Performance Team Guidelines
If you have any questions regarding teams please email kim@napa.com.au.
Please ensure you have read our attached handbook.
By accepting a place on our teams, you commit to following our PT guidelines
We can’t wait for an amazing year of dance!
Commitment
Committing to a Performance Team goes beyond exemplary class attendance. It is also imperative that all students in performance teams prioritise attendance at eisteddfods and competitions as outlined in the calendar at the beginning of each year. The only acceptable reason for missing a Performance Team class is a compulsory school event or serious illness. If your cherub is feeling injured, but is still up to attending classes to watch, we do recommend this. Every lesson is important and we only do well as a team when we are all invested 100%.
SOLOISTS – please be mindful of entering competitions that clash with your Team classes, especially those in Saturday classes.
Communication
Communication is key when it comes to having a smooth and stress-free performance year for both parent and child. At NAPA, as much as possible, we only send out emails that are specific and relevant to your child and their classes or productions. It is important that you read all emails that come your way so that you, and your child, are prepared and aware of important information, class changes and production requirements that occur throughout the year. We also ask that you join the Performance Team Facebook Group, where time-critical information is communicated, particularly on competition and performance days. Please do not try to catch teachers between classes. Quite often teachers are on their way to another class or rehearsal, or it might be their only opportunity to eat or use the bathroom.
If you wish to speak to them in person, please email to organise an appropriate time.
Compulsory Additional Class Requirements
Please note: our Performance Teams have compulsory additional classes attached to each team. All team members are expected to have exemplary attendance to all classes and must commit to the entire year of competitions.
6 & Under Dance Team & advanced tech: must attend Grade 1 or Mini Ballet (age dependant)
8 & Under Dance Team & advanced tech: must attend Junior Ballet or RAD ballet
10 & Under Dance Team & advanced tech: must attend Tween or RAD ballet
12 & Under Dance Team & advanced tech: must attend Pre-Senior or RAD ballet
15 & Under Small Group Team & advanced tech: must attend Senior or RAD ballet
Opens Small Group Team & advanced tech: must attend Senior or RAD ballet
Opens Dance Team & advanced tech: must attend Senior or RAD ballet
12 & Under Acro Team & advanced acro tech: must attend Junior, Tween, Pre-Senior or RAD ballet
Opens Tap Team & advanced tap tech: no additional classes
Opens S&D/MT Team: must attend Pre-Senior/Senior Tech (if not already in advanced tech)
Uniform Expectations
Students in the Performance Teams are required to wear their official NAPA uniform to all Performance Team classes. Where a uniform item order has not yet arrived, students are to wear a plain black item in its place, with at least one NAPA uniform piece. Wearing a uniform is not only about studio pride, but also prepares students for industry expectations.
In 2024, all PT students must attend class with hair in a bun or neat braids pinned up.
When arriving at competitions, students should wear their full official Performance Team Uniform including jacket, leggings or track pants and singlet or crop (unless informed to wear a specific costume under the tracksuit) along with black or white sneakers – no slides or booties!
Eisteddfod Days Dos and Don’ts
To ensure that eisteddfod days run as smooth as possible, we ask that all students:
check all notes thoroughly to ensure that you have all costume items required.
pack extra emergency tights in case of holes or ladders.
pack your own supply of bobby pins (both flat and bun), safety pins, hairspray, deodorant, comb and brush.
ensure you are in full uniform (jacket, leggings or track pants, black or white sneakers.)
have your first routine tights under your uniform.
bring all costumes in a hanging bag with your name on it.
pack the rest of your items in a small wheelie bag or NAPA sports bag.
ensure your shoes are clean with no scuffs, marks or holes.
label all your belongings (especially uniforms and purchased costumes.)
pack lots of water and healthy snacks.
pack a running list of your child’s routines and costumes/accessories required (as posted by Miss Kim in the Performance Team Facebook Group).
purchase a competitor pass from the front desk at the comp or online if available.
have fun!
We ask that all students DO NOT:
arrive late.
arrive in thongs, sandals, slip on shoes, ugg boots/slippers or jazz shoes.
rely on others to supply you with bobby pins etc.
bring large bags or dream duffels.
leave the dressing room without Miss Kim’s permission.
be noisy and disrespectful in the dressing room.
leave your belongings laying around in the dressing room.
eat in costume.
forget your competitors pass.
enter the auditorium when another performer is on stage, regardless if someone else does before you.
stand in the wings when backstage, until it is your turn to perform.
take photos or video from the audience.
Eisteddfod Notes for Parents
Please ensure that you keep on top of all notifications, emails and notices that are released in the lead up to eisteddfods, and ensure that your child is aware of all that is required. A comprehensive list of hair, makeup and costume requirements, as well as run sheets and arrival times for eisteddfods, and any required extra rehearsals, will be posted to the Performance Team Facebook Group. Please ensure you are a member of this group by emailing searching NAPA Performance Team on Facebook and requesting to be added as a member as soon as possible so that you do not miss anything. Videos of routines for rehearsals are also posted to this group, and we ask that parents ensure that their cherubs are rehearsing routines at home so that they are prepared to fine tune routines in class time.
The dressing room space at competitions is always limited, and as such, NAPA keeps our dressing room as a “cherub only” zone. The younger students also have senior helpers on the day, so once you have dropped them off, please evacuate the dressing room and enjoy watching the performances. Please do not put us in the awkward position of having to ask you to leave the dressing room. Drop and go, and enjoy from the audience. 😁
At ‘Get the Beat’ competitions, judging occurs at the end of the session. Cherubs will remain with Miss Kim in the dressing room until judging, when they will make their way to the stage for awards. Once awards have concluded, you can pick your child up from the dressing room or designated meeting zone. All other comps – students will be released after judging at the end of the section.
Competitor passes are to be purchased at each comp and is the responsibility of the parent. Some comps sell these online in the lead up to comp day. This helps to avoid lining up on to pay the day.
TRINA’S #NAPAQUICKTIPS
To help with a smooth introduction to Performance Teams and competitions, NAPA parent, Trina, has learned from her own mistakes and has put together some Quick Tips from a parent’s perspective to help you to have stress-free eisteddfod preparations.
Costume Organisation
When April school holidays hit, it’s the perfect time to start getting organised for competition seasons by stocking up on hair supplies and organising costumes. As the costumes start to make their way home, this tip is particularly useful for those with multiple routines. It is a great way to ensure that you have costumes in order for ease of access and quick changes in the change rooms. There are often only minutes, or seconds, to spare between routines, so it is vital that your child can access and find each piece of their costume quickly and easily between routines.
Storing your costumes in garment bags like these also makes it easier to check that you have each piece of costume before you leave the house. These costume bags with additional pockets are available at most dance stores, and are also available in online dance stores by searching for ‘dance garment bags’.
Check with your child as to their preference - some dancers prefer multiple costumes in the one bag for quick changes, but you will need to ensure they are in order of the routines that day.
I also include the most recent itemised routine schedule/run sheet with checklist for costume and hair requirements for dancers to refer to in the change room. It is also a good idea to label each bag with your child's name, its contents and the routines they relate to. Also, be sure to pack extra stockings and backup shoes just in case. You never know when your child, or someone else, might need them.
The NAPA Change Rooms are parent-free zones during eisteddfods, so the more that you can do to ensure your child is organised beforehand, the smoother the transitions will be for the teachers in the change rooms on the day, and the less stressed your cherub will be.
Costumes
Always do a thorough stocktake of your costumes at least 2-4 weeks out from each competition to ensure you have everything for each routine. If something is missing, broken or no longer fits, this will give you time to do something about it, rather than freaking out the night before with no way of fixing the problem. #napaquicktip #avoidthefreakout
If something is missing, broken or no longer fits, please email Kimmi ASAP so that this can be sorted. As it is often difficult to stop to chat, take calls or respond to texts throughout the week when time teaching in the classroom is the priority - email is the preferred method of communication with teaching staff.
Where costumes are purchased and/or hired through NAPA, and it has been communicated that they will be provided by Kimmi, they will typically be handed to dancers at their first dress rehearsal (or as soon as it is ready). Costumes will then come home with your cherub for you to care for throughout the year until your final performance at the end of the year, before being hand washed (check with Miss Kim if unsure if a certain costume can be washed) and then hired costumes returned to NAPA.
If it is requested that you source a costume from another parent from previous routines, second-hand costumes can be sourced on NAPA Gold Coast Buy/Swap/Sell or other second-hand dance costume Facebook groups. If you have problems sourcing a second-hand costume, please contact Kimmi via email as soon as possible to allow ample time for a new one to arrive or be made if required.
Dress Rehearsals
Okay, so this NAPA Quick Tip comes from personal experience, and a long and somewhat hilarious story that involved a child in tears with severe anxiety, a rolling stop by my house with my son throwing a dress through the car window and a police stop on the quick return trip. Well, I can laugh about it now! For those in more than one routine/age group, when arriving to dress rehearsals, until you are familiar with all the costumes and routines for the year, it is somewhat a good idea to have every costume, and all shoes for all routines on hand, just in case. Even if your cherub is 100% convinced that you have the right costume for that routine, bring them all and have them on stand-by. Your cherub may be 100% wrong, and there will be tears. ;)
Having said this, a very thorough checklist is provided on the Performance Team Facebook Group with all the costume items for each routine. Be diligent in checking through this list and ensure you have everything, and there should be no problems. Once students get home from dress rehearsals, have them check through each item for each routine again and pack costumes into garment bags to ensure items have not been misplaced, mixed up or left at the studio with no way to retrieve them on the morning of competitions.
Hair and makeup requirements for dress rehearsals are communicated in the Performance Team Facebook Group in the lead up to dress rehearsals. If a certain hair style is required, and you need assistance in achieving that style, please ask another parent in your team for assistance, or request help in the Performance Team Facebook Group, to ensure hair is done in plenty of time before dress rehearsal and/or performance call times.
Emergency Supply Kits
Another #napaquicktip brought to you by the letter 'E' for emergency kit. Anything can happen in the change rooms on eisteddfod days, so it’s always best to #beprepared.
First Term is the time to stock up before your first eisteddfod; so head on over to eBay, or to your nearest preferred retailer, and top up your kit. This kit is to be packed in your bag and taken into the change room on arrival to eisteddfods and competitions.
MUST HAVES: Always pack copious amounts of extra hair pins (both bobby pins AND u-shaped bun pins), hair ties (including small clear and/or hair colour plastic elastics for pinned up braids) and various sizes of safety pins (lots of them), all of which may be required to affix costume items or quickly change a hair style at last minute. Trust me - all of these items disappear as the year progresses. You can never have too many. Don’t forget to pack brushes, combs, deodorant and … HAIRSPRAY!
OTHER HANDY ITEMS: Needle and thread, ballet hair nets, wig cap (if wigs are a part of costume), extra hat elastic, small scissors, nail polish remover, cotton buds, small scissors, and if you do Tap routines - spare screws and a small screwdriver wouldn't go amiss, because you just never know when a costume emergency or change of plan might occur back stage.
Please don’t rely on others to have spares of everything for you. While we encourage cherubs to share and support each other in emergent situations, it is important that all cherubs have their own emergency supplies on hand.
NAPA Makeup + Lashes
NAPA EYES
6s & 8s - simple browns (not intense smokey eyes) with black liner and mascara. No fake lashes required.
10s, 12s, 15s, Opens - smokey eyes as above.
Fake lashes compulsory.
Click above image for a step-by-step natural smokey eye online tutorial.
NAPA CHEEKS
Pink!
NAPA LIPS
Red … make sure you use lipliner!
Apply the lipstick when you arrive at the venue before going to the dressing rooms - this will avoid any smudges or having it come off before making it to stage.
Ah-ha! 😁☑️
Uh-uh! 🥴❌
Makeup Goals
FAKE LASHES COMPULSORY FOR ALL 10s, 12s, 15s & OPENS ROUTINES
fake lashes not required for 6s & 8s Teams
Measure, trim and glue the lashes before commencing makeup to allow the glue to dry slightly and get a little tacky. If the lash pulls away from the corners of the eyelid, put blobs of glue on a cotton tip and wipe onto the corner of fake lash, gently blow dry and stick again. And don't worry, white glue dries clear. Just avoid applying the glue from tube directly onto the eyelid or it can make for sore eyes and a right sticky mess if it explodes out of the tube. Apply a little mascara to natural lashes before attaching fake lashes.
HAPPY DANCING CHERUBS!
😁 😁 😁
Fighting off the Winter Lurgies
During GC Eisteddfod season (and changes of seasons), the winter lurgies rear their ugly heads at the most inopportune time. Stock up on some olive leaf extract, and an herbal immune booster such as Viraforce or Armaforce, and at the first sign of a sniffle, start dosing up. This will hopefully fend off dreaded illnesses and reduce the length and severity of them, keeping your young performer in peak fitness and ready to take the stage. Some other top remedies for coughs, colds and sore throats recommended by others: drink lots of water, Vicks on the feet, Vitamin C tablets, have cut onion by the bed overnight, Manuka honey in warm water or straight from the spoon, keep body warm (particularly chest and throat) and lots of rest.
Singing Tip from Miss Steffanie
Steer away from Strepsils and other such lozenges when dealing with a sore throat. Honey (preferably Manuka) in hot water is the go-to. You can add a bit of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Plus heaps of water. Avoid anything dairy.