An Introduction to CCA Sparklers!
Who Are CCA Sparklers?
CCA Sparklers is a special group granted the privilege to join us in Cleveland, Ohio, for the annual Ohio Dance Masters Performing Arts Convention and Competition. Sparklers get to travel out of town and occasionally perform for the community and are expected to represent CCA with Compassion, Confidence and Creativity wherever they go. Participation in Competition is not required to be on the team.
What is the time commitment?
Students accepted into our Sparklers program must be enrolled in a ballet class at Clarion Center for the Arts as well as additional classes based on age and the genre of dance in which they are placed. Students must maintain their technique by regularly attending their core classes.
For some routines, competition choreography is taught in our regularly scheduled classes. This means, for example, a student’s Tap class may be invited to compete. For other routines, once-a-week rehearsals may be scheduled outside of your regularly scheduled classes.
Our Production Number rehearses on Saturdays from 10am-1pm, January-March. Some additional rehearsals may be scheduled in December or early January depending on the date of the competition.
Students are permitted one absence of a Sparkler rehearsal during the course of our season with no absences occurring during the "initial rehearsals" in December and January or during the four weeks leading up to competition. Absences should be excused three weeks in advance with the exception of a sudden death in the family, the hospitalization of the student, or a contagious illness. Please do not ask for an exception to this rule! If you are going to miss a rehearsal within the four weeks leading up to competition, then please excuse yourself from being a part of the competition for the year.
If a student is injured or ill but not contagious, s/he is permitted to sit and watch the rehearsal while taking notes.
If a student is quarantined due to a contagious illness, s/he must still attend rehearsal via Zoom. S/he may watch and take notes if too sick to physically participate.
NOTE: When a student misses a rehearsal, s/he MUST get together with a classmate to review all choreography and notes that were missed BEFORE the next rehearsal. Please make arrangements with a friend PRIOR to the missed rehearsal so your friend can pay attention to where you are in formations and what you do for choreography.
Students are also required to attend our annual competition lock-in to be scheduled sometime in February. Parents are expected to attend the beginning of our lock-in for a parent meet and greet. Additional rehearsals may be scheduled for February and March, and “tech-week” rehearsals will be held every evening of the week leading up to competition. The competition we attend is usually scheduled for sometime in March.
Students are also expected to make every effort to participate in audition and leadership workshops as well as any community performance opportunities to which we are invited. Some of these events may take place during a school day. A school dismissal letter will always be available to students prior to the event.
Finally, there will be conditioning classes during the months of July and August. Some of these classes will be mandatory for certain students.
What is the financial commitment?
The fee to be on our Sparklers Dance Masters Team is $325 per year (billed monthly, Sept.-June).
The fee to participate in our Production Number is $300 per year (billed monthly, Sept.-June).
Dances learned and rehearsed outside of class have an additional rehearsal and costume fee of $150-300 total depending on the size of the group.
Families will be responsible for booking their own hotel room for the weekend in Cleveland. Ohio Dance Masters always has a room block at a hotel near the convention center, but families are welcome to book a room wherever they please.
Additionally… All students must purchase CCA warm up jacket. Warm up pants are optional. These should be purchased during our annual merchandise sale held in the fall before Christmas. Other miscellaneous costs will include dance shoes, tights, earrings, makeup and other personal items needed for a particular dance or class. Scholarships are available based on financial need!
Why should my child participate?
Here are a handful of benefits that our students gain by being a part of our Sparklers Team:
Teamwork - Students learn how to work together toward a common goal and how to be responsible for their share of the outcome.
Discipline - Sparklers must be focused and work hard in their core classes, technique training and rehearsals.
Time-management - The extra time and effort put into being a Sparkler requires students to learn how to manage their time wisely so they balance time for school, friends, family and dance.
Stress-management - Performing for scores and awards is a daunting experience, but learning how to manage the nerves is great practice for all future daunting endeavors.
Failure - Knowing how to fail gracefully is so important. Kids need to understand how to not get discouraged by failure, but rather how to learn and grow from it while being genuinely happy for the winners.
For us, competition is not about being the best. It’s about becoming the best YOU there could possibly be. Competition is about growing as dancers and as leaders through the ups and downs. Plus, we get to have a lot of fun along the way!
How do we sign up?!
Easy! Just email us at [email protected] to let us know you're interested and we'll help you from there.
We're looking forward to having you join our Sparklers Dance Masters Team!
