Ditch The Routine! Join The Party!
Come see what the latest dance/fitness craze is all about! The first class is free so grab your friends and come join the party!
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WELCOME to Winter!!
If you are opening this newsletter in your email note you will also be receiving it via USPS. This is because we will be enclosing a recital assignment sheet highlighted with your dancer's class/es and which show time they are assigned (note: this is not the performance order just what show they will appear in. So, even if you have read the newsletter please refer to the assignment sheet as well. We are also asking that everyone remembers to check their email for important updagtes. To date, about only half of the sent newsletters are being opened. We understand how busy everyone tends to be, but we would hate for you to miss important information as this is our main form of communication.
Well winter has come in with a roar! We hope you are all surviving this crazy winter!! Please be sure to check the website or studio answering service for updates on class cancellations. Please review below our snow policy below.
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Performance Assignments
As we have mentioned before planning a recital is much like a wedding, but with 600+ bridesmaids and groomsmen and 3,000 guests. MHDC has 2 performances scheduled on Saturday June 25. One at 12noon and the other at 6pm. The majority of our dancers are scheduled for just one of those performances. Please take the time to look over the show assignments when you receive them via mail. We have taken the time to highlight the class your child takes to make it easier for you to understand. With many students who have siblings or participate in more than one class, it is impossible at times to get all classes assigned to the same show. In those cases we have made notes on options you may have to either move a class or perform with another class. Please take a look and let us know of your decision no later than February 17th so that the teachers can plan accordingly.
In the next week we will be posting pictures of your child's costume. We ask when looking at all the costumes you are careful about comments. When choosing costumes we have to consider many things-body types, music, character, age appropriateness,color(imagine if every costume were pink), etc. Because we all have different tastes, we are all not going to appreciate the same things. But, all a child needs to hear is that an adult doesn't like their costume and they are crushed. So, please be aware of this as you enjoy looking at all the choices made for our recital "Under the Big Top". |
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In The News
Melissa Hoffman Dance Center is extremely proud of all our efforts to give back to the community. On Sunday February 6 MHDC will host "Straight from the Heart" an annual perfomance to benefit the Make a Wish of New Hampshire. Join us at 12pm at Stockbridge Theatre in Derry. |
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Parking Lot We now have about 4 feet of snow piled high in our parking lot. Because of this visibility may be a bit compromised and parking space markings are buried. We ask that you please be careful and be sure that you are travelling the proper route around the building. We also need to ask that unless you have a handicap parking license plate that you are not in the handicap parking. A few times in that past week we have had those who needed to be in those spaces and could not as people were parked there. As a courtesy to all please be aware of this.
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Featured Family of the Month
Meet the Laudani Family!
Welcome to the Laudani family. Here are some things to know about each of us, and what we like to do as a family.
My dad, Jim, has been working for Alcatel-Lucent for 14 years. He loves to snowboard, hunt & bodybuild.
My mom, Kim, has been a licensed hair stylist for the last 17 years. She danced for many years taking ballet, tap, jazz & pointe. She is an assistant dance teacher in Miss Kerri's class one day a week.
My sister, Lauren, is 5 years old and goes to Moosehill for kindergarten. She has been going to MHDC since she was 2 1/2.
Finally, there is me, Madison. I am 10 years old and am in 5th grade at Matthew Thornton school. I also go to MHDC and have been dancing for the last 7 years. I have been taking karate for the last 4 years & I will soon be getting my junior black belt.
So that is our family. Now I will tell you what we do together. We love to camp at Pine Acres in Raymond, also Old Orchard Beach Maine. We also love to ski in North Conway.We live in Londonderry with our two cats Merlin & Roxy and three dogs, Abbie, Baxter & Fenway.
Thank you for taking the time to read about my family.
Madison Laudani
Email mhdancecenter@comcast.net with your family bio and see your family become our featured family! We'd love to hear from you! |
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Featured Teacher: Adria Berthiaume
Well it has finally come - my turn to be the featured teacher! Being the youngest of the faculty I will probably have the shortest story to tell! I was born and raised in Nashua, NH. I began dancing at the former Academy of Movement in Nashua at age three. When I was about ten or so Melissa bought out the studio (yes I know - crazy to think she was running two studios at once!) and it wasn't soon after she parted ways with AOM that I followed her to Hudson. It was the best decision I ever made. Throughout my years at MHDC I pretty much ate, slept, and breathed dance (and my school studies of course). Between classes, rehearsals, choreography, and assisting, I never left this place.
As you can see not much has changed! I graduated from Nashua High North in 2008 and headed to the University of Massachusetts Lowell for Exercise Physiology. I am currently in my 3rd year and will obtaining my bachelor degree by 2012 (couldn't come fast enough!) For years I watched women sit sedentary in the waiting room, quite concerned about their children's health and activity level, while completely ignoring their own. It sparked a question in my head - why don't they want to exercise. I heard different reasons from not enough time, not priority, don't like the gym, don't know where to start and much more. I began the cultivation of my future journey - to change the lives of women for the better. I suppose you could say I would be indirectly improving the lives of children and husbands as well (after all everyone knows the importance of a happy mom!) In the long run I hope to open a health and wellness studio - perhaps best described as a gym without the gym weight lifting part! In my head I see different aerobic class offerings (both traditional ones like Zumba, yoga, pilates, kick boxing, etc, as well as ones created by me that stem from my dance background!) I hope to bring the physiology and my studies of the exercise to jazz, modern, ballet, and even hip hop classes - geared for women with the same physical effects that us dancers obtain! I am a firm believer in the mind, body, and soul connection so I would love to encompass those aspects to the center as well (I'll be calling Sandi for sure!) In the meantime be looking for new adult class offerings at the studio in the near future!
As you've probably noticed I still never leave the studio. I'm proud to say I've taken on more teaching (through our expanding Dancin' Tots to Teens program), choreography, and our newest venture - Birthday Bashes! I have begun to help Melissa with clerical duties (a business-minded interest that has slowly begun to develop) and enjoy working on the newsletters, flyers, ads, and anything else she can throw my way.
So I bet at this point you're wondering what I do in my free time - and/or if I even have free time. Alas my free time is limited. I enjoy spending time with my boyfriend Walley (of four years), friends, family, and surprise surprise RELAXING! Nothing is better than starting a movie series (currently I'm watching the Star Wars one - apparently I've been missing out coming from an all girl household) and watching through the whole collection! Since I'm always on the go, my free time is precious time where I can stop moving, stop talking, turn off music and just relax!
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Snow or Ice Cancellations/Make up Classes
Remember our policy will be as follows...
-if there is a school delay in Hudson, Litchfield or Londonderry there will be no early am classes. For our classes held at 12:30 we will make a decision by 11 am and for those held later in the afternoon and evening we will make a decision by 2pm.
***Therefore-Please always check in to see if we will have a later opening***
To find out if there is class or not please refer to our website mhdancecenter.com and look for an announcement on the front page. Or, you may call the studio at 886-7909 and the answering service will direct you.
When in doubt we ask that you use your own discretion when choosing to come out. In the event of a cancellation dancers will be able to do a makeup in a class of their same level. In the event we must cancel any given day more than two times we will schedule a makeup class.
Due the the fact that we have now had to close on 2 Tuesday evenings and 2 full Wednesdays we are going to offer some open classes to our evening students during February vacation. We are doing this because we still have another 6 weeks of winter and some classes that do not have other options during the week. We will run a modified class schedule as follows. This is a great time to try another type of class as well (always wanted to try hip hop come on in!). Because it is vacation week we will be offering a varied age range. Any Teen student 14 or over is also welcome to come and try Zumba during our regularly scheduled classses. **we have put classes that would be considered, but you do not have to be in those classes to participate** Tuesday 2/22 4-4:45 Ballet 7-11 (those in Preballet II, El Ballet I) 4:45-5:30 Jazz 7-11 (those in Jazz II/Jazz III/IV and V) 5:45-6:15 Tap 7-10 (those in Tap III/IV) 6:15-7:00 Tap 11+(those in Tap V or Int Tap II)
Wednesday 2/23 5:00-5:45 8-12 (those who participate in 8-10, 9-11 or 10-12) 5:45-6:45 Int 11+/13+ (those who participate in Int 11+ or 13+) 6:45-7:30 Int Jazz II/Int Teen Jazz 7:30-8:15 Teen Modern/Lyric
3:45-5:00 Adv Ballet 5:00-5:45 Open Pointe 5:45-7:00 Int/Int/Adv Ballet
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We are very excited to launch our new website! It has been redone, updated, and reformatted for your convenience. We encourage all of you to explore the variety of new options now available on our website. We have a calendar where important dates and upcoming events will be posted - a great quick reference when you need that reminder! We know how full email inboxs can get, so we have included an email archive page for your convenience. Also new to the website is our blog section. Join in on the conversation with thoughts and posts - we'd love to hear from you!
Just like a new plant, our website is still young and has much growing to do! Although we have a lot of the necessary information, we are looking to expand our photo and video galleries. Please please send us your best Peek Week footage, past recital pictures, or general dance candids to mhdancecenter@comcast.net. Don't forget to check out our quick links at the bottom of the homepage for quick access to all your dancing needs! We hope to utilize our website in the near future for online registration, paying balances online, and many other great features! Go ahead, bookmark the page with your Favorites - you'll be wanting to visit often with all our constant changes and updates!
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