2015 Report

The 23rd Ballaarat Solo Competition was held this year over 1.5 days commencing Friday, May 8th and continuing on Saturday, May 9th. With a record number of entries this year we capped a lot of our sections, due to time, which meant we also had a huge waiting list of 45 competitors.

In total we had 507 competitors enter our ever-growing competition but only 475 competitors graced our stages. Once again we are very lucky to hold our Comp in the wonderful WCPA. I would like to thank our Duty Tech & very good friend Aaron as without his expertise in is field this year I don’t think our comp would have come together as good as it did. Especially when I came up with a crazy idea of placing a stage in the Music Room (Room 50) so that we could have 200 of our Cali competitors compete. Even though there was a number of issues, overall I think this was done to the best of our ability, would I do again… probably not, unless we did things a lot different, but the Cali girls coped very well which was very much out of their comfort zone. This was certainly out of the norm Cali venue, but overall I still stand by my decision to the way we went. As with no other venue available in Ballarat for this particular weekend due to it been the town’s Heritage Weekend, where the town steps back in time. We hired the stage from SLC ~ Sound & Light Concepts in Ballarat with the top of the stage Tarquett Flooring coming from the Australian Ballet Company in Melbourne. Some of the comments I did hear was that the stage was too small but in actually fact it was the same size as the main theatre at the stage in size was the same also as the Her Maj.

With running the two venue’s meant more volunteers were needed & this certainly stretched us all, with many of our wonderful team doing 16 hr. days, so I thank them all from the bottom of my heart. I would like to say even though this was a very tiring 1.5days, there was 5 of the volunteers staying late on the Saturday to pack up leaving the venue at 2am, even though they like myself had been there since 6.30am. I am pleased that we tried something different and that partially in did work.

We had 5 adjudicators for the duration of our Comp… Sue Anderson on Friday, Glenda Sellick, Kristen Skinner, Shirley Pettit and Genine McCorkell rotating on the Saturday both in the Theatre & Music Room. We also accommodated a Cadet Adjudicator Wendy Riding on a Saturday morning with Glenda.

Overall the Ballaarat Solo Comp was successful even though we tried something out of the Cali norm, we were still able to raise enough money once again to cover our ever-growing costs and to donate to local charities in our area and still have a good start for the coming year.

Regards,

Julie Wiseman ~ Convener

Ballaarat Solo Competition Inc:

 

 

2014 Presidents Report

The 22nd Ballaarat Solo Competition was held over three days in May 2014. The competition entrants grew in numbers with a record amount entering.

The Solo Competition ran smoothly with a small band of volunteers working hard a logging a large amount of hours. I also thank our Duty Tech and good friend Aaron for the WCPA, as without his expertise in his field this comp would not be as good as it is, So a huge thanks to you.  Julie & Myself as co-conveners faced numerous challenges which I am sure are faced by many small non-profit event committees, some of these included:

  • Adjudicator illness and Jury Duty requirements;
  • Increase in costs; and
  • Lack of adequate venues.

Some positives included the support of the local Ballarat Community, with many sponsoring sections of the competition in return for naming rights of the particular section. Small and medium enterprises contributed.

Our Solo Competition was recognized during Volunteer Week as part of the Ballarat City Councils celebrations receiving a certificate acknowledging our volunteers and their contribution to the society.

One of the key reasons for investing time into running this competition is not only to provide an opportunity for young girls to express themselves through dance, but to also give back to local charities and contribute money earned to people/organizations in need. This year the Ballaarat Solo Competition passed of $3000.00 to our local charities which are listed on our donation page.

This would not be possible without the work put in by our small committee and the volunteers dedication to the event.  I wish to formally acknowledge and thank the committee and volunteer team for all of their assistance and support throughout the year in making this event a complete success.

Regards,

Krystle Williams

President & Co-convener

Ballaarat Solo Competition Inc:

 

 

2013 Report

On Friday, April 12th 2013, the Ballaarat Solo Competition commenced at 4pm for its 21st year of competition.  We had an amazing response with 410 competitors entered but due to circumstances only 398 competitors graced our stage.

Timetabling this competition was a very interesting experience attempting to fit all of the girls in over the 2 ½ days, we did have a few teething problems on the Saturday, but in the end we felt everyone was happy.

Our competition was held once again at the wonderful WCPA ~ Wendouree Centre of Performing Arts, and was assisted by our usual band of volunteers and for the first time, Jayde Calisthenic Club also helped us out.

We were lucky enough to have the same technician (Aaron) as per previous years which made everything backstage run very smoothly.

This year we worked with 5 Adjudicators – Karen O’Donnell, Genine McCorkell, Jenny Godber, Mellany Drew and at the last minute Bronwyn Lloyd also helped us out.

This was our first year of running the competition together; we certainly have learnt a lot during the process and have already commenced planning for the 2014 Solo Competition.

Regards,

Julie Wiseman & Krystle Williams

Co-Conveners of the Ballaarat Solo Competition.

Ballaarat Solo Competition Inc

 

 

Report 2012

What an honour this is to write the report on behalf of the wonderful Committee we have at the Ballaarat Solo Competition Inc, this being the 20th Annual Competition.  The small committee was once again put to the test in placing all 368 entries over the 3 day period. We started at 1pm on Friday finishing at 10pm, and we were back on Saturday from 9am to 10pm & again on the Sunday, 9am to 8pm, certainly makes a difference having the 3 full days.

Once again we used the wonderful Wendouree Centre of Performing Arts; the assistance given to us from the Theatre Staff was exceptional.  The technician who was appointed for the weekend, like us, put in some very long hours but was extremely helpful to us and to the competitors at all times, which does make a difference. Parking is always a problem, but we were fortunate enough to be able to use the Wendouree Primary School Car Park in School Lane which was a great help.   The adjudicators were once again allowed to park in the Hotel car park next to the venue. In return we gave the Adjudicators meal vouchers to use during the comp at the Hotel’s Bistro.

To celebrate our 20th year we invited both Gwenda Lucus and Joy Smith, along with other special guests, on the Saturday night to watch the 17 years & over Graceful Solo’s and to join us afterwards for supper.  Gwenda was invited to present the many volunteers with their Service medals and certificates, after which the Anniversary cake was cut by Mr Barry Davis, a dedicated past President who was responsible for getting the first Solo Competition up and running.

During supper we had an opportunity to catch up with the guests and chat about the past years. Congratulations must be given to one lady in particular for her 20 years of service well done Lorraine Meade; I hope you will be around for many more years to come.  We had one special volunteer (Krystle Williams), who made hundreds of mini cupcakes, which were given to every competitor as they picked up their crits, to help celebrate our 20th year.

We had three (3) adjudicators this year alternating over the weekend. We must commend these ladies for their dedication to our wonderful sport. I am sure their criticisms of the competitors were very encouraging as always.

We also invited Studio Arc to assist us this year during the competition; they provided us with a number of volunteers who helped us over the three day competition. The audience must also be commended for their great support of both the competitors and the competition. Also we wish to advise that we have a website now, the address is:  www.ballaaratsolocomp.wordpress.com & our email address is ballaaratsolocomp@gmail.com

Our wonderful committee is looking forward to our next Solo Comp in 2013.

Regards,

Julie Wiseman Competition Secretary

Ballaarat Solo Competition Inc

 

 

Report 2011

The first thing that came to mind when I sat down to write this report were the words of the song “What a difference a day makes”. For the first time we were able to have a full weekend for our Comp, and we still used the Friday afternoon and evening as well.

We were really put to the test with a record number of entries 323 in total with 12 of these withdrawing before the program was printed which meant the 12 girls we had on the waiting list were able to be accommodated.  After the program was printed there were a further 18 withdrawals with 3 non-appearances. A letter has been sent to those girls telling them that they incurred a fine under the CVI rules bus as yet I have not had a reply.

We strive to work, the program around class practice times, State team practice and adjudicators availability, which is not easy and I’m sure my hair is a lot thinner.

We are so fortunate to have the use of the Wendouree Centre of Performing Arts and assistance given to us by the management and staff is exceptional.  Once again the technician appointed made sure that all requirements were met and with the help of our dedicated volunteers everything backstage ran smoothly.

We thought we had conquered the problem of parking but parents again parked in the car park of the hotel next door which caused us a little grief, especially after we made sure that the areas for parking were clearly marked on the timetables that went out.  The hotel management had to put a staff member on duty to turn these parents away.  However they allowed our adjudicators to park in there as was arranged and in return we purchased vouchers enabling the adjudicators and their writers to have their meals in their Bistro, which the adjudicators thought was a great deal.

The adjudicators were alternated over the weekend and are to be commended for their dedication as there were a few big sections, and we appreciated immensely their compliments as to the running of the comp.  I’m sure their criticisms of the competitors were encouraging and constructive as always.

The audience members also encouraged the competitors and some took the time to say how well they thought the comp was run.  We only had one complaint and that was to do with the price of the tickets, but after having time to reflect on it, the mother in question came back to say that in fact she actually had saved money on the weekend ticket.

I would like to thank Gwenda Lucas for her support, she is always available with the answers to the numerous questions I put to her.  Also, a huge thank you to our willing band of volunteers who stretch themselves to make the competition a great success.

The Ballaarat Solo Competition Committee look forward to next year as we celebrate the 20thSolo Competition in Ballarat.

Lorraine Meade (Co-ordinator)