Lambert Dance Company2014-2015 Contract
Lambert High School
Article I: Membership
Section1.Membership in the Lambert Dance Company is an honor, a privilege, and a responsibility bestowed upon a student. Selection for membership is by a majority vote of the officers and is based on dance experience and ability, positive attitude, and character displayed during auditions. Once selected, members have the responsibility of continuing to demonstrate these qualities.
Section 2.Membership of LDC shall be known as active, inactive, or graduate. Active members become graduate members at graduation. Active members are liable for any details stated within the 2014-2015 contract; any violations will lead to considered dismissal. The graduate members have no voice or vote in chapter affairs. Inactive members are exempt from attendance and financial obligations; however, they are allowed to participate in outings, attend practices, give notes to dancers, and become an active member without an audition.
Section 3.Candidates become members when accepted after semester auditions, chosen and posted by LDC officers one week after audition date.
Section 4.If a member resigns due to other circumstances, the decision to be reinstated will be decided by the Executive Committee.
Article II: Selection of Members (Audition Process)
Section 1.To be considered for membership, a student shall have a GPA of 2.0. They must attend the semester auditions with appropriate attire. Henceforth, the students who meet these initial requirements shall be referred to as candidates.
Section 2.The candidate shall fill out and return an audition application to the Creative Director(s).
Section 3.The officers shall then evaluate each candidate on the bases of: dance ability, attitude, and application responses (i.e. conflicts, previous training, etc.). The selection of each member to LDC shall be by majority vote of the Executive Committee during a private meeting. All discussion pertaining to candidates shall be held confidential.
Section 4.A description of LDC selection procedure shall be printed on the school website. It shall be available, either electronically or in print, to any person upon request.
Article III: Dismissal of Members
Section 1.LDC Members who fall below the standards expected of them shall promptly be warned in writing by the Creative Director(s). Members shall be given the appropriate amount of time as described below, to correct the deficiency. The exception to this is in the case a flagrant violation of school rules or of civic laws. In such cases, a member does not necessarily have to be warned before dismissal.
Subsection a.If a member displays uncommitted actions against Lambert Dance Company, such as: disrespect towards officers, the Creative Director(s), or other company members or avoidance to pay required fees/dues, they will be asked to fix the problem before the next LDC practice. If the member does not correct the violation within conclusion of the time period, the member will be recommended to the Creative Director(s) for dismissal.
Subsection b.If a member misses more than the allowed number of practices, dress rehearsals, performances, or dance days outside of practice dictated within the attendance policy, the member will be recommended to the Creative Director(s) for dismissal.
Subsection c.If a member fails to adhere to the choreographer demands/policies, they will be recommended to the Creative Director(s) for dismissal.
Subsection d.If a choreographer fails to adhere to the strictures regarding choreography, the Creative Director(s)may be recommended to dismiss the choreographer and/or the dance.
Section 2.In all cases of impending dismissal, the member will have the right to a hearing before the officers. For purposes of dismissal, a majority vote of the officers and the Creative Director(s) is required.
Section 3.A member who has been dismissed may appeal the decision of the officers under the same rule for disciplinary appeals in the Forsyth County School System.
Article IV: Election and Duties of Officers
Section 1.LDC officers shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary/treasurer, and a historian. These offices shall be open to active LDC members who are in good standing and have completed at least one semester of membership in LDC.
Section 2.The following procedure shall be followed to elect officers in the spring of each year. At the second to last meeting of the year, the officer election process shall begin. Each member who would like to run for an office will submit their name for nomination. At the last meeting of the school year, each officer candidate will deliver a speech to the company and ballots will be distributed to all voting members. Each voting member will use the officer’s speech and previous experience to aid in filling out the ballot. The president shall then tally the votes, and the Creative Director(s) shall verify the results. The Creative Director(s) shall then announce the new officers, which shall then be installed at the conclusion of the meeting.
Section 3.A majority of the votes cast shall be necessary to elect any officer.
Section 4.The following shall be the duties and responsibilities of each elected officer:
President – preside at rehearsals; work with the Creative Director(s) to assure the smooth and efficient operation of LDC; delegate responsibilities to other officers; manage the calendar; find tech for LDC shows.
Vice-President – fill in for the president in case of absence; plan bonding activities and other company activities such as Freshman Festival; send reminders.
Secretary/Treasurer – maintain accurate attendance records for all practices and rehearsals; be accountable for all financial situations; report financial changes to Creative Director(s); collect dues, attendance fees, etc.; keep records of financial transactions.
Historian –follow through on suggestions from members for creative publicity; keep photographic evidence of LDC events (i.e. auditions, 1st practice of semester, dance day, dress rehearsals, show); handle advertisements/LDC fundraising ideas; design apparel (hoodies, sweatpants, etc.); design dance camp tee shirts.
Article V: Executive Committee
Section 1.The Executive Committee of LDC will consist of the officers and the Creative Director(s).
Section 2.The Executive Committee shall have general supervision of the affairs of LDC between its regular practices, make recommendations, and serve as the governing body. All actions and recommendations of the Executive Committee shall be subject to review of the members.
Section 3.The Executive Committee shall have the responsibility for ensuring that activities and procedures follow school policy and regulations.
Section 4.The Executive Committee shall do their best to meet after each practice on Fridays.
Article VI: Practices
Section 1.LDC shall have regular practices every Tuesday and Friday 4:00-5:45 PM for which school is in session. If a holiday or inclement weather day falls on practice days, then the meeting shall be considered cancelled.
Section 2.The Creative Director(s) and/or president may call rehearsals outside of regular practices, which shall be approved by the Executive Committee.
Section 3.All practices shall be closed to the public and shall be supervised by the Creative Director(s). In case of unforeseen absence of the chapter Creative Director(s), another faculty member may be asked to fill in and supervise the chapter’s meeting. If no faculty member is available, the meeting will be cancelled.
Section 4.Members shall attend all practices and any absences shall be dealt with according to the attendance procedures in Article IX.
Article VII: Activities
Section 1.All members shall participate in regular practices.
Section 2.Dance Days shall be utilized for the following tasks: technique, performance practice, stage presence, clarification of steps (NOT learning/teaching), memorization/repetition.
Section 3.Mini Dress rehearsals will be held the week before the performances. These require all black, skin-tight attire (no sweats) but do not require full hair and makeup.
Section 4.LDC holds dress rehearsals the three days preceding performances. These dress rehearsals require full costume, make-up, and hair.
Section 5.Members shall be required to attend all regularly scheduled practices. If choreographers schedule rehearsal that a member must attend independently or in small groups, then each member shall be responsible for attending or otherwise following the attendance policy (an ABSENCE from extra rehearsals counts against total 5 absences, therefore discuss schedule with choreographers before extra practices are set).
Section 6.All members are required to be present at one day of semester auditions. Absence from auditions is cause for immediate removal from company roster.
Section 7.The LDC officers and its members shall publicize its performances in a positive manner.
Article VIII: Choreography
Section 1.Members who wish to audition original choreography must perform the ENTIRE number with music. They must fill out the Choreography Audition sheet completely. They must also submit collateral of $20 to be returned to the choreographer when the dance is considered completed by the Creative Director(s).
Section 2.All non-choreographing members must be present on the day of Choreography Auditions and fill out Dance Preference form. Each member will select three of their favorite dances to request to be in. Dance preferences will be considered by the Executive Committee. Absence from this practice will relinquish rights to preference in accepted choreography.
Section 3.LDC officers hold the right to assign non-listed dances to any member, and each member must adhere to these assignments. See Article VI, Section 4.
Section 4.Choreography is a privilege. Choreographers are responsible for the following (violation will give officers the right to recommend choreographer from dismissal from LDC, give a fine of $20, as well as revoking dance from performance list):
Subsection a.Choreographers assert that the choreography being auditioned is their own original choreography. Choreographers who are found to have plagiarized choreography will lose choreography privileges for that semester and one additional semester.
Subsection b. Choreographers must maintain agreement set during choreography audition of song choice, style of dance, costuming, steps, and responsibilities of choreographers.
Subsection c.Outside rehearsals are mandatory. All dancers within the piece must be taught the entire piece by due date. (From the time choreography is assigned to the choreography due date, choreographers are required to have at least three hours of practice.)
Subsection d.Note that it is the choreographer’s responsibility to work with assigned members schedules/abilities. Choreographers are required to hold AT LEAST three rehearsals of one hour each (or the three hour equivalent) outside of regular practices before dances are due. If no outside practices take place, the actions listed in Article VII, Section 4 will be enforced. Take note that attendance policy is effective during outside practices which must be scheduled the practice following choreography auditions.
Section 5. All members of each dance are subject at any time to being removed from any danceon account of failure to attend rehearsals and/or failure to meet the choreographer’s expectations.
Section 6. Exceptions to Article VII, Section 4, subsection C may be opening or finale numbers.
Article IX: Attendance Policy
Section 1.There shall be four classifications of attendance to any required function: present, tardy, excused absence, or unexcused absence. The rules for excused absences shall be the same as the attendance policy of Lambert High School.
Section 2.Members are allowed no more than FIVE (5) absences (excused or unexcused) per semester. Any member with more than the allowed amount of absences will be recommended to the Creative Director(s) for immediate removal.
Section 3.Any member arriving more than 10 minutes late or leaving more than 10 minutes early will be considered as being absent for one-half of that practice.
Section 4.The following attendance policy shall be used for practices: If the absence is excused, the absence will count towards the total number of absences but will have no affect on the dancer’s assigned dances. If the absence is unexcused, the member faces the possibility of being removed from dances.
Section 5. Any member on a school-approved field trip will be considered as being present for practice.
Section 6. Any member absent for a practice for any reason is responsible for reviewing and/or learning choreography before the next practice.
Section 7.The following attendance policy shall be used for dress rehearsals: The member must attend all dress rehearsals. If any are missed, then the member shall be considered for dismissal. The member shall have until the end of the week preceding mini dress rehearsal to notify officers and the Creative Director(s) of potential absences during dress rehearsals. Otherwise, members will be taken out of show and recommended for dismissal.
Section 8.Any returning member (already accepted at member) who is not present at AT LEAST one day of auditions shall be considered dismissed from company.
Article X: Dues and Fees
Section 1.Members shall pay the amount of $30.00 as dues per semester to the secretary/treasurer on the day that dances are reauditioned.
Section 2.All payments are non-refundable (including cases of member dismissal). Failure to pay dues will be admitted to Lambert High School office (used to withhold parking pass/final transcripts)
Section 3.Members must pay fines and fees by the last practice of each month. Failure to do so will result in a warning. Continued failure to pay will result in the recommendation for dismissal to the Creative Director(s) and the Creative Director(s)’s submission of fees to Lambert High School.
Section 4.Fees may also be charged during practices, even to dancers attending.
Subsection a.Dancers not wearing appropriate dancing attire may be charged $1.00.
Subsection b.Female dancers (or male dancers, when applicable) whose hair is not tied back out of her (or his) face may be charged $1.00.
Subsection c.If dancers do not have the appropriate shoes by the shoe due date, they may be charged $1.00 for each practice for which the shoes are missing.
Article X: Member Attire Requirements
Section 1.Members will be required to have the following items:
Subsection a. Weekly Rehearsal: tight fitting attire appropriate for dance. Sweats may ONLY be worn while stretching or when not dancing.
Subsection b. All female members shall have at least one pair of Nike ProCombat black shorts (3” inseam).
Subsection c. Mini Dress: black printless semi-fitted or tight tank or tee, black bottoms, all shoes required by choreographer(s). Girls also must have a black sports bra and tan tights.
Subsection d.Dress Rehearsal: all parts of costumes as required by choreographer(s) are required at the FIRST dress rehearsal. Make up and hair will be done according to the requirements of the Executive Committee.
Article XII: Member Behavior during Practices
Section 1.Members of LDC are expected to follow the following guidelines:
Subsection a. No cell phones. The exception to this is when a member needs to contact a parent or guardian for a ride. In these cases, the member is required to get approval by aCreative Director(s).
Subsection b. Demonstrate respect to all choreographers, officers and Creative Director(s).
Subsection c. The purpose of LDC weekly rehearsal is to prepare for the semester show. All members should be prepared to dance or help prepare other dances. Members are expected to attend the entire practice and be an active participant in the practice. Members who are not actively contributing may be asked to leave andwill be charged for one absence.
Article XIII: LDC Performances
Section 1.Members may not use electronics during warm-ups.
Section 2.Each member must possess their own costume and makeup
Section 3. Members’ hair and makeup must be worn how the Executive Committee specified it to be.