Janet Stephens School of Theatre Dance

25/12/2024

Happy Christmas everyone from JSTD and Primary Ballet

22/12/2024

Hope you are all enjoying the run up to Christmas.

Thought you’d enjoy watching Saturday Pre-Primary Ballet doing “The Reindeer Dance”

This is an old favourite in our school, some of you may remember it from your own children at Christmas.
It never fails to bring a smile to your face.

Well done ballerinas .

20/12/2024

Last night we completed our 3 performance run of Christmas shows at the Blackwood Methodist Church hall.

I’m pleased to say it went very well and was enjoyed by performers and audience alike.

Here is a little collage of our dancers and I will be following it up over the weekend with a video of highlights from the show. So watch this space.

Many thanks again to the wonderful team that helped pull the show together.

We still have classes tomorrow so hoping to see some of you before Christmas .

06/12/2024

Hi everyone,

I’ve just heard from BMI that because of storm Darragh the building will be closed tomorrow morning . This means I have no choice but to cancel classes.

I will email everyone this evening but wanted to give you a heads up.
Please share the message with anyone you know may be affected by the closure.

Let’s hope the storm isn’t as bad as suspected.

Weather permitting normal service will resume Monday.

18/10/2024

Give a shout out to out for Rebecca, Annabel, Willow, Lucy, Isabelle,Thea-Louise and Ffion( clockwise from the top of the circle) who all worked hard over the summer holidays , kept up their stretching routines and are now flat in their front splits.

Well done to all 7 girls. Keep up the good work !

23/09/2024

We said goodbye to some students last week.

They have all been pupils at JSTD forever and are now off to university.

So, from the top left hand picture clockwise it’s goodbye and good luck to -

Emily who is off to Bangor university to study Adult Nursing

Dylan who’s going to study Theology in Cardiff University

Trinity off to Trinity St Davids to study Fine Art

Seren -surrounded by some of the pupils she taught in Saturday class- who is studying European Languages at Exter University

We wish them all the very best of luck for this next stage of their lives.

They will be greatly missed but hopefully we will see them at Christmas. Please don’t be strangers guys.

Au revoir Emily, Dylan Trinity and Seren.All the very best for university life from JSTD.

11/09/2024

We have a new class this term. Primary tap and jazz is now available on a Tuesday as well as a Saturday morning.
The girls are doing an exercise called “The Pond.”. It’s just one example of a very fun syllabus that teaches the children the basics of Jazz technique in a very engaging way. The class also incorporates tap dance, always a favourite.
If you have or know of any little girls or boys this may appeal to message me below for more details . Alternatively drop me an email to [email protected] or text 07590751999.

08/09/2024

And here are our Grade 2s who took Jazz and Ballet exams in the Spring / Sumner term.

Great results all round. Well done girls.
Grade 3 awaits .

08/09/2024

First week back for JSTD after the summer break.

Here are some of our Primary and Grade 1 pupils celebrating their exam success from last term.

If you are looking for ballet, tap or jazz dance classes in the Blackwood area message below or contact Janet on [email protected] or text 0790751999.

26/08/2024

Hope you are all enjoying the bank holiday and have had a wonderful summer break.

With a week to go until classes resume on 2nd September we thought we’d remind you of our JSTD achievements since September 2023.

So, we’ve had 4 days of exams in Ballet , tap and Jazz. About 140 entries and some great examination results including many passes at Distinction.

The first , a day of Ballet exams was held in October.

Then we held our first ever Christmas show at the Methodist Church in Blackwood performing over 3 nights.

3 more days of exams followed. Tap and Jazz in April, then in May and finally Ballet in June.

This was closely followed by our involvement in the Caerphilly dance showcase.

July 12th and 13th saw our own annual dance showcase.

Finally in August our older pupils performed at the WMC.

Mustn’t forget too our Ballet Cymru Associates and pupils that have performed in various shows , pantomimes and competitions throughout the year.

It’s been a great year. We are so proud of you all and grateful for the continued support of our wonderful parents.

Heres to another great year.

Welcome back emails will be sent out this week and a copy of the timetable. Don’t worry there are no major changes.

Looking forward to welcoming you all back and hopefully saying hello to some new students too .

See you next week .

15/08/2024

Hi All,

Not sure if you are already aware but it has come to light at the Public meeting held at Blackwood library on Tuesday that children can , with parental consent fill in the public consultation form about the future of BMI .

I have been asked to share this with you by Neal Elstone who is on the advisory board for BMI . He feels it’s important that the feelings of the younger users of BMI are represented giving as broader view on how the closure will affect the community as possible.

I wanted to share this with you , knowing that, like me you would want to do all possible to save our beautiful building and to give your children , the future of the community a chance to be heard.

I’ve re attached the link to the form

Caerphilly county borough council, like many other local authorities across Wales, is facing a huge financial challenge over the next few years and difficult decisions will need to be made in order to balance the budget. The council must deliver savings in the region of

14/08/2024

I have some wonderful news to share with you.

Im extremely pleased to tell you that our three ballet Cymru Associates have all been offered another year on the programme.

Having auditioned in July , Lily and Lowri-Mai have been awarded a mid associate place and Bailey a senior associate position for September 2024 to September 2025.

It’s Lily’s 2nd year as an associate, Lowri-Mai’s 3rd year and Baileys 6th year . Quite an achievement of which we are all very proud.

Congratulations and good luck to all 3 students as they continue their Ballet Cymru journey.

05/08/2024

So today 13 of our older dancers are performing at the Millennium Centre Cardiff in the “Stars of Tomorrow”show.

Watch out tomorrow for the vlog of our day and snippets of their performance .

31/07/2024

Hi All,

You will all have heard the news about the proposed “mouthballing” of Blackwood Miners Institute from January 2025.

As you know BMI has been the home of JSTD for many years and we will be deeply affected by its loss as will the staff of the stute and the community of Blackwood in general.

Imagine losing the use of this wonderful building and Theatre. It’s too sad to contemplate.

I would ask you you to sign the petition “Save Blackwood Miners Institute” and also complete and contribute to the Public consultation form.

The links to both are below.

https://conversation.caerphilly.gov.uk/blackwood-miners-institute-and-llancaiach-fawr

https://www.change.org/p/save-blackwood-miners-institute

Many thanks to all friends and supporters of JSTD .

27/07/2024

Well done to Ruby, Isabelle S and Isabelle A pictured at the end of a week long summer school with Ballet Cymru.
They also took part in a performance at the end of the week, the culmination of all they had learned on the course.
Well done girls , amazing ambassadors for JSTD.