No. But no less than ½ hour and no more than 2, please. 

o2.  Do private lessons have to be in hour blocks?

"I really want to do this, but I don’t live anywhere near you!!"  I hear this all of the time.

You can do it.

Yes, of course, some of the pieces cannot be the same. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t use this as it is intended to be used – as a tool to advance your dance!

HOWEVER – depending on your proximity to me – there is a possibility of arranging a “Project Band Community” in your area if we can get a large enough group to participate. That would mean that I could periodically come to your area for workshops AND we could hire musicians to play for you LIVE so that your experience is maximized. If you want to know more about that, contact me.

Also, if you are willing to travel to San Antonio - we have quarterly double or even triple headers!!!  That means a weekend with two or three nights of live music!  So you can get ALOT of practice in - with just a quarterly trip to SA.

3. What about remote dancers? 

To be reasonable. That’s all.

I realize that this is a significant allocation of resources for people. But it is spread out over a year because the intent is for you to WORK on this throughout the year. If you save up your privates until 1 month before the End of the Year Showcase and try to fit them all in, you will get nowhere near the benefit that you could have gotten!

A lot of the work to be done here is in assimilation and organization of things that you know AS they multiply and expand over the year. You can’t compress that and be successful.

Of course, if you break a bone and must recover for 6 weeks or if you must leave town for some emergency, I’ll work with you.

04. What is the make-up policy for missed classes?

Depends. On a million things!

You’ll see what I mean. If you are brand new, then chances are that you will get to pick a piece of music early in the process.

Please realize that one of the benefits of Project Band is a better understanding and connection with the music of the Arab world. Oftentimes our inexperience with it causes us to say that “we don’t like that music.” I certainly did that before I had a chance to work with live music.

Trust me. I’ll make sure you don’t hate the music that you have to take onto a stage, and you be willing to expand your preferences.

Deal? Deal.

05. Do I get to pick my music?

As a weaning tool, yes.

But if you are on stage with a musician who is pouring his soul into a taksim, I don’t believe that you can express that to me by twirling your batons in a soulful manner.
I want to see YOU. Everyone wants to see YOU - and how the solid mass of flesh that is YOU chooses to express that soulful sound.

So, if you are a baton-aholic, I might let you use your batons for your first live performance; maybe 1 baton for the second live performance, maybe just use 1 baton as an entrance for 30 seconds on the third one, etc.

You know what I mean! 😊

06. Can I use props?

THIS is fantastic!! In grad school, a professor LOVES to banter with their students, right? That’s what I recall from my attempts at 3 different master’s degrees – none of which I stayed in long enough to finish. LOL.

But I digress. I saw the superstar Jillina last year at an event and she said, “I use that quote you gave me all of the time, Karen.” And while I was super-flattered, I had to ask, “What quote?” (heh) “Metal sharpens metal.”

Be ready. I think about this A LOT.

I will be. 😉

07.  I want to dance to live music more often, but I have a different philosophy about it all. I really don’t agree with your stringent methods. I’m interested, but now what?

If you don’t complete 75% of what you signed up to do, then “No. You won’t dance with the band even if you’ve paid all of your money.”  

Your peers deserve better.

The musicians deserve better.

This dance deserves better.

Here’s the truth: You WILL benefit from the time spent in drills classes, Project Band exercises, and private lessons. Period.

You’ll be thinking about it. I’ll know you are thinking about it. I’ll be thinking about you and what can make your performance better, etc.

08.  What if I just pay my money and don’t do any classes or private lessons?
Can I just dance with the band in the big show?  

a. Welcome to live music!!! I have no idea how much time you will get! Here’s what I DO know:

If you are brand new, I don’t want you out there for 15 minutes and I will tell that to the band – although they pretty much know this now.

If you listen to and connect with those musicians, things can go on longer.

If the AUDIENCE gets into your music or your dancing or both, or even just gets into the way the musicians are playing, things can go on longer.

09.  How much time will I get on stage with the band in the big show?

We generally rehearse in Houston at 2:00pm on a Saturday.

Most people leave San Antonio on Saturday morning and go straight to rehearsal.

We always discuss travel plans and carpool, share rooms where needed. We often don’t start rehearsal on time. LOL. But we still shoot to be ready by 2:00pm.

I film the rehearsal, we review the film at your next private lesson, and tweak our plan from there. (Which is done, btw, at ANY of the performances –SA venues, etc.)

Some dancers come straight back to San Antonio after rehearsal. Others stay the night – usually to go hear more live music on that Saturday night. The more live music soaked up, the better! Staying to hear the band play accelerates much of the understanding of Project Band principles for you - for sure!

10.  How do the trips to Houston work?

Up to 2 months, then you just stop making your payments and everyone goes on with their life.

After 2 months, if you quit, there is a penalty of one month’s payment. Sorry – but this is an expensive endeavor and plans are made very early in the year based on participation numbers. I don’t want anyone else’s opportunities affected by one person’s decision.

If you feel like you have to quit due to life circumstances – but you really don’t want to – please talk to me. So very often – where there’s a will, there’s a way!!

11. What if I get a few months into it and need to quit?

a. You can get CDs and DVDs replicated at a place called “Dub King” here in San Antonio. When you walk in, there is a sign that says “Good. Cheap. Fast” Pick 2.

For Project Band music, the sign would say “Virtuoso. Niche. Live.” Pick 2 if you don’t want to spend $10,000 or more." But I continue to pick all 3.

And then we use live music for rehearsal throughout the year.  Have you ever hired a band?  An Arab band?  An orchestra from another city?  :-)

I charge $90/hour for private lessons and $12.50/hr for group classes.

Do the math. This isn’t expensive for what you get unless you don’t plan to use what you get.

12. Why is this so expensive?

You may start anywhere in the first official month of the program – but every Project Band term is set up for the school year and all participants participate throughout and for the entire year.

If you are not sure about the full year, Project Band Lite students can sign up and convert to FULL Project Band after 6 months or stay in the Lite package.

13. Can I start this program later in the “school year”?

This is how I express my form of insanity.

We are all a little crazy. 😊

14. How can you do this and charge so little?

Yes. You can do Project Band Lite for six months than join – but only at the “Classic” level.

You will be given the opportunity to dance in the End of the Year Showcase– not as a soloist (yet) – but as a group with other Project Band Lite dancers who converted to Classic.

15. Can I do Project Band Lite then join Project Band?

There is a maximum to the number of participants at the higher levels just because it starts to put a greater demand on mine and the musicians’ time.

There is some flexibility if you want to move downward. But there are no refunds. Your monthly payment is simply adjusted moving forward.

16.  What if I want to change levels after a few months?

Project Banders can tell you that we have some of our most illuminative moments about listening when we can draw comparisons between music with which we are extremely familiar and music with which we are not so familiar. We do it in class all the time.

A few years ago, we realized It was time to take that concept to the stage – where studio understanding gets put to the test.

This might not be for everyone. But it will be for most, for sure!  And it needs to be done before being judged.  :-)

Personally, I can’t get enough of this piece.

17.  What is with the performance opportunities to “Top 40, Classic Rock Cover Bands” that I keep hearing about????!!!!

18.  Hey, I have a question that isn’t answered here.
How can I ask it?

No. You can’t pause payments.

However, you CAN accumulate hours of classes and private lessons and use them later when your life returns to normal. We can always devise a plan to ensure that you use your accumulated hours as best you can given our respective schedules.

Project Band performance opportunities are planned and budgeted based on attendees and participation levels. It absolutely will not work for participants to pay sporadically.

19.  Can I pause my project band payments if I get busy with other things during the year?

a. Falling behind in payments by more than 1 month will result in the       suspension of participation in any live music events.

b. Participation in the components of your package at a level of at             least 75% is necessary to perform in the end of year showcase.

c. Performahearsals

      i.  I Will be scheduled during the first two weeks (on the                                  weekend) of each month. That’s about all of the planning  that                can be done with musicians for a year!

      ii.  Will be assigned and spread evenly over the course of the year.

          1. Classic Participants will be assigned odd or even numbered                       months.

          2. Lite Participants will be assigned designated events.

      iii. Unexcused No Shows or Cancellations within 24 hours of a                      Performahearsal for which you were scheduled to perform will              result in a forfeit of that opportunity and will not be reset for a              later time.

d. Additional private lessons or Drills classes may be purchased at            the standard rates; performahearsal opportunities, however, are          set by package.

e. Similar to c.i. above – the make-up of musicians for the End-of-               Year  Showcase will not be determined until we get closer to the           event; however, you can assume that the usual GBDAC musicians         will be a part of the mix PLUS members of the National Arab                     Orchestra.

f. Project Band is always evolving – even within a school year.                      Flexibility and open-mindedness is key for all participants.

20. Are there certain things that I need to make sure I understand before I embark on this journey?