Gabby Flanders 2017 Summer of Dance
Donation protected
January 2017: performing the Aurora variation from Act III of Sleeping Beauty
Thank you so much to all the family and friends who have supported Gabby's dance education for the past few years! With your help, I have watched her grow from an energetic and creative three-year-old girl who dances in the kitchen, to a polished, artistic, graceful 15-year-old with dreams of an amazing future.
This summer is no different. After many successful auditions, Gabby has decided on a two part summer experience in order to focus on multiple dance genres, preparing for a career as a professional dancer and dance teacher. If you would like to help, we would love your support. We know that dance is a "want" and not a "need", and that Go Fund Me is full of tragic stories that are so much more derserving of funding, so we very much appreciate anyone who would like to help out.
Since Go Fund Me takes an 8% fee for all donations made through their site, you can make your donation go farther by sending any contributions directly to us, and we will manually post your donation on the website (Go Fund Me doesn't charge for that, so your donation goes 8% farther).
FYI: anywhere that you see something in a dark blue, bold font, it is a link to a related website, giving you more information about one of the programs or something else that we thought you might like to know about.
The 2017 Summer Dance Plan Part 1:
The first part of the summer (June 18 to July 22) will be spent in the Classical Ballet Intensive at the University of North Carolina's School of the Arts (UNCSA), in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Classical Ballet Intensive is a five-week program focusing on the very particular demands of the Ballet profession while providing cross-disciplinary training to meet the versatility expectations required by the today’s classical ballet companies. The program provides a highly focused and extensive pre-professional experience.
The Classical Ballet curriculum is designed for more experienced dancers to improve technical proficiency, strength, classical variations and versatility. Emphasis will be placed on daily Ballet Technique, Pointe, Pas de Deux, Character, Contemporary Technique, Classical and Contemporary Ballet Repertory with master classes offered in Jazz, Musical Theater, Hip Hop and Acting. All classes and master classes will be taught by UNCSA faculty and distinguished guest artists.
I love that it is on a college campus, giving my 10th grade daughter a pre-view of what college life is like. Gabby loves the opportunity to explore a new part of our country.
The 2017 Summer Dance Plan Part 2:
With one day for travel, the second part of the summer moves to New York City, where Gabby will spend 6 days training with the Radio City Rockettes ! (July 23 - 28) What a dream come true for a girl who would like to dance on Broadway. The Rockettes Summer Intensive (RSI) is a dance program designed for advanced dancers who want to train in the Rockettes style. Entering its 15th season, this summer dance intensive has produced more than 60 Rockettes.
The Rockettes reflect individual talent, hard work, athleticism, training, teamwork and dazzling synchronicity whenever they perform. The Rockettes Summer Intensive Dance Program offers aspiring professional dancers the unique opportunity to train with the Rockettes, and a Rockettes Director/Choreographer, learning their world-famous precision dance technique. This distinctive style transcends a multitude of dance disciplines, including jazz, tap, musical theater, lyrical and the legendary Kickline.
The curriculum of this summer dance intensive focuses on original choreography and formations from the Rockettes repertoire that will culminate in a student Showcase to be held in a New York City theater. This opportunity for dancers to connect with the professional dance world and study the world-famous Rockette precision dance technique is invaluable to the dedicated dancer.
A little taste of the Rockettes Summer Intensive
After the Rockettes, she will join the Joffrey Ballet School (JBS) for their Jazz and Contemporary Intensive for the final two weeks of the summer (July 29 - August 12). The NYC Jazz/Contemporary program is the flagship Jazz and Contemporary dance intensive for Joffrey. The program focuses in on cutting edge contemporary, modern, improv, hip hop and theater dance. The program pushes dancers beyond the realm of their current technique and tradition. Dancers will explore new ideas of movement and artistic expression in creating the art of motion. The intensive culminates in a performance at a major NYC theater venue.
Gabby has participated in two previous Joffrey Ballet School programs, in San Francisco (2014) and in New York City (2015), both studying classical and contemporary ballet. She loved both of these experiences and is excited to go back to NYC for more. We are so grateful to Joffrey for the 60% tuition scholarship!
Video sneak peak of the Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Intensive in New York City
(this video is a little slow to load, so be patient ...)
January 2017: performing Seven Nation Army at the Reno Latin Dance Fest
What is Gabby doing to make this happen?
Gabby understands that she has a responsibility to help pay for her dance experiences. Here are some of the things that she is doing to raise money for current and summer dance expenses:
** Teaching Intro to Ballet at the Carmel Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA): Gabby has been a student here for seven years and is now fortunate enough to pay it forward to some of the youngest dancers. She is very excited to have her very "own" class.
** Substitute teaching at CAPA: ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, 1-7 classes per week, as needed, students from two to ten-years-old. All of this is helping polish her teaching style and classroom management skills.
** Rehearsal director for a small portion of Dance Kids of Monterey County's annual Nutcracker production.
** Teaching, assisting teaching, and performing at the Reno Latin Dance Fest .
** Teaching private dance lessons
** Hosting dance-themed birthday parties
** Babysitting and petsitting
** Taking public transit to school and work/the dance studio, so that we can save on gas.
** Saving her dance teacher paychecks to cover food expenses for NYC, and to cover spending money for the entire trip.
Gabby is getting more and more opportunities to teach dance, moving her towards her life goal of teaching and owning her own dance studio.
What is Teri doing to make this happen?
** Applying for every scholarship and grant that she can find. Look at the Scholarships and Grants section below to see which applications have been successful so far.
** Teaching Gabby how to apply for grants and scholarships.
** Teaching an extra class every day at Los Arboles Middle School.
** After school tutoring at Los Arboles, three days a week.
$5,558 in scholarships, grants, and discounts received so far for the three summer programs:
** University of North Carolina School of the Arts merit scholarship
** Dancing Angels Foundation scholarship that paid-off our balance due at the University of North Carolina !!! So amazingly generous !!!
** 60% tuition scholarship from Joffrey in New York, for their Jazz and Contemporary program
** $200 off Joffrey tuition thanks to a promo code :-)
Our original fundraising goal was nearly $11,000 for all of the summer programs. Because of all of these generous scholarships, grants, and discounts, we keep reducing our fundraising goal to what we actually need to raise in cash. Also, as we better figure out our actual expenses, we have adjusted down our fundraising goal. We are so blessed to have so much help!
Summer 2017 estimated budget:
University of North Carolina Classical Ballet Intensive
Paid in full !!! Huge thank you to Dancing Angels Foundation and UNC School of the Arts for the scholarships that paid all but $300 of the fees!
Rockettes Summer Intensive
Paid in full !!! $1,101 for tuition, and approximately $250 for subway pass, meals and activities.
Paid in full !!! New shoes (tap and character shoes), plus a good supply of band-aids, are also required for this program: estimated cost $200.
Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Intensive
$2,081 for tuition , room and board (after the 60% tuition scholarship).
.
spending money for the summer (laundry, snacks, outings, etc.) estimated at $500
ground transportation from airports to dance intensive locations estimated at $400
Things already paid for:
flights to North Carolina - Thanks to a VERY generous gift of Southwest Airline miles from Teri's dad and step-mom, John and Connie Flanders, the flights to North Carolina are paid for, plus Teri's flight back to Cali. Thank you so much, Papa John and Grandma Connie !!!
Another friend, Nicole C., gifted us with some more Southwest Airline miles. We are so grateful!
If anyone has some more Southwest Airline miles that they would like to gift us, we would gladly accept them! We could use a few more miles to pay for all of the plane tickets for Gabby and Teri.
pointe shoes - Each pair of Suffolk pointe shoes lasts for about 10 - 20 hours of hard ballet dancing, and costs about $100 per pair. Here is a video of how Suffolk pointe shoes are made ... all hand work. Teri's high school friend, Ingall Bull, has been Gabby's "pointe shoe fairy" for the past year, gifting Gabby with an average of one pair per month. We are so grateful !!!
transportation from North Carolina to New York City - Jim and Kim Flanders, Teri's brother and sister-in-law, Gabby's Aunt and Uncle, will be going to watch Gabby's final performance at the University of North Carolina, then helping her get from UNC to the upper west side of Manhattan for her programs in NYC. We are so glad that they will get to see Gabby dance, and so grateful for their time and effort spent getting her from point A to point B!
housing in NYC during the Rockettes intensive - Our new friends, Clarice and Andrew, are hosting Gabby in their apartment for 8 days, while she attends the Rockettes program. Clarice is the daughter of our friends Chip and Eddie, with whom we stayed during one of Gabby's programs last summer in Southern California. Eddie and Chip also hosted us when Gabby was auditioning for the University of North Carolina program back in January. Their entire family has been very supportive of Gabby's love of dance, and we are so grateful for their generosity.
An idea for you:
Can you help pay for just one day of this amazing summer? Or, even better: several days.
UNCSA costs $141 per day for tuition, room and board. Amazingly, this is actually one of the lower priced summer intensives.
The Rockettes Summer Intensive is $183 per day for tuition only.
The Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary program is $135 per day, and that is with the 60% tuition scholarship included.
We would be grateful for any assistance. If it isn't in your budget at the moment, we certainly understand and enjoy updating you with Gabby's latest plans, photos and videos. Sending encouragement is free :-)
Everyone: please post and share this Go Fund Me campaign on your various social media platforms. The more that we get the word out, the better. Who knows: there may be someone with deep-pockets out there looking for a deserving dancer to sponsor.
Photo by Heidi Carpenter-Borgia, May 2016
The latest on Gabby's life:
School: Gabby is in 10th grade, home schooling through Ocean Grove Charter School, however, she is hardly ever at home, so this is a bit of a misnomer. She attends Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) for some classes: Spanish, Chemistry, Physical Geology, and next year for Math. She carries a 4.0 GPA at MPC and enjoys the challenge of attending college as a 10th grader. She will have enough college credits at the end of high school to nearly cover the first year of college!
Dance: Gabby is taking 16+ hours of lessons per week (private, semi-private, and group lessons). She is on three dance teams and will be participating in six competitions this season. She has four solos and five team dances.
Teaching: One of Gabby's long-term goals is to be a dance teacher and own her own studio. With 2.5 hours of teaching and assistant teaching per week, plus substitute teaching hours, she is well on her way to making this a paying career.
Community Service: Gabby is the Student Representative on the Board of Directors for Dance Kids of Monterey County. She is learning all about fundraising, marketing, and grant writing in the world of arts related, non-profit organizations, as well as participating in many community out-reach activities.
Gabby as the Snow Queen and Teri as the Chinese Dragon, in the 2016 Dance Kids of Monterey County prodution of the Nutcracker.
Gabby and I are so grateful for those who have helped in the past, and appreciate so much those of you are who contemplating helping us for this summer.
much love to all,
Teri and Gabby Flanders
Gabby at Hollywood Dance Jamz convention, April 2016. Gabby won a scholarship for the dance teacher's convention that she attended in July 2016, plus they gave her a scholarship for a future dance convention ... which we are using in April 2017. Thank you so much to Hollywood Dance Jamz!
Gabby in April 2016 at Carmel Beach, photo by Alexa Sinclair
Gabby in her Snow Queen costume, Dance Kids of Monterey County's production of The Nutcracker, November 2016.
Gabby teaching Intro to Ballet at the Carmel Academy of Performing Arts, November 2016.
The Carmel Academy of Performing Arts Elite Team performing "Dreams" in March 2017.
Gabby is on the right, front, at the start of the number.
The Board of Directors for Dance Kids of Monterey County, Sunset Center, December 2016 for "The Nutcracker." Gabby has been the Student Representative on the Board of Directors since October 2016; it has been a tremendous learning opportunity for her.
March 2017, photo by Andrea Sanico
Gabby as the Snow Queen, Dance Kids of Monterey County 2016 Nutcracker, at dress rehearsal with Teri.
Gabby at five, living the kindergarten life in her school uniform, 2006.
March 2017, photo by Andrea Sanico
Ballerina dreams, March 2017, photo by Jennifer Kremer
April 2017, Loose Tie Photography
Gabby at UNC, School of the Arts, July 2017. Photo by a student in the UNCSA summer photography program.
Thank you so much to all the family and friends who have supported Gabby's dance education for the past few years! With your help, I have watched her grow from an energetic and creative three-year-old girl who dances in the kitchen, to a polished, artistic, graceful 15-year-old with dreams of an amazing future.
This summer is no different. After many successful auditions, Gabby has decided on a two part summer experience in order to focus on multiple dance genres, preparing for a career as a professional dancer and dance teacher. If you would like to help, we would love your support. We know that dance is a "want" and not a "need", and that Go Fund Me is full of tragic stories that are so much more derserving of funding, so we very much appreciate anyone who would like to help out.
Since Go Fund Me takes an 8% fee for all donations made through their site, you can make your donation go farther by sending any contributions directly to us, and we will manually post your donation on the website (Go Fund Me doesn't charge for that, so your donation goes 8% farther).
FYI: anywhere that you see something in a dark blue, bold font, it is a link to a related website, giving you more information about one of the programs or something else that we thought you might like to know about.
The 2017 Summer Dance Plan Part 1:
The first part of the summer (June 18 to July 22) will be spent in the Classical Ballet Intensive at the University of North Carolina's School of the Arts (UNCSA), in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Classical Ballet Intensive is a five-week program focusing on the very particular demands of the Ballet profession while providing cross-disciplinary training to meet the versatility expectations required by the today’s classical ballet companies. The program provides a highly focused and extensive pre-professional experience.
The Classical Ballet curriculum is designed for more experienced dancers to improve technical proficiency, strength, classical variations and versatility. Emphasis will be placed on daily Ballet Technique, Pointe, Pas de Deux, Character, Contemporary Technique, Classical and Contemporary Ballet Repertory with master classes offered in Jazz, Musical Theater, Hip Hop and Acting. All classes and master classes will be taught by UNCSA faculty and distinguished guest artists.
I love that it is on a college campus, giving my 10th grade daughter a pre-view of what college life is like. Gabby loves the opportunity to explore a new part of our country.
The 2017 Summer Dance Plan Part 2:
With one day for travel, the second part of the summer moves to New York City, where Gabby will spend 6 days training with the Radio City Rockettes ! (July 23 - 28) What a dream come true for a girl who would like to dance on Broadway. The Rockettes Summer Intensive (RSI) is a dance program designed for advanced dancers who want to train in the Rockettes style. Entering its 15th season, this summer dance intensive has produced more than 60 Rockettes.
The Rockettes reflect individual talent, hard work, athleticism, training, teamwork and dazzling synchronicity whenever they perform. The Rockettes Summer Intensive Dance Program offers aspiring professional dancers the unique opportunity to train with the Rockettes, and a Rockettes Director/Choreographer, learning their world-famous precision dance technique. This distinctive style transcends a multitude of dance disciplines, including jazz, tap, musical theater, lyrical and the legendary Kickline.
The curriculum of this summer dance intensive focuses on original choreography and formations from the Rockettes repertoire that will culminate in a student Showcase to be held in a New York City theater. This opportunity for dancers to connect with the professional dance world and study the world-famous Rockette precision dance technique is invaluable to the dedicated dancer.
A little taste of the Rockettes Summer Intensive
After the Rockettes, she will join the Joffrey Ballet School (JBS) for their Jazz and Contemporary Intensive for the final two weeks of the summer (July 29 - August 12). The NYC Jazz/Contemporary program is the flagship Jazz and Contemporary dance intensive for Joffrey. The program focuses in on cutting edge contemporary, modern, improv, hip hop and theater dance. The program pushes dancers beyond the realm of their current technique and tradition. Dancers will explore new ideas of movement and artistic expression in creating the art of motion. The intensive culminates in a performance at a major NYC theater venue.
Gabby has participated in two previous Joffrey Ballet School programs, in San Francisco (2014) and in New York City (2015), both studying classical and contemporary ballet. She loved both of these experiences and is excited to go back to NYC for more. We are so grateful to Joffrey for the 60% tuition scholarship!
Video sneak peak of the Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Intensive in New York City
(this video is a little slow to load, so be patient ...)
January 2017: performing Seven Nation Army at the Reno Latin Dance Fest
What is Gabby doing to make this happen?
Gabby understands that she has a responsibility to help pay for her dance experiences. Here are some of the things that she is doing to raise money for current and summer dance expenses:
** Teaching Intro to Ballet at the Carmel Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA): Gabby has been a student here for seven years and is now fortunate enough to pay it forward to some of the youngest dancers. She is very excited to have her very "own" class.
** Substitute teaching at CAPA: ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, 1-7 classes per week, as needed, students from two to ten-years-old. All of this is helping polish her teaching style and classroom management skills.
** Rehearsal director for a small portion of Dance Kids of Monterey County's annual Nutcracker production.
** Teaching, assisting teaching, and performing at the Reno Latin Dance Fest .
** Teaching private dance lessons
** Hosting dance-themed birthday parties
** Babysitting and petsitting
** Taking public transit to school and work/the dance studio, so that we can save on gas.
** Saving her dance teacher paychecks to cover food expenses for NYC, and to cover spending money for the entire trip.
Gabby is getting more and more opportunities to teach dance, moving her towards her life goal of teaching and owning her own dance studio.What is Teri doing to make this happen?
** Applying for every scholarship and grant that she can find. Look at the Scholarships and Grants section below to see which applications have been successful so far.
** Teaching Gabby how to apply for grants and scholarships.
** Teaching an extra class every day at Los Arboles Middle School.
** After school tutoring at Los Arboles, three days a week.
$5,558 in scholarships, grants, and discounts received so far for the three summer programs:
** University of North Carolina School of the Arts merit scholarship
** Dancing Angels Foundation scholarship that paid-off our balance due at the University of North Carolina !!! So amazingly generous !!!
** 60% tuition scholarship from Joffrey in New York, for their Jazz and Contemporary program
** $200 off Joffrey tuition thanks to a promo code :-)
Our original fundraising goal was nearly $11,000 for all of the summer programs. Because of all of these generous scholarships, grants, and discounts, we keep reducing our fundraising goal to what we actually need to raise in cash. Also, as we better figure out our actual expenses, we have adjusted down our fundraising goal. We are so blessed to have so much help!
Summer 2017 estimated budget:
University of North Carolina Classical Ballet Intensive
Paid in full !!! Huge thank you to Dancing Angels Foundation and UNC School of the Arts for the scholarships that paid all but $300 of the fees!
Rockettes Summer Intensive
Paid in full !!! $1,101 for tuition, and approximately $250 for subway pass, meals and activities.
Paid in full !!! New shoes (tap and character shoes), plus a good supply of band-aids, are also required for this program: estimated cost $200.
Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Intensive
$2,081 for tuition , room and board (after the 60% tuition scholarship).
.
spending money for the summer (laundry, snacks, outings, etc.) estimated at $500
ground transportation from airports to dance intensive locations estimated at $400
Things already paid for:
flights to North Carolina - Thanks to a VERY generous gift of Southwest Airline miles from Teri's dad and step-mom, John and Connie Flanders, the flights to North Carolina are paid for, plus Teri's flight back to Cali. Thank you so much, Papa John and Grandma Connie !!!
Another friend, Nicole C., gifted us with some more Southwest Airline miles. We are so grateful!
If anyone has some more Southwest Airline miles that they would like to gift us, we would gladly accept them! We could use a few more miles to pay for all of the plane tickets for Gabby and Teri.
pointe shoes - Each pair of Suffolk pointe shoes lasts for about 10 - 20 hours of hard ballet dancing, and costs about $100 per pair. Here is a video of how Suffolk pointe shoes are made ... all hand work. Teri's high school friend, Ingall Bull, has been Gabby's "pointe shoe fairy" for the past year, gifting Gabby with an average of one pair per month. We are so grateful !!!
transportation from North Carolina to New York City - Jim and Kim Flanders, Teri's brother and sister-in-law, Gabby's Aunt and Uncle, will be going to watch Gabby's final performance at the University of North Carolina, then helping her get from UNC to the upper west side of Manhattan for her programs in NYC. We are so glad that they will get to see Gabby dance, and so grateful for their time and effort spent getting her from point A to point B!
housing in NYC during the Rockettes intensive - Our new friends, Clarice and Andrew, are hosting Gabby in their apartment for 8 days, while she attends the Rockettes program. Clarice is the daughter of our friends Chip and Eddie, with whom we stayed during one of Gabby's programs last summer in Southern California. Eddie and Chip also hosted us when Gabby was auditioning for the University of North Carolina program back in January. Their entire family has been very supportive of Gabby's love of dance, and we are so grateful for their generosity.
An idea for you:
Can you help pay for just one day of this amazing summer? Or, even better: several days.
UNCSA costs $141 per day for tuition, room and board. Amazingly, this is actually one of the lower priced summer intensives.
The Rockettes Summer Intensive is $183 per day for tuition only.
The Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary program is $135 per day, and that is with the 60% tuition scholarship included.
We would be grateful for any assistance. If it isn't in your budget at the moment, we certainly understand and enjoy updating you with Gabby's latest plans, photos and videos. Sending encouragement is free :-)
Everyone: please post and share this Go Fund Me campaign on your various social media platforms. The more that we get the word out, the better. Who knows: there may be someone with deep-pockets out there looking for a deserving dancer to sponsor.
Photo by Heidi Carpenter-Borgia, May 2016The latest on Gabby's life:
School: Gabby is in 10th grade, home schooling through Ocean Grove Charter School, however, she is hardly ever at home, so this is a bit of a misnomer. She attends Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) for some classes: Spanish, Chemistry, Physical Geology, and next year for Math. She carries a 4.0 GPA at MPC and enjoys the challenge of attending college as a 10th grader. She will have enough college credits at the end of high school to nearly cover the first year of college!
Dance: Gabby is taking 16+ hours of lessons per week (private, semi-private, and group lessons). She is on three dance teams and will be participating in six competitions this season. She has four solos and five team dances.
Teaching: One of Gabby's long-term goals is to be a dance teacher and own her own studio. With 2.5 hours of teaching and assistant teaching per week, plus substitute teaching hours, she is well on her way to making this a paying career.
Community Service: Gabby is the Student Representative on the Board of Directors for Dance Kids of Monterey County. She is learning all about fundraising, marketing, and grant writing in the world of arts related, non-profit organizations, as well as participating in many community out-reach activities.
Gabby as the Snow Queen and Teri as the Chinese Dragon, in the 2016 Dance Kids of Monterey County prodution of the Nutcracker.Gabby and I are so grateful for those who have helped in the past, and appreciate so much those of you are who contemplating helping us for this summer.
much love to all,
Teri and Gabby Flanders
Gabby at Hollywood Dance Jamz convention, April 2016. Gabby won a scholarship for the dance teacher's convention that she attended in July 2016, plus they gave her a scholarship for a future dance convention ... which we are using in April 2017. Thank you so much to Hollywood Dance Jamz!Gabby in April 2016 at Carmel Beach, photo by Alexa SinclairGabby in her Snow Queen costume, Dance Kids of Monterey County's production of The Nutcracker, November 2016.Gabby teaching Intro to Ballet at the Carmel Academy of Performing Arts, November 2016.The Carmel Academy of Performing Arts Elite Team performing "Dreams" in March 2017.
Gabby is on the right, front, at the start of the number.
The Board of Directors for Dance Kids of Monterey County, Sunset Center, December 2016 for "The Nutcracker." Gabby has been the Student Representative on the Board of Directors since October 2016; it has been a tremendous learning opportunity for her.March 2017, photo by Andrea SanicoGabby as the Snow Queen, Dance Kids of Monterey County 2016 Nutcracker, at dress rehearsal with Teri.Gabby at five, living the kindergarten life in her school uniform, 2006.March 2017, photo by Andrea SanicoBallerina dreams, March 2017, photo by Jennifer KremerApril 2017, Loose Tie PhotographyGabby at UNC, School of the Arts, July 2017. Photo by a student in the UNCSA summer photography program.Organiser
Gabriella Annalise Flanders
Organiser
Seaside, CA
