Page 1 of 49 Welcome to the 2020 season at Tribute National Talent Competition. This year we are celebrating our 9th season and we are so humbled and grateful that you are here. We know you have hundreds of choices when it comes to dance events to attend and we can’t thank you enough for supporting our family business. Along with a loving and caring staff, we are honored to be your host and to see so many outstanding dancers perform on the stage with us this weekend. With each new season, as a family, we look back on where we started and where we are today with great pride. In an industry where there are so many choices, we are always reminded of how fortunate we are to have a small family business because of YOU and we never take that for granted. Each time I sit down to write a welcome letter so many thoughts go through my mind as I thank God for our blessings. In my personal thoughts, I was reminded that as families we all go through some ups and downs. Life isn’t always easy, and we might have hardships and challenges. We just hope and pray for the best and through it all we can become even stronger and find a more defined purpose in our lives and what we want to see for the future. At times we may decide to make some changes to help us have a better understanding of what is most important in life. One thing that never changes is that family is one of the most important and valuable gifts that we were ever given. Taking time to love and appreciate one another and to be thankful for the time you have together is so treasured. We all know that there is so much more to a dance studio than just a building and place to learn to dance. The wonderful dance teachers become a part of your own family and they truly love and care about you. It is a blessing to see the routines that the choreographers and teachers create and watching these amazing dancers perform on the stage. Sharing these special moments is something that you will remember and cherish for a very long time. We are very honored to share in these lifelong memories with you as a part of your extended dance family here at Tribute National Talent. For the 2020 season, you will see a few changes. One significant change that we decided to make as a family is that we are not selling merchandise at our event; this will allow dancers to focus more on the art of dance and performance. We also realize the financial contributions that parents make to support their children in dance and the added expense of clothing and novelty items are not always a necessity. So, when you walk into our event the lobby area will look very different. We have this new large display area for pictures rather than a checkout counter and racks of clothing. Also, the staff that you have come to know working up front will now play a more significant role by having the flexibility to assist in other areas which we think is wonderful. Again, we can’t thank you enough for attending Tribute this weekend No Merchandise Sold and on behalf of the Tribute family we hope you have a wonderful experience and when you leave you feel our heartfelt appreciation. We will always do our part to focus on what we can do for others and how we can make a difference in the dance community for years to come. With Gratitude and Appreciation, The Troglia Family Page 2 of 49 VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION - Please Read & Follow Dear Teachers, Dancers, Families, Friends and those attending Tribute in Oswego, SCHOOL DISMISSES AT AROUND 2:30PM ON FRIDAY. DUE TO HIGH TRAFFIC IT IS RECOMMENDED TO NOT ARRIVE AT THE SCHOOL UNTIL AROUND 3PM. DOORS OPEN AT 3:15PM I am going to share with you as much information as possible in the first pages of this book to help you prepare for this weekend. We all must follow rules when attending a dance competition, recital or other events and rules are in place for a reason. Every event has their own rules and regulations and what is important to remember is so do the facilities and venues where the event is taking place. The Oswego East High School is a very nice venue, however we must all remember that venues such as these are schools and their main objective is to educate students. They have very strict policies for all dance competitions and attendees. These rules are in place in order to protect their school from damages. Each studio is assigned a classroom for dressing space and the facility will have this list. Please make sure that everyone who will be in the classrooms follow the simple rules listed. Below are rules that have been given to me by the facility manager. I feel it is my responsibility as the owner of Tribute to inform you of rules that they will enforce. I cannot control the actions of others and I just hope that everyone is respectful of school property as they follow these rules in place by the facility. Thank you in advance..Darin 1) NO FOOD OR DRINK in the Theater. They will have staff that will watch for this at the entry doors to the theater and will also come up to you in your seat if you do not follow this rule. Please look at the map below and notice the (A) Atrium area. This is a HUGE designated area for you to eat and if you have coolers or bags with food this area is the ONLY area you can have these items. They will also provide concessions for the event. 2) Bottled water ONLY in dressing areas. NO COFFEE OR FOOD!! Dressing Rooms are all classrooms and will need to be kept as clean as possible for classes on Monday after our event. They will have female monitors who will check on these rooms and make sure no food is in these rooms during the event. 3) NO SPRAY GLITTER in the classrooms. 4) Please keep makeup off school district equipment that may be in the dressing area’s such as desks, computers, etc 5) No writing on any white boards in classrooms 6) Refrain from using any school district computer or electronic devices. 7) NO tapping in hallways, Atrium, or classrooms. 8) NO USE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS, VAPOR PRODUCTS OR ALCOHOL ARE PERMITTED ON SCHOOL PROPERTY. IF YOU PLAN TO SMOKE YOU MUST RETURN TO YOUR VEHICLE TO DO SO. VIOLATION OF THIS RULE WILL RESULT IN THE POLICE BEING CALLED AND EXPULSION FROM THE PREMISES. Page 3 of 49 DRESSING ROOM ASSIGNMENTS Here are the dressing room assignments for our event based on size of the rooms and number of dancers in routines by studio. The rooms used are circled on the map below. During groups on Saturday and Sunday, if for some reason any of the dressing rooms get too full, some of the other rooms may have extra space based on which studio is in which room. Please be open to share your assigned space with other dancers if needed. The Boys will be in a room across from B154 all weekend and there will be a sign posted on this room. If there are any questions about dressing space, please see Darin at the event. J102 Young Dance Academy Center Stage Dance Studio J103 Bataille Academie of the Danse Stephanie’s Academy of Dance J104 Your Performing Arts Leap of Faith Arts Ministries J105 TranscenDance Studios Precision Dance Project J106 Merrilee Studios R&B Dance Center J107 Laura Cote' School of Dance DanceBizz Centre for Dance B150 Forte Arts Center Fusion Center for Dance B160 DeForest Dance Academy Christine Rich Studios Page 4 of 49 Below is the inside map of the North East side of the school where the Performing Arts Center is located, and all participants will enter through DOOR #2 as show on this map. PROPS - PLEASE FOLLOW THIS FOR SAFETY REASONS AS I WAS REMINDED BY THE VENUE THAT DUE TO LIMITED SPACE IN THE SHOP AS IN THE PAST THERE ARE PROP RESTRICTIONS. WE ARE DOING GROUPS ON BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AND PROPS MUST BE UNLOADED ON A DAILY BASIS - SO FOR SATURDAY YOU CAN ONLY UNLOAD PROPS FOR ROUTINES SCHEDULED THAT DAY AND THEN AT THE END OF THE DAY THEY MUST BE REMOVED AND CANNOT BE STORED IN THE SCENE SHOP. ONCE SATURDAY PROPS ARE CLEARED OUT OF THE ROOM YOU CAN UNLOAD PROPS FOR SUNDAY BUT ONLY AFTER SPACE IS CLEARED Garage Door #7 will be the entry door for unloading props which leads to Door #9 and the shop and backstage area. To get access to the loading area see one of our backstage staff and they will get the door open for you. Once you unload for the day all trailers must exit and park in the general parking area. Notice the large Atrium for an eating area (A). Concessions will be provided by the school in the Atrium. All dressing rooms are on the ground level so there are no stairs to these rooms making it easy to roll in cases and or costume racks. Page 5 of 49 SINCE I HAVE HAD NEW STUDIOS GO TO THE WRONG SCHOOL IN THE PAST THIS IS A REMINDER…There are 2 High Schools in Oswego so please make sure you go to Oswego EAST on Harvey Road.