HANDBOOK

Why CSS Competition Teams?

The Center Stage Studio (CSS) Teams were founded in 2010 with one primary mission: to provide high quality musical theater and dance education that focuses on the importance of collaboration and live performance. A youth program that is run by a full-scale professional production company has a unique value position: we can offer hands-on and real world experience that may be lacking in other programs. CSS Teams offer that same kind of real world application that makes participation something that can and will be used throughout their performance journey whether it's for school, college or Broadway!
Additionally, CSS offers more opportunities for students than any other musical theater competition team we encountered, both in terms of education and exposure to performance opportunities that can continue to advance their theater/dance education while fostering a love and passion for performing arts. CSS is the preeminent Musical Theatre Competition Team in the country. Our success through the competition circuit has been outstanding.
It's not just about a trophy! Winning a trophy is not "just" what CSS is about. Every performer will leave a season of Team CSS with something more: a sense of confidence that only comes with challenging oneself to reach for his/her highest potential.

Monthly Tuition- Monthly tuition is due on the last Thursday before each month. Monthly tuition will be automatically charged to the credit card on file. The CSS Team Season runs from August 26th, 2024– June 2025. The initial tuition for the season will be charged on August 28 , 2024. The final tuition payment will be April 25th, 2025 for non- BEAT Teams. There will be mandatory 2 weeks of Nationals Boot Camp in June for all performers attending Nationals.

**THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR ATTENDANCE**

If you miss the last rehearsal before ANY competition the coach can make the decision to pull you from the routine. No refunds will be given.

If a child misses three team rehearsals they may be pulled from the team with no refunds given.

If a child misses team rehearsal and the coach needs to “catch them up” the Parent is responsible for paying that coaches private fee.

The importance of regular attendance cannot be overemphasized. The school cannot jeopardize its responsibility to the rest of the class for one student. Absences and tardiness impede the individual student's progress, as well as the class as a whole, especially when we are working on performance material.

In addition, absences in an activity-based class can't easily be made up in a way that is fair to all involved. Each day a student is absent, he/she is not only missing valuable instruction but also the opportunity to receive correction and improve technique, placement, and choreography.

Team Boot Camp is Mandatory to be in the 24/25 season

**SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS:**

Please make sure that you communicate any issues that may call for special accommodations to Miss Michelle and your team coach. It is important to contact both with any attendance concerns.

TEAM CLASSES

Your student is required to attend all weekly classes, as well as all pickup rehearsals, for their selected team(s). Pickup rehearsals are especially important because they focus on the areas that need the most improvement and bring all they have learned together in order to be competition-ready. Since these are such critical rehearsals, we have already added potential pickups to the master calendar. If you cannot make a scheduled pickup rehearsal, you must indicate at the time of contract singing in order to be excused.

Only medical emergencies, legal issues and valid academic conflicts will be accepted as excused absences, with advance notice (as much as possible) to your coach, Miss Chloe AND Miss Michelle. Whether excused or unexcused, CSS has the right to refuse a team member from performing in an upcoming show or performance if they are not at the mandatory rehearsals. “Forgetting”, scoring last minute show tickets, vacations and other attempted excuses for missing a class will not be approved absence unless they are already scheduled prior to the signing of your parent contract.

We purposefully assign understudies—and will not hesitate to use them. Additionally, if a performer misses more than 3 classes during the course of the year, they may be subject to removal by CSS.

Fundraiser

Every one will be required to participate in the fundraiser. We use these funds for different things every season. These funds off-set some costume fees, pay for sets, trucks for the sets, hotels for coaches and this season the fundraiser will keep our Recording fee down.
How much you are required to raise will be based on how many teams you are on. Fundraiser starts in October.

PARENT COMMITTEES

As with any after-school activity, the success of the program depends upon the support of our parents. At CSS, we dedicate our time above and beyond the classroom to ensure the best possible experience for your child. In this spirit, we ask our parents to volunteer to help bring the magic to life in many ways! Each family is required to have one representative participate on a committee

- **Team Parent :** Your job is to ensure that communications, schedules, and other information are distributed to parents of that particular Team. Answer frequently asked questions and assist new Team parents. You are in communication with the coach to get information to the beat of the team.

** Official Team Parent Captain**

- **Costumes:** This includes coordinating beginning-of-year makeup, assisting with making costumes, distributing costumes and makeup, collecting costumes, and coordinating with CSS Coach on team costume requirements.

- **Set Building:** Assisting CSS in building, painting, and other set design needs for all acts as needed. Must have experience with power tools and building.

- ** Set Stage Crew:** To be available at every competition to first help load all sets onto CSS trucks prior to competition, unload at the competition, help set up on stage, and then re-load back into trucks (and unload again at CSS).

- **Event Planning** Coordinate venues, décor, activities, and details of the Holiday event, Team Banquet, and the following summer’s kickoff event (and any other events that come up).

- **Fundraisers:** Coordinate the distribution of information, collection of money, distribution of products, and anything else CSS needs for this endeavor.

$100 Buy out

GENERAL COMPETITION INFORMATION

COMPETITION SCHEDULES
Much to everyone’s chagrin, performance schedules for each competition are not posted until the week of the competition by the competition! We wish it were different, but it’s the way of the comp world. We do our best to get you the information as quickly as possible.

ALL WEEKEND/ALL DAY EVENTS
PLEASE keep the ENTIRE weekend free for the competition. The competitions are an all-day event with registration beginning around 7:00 AM and awards scheduled either throughout the day or as late as 9:00PM or later. Each competition varies slightly. For example, Access Broadway has their awards each night with the biggest ceremony being Saturday night. Other shows holds their awards throughout the day with younger performances normally getting their awards early. Where possible, we will give you an idea of the structure for each competition.

CALL TIMES (ARRIVAL TIME)
Each team will arrive at the competition location at their given call time (arrival time) with their parents. Most schools require the team to arrive together and leave together—but we believe this is unnecessary, especially for the younger performers. So, please come at your designated call time. It is always 2 hours before your routine!

NO REQUESTS

Competitions normally have over 500 entries. If everyone asked to move their routine, it would be chaos and quite honestly, even if we were to ask most times, they will say no. That’s why we ask for you to leave the entire weekend open.

PARENTS & CHAPERONES
Parents are required to accompany their star(s) to all events, unless your family has made prior arrangements with another family to chaperone your child. Either way, parents are responsible for their child during the entire duration of the competition--with the exception of getting on and off the stage. Your coach will escort them to and from the dressing room/assembly area.

PARENT AND GUEST CODE OF CONDUCT

CSS will have a zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior from parents and other guests. This includes but is not limited to-

Yelling at your child or other children in the dressing room or at the venue.
Public intoxication.
Making negative comments about CSS or any other studio.
Yelling at the staff of the venue.
Speaking to ANYONE backstage.
Requesting ANYTHING from the producers of the events (If you have an issue find Miss Michelle).
Giving and child notes or feedback immediately after their performance.

COSTUMES & COMPETITION ATTIRE
All of our stars MUST wear their CSS spirit wear to the competition and bring your costumes hung nicely in garment bags. We highly recommend that you purchase a “Dream Duffle”--the end all be all for Competition Costume suitcases! Please invest in garment bags if not.

COSTUMES: Costumes must be carried to and from competitions in garment bags clearly marked with your child’s full name. You paid good money for these babies, so let’s make sure they look good! Please put your name on EVERYTHING. You might want to add “Center Stage Studio” and a contact number as well in case it gets misplaced at the competition.
If you forget any part of your costume you will be asked to go home and get it or you may be pulled from the routine.

If you lose a piece of your costume you will have to buy a new one. HOWEVER: some are not available to buy again, so PLEASE do your best to preserve them or your child may not be able to perform for the rest of the season. IF YOU LOSE A COSTUME AND WE CAN NOT PURCHASE A NEW ONE YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR BUYING NEW COSTUMES FOR THE ENTIRE TEAM.

WATCHING THE COMPETITIONS

Parents are able to watch all competitions & award ceremonies at no charge*. Something is free? Say what? YES! However, there are spectator rules. See below for the “No videos or photography”.

Please remember to be the example for you star. My expectations of the performer’s attitudes are high. They are to be polite and respectful to other schools so that they represent The Center Stage Studio well. The CSS teams are a group of young ladies and gentlemen, and we expect them to act as such. Your cooperation in setting this example and having the same expectations will be greatly appreciated.

NO VIDEOTAPING OR PHOTOGRAPHY
Competitions are really strict on this--especially in the dressing rooms (for obvious reasons), but also while your child is performing. Attendants will pull you aside and ask you what school you are from or they will find out the name of the performer on stage. Either way, our studio will be disqualified. All our work down the drain. Videos and photographs are available for purchase at most competitions. This information will be provided as part of your individual competition information packets. And please— remember to silence those cell phones once you walk near a performance area!

DRESSING ROOMS: Are separated from boys and girls. No dads or brothers may ever enter the girls dressing room for any reason. Same goes for moms and the boys room. Sometimes dressing rooms are over-crowded, so we may find another place to set up our bags etc. Wait for the text or check in with your team parent!
SOLOS/DUETS/TRIOS
Helping Team is always first, THEN solos. Our coaches will do their best to assist soloists, but they need to be prepared to give music to the sound tech, sign in back stage, warm themselves up and go on stage like a professional! This is why they were allowed to do a solo/duet/trio! They are leaders!
Bring your music! Each coach and all solo/duet/trios must have a copy of their music (or team music) on them at all competitions. This is in case of emergency CSS brings a backup, but it never hurts to have one for yourself!

ADDITIONAL COSTUME NEEDS

Team - In addition to official costumes, performers will be required to purchase separate competition shoes (nude and/or black jazz shoes, tap shoes, etc.), undergarments (i.e., nude leotard), tights, hair accessories, etc. for each different team. You can plan to expect information on this to purchase around November/December.
Solos/Duets/Trios – you will need to work with your coach and CSS to determine specific costume requirements, which may be rented or lent from CSS or purchased by parent.
Conservatory Classes – The shoes, tights, leotards, etc. that you wear for competition will be completely different requirements from conservatory, both keep your costumes uniform and clean. However, conservatory coaches also have specific requirements, including different styles and colors of tights and shoes.

For Competitions

Tips, Tricks and Answers to FAQs

􏰀 Plan in advance! Book your hotels in advance for all possible nights, with the option for cancellation without charge. Once you get your schedule, it is easier to remove a night than add!

􏰀 Where can I find info on the competition, traveling, hotels, parking, etc.? At the parent meeting, you were given preliminary information about each competition to begin your travel plans. Additional details will be available on our parent portal about a month before the competition. Actual schedules will not be posted until the week before (and sometimes, only a few days before).

􏰀 Why don’t the schedules come out earlier? CSS does not create the competition schedules; the competitions do, and they rarely have a final schedule ready more than the week before. It’s just part of the industry! It’s frustrating, but the way it goes.

􏰀 Make your own plans. We will do everything we can to give you details on hotels, parking, venue, food, etc., but do some of your own research to make sure you know how much parking might cost (and whether you might need alternate parking overflow arrangements if you arrive late), what hotel check-in/checkout policies are, typical traffic conditions and so on.

􏰀 Can siblings attend? Yes, siblings are also welcome – but they are not allowed in dressing rooms or backstage. If you need to help your performer, make sure there is another adult who can look after your other child(ren).

􏰀 Do I have to stay overnight if it is local? It’s a personal preference. If a competition is local, we recommend that you still book a (cancellation-friendly) hotel – you can always cancel in advance once you get your actual performance schedule. Sometimes you may only be scheduled for a day and can drive back and forth without staying over, but always better to plan for an overnight just in case.

􏰀 Get there early. Even though Call Time is typically 2 hours prior, plan on being there at least 3 hours or more ahead of schedule—it can change in a flash, and competitions sometimes change the order on the spot! Always have your cell phone with you and on—that’s how we will let you know if we are ahead or behind!

􏰀 Where do we meet? The CSS Coaches do not know where we are meeting until we get to the competition (it is different for each one – sometimes we have a dedicated room for CSS, other times, we have to share with other studios. Once your team parent has arrived, s/he or Miss Chloe will text you where we are. You can also ask the front lobby where the CSS dressing room is.

􏰀 Label everything! One mom took an index card and wrote everything needed for each routine and all the accessories required to keep track, and then made sure all of those were placed back in garment bag before leaving the dressing room!

Be prepared BEFORE the dressing room. Arrive with hair and makeup already done, and your first costume already on. Some dressing rooms have very little space to barely change into costumes. Get there early to secure a spot!

Can I take my own photos and videos? NO. This is actually forbidden in the competition world—if they catch you (and they watch!), they will disqualify the entire studio, and all the kids’ hard work was for nothing.

􏰀 How do we order pictures/videos? Each competition is different – some offer mandatory media packages that automatically give you your routines and allow you the option to purchase additional afterwards, and others are a la carte as you go. We’ll let you know which is the case for each competition so you can prepare. Tip: For those competitions without required media packages, save money on a la carte team videos/photos by chipping in with your team for a single purchase!

􏰀 Attend the Workshops! Once you get your schedule, check out the extra workshops they offer! If time permits, sign up for them—they are an invaluable experience for your performer.

􏰀 When are awards? That varies by competition. Some break them up during the day after a group of routines; others have them late Saturday night. When the competition schedule is ready, you’ll be able to know exactly what award ceremony your child will be a part of.

** The Center Stage Studio Classroom Etiquette**

Learning proper etiquette for dance class is critical to a dancer's education and training. The following rules are not unique to the Center Stage Studio but are universally recognized and followed by all professional companies, university programs, and other dance curricula. Please apply the rules below to all your classes and studio dealings here at CSS.

- Arrive at least 10 minutes early to prepare yourself appropriately for class. This includes changing into dancewear, preliminary warm-up and stretching, filling up water bottles, etc.

- If a student is late, please wait for the exercise in progress to be over before entering the studio.

- Students arriving late to class may be asked to observe and take notes rather than participate. Class time, as well as the instructor's time, is very valuable. Class time is also limited. Tardiness (as well as truancy) reduces the total amount of time the dancer has in class with a professional to guide and correct him/her. Without ample class time, the student cannot achieve, progress, or perfect the intricacies of their dance technique.

- If there is an instance where a student needs to leave early, they must ask the teacher's permission BEFORE class begins. Please leave discreetly so as not to disrupt class.

- In the instance of an absence, please call the office before the beginning of class so that the teacher can be notified. If a make-up class is available for your class level, please arrange this with Miss Chloe or your class instructor.

- Students should never stop in the middle of an exercise unless an injury is sustained.

- Students must always keep their eyes and attention on the teacher. Talking, leaning, or sitting on the barre, yawning, or leaving class before it is over is absolutely unacceptable.

- Be a good friend and an overall kind person to your classmates. Any instance of bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Please be positive and respectful in class and everywhere while present at Center Stage Studio.

- Respect for others is a must in class. Dancers show respect for other dancers by: keeping their hands to themselves; talking only when spoken to by the instructor (or when asking a question); waiting quietly for others to have a turn; and if late to class, waiting to enter the classroom until the music is finished.

- Students also need to show respect for their teacher. In doing so, they respect their art form. Students show this respect by: listening when the teacher speaks; being prepared for their turn; always asking before leaving the room for any reason; and thanking the teacher at the end of class by applauding or, if in Ballet class, taking your turn to curtsy or bow to the teacher.

- It is improper to question the teacher's authority. Do not talk back to your teacher, regardless of the situation. If you do have a problem, you may talk to the teacher after class, but not in front of other students.

- Displays of temper and rudeness are intolerable. If you neglect to keep yourself in check or display any negative behavior, your teacher reserves the right to ask you to leave.

- Please keep your things tidy. Place all belongings in your dance bag to avoid loss or theft. Do not leave your things in the classroom during or after class.

- No eating or gum chewing during class. Please throw away your rubbish in the trash bin.

- Please keep water with you in class at all times. It is the only liquid allowed in class. Keep it in an enclosed bottle, against the wall, or beside you while at the barre. Please be responsible about immediately taking care of drips or spills.

- Street shoes are not allowed on the dance floor. Dance shoes are not allowed to be worn outside the studio. This preserves the life and cleanliness of both the dance floor and dance shoes.

- Please label ALL personal items, such as shoes and warm-up clothing. Do not bring valuables into the studio.

- Refrain from remaining in the studio after class. Other classes must begin promptly, and remaining students disturb the beginning of the following class.

If there is any question about a student's progress, please leave a message with the studio or send an email, and the instructor will return the message in a timely manner.
If you would like to have more than one meeting with a Coach you will be asked to pay that coached private fee.