Announcement
April 27, 2020
Dear Dance Community,
I hope this message finds you safe and well. What a story is being written during 2020!
As you probably know by now, Governor JB Pritzker announced on Friday, April 17 that Remote Learning Days will continue through the end of this school year, and on Thursday, April 23, extended the stay at home order to May 30. Like most students and parents, we are saddened by the reality that our community will not be able to reconvene in person this school year due to this public health crisis. Up to March 16, our students worked hard to learn and grow in the classroom. Since then, the “dance†experience for students, parents and educators has been re-designed in accordance with the Governor’s Stay at Home order and physical distancing practices to protect our collective health. We have found new ways to teach and learn, and there has been increased emotional stress and new frustrations, as well as moments of epiphany, giving new insights to our work and daily lives.
Now, we will close this dance year with remote learning practices. While this realization may have been a foregone conclusion for some, it may feel like a step back for others. For all, it gives us the answer to question of “Will we return to the studio this year?†It also prompts us to answer other questions, such as “Will there be an end of the year performance? Will those in competition be able to compete?†and many others.
To begin to answer these questions, first, let me assure our students and parents that our entire staff remains committed to learning and engaging with all students through remote learning. Yes, there are stresses and frustrations that impact us all, students, parents, and teachers – but, as dance educators, our purpose is to make a positive difference in the lives of children through the art and discipline of dance, and that remains our first focus through the remainder of this dance year.
PERFORMANCE
We believe that it is important to finish the year off strong - our end of the year performance is the culmination and completion of the year. It gives students, parents and teachers the opportunity to see how much they have grown during the year. It also helps us determine how to help your student continue with their training. Finally, it is just a wonderful opportunity to celebrate their accomplishment and have fun.
To that end, we will continue to move forward with our performance this year as planned. At this time, we recognize that with the quarantine lasting until the end of May, there will most likely be a phase before we can return to normal. We feel it would be best to push back our performance to August. This would allow us to hopefully get past this quarantine but also give us time to practice before the show. As of now, our projected dates are as follows – please know that we are working with our performance venues to determine a schedule:
Since the quarantine will remain in place until the end of May, we feel it would be best to rearrange our normal dance year schedule. We would like to begin our summer session starting May 2. During May, we will be offering free classes on Facebook that we hope you will join in for fun.
We also intend to consolidate classes and pare down our zoom schedule so that we can continue teaching technique remotely for all those who might be still interested. You can check out a tentative schedule here. Additionally, we have partnered with CLI studios and that will allow us the opportunity to offer our student additional class recordings and live sessions with some of top choreographers like tWitch, Alison Holker, Teddy Forance, Mark Meismer, Marty Kudelka and more. We have decided to offer access to both zoom classes and CLI studios for a subscription payment of $30 per family to have access to these resources if you are interested. Other than that, there will not be a tuition fee for the month of May.
From there, we will offer summer classes through the month of June. These classes will be similar to our normal classes that we teach during previous summers. These summer classes will be hybrid classes. Some parts will be online and others will be face-to-face classes as reopening takes place.
Finally, we anticipate getting back into the studio to continue our classes the week of June 29. At that point, our focus will be on rehearsing and cleaning up choreography so that we can host and deliver a high quality performance. Please keep in mind that it is not our desire to put anyone’s health in jeopardy so we will move slowly in returning.
COMPETITIONS
For dancers on competition teams, we have discovered that many of the competitions are rescheduling for the summer. We recognize that we all have several obligations already planned for the summer and rescheduling can be problematic. Survey results sent out recently revealed that the majority of the Minis’ class wish to cancel competition for the rest of the year. As for the Petites, Juniors and Seniors, the majority suggest going to what is possible and what is safe. With that information, we feel it would be best to do a follow up vote, based on the dates and opportunities found here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5J8HLTY
As for competition re-imbursement, currently the Competitions report that they are waiting to see what funds they receive by May before making a determination. We find ourselves in the same predicament as hundreds of studios are continuing to press the competitions for a response. As of now, we will wait until May to make a determination as to how we will move forward with competition reimbursement.
TUITION
As stated, there will not be any charge for tuition for the month of May for classes since we will be putting those on hold until June. Additionally, we will have that subscription-based model for all those who are interested in continuing with their technique in May.
As for accounts, we recognize that each account is a little different and so it will require going through each account separately. Some of you have paid for the entire semester, some are behind and some are current. As we work through each account, we will contact you to discuss the options that you choose.
As for summer classes, you will be able to sign up and pay for those as normal. Finally, as we begin preparing for performance and possible competitions in July, we anticipate there being tuition, as well as the remainder of the performance fee due. As for competition, if we still attend, we will collect the remainder of that fee as well.
At DanceLife, we value the importance of the performing arts – the arts teach creative thinking and helps students develop grit. These past few weeks have proven that our community is more resilient and more capable than some may have previously realized. However, the final chapter of this year is yet to be written. Moving forward, the well-being and future success of our students remains our primary focus.
Thank you for continuing to work together and supporting our students - with gratitude for our dance Community,
Antoine Thomas
Business Coordinator
The DanceLife Center
I hope this message finds you safe and well. What a story is being written during 2020!
As you probably know by now, Governor JB Pritzker announced on Friday, April 17 that Remote Learning Days will continue through the end of this school year, and on Thursday, April 23, extended the stay at home order to May 30. Like most students and parents, we are saddened by the reality that our community will not be able to reconvene in person this school year due to this public health crisis. Up to March 16, our students worked hard to learn and grow in the classroom. Since then, the “dance†experience for students, parents and educators has been re-designed in accordance with the Governor’s Stay at Home order and physical distancing practices to protect our collective health. We have found new ways to teach and learn, and there has been increased emotional stress and new frustrations, as well as moments of epiphany, giving new insights to our work and daily lives.
Now, we will close this dance year with remote learning practices. While this realization may have been a foregone conclusion for some, it may feel like a step back for others. For all, it gives us the answer to question of “Will we return to the studio this year?†It also prompts us to answer other questions, such as “Will there be an end of the year performance? Will those in competition be able to compete?†and many others.
To begin to answer these questions, first, let me assure our students and parents that our entire staff remains committed to learning and engaging with all students through remote learning. Yes, there are stresses and frustrations that impact us all, students, parents, and teachers – but, as dance educators, our purpose is to make a positive difference in the lives of children through the art and discipline of dance, and that remains our first focus through the remainder of this dance year.
PERFORMANCE
We believe that it is important to finish the year off strong - our end of the year performance is the culmination and completion of the year. It gives students, parents and teachers the opportunity to see how much they have grown during the year. It also helps us determine how to help your student continue with their training. Finally, it is just a wonderful opportunity to celebrate their accomplishment and have fun.
To that end, we will continue to move forward with our performance this year as planned. At this time, we recognize that with the quarantine lasting until the end of May, there will most likely be a phase before we can return to normal. We feel it would be best to push back our performance to August. This would allow us to hopefully get past this quarantine but also give us time to practice before the show. As of now, our projected dates are as follows – please know that we are working with our performance venues to determine a schedule:
- Charleston: The week of July 26 – August 1
- Effingham: The week of August 2 – August 8
Since the quarantine will remain in place until the end of May, we feel it would be best to rearrange our normal dance year schedule. We would like to begin our summer session starting May 2. During May, we will be offering free classes on Facebook that we hope you will join in for fun.
We also intend to consolidate classes and pare down our zoom schedule so that we can continue teaching technique remotely for all those who might be still interested. You can check out a tentative schedule here. Additionally, we have partnered with CLI studios and that will allow us the opportunity to offer our student additional class recordings and live sessions with some of top choreographers like tWitch, Alison Holker, Teddy Forance, Mark Meismer, Marty Kudelka and more. We have decided to offer access to both zoom classes and CLI studios for a subscription payment of $30 per family to have access to these resources if you are interested. Other than that, there will not be a tuition fee for the month of May.
From there, we will offer summer classes through the month of June. These classes will be similar to our normal classes that we teach during previous summers. These summer classes will be hybrid classes. Some parts will be online and others will be face-to-face classes as reopening takes place.
Finally, we anticipate getting back into the studio to continue our classes the week of June 29. At that point, our focus will be on rehearsing and cleaning up choreography so that we can host and deliver a high quality performance. Please keep in mind that it is not our desire to put anyone’s health in jeopardy so we will move slowly in returning.
COMPETITIONS
For dancers on competition teams, we have discovered that many of the competitions are rescheduling for the summer. We recognize that we all have several obligations already planned for the summer and rescheduling can be problematic. Survey results sent out recently revealed that the majority of the Minis’ class wish to cancel competition for the rest of the year. As for the Petites, Juniors and Seniors, the majority suggest going to what is possible and what is safe. With that information, we feel it would be best to do a follow up vote, based on the dates and opportunities found here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5J8HLTY
As for competition re-imbursement, currently the Competitions report that they are waiting to see what funds they receive by May before making a determination. We find ourselves in the same predicament as hundreds of studios are continuing to press the competitions for a response. As of now, we will wait until May to make a determination as to how we will move forward with competition reimbursement.
TUITION
As stated, there will not be any charge for tuition for the month of May for classes since we will be putting those on hold until June. Additionally, we will have that subscription-based model for all those who are interested in continuing with their technique in May.
As for accounts, we recognize that each account is a little different and so it will require going through each account separately. Some of you have paid for the entire semester, some are behind and some are current. As we work through each account, we will contact you to discuss the options that you choose.
As for summer classes, you will be able to sign up and pay for those as normal. Finally, as we begin preparing for performance and possible competitions in July, we anticipate there being tuition, as well as the remainder of the performance fee due. As for competition, if we still attend, we will collect the remainder of that fee as well.
At DanceLife, we value the importance of the performing arts – the arts teach creative thinking and helps students develop grit. These past few weeks have proven that our community is more resilient and more capable than some may have previously realized. However, the final chapter of this year is yet to be written. Moving forward, the well-being and future success of our students remains our primary focus.
Thank you for continuing to work together and supporting our students - with gratitude for our dance Community,
Antoine Thomas
Business Coordinator
The DanceLife Center