How recitals work

What the fee covers, and what it does not

• Covered: The recital fee is $45 per student and it is optional. It covers costume hire, which is hire and not purchase, and two seats. Additional seats are sold at cost.
• Not charged for: There is no separate costume bill, no compulsory photograph package, no DVD, and no fundraising obligation. If you have been asked for those things by a school before, that is why we list them here.

The one dress rehearsal

One dress rehearsal, in the theatre, on the Saturday before. It is the only extra commitment and it is not optional for anyone performing.

Opting out costs nothing

A student who does not want to perform carries on with the ordinary class and is not moved, spoken to about it, or put in a smaller part next term.

How long each age is on stage, and why

First Steps classes are on for about ninety seconds. Teen classes are on for three to four minutes. This is a judgement about nerves and attention and Grace will explain it to anybody who asks. It is worth saying plainly that this is not favouritism dressed up as a schedule: a younger class is shorter on stage because a longer one asks more of a young dancer's nerves than the moment can bear, not because anybody's class matters less. Grace writes the running order and will talk through the reasoning for any particular class.

No filming from the audience, and why

At the recital, filming and photography from the audience are not permitted. The theatre is dark, flash is dangerous for dancers, and the same one-child-eleven-children problem applies to three hundred phones. We arrange one fixed camera and every family gets the recording at no charge.

The whole photography and consent policy

Nobody photographs in this building without consent on file. Every image of a student on this site would be covered by a written consent from a guardian that may be withdrawn at any time. Filming and photography inside the studios by visitors are not permitted at all.