreography.

It is expected you will send in your child’s absence prior to missing a lesson with the reason they are absent, so teachers are aware.

It is expected your child will spend time at home, practicing choreography and corrections from previous lessons.

BAND - We use an APP called BAND for all rehearsal and competition schedules and to upload choreography videos which assists the students practice at home, in between their weekly lessons.

The EEP program dates/schedule (link above) clearly shows the EEP Competition compulsory dates. Students unavailable for any of those dates will become “understudies” for that routine, no exceptions (even those mentioned above eg school camp, illness). This means the student will still attend all weekly classes and rehearsals but will not perform the routine at the competition. If a child is injured, and has not been cleared by a medical practitioner to dance at 100% by the first compulsory rehearsal, they will also become an understudy.

Students wanting to withdraw from the program must follow the Withdrawal Policy in our Terms and Conditions (link below).

PRIVATE LESSONS

Private Coaching Information

TERMS & CONDITIONS

EEP Terms and Conditions