2015-2016 University Dance Packet University Dance Air Force 550 Genoa Red Bluff Houston, TX 77034 (281) 991-1417 www.universitydance.net
University Dance- Our Journey Dance Houston Houston Theater District Miller Outdoor Theater Texas Children's Hospital Walt Disney World American Heart Association Bayou City Arts Festival Society of Performing Arts TAHPERD State Conventions Public and Private Schools 1st Place Champions Lone Star Dance Battle 2011 2nd Place Champions Best of Texas 3 Pro Division 3rd Place Champions Best of Texas 4 Pro Division 1st Place Champions Best of Texas 5 Pro Division 3rd Place Champions Best of Texas 5 Semi Pro Division 1st Place Champions U of H Cloud 9 Competition 2012 1st Place Champions U of H Cloud 9 Competition 2013 2nd Place Champions Urban Elite Competition Presenters at the 2013 ACE State Conference in Austin 3rd Place Champions World of Dance Houston Youth Division 2013 2nd Place Champions World of Dance Chicago Upper Division 2013 3rd Place Champions World of Dance Houston Upper Division 2014 3rd Place Champions Starbound Dance Competition 2014 3rd Place Overall Champions Platinum Dance Competition 2014 1st Place Overall Champions Groove Dance Competition 2014 1st Place Overall Champions American Power Dance Competition 2014 Recipient of the NDA All-Star Nationals Unleashed Routine Award 2014 2nd Place Champions NDA All-Star Nationals 2014 in Dallas 1st Place Overall Champions at Power Dance Cash Bash Mini Nationals 3rd Place Champions at NDA All-Star Nationals 2015 in Dallas Recipient of the NDA All-Star Nationals Unleashed Routine Award 2015
GENERAL COACHING PHILOSOPHIES Make an educated decision when choosing a dance program! We want parents and dancers that share our vision for success and remain at University Dance throughout their dancing career. The following philosophies should help you better understand our vision. Honesty is Always the Best UD Policy The staff believes in openly sharing both strengths and weaknesses with our dancers. Athletes should be made aware of the assets they bring to their team as well as which areas need the most improvement. Discipline Makes the Athlete All members quickly learn and develop strong work ethic. Dancers will be held accountable for behavior and individual actions when the safety of others could be at risk. Discipline is a first step in creating a strong athlete and a necessary characteristic for later success in life. Individual Effort = Ultimate Team Success Overall team success is determined by each individual s effort. Dancers are athletes 24/7 and expected to do their part individually both in and out of the gym to guarantee their goals are met. Once each individual achieves their personal best, the team as a whole can achieve their dreams. Support Makes a Program Dancers, parents and staff must embrace one another demonstrating unconditional support. Bully Free Zone University Dance provides a safe, structured environment. All UD members will treat one another with kindness and respect. Everyone will work together to create a climate where bullying is not acceptable. A Star is NOT Born UC&D dancers will be treated equally. Our teaching philosophy is to coach all dancers with the same intensity and expectations. Everyone will contribute to the teams success. Train to Win Why train for 2nd place? Competitive dance means training in a competitive manner and ultimately training to win. We spend every minute of every practice coaching with 1st place in mind. If our team performs a routine to the best of their ability then our goal has been achieved.
DANCE AGE DIVISIONS University Dance follows all USASF guidelines for age divisions. We may or may not include the following age divisions in our 2015-2016 program. We will decide our age divisions for the year based on the athletes that audition. TINY (6 years & younger) MINI (9 years & younger) YOUTH (12 years & younger) JUNIOR (15 years & younger) SENIOR (18 years & younger) OPEN (14 years & older) Please Note: Age of the athlete as of August 31, 2015. DANCE TEAM FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS University Dance has always understood the high cost of competition dance and has made every effort to maintain a reasonable fee schedule with flexible paying options while maintaining the highest level of professionalism and instruction. In researching local programs, UD is not only one of the best programs in the nation, but one of the most cost effective programs too. Our focus has never been on our bottom line profit! We do our best to make all-star dancing affordable for all. In an effort to simplify the financial obligations of all competitive dance, we ve developed an all inclusive monthly payment plan. We will offer the all-inclusive payment package this year. Instead of paying monthly tuition payments and huge sums of money periodically to cover competition fees, practice clothes, choreography, etc. Our all-inclusive payment plan spreads out the bulk costs over most months making it easier to understand and more affordable. All Inclusive Fees Each athlete will be required to pay $229 per month from May through December 2015. The monthly f ee drops to $100 from January through March 2016. This fee includes the following: Team Tuition: 1-2 hour practice per week Extra Practices: 2 or 3 hr practices during comp season Costumes Competition Registration Fees Routine Choreography Music Production Coach s Registration & Travel Fees Administrative Costs Nationals Team T-Shirt Nationals Gifts From Parents (newly included this year) A detailed explanation of the above fees can be found in the next several pages of this information packet. We do our very best to fully inform you of all expenses so that you don t get surprised throughout the year.
The USASF fee, UD registration and insurance fees are a one-time charge due at registration. These fees are explained in the registration section of this packet. All applicants must have a valid credit card on file at University Dance. Fees are posted to UD accounts on the 25th of each month for the following month. UD will charge the card on file on or after the 3rd if fees are not paid by cash or check. In the event the credit card is declined or invalid, UC will post a $25 late fee to the account. Please refer to our payment policies page in this packet for more information. Team Tuition & Extra Practices Dance monthly tuition includes all instruction during regular and extra team practices throughout the season. All teams will have 1 2-hour regular practice per week with 2 to 4 coaches pending on the time of year and size of team. Extra practices begin in September and October and run through March 2016. Regular practices are on a school night and all extra practices are scheduled in advance on the weekends. UD strongly believes in no more than 1 school night a week for practice. Of course, occasionally this cannot be avoided. UD offers monthly discounts for siblings and a reduced rate for dance & cheer participants. Please contact the front desk for details or email office@universitydance.net. We will be happy to assist you. Costumes ALL INCLUSIVE MONTHLY FEE EXPLANATION Each UD Dancer is required to purchase a costume for competition/performance. Fittings for costumes will be held during team practices in the fall. Once distributed, dancers are REQUIRED to care for these items in the proper manner- i.e. washing instructions, etc. Competition Registration Fees Dance event companies charge a competition fee (comp fee) per athlete to enter their competition. UD only chooses top rated events for our teams to be showcased. We will choose 5 or 6 events from the following list for the 2015-2016 season. Please mark your calendars and let us know at the evaluation if you have any date conflicts by June 1, 2015. 1. United Cheer & Dance Showcase October 24, 2016 Reliant Center - Houston, TX 2. Encore Championship November 22, 2015 Houston, TX 3. Power Dance Holiday Open December 12, 2015 Reliant Arena - Houston, TX 4. Power Dance Cash Bash Mini Nationals January 9-10, 2016 Moody Gardens - Galveston, TX 5. United Cheer Dance Nationals February 14-15, 2016 Moody Gardens Galveston, TX 6. NDA All Star Nationals February 19-21, 201 Dallas Convention Center - Dallas, TX 7. Power Dance Nationals March 12-13, 2016 Moody Gardens- Galveston, TX Again, UDAF will choose only 5 or 6 events from the ones listed for each team this season. We choose our competitions carefully with many things to be considered. First and foremost, we look for professional and competitive events where we feel our team s talent will be showcased and provide
memorable experiences. Equally as important, we choose event companies that provide the most experienced judges and are known for fairness. Additionally, we consider the following criteria: 1. Divisions offered 2. Other programs attending 3. Schedule conflicts (must be submitted in May) 4. Location (up to 3 out of town events per season-all events in Texas) 5. Number of events in one monthly period Throughout the season, University Dance teams will perform for various community events in an effort to showcase their dances. Routine Choreography Creative and innovative routines are difficult to produce and take hours of planning away from a team practices. UD has more experience than anyone in Houston putting together routines that not only hit the score sheet, but are memorable. In our first 2 seasons, our program has received the coveted NDA Unleashed Award at NDA Nationals in Dallas, TX. These are extremely hard to win. Again, hours of planning and review go into each section of the routines. Music Production Teams perform a 2 ½ minute routines at each competition. These routines require professionally edited music and professionally produced voice over s/sound effects. These music edits are expensive and require hours, days and sometimes weeks to complete. Coach s Fees The coach s fee covers staff transportation and hotel accommodations for out of town events as well as meal costs, staff event registration fees and parking. Administrative Costs Accounting, event planning, competition registration, costume ordering and distribution are all included in our monthly administrative fee. Nationals Team T-Shirt Traditionally, UD has a specific Nationals competition shirt for each team. These shirts are different colors and reflect the team mottos, theme or personality. Dancer shirts are included with the monthly all inclusive package. Parents, friends and fans will have an opportunity to purchase these shirts during the season.
Dance Registration Fee All UDAF dancer must pay the gym registration/tryout fee of $65 at the time of registration. This fee is non-refundable. UD offers a credit to current UD members that registered after January 1, 2015 and paid the $50 fee. USASF Registration Fee The USASF is a non-profit organization that governs the all-star cheerleading & dance industry. This organization provides registered athletes with safety information, guidelines and educational scholarship opportunities. The non-refundable fee for enrollment is $40 (including $10 handling fee for UC to process paperwork) and is due at the time of registration. A copy of a state issued birth certificate is required for each new UDAF dancer to enroll. We ask that you bring a copy with you to registration or email a digital copy to office@universitydance.net. Visit www.usasf.net for complete details on athlete membership. Athlete Insurance Each dancer is required to purchase insurance through UD this year. The $50 non-refundable fee is due at the time of registration. Hotel Expenses ADDITIONAL EXPENSES & INFORMATION Most out of town events now require that our athletes book with their travel company in order to compete. This rule is referred to as Stay to Play. For this reason, all of our athletes are required to stay at the designated team hotel when participating in these out of town events. Hotels are booked individually and paid directly to the travel company. Information will be provided to all cheerleaders when it becomes available. Competition Transportation Parents are responsible for all transportation to and from events and competitions. UDAF typically provides group travel rates for our cheerleaders and sometimes family members for out of state competitions. Additional Dance Acro/Trick Tumbling Classes In an effort to provide the best possible training for our dancers, UDAF will offer a acro/trick class for each team beginning the 3rd full week of May through the 2nd week of December. This 1.5 hour class is offered only to the team members for $15/class pay as you go. Monsters of Hip Hop MOHH is a professional, weekend workshop taught by industry level choreographers. While not required. Attendance is strongly recommended. MOHH is a great experience for all dancers to connect with prominent choreographers in the dance industry. For more information, visit Monstersofhiphop.com
DANCE TEAM REGISTRATION Register in person at University Cheer & Dance beginning Monday, April 6, 2015. The front office is open from 2:00-9:00 pm Monday through Thursday. Registrations can also be sent via email to: office@universitydance.net. Registration forms/medical release must be completed by parent or legal guardian Bring a copy of state issued birth certificate Pay the $65 non refundable registration/tryout fee Pay the $40 non refundable USASF fee Pay the $50 no refundable insurance fee Monthly payment for May* Schedule individual evaluation time with office staff *Note: Refunds for May tuition will be authorized in the event the position on the team is declined for any reason. Those declining their position must do so by emailing office@universitydance.net or in person by Friday, May 8, 2015. All other refunds will be declined. FREE DANCE WORKSHOP (NEW THIS SEASON) The UD staff will host a FREE Dance Workshop on Sunday, April 26th from 2-4pm. Dancers of all ages are welcome to attend to get to know the University Dance staff and facility. Pre-Registration is recommended- Please call 281-991-1417 or email udsydney@gmail.com to sign up. INDIVIDUAL EVALUATIONS The UD staff will conduct a private evaluation for each prospective member. The process is very informal and consists of two parts. The first part of the evaluation is a basic interview. We ask the applicant about his or her dance or performance background. The second part of the evaluation is based on skills and technique. Each applicant will be asked to execute some dance moves, either taught or their own personal choreography c an be displayed. Individual evaluations will be conducted at UD beginning Sunday, April 26th through Wednesday, April 29th. An individual day and time will be scheduled for each applicant at the time of registration. Arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled time for stretch & warm up. The actual audition and interview will take a total of 30 minutes. Please use appropriate music and choreography for family viewing. Wear dance-appropriate attire that will showcase your dance ability-no revealing or suggestive clothing will be allowed. No jewelry or props are allowed 1st Team Practice & Mandatory Parent Meetings Official teams begin practice the week of Monday, May 4th. All UD practices are considered mandatory for all dancers. Specific practice days and times will be emailed to all applicants no later than Friday, May 1st. The UD staff will also conduct a mandatory parent meeting during the first practice.