Hi New Teachers!
Since this is your first season on the CDA faculty, I wanted to give you a quick overview of how our Holiday Celebration works and what your role is as the teacher.
We have a Holiday Celebration webpage that stays live throughout the season. This is where families will find everything they need — registration information, tickets, show dates/times, rehearsals, sweatshirt orders and more. Click here to see this page and mark it up for updates throughout the coming months.
Here are the most important things for YOU to know:
HOLIDAY CELEBRATION IS OPTIONAL
Participation is optional. Dancers are not required to perform.
However, ALL dancers learn and practice the choreography in class whether they are performing or not. Learning choreography, retaining it and receiving corrections are important parts of their dance training.
Dancers who are not performing should NEVER be singled out or made to feel differently. Quietly place them toward the outside of formations so the final stage formations are not affected.
There are many reasons a family may choose not to participate, and some may be personal. Please treat every dancer exactly the same!
CLASSES THAT DO NOT PERFORM
The following do NOT participate in Holiday Celebration:
• 2-year-old classes
• Acro
• Musical Theatre
• Dance Team Prep
• Pointe
COSTUMES & FEES
Holiday Celebration costumes are RENTED from CDA — families do not purchase them. Costumes are returned to us backstage immediately following the performance.
Performance Fee: $80 per dancer
This includes:
• 2 complimentary tickets
• 1 costume rental
• Production costs
If a dancer performs with more than one class, each additional costume rental is $42.
Example: If Sally performs in Ballet AND Jazz, her first costume is included in the $80 fee. Her second costume would be an additional $42.
COMBO CLASSES — IMPORTANT!
Combo classes perform only ONE STYLE in Holiday Celebration.
For example, if you teach 4-year-old Ballet/Tap, your class may perform Ballet OR Tap — not both.
The office determines which style each combo class will perform. You will receive the choreography information, videos and music for the style assigned to your class.
For our end-of-season production, combo classes perform BOTH styles and purchase costumes for both.
THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE VERY IMPORTANT!
Please remind your dancers AND announce into the lobby EVERY WEEK that Holiday Celebration registration is open.
We can send emails, newsletters and reminders, but hearing it directly from their teacher makes a huge difference.
You want as many of your dancers participating as possible, so you have a FULL class onstage!
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Holiday Celebration will be held:
December 1–6, 2026
East Forsyth Performing Arts Center
Specific show assignments will be released NOVEMBER 1.
When families register, they agree that their dancer must be available to perform during the December 1–6 performance window.
We have 700+ dancer schedules to coordinate, so we CANNOT guarantee or accept requests for a specific show day or time.
Please do not tell or suggest to a parent that we may be able to accommodate a certain day or show time.
If a family receives their show assignment and cannot participate, they have until November 5 to withdraw and receive a full refund.
COSTUME FITTING WEEK
We will have a Costume Fitting Week in November. During this week, rental costumes will be fitted and sent home with dancers.
CHOREOGRAPHY TIMELINE — VERY IMPORTANT!
We begin Holiday Celebration choreography in October, and the timeline moves FAST.
You have approximately 8 weeks to teach and clean your dance, and we lose class time to Thanksgiving break and Costume Fitting Week.
Your dance should be COMPLETELY TAUGHT within the first 3 weeks of choreography.
That leaves the remaining weeks for cleaning, spacing, formations, performance quality and confidence.
Please plan accordingly!
BACKSTAGE MOMS
Once the show schedule is released, you will know your performance and rehearsal times.
You will then work on getting backstage moms signed up to supervise your dancers backstage.
This is very important! If your class does not have a backstage mom, you will be required to sit backstage with your class the entire show.
AFTER HOLIDAY CELEBRATION
Classes do NOT end after the show!
Regular classes continue after performance week through December 21, 2026.
ONE LAST CDA THING! 😊
At CDA, we do NOT call our performances “recitals.”
They are SHOWS and PRODUCTIONS.
Our productions are a huge part of what makes the CDA experience special, and we want our language to reflect the quality and level of what we put onstage.
I’ve attached a clip from last year’s December production so you can see the quality and scale of Holiday Celebration and what we are working toward!
I know it seems VERY early to start talking about December, but trust me — you cannot remind families enough!
Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to help!
Niki