PARADE INFO
Dear Ballet Arts students & parents,
We hope that everyone is having a wonderful year so far! We are excited to be participating in the Henderson, Oxford and Warrenton Christmas Parades again this year. I have listed the particulars about each parade below along with information about parade outfits and rehearsals.
PARADE DATES, TIMES & LOCATIONS
OXFORD CHRISTMAS PARADE - Friday, December 2 - Line up at 6:00pm - Parade begins at 7:00pm
Parade Route: Line up on Bell and Spring Street. Parade moves down Spring St, continues towards City Hall, proceeds to the Court House and ends just past the Friendly Village Shopping Center/Advance Auto Parts. Please pick up your child at the intersection of Hillsborough and W. McClanahan/US15 across from the BP station when our group finishes marching...NOT after the parade ends. Please do not pull performers out of the line up until we disband at this intersection. This causes a hold up in the progress of the parade.
UPDATE ON THE OXFORD CHRISTMAS PARADE ROUTE:
The route for the Oxford Christmas Parade has changed! Due to road conditions on Hillsboro Street, the parade will take an alternate route, please see below:
BELLE STREET --> WILLIAMSBORO STREET --> HILLSBORO STREET --> RIGHT ONTO BROAD STREET --> LEFT ONTO PENN AVENUE -->ENDING AT PUBLIC WORKS BUILDING PARKING LOT
HENDERSON CHRISTMAS PARADE - Saturday, December 3 - Line up at 2:15pm - Parade begins at 3:00pm
Parade Route: Line up on Dabney Drive Extension, enter from Raleigh Rd only. Parade begins on Dabney Dr Extension (in front of Carter National Bank & between Walgreens & CVS) enter from Raleigh Road only, parade turns right on Garnett St, continues down Garnett St and ends on Montgomery Street. Parents, please pick up your child on the corner of Garnett St & Montgomery St immediately when we finish marching...NOT when the parade ends.
WARRENTON CHRISTMAS PARADE - Saturday, December 10 - Line up at 4:15pm - Parade begins at 5:00pm
Parade Route: Begins at Miriam Boyd School on S. Main St. and ends at the old John Graham High School.
PARADE WEAR (NON-COMPANY)
We will be wearing scuba blue Ballet Arts printed hoodies (the same color/design as last year), black pants (any type you can move in, but please no jeans), black socks and black tennis shoes/sneakers/boots (no heels). Feel free to wear a turtleneck, gloves, scarves, earmuffs, hats (as long as they are black) as we want to look uniform in our appearance. Dancers will also be using small props this year (see PARADE PROPS below).
If you wish to march in the parades, you will need to place an order and purchase a Ballet Arts hoodie.
Hoodies are $25.00 (Youth S to Adult XL). Adult 2XL - 4XL are available for an additional charge.
ALL ORDER MUST BE PLACED & PAID FOR BY 8:00PM ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Order forms must be returned to the studio office with payment. Check, Cash, Credit Card or called in
by phone (credit card). All order must be submitted by November 11 at 8:00pm.
PARADE HOODIES (NO LATE ORDERS)
STUDENT NAME __________________________________________________ CLASS DAY/TIME ___________________________________________
HOODIE SIZE: CIRCLE YOUR SIZE SELECTION - HOODIES ARE $25 UNLESS NOTED BELOW
Youth Small
Adult Small
Youth Medium
Adult Medium
Youth Large
Adult Large
Youth Extra Large
Adult Extra Large
NOTE: Hoodies are available for purchase even if you are not participating in the parades or for any family members that would like to have one.
PARADE PROPS
We are incorporating a small prop into the choreography of the parade dance routine. All dancers performing in the parade will need to purchase a light up prop from the Ballet Arts Office. Cost for the prop is $3.00. Baton students performing baton choreography in the parade will not need a prop).
PARADE REHEARSALS
We will be having rehearsals, for non-company students ages 8 & up at the studio to learn the parade routine. All dance students who will be performing in the parade will need to attend at least TWO (and preferably 3 or more) parade rehearsals. Preschool students and young dancers, under the age of 8 (that will be walking in the parade - not performing the routine) do not need to attend parade rehearsals. Baton students will learn the parade routine during their regularly scheduled weekly baton class. Parade rehearsal will be held at the studio on the dates and times below:
CHRISTMAS PARADE REHEARSALS - DANCE ROUTINE
PLEASE ATTEND AT LEAST 2 REHEARSALS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 6:30-7:15pm
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 4:45-5:30pm
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17 6:30-7:15pm
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19 5:00-5:45pm
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 5:15-6:00pm
REMINDER: BATON STUDENTS WILL REHEARSE DURING BATON CLASS
VOLUNTEERS
As always, we welcome parents to march along on the sides. Parents of preschoolers may walk along with their child and hold their hand, carry them, or pull them in a wagon. All preschoolers MUST BE accompanied by an adult. Parents of school-age students may walk along with us but must walk BEHIND our group. For parents that are walking, we recommend wearing black pants with a black top or a top and/or scarf that will coordinate with our sweatshirt colors. We also need 4 volunteers for each parade to carry the banners. This could be pre-teen/teenage siblings, adult parents or friends. If you would like to be a banner carrier, please let the Ballet Arts office know.
LAYERS
Depending on the weather, you may want to add extra layers under your parade outfit for warmth, as it can get cold and windy. We highly recommend a black turtleneck along with thermal underwear under your outfit. You may wear a coat while we line-up (or bring a blanket to wrap up in), but these may not be worn or carried once we begin to march.
We should receive our line-up numbers for the parades prior to Thanksgiving Break. As soon as we receive this information, we will post it at the studio and on the studio Facebook page. The local papers also usually list this information closer to the weekend of the parades.
Please call us at the studio (919-430-6443) or message us through Facebook if you have any questions regarding the parades. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you at the parades!
Miss Alecia and the Ballet Arts Staff