ZOOZ BULLETIN - JANUARY 2010

Dear Dancers/Friends,

Happy New Year!!    We hope you have been enjoying your holidays and the Festive Season.

In this Bulletin:-

1. Change in venues

2. Party on January 14th

3. Workshops in April

4. New Beginners classes

5. Holiday Program - January

6. New fees

7. Chanukah Party report

8. Update on progress of classes

1.   ZOOZ IS ON THE MOVE!!!

BIGGER & BETTER..... ONWARD & UPWARD!.......... 

We are delighted to announce that we have 2 new venues for our classes in 2010:-

a) Tuesday  & Thursday nights & Saturday afternoon  classes will now be in our fabulous new hall...........

Sacre Coeur College - 172 Burke Rd Glen Iris. (between High St & Wattletree Rd) It is only 1.5 km from Malvern Central School.

We didn't think it was possible to find a better hall than the one we were in, but we were wrong! This hall is bigger, great kitchen facilities, great wooden floor, and will certainly accommodate the growing numbers in our classes and for our workshops. As you will soon see, it is set in a very picturesque setting. There is also onsite parking next to the hall and plenty available in the school parking lot. The one-way driveway entrance is almost opposite Clyde St.

b) Our Wednesday night      PARTNERS ONLY class (new beginners to advanced), will be held at

 St Mary's Hall, 281 Glen Eira Rd. Caulfield (near Shelford) a very central position - plenty of parking available next to the hall.

Monday evening, Tuesday morning & Thursday morning classes, will be unchanged & will remain at the Scout Hall in Miller St. Elsternwick.

2. ZOOZ  PARTY ON JANUARY 14TH:

To celebrate the beginning of a fabulous new year of dancing, and to introduce & welcome you to our new magnificent dance venue, we are having a party on Thursday January 14th at our new hall (Sacre Coeur College Hall) 172 Burke Rd Glen Iris.)

 Commencing at 7.30 pm. until 11 pm.

This party is FREE and is for ALL LEVELS - EVERYONE WELCOME!  

Please feel free to bring your friends!    Circles, lines & partner dancing

PLEASE BRING A PLATE OF FOOD, OR SOMETHING TO DRINK, TO SHARE AT SUPPER!

NB: Beginners to low-intermediate, please come early to get the most dancing out of the night!!!

3.  WORKSHOPS WITH CHOREOGRAPHERS IN APRIL:

The ZOOZ Staff have decided to change the format from having a dance camp in Rosebud in April, to holding several workshops in Melbourne (at our new hall) that will allow many more people to be able to participate and enjoy the experience of learning dances from top choreographers, Avi Levy (Israel), Moshe Eskayo, (NY) and master teacher Eileen Weinstock. (NY)  They are all great fun too!

When the choreographer Meir Shem Tov came to Melbourne in 2003, Richelle devised a particular format for a weekend workshop & social activities, which proved to be very successful (and has continued to be for others, since)  We are continuing with her format, and adding additional workshops, each evening during the week so that there will be a carnival feel to the week. You will have plenty of choices of social activities & workshops to participate in. We hope you will register in as many workshops as possible.

The only details we can give you at this stage are that the first workshop will be held on Thursday evening, April 22nd. On Friday night there will be a Shabbat dinner open to all, and on Saturday & Sunday there will be 2 workshops each day. On Saturday night there will be a dance party. (no teaching) The final workshop will be on Thursday April 29th. Further details of times and costs for each workshop, will become available in a few weeks. It will be very exciting to have such high calibre choreographers with us for this whole time and you will have an opportunity to get to know them well.  

If you have a spare room available and would like to billet a dancer from interstate (& possibly from overseas) for the weekend, could you please let us know a.s.a.p.

4.  NEW BEGINNERS CLASSES 2010:

We are extremely proud of the fact that ZOOZ is the leader in teaching beginners in Melbourne. Since we commenced just over 4 years ago, at ZOOZ we have ALWAYS had structured courses for new beginners classes and we always offered beginners the best incentive to start dancing..Our results speak for themselves. Just have a look around the room when we are teaching our most advanced dances on Thursday nights and you will see how quickly the dancers who have been through our beginners course only a few years ago, are learning dances nowadays. Our particular style of teaching, (which is unique to ZOOZ) has proven to be very effective. The dedication, patience, professionalism & teaching skills of all the ZOOZ teachers, are well renowned.

In 2010 we are offering something VERY special.....leading the way. During our 8 week structured new beginners course, the beginners on registering will be able to attend any 2 classes of their choice in the same week. And all this for only $40. More about this on our website - see link below.

In 2010,  ZOOZ will proudly be commencing 5 NEW beginners courses from the 2nd week of February.

      1. Monday night (WOMEN ONLY)  circles/lines

      2. Tuesday night (MIXED)  - circles/lines & occasional partner dances

      3. Wednesday night (PARTNER DANCING) (NO PARTNER REQUIRED!)

      4. Thursday morning (MIXED) circles/lines

      5.  Saturday afternoon (MIXED) circles/lines

For full details click on this link http://zoozdancing.com.au/zd1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109&Itemid=2

Please tell any friends or relatives who are thinking of taking up Israeli Dancing this year, to try us before committing to any other course elsewhere.

5.  HOLIDAY PROGRAM:

   JANUARY CLASSES -

Please click on the following link for the dates and times that your class will be recommencing :-

http://zoozdancing.com.au/zd1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=135&Itemid=2&mosmsg=Item+succesfully+saved.

6. NEW FEES:

For the first time in 4 years, there will be a slight increase in fees in 2010. This has become necessary  due to the increase in hall hire & other costs. But remember - there are NO JOINING FEES at ZOOZ!!

 Casual classes = $10

Full class pass   = $100 for 11 classes

Half class pass  = $   55 for  6  classes

7. CHANUKAH /BREAK-UP PARTY REPORT:

This party was held on December 17th at Malvern Central School Gym,  & catered for ALL levels.

 It was a fabulous, fun night, huge crowd, and thoroughly enjoyed by all. It was great to see some old friends back on the dance floor. We had apologies from so many of our own dancers who had other commitments, or were overseas! Actually, we'd have been so crushed on the dance floor if everyone had have been able to come!! There was such a "buzz"  in the room that night!

Thank you very much to Jack & Suzy for your preparation of a wonderful supper once again; To Miriam, thanks for preparing your beautiful dips. Thank you to Claude and to Grace too, for making the hall look so pretty with the Chanukah decorations. Thanks to Abby & Yvonne who came early and helped Claude & Grace put up the decorations around the hall. Thanks to Sam Granek for leading the Chanukah candle lighting and the Chanukah songs. Dancing in the candlelight was a highlight of the evening.

Most importantly, thank YOU for coming and supporting us once again and making this party such a success!

 It was great to see several new beginners who were merely spectators at our ZOOZ 4th Birthday party in September, and who had not learned one single basic step yet, dancing so confidently & competently at this party!. There were also a couple of friends of one of our new beginner dancers, who attended this party, who had NEVER danced before, and they both did such a great job keeping up with the others, even dancing the most advanced dances. We look forward to their participation in our new beginners course.

We hope you will all join us for many more happy events in 2010.

To see some photos taken at the party, click on the following link to our photo gallery......

http://zoozdancing.phanfare.com/4501879#imageID=89521633  Thanks to Colette, Maya & Patricia for your photography.

8.  UPDATE OF PROGRESS OF EACH ZOOZ CLASS:

 As at the end of December 2009......

Thursday morning 

New beginners                               Circles 14      lines   5       Total 19 dances

Beginners Plus                               Circles  34     lines 11       Total  45 dances

Low Intermediate/ Intermediate      Circles 72      lines  11     Total 83 dances

Thursday night

Intermediate to advanced                Circles 210     lines 18     *Partners 104 dances   

                                                                                   Total 342 dances                      

Saturday afternoon

New Beginners/beginners                Circles 18       lines 8         Total  26 dances

Beginners plus to low-Interm           Circles 62       lines 10        Total 72  dances

Intermediate                                     Circles  79      lines  13      Total  92  dances

** Monday night class had many interruptions during the year due to Jewish & Public Holidays  which explains why the number of dances in their repertoire is a little lower than other classes.  

*  Partner dancing was not introduced at ZOOZ until 2 years after we commenced our classes, hence the lower number of partner dances compared to circles. Many advanced dances are included in this number.

These statistics only include dances that are currently in our repertoire.

The numbers of dancers registered in each of our classes has increased, except for the Wednesday partners class which has remained stable. Thanks to our many dancers who have introduced friends to our ZOOZ classes. You have been well rewarded as your friends are now able to dance with you!

In the last few months of  2009, the Tuesday morning and Thursday night classes have been learning some very challenging Avi Levy & Moshe Eskayo dances and we are thrilled to report that they are handling them EXTREMELY well!!

We always get tremendous feedback from visitors to our classes (from Israel & from other Melbourne classes) as to how much they enjoy the ZOOZ repertoire!! The more advanced classes has such a good mix of "classic" dances from the 80's & 90's as well as the "hot" new dances. Of course our beginners are trained with the wonderful "real" classic dances of the the 40's through to the 70's.   Many of our dancers have returned from classes in the USA, Canada & in Israel and have been very excited and pleased that they knew approx 80% of the repertoire.

 Because Richelle has travelled so extensively since 1995  to workshops all around the world, as well as to innumerable dance sessions in Israel, (& is in close contact with teachers from all around the world), she is well abreast of what the popular dances are (the ones that "keep") This helps with her selection of dances to be introduced at ZOOZ.

All members of our classes, (particularly those who have been able to come regularly), have shown tremendous improvement & all the teachers are extremely proud of your progress. We look forward to your future development into advanced dancers.

We would like to thank Helena Cyprys very much for mirroring Richelle when she teaches on Monday & Tuesday evenings. We know all the dancers get great enjoyment from watching her delicate dance style.

Thank you also to Colette Lipp for mirroring Cindy in the Thursday morning class and being such a big help to her & to the class.

 A special thank you to both Helena & Colette for all the support  & devotion you have given all the teaching staff over the past 4 years.

A BIG thank you to Cindy & Marsha for all your hard work & your support for us during the year. Your students love you & we love you too!

Our biggest thanks goes to YOU, our dancers, our friends, for all your support this past year and in prior years.

*******************************************************

All of us at ZOOZ - the teachers - Richelle, Belinda, Cindy & Marsha, and the staff - Sam, Suzy, Jack, & Claude are looking forward to joining with you in a fun & exciting 2010. Belinda will be taking an extended break from teaching duties, as she awaits the birth of her 3rd baby, due next month!! We all wish Belinda & Daniel, Brooke & Damon, good luck and every happiness.

We look forward to seeing you at the party on the 14th January. 

With love

Richelle & Belinda

0416 137 554

(03) 9596 3616

www.zoozdancing.com.au