As you know, we are following local and national recommendations to suspend in person classes at our Studio K facility. We have been working around the clock on several plans of action for the studio, which have then changed again and again, as national and local news has evolved. At this time, we will remain closed. But we are taking these unexpected lemons and making lemonade :).
To our Dancers: Don’t worry! We have some incredible plans to keep our classes running and our students happily dancing! We will continue to deliver the dance experience you know and love at Studio K, just in a slightly different way.
To our Parents: Now more than ever, we understand that it is important for your child to have normalcy and routine. We want to come alongside our families and help you provide that continuity for them. We know you want your children to keep active, move, use their minds creatively, and still interact socially with their peers. This is exactly what we’ll be providing during the closure of our physical location!
Thanks to technology, we will be opening our “digital doors” and will be providing you with an online dance experience to keep our dancers moving, learning, interacting with their friends, and having fun during this time! Our staff has been busy during the closure, connecting with each other virtually and creating a program that allows our students to continue with their regular dance training and recital preparation! We are excited to share the features of our new dance package with you . . . .
--Live Streamed Classes:
We will be livestreaming classes on Zoom! This will allow all of our dancers to still receive their dance instruction in real time, as if they were at the dance studio. Just clear a little space to allow for movement, have your computer or tablet set up, and join our live class! Dancers will get their regular dance instruction, slightly modified for space and environment. Teachers will provide a chance to visit with friends and interact as well. [Instructions for Zoom to follow]
Then . . . . Our live streamed classes will be recorded, posted within 24 hrs, and available to view at any time - perfect for our dancers who want to dance some more throughout the day or missed the live class time. We love the idea of being able to offer this feature so that you can adapt to your new schedules at home and dance when it is convenient for you. This recording should prove valuable to our pre-school aged dancers who may not have the same attention span in this new dance at home environment. **Bonus - siblings will be able to join in as well!
--Google Classroom:
Each class will have their own Google Classroom, which we hope most of our families are familiar with from school. Think of this as your “Members Only” online access to your new dance experience! In the virtual classroom, you’ll have access to the Zoom class meeting links, recital choreography, class recordings, activities, extra online classes, coloring pages, and as much extra content as we can get our hands on. Our teachers will still be teaching recital choreography during this time and this will be posted in your classroom so our dancers can be preparing for the show.
--Additional Activities and Opportunities:
You keep hearing us mention extra content. We are hoping to round out this new dance experience with some fun activities, dance challenges, and links to other online learning opportunities. The dance industry is really pulling together in this uncertain time and sharing resources. We have been collaborating with lots of other studios and organizations and will organize the content we feel best fits our dance family into your Google Classrooms. In addition, we’ll be scheduling some Zoom family dance parties so the whole family can join in with the fun!
--Recital:
We still plan on holding a recital this year! As they say, “The show must go on!” Our recital date is currently June 13th and we are hoping to perform that day. We obviously cannot make any promises on what that show might look like yet. Ordinarily we would be sending home recital info packets and getting ready to sell tickets. Instead we are planning for contingency plans A, B, C, and D. Whether we have our typical big show at Serrano, have multiple smaller shows in another venue (or even outdoors), or postpone until safe, we will get our dancers on stage in costume to showcase all their hard work. This year’s recital name “Undefeated” has more meaning for us now than it did when chosen. We all agree that our dancers deserve to perform this season despite the crazy circumstances we currently find ourselves in!
As much as it saddens us, we have found ourselves in this new normal for the time being, which hopefully won’t last too long. Rest assured that we are committed to continuing to offer you the best customer service and dance experience during this time. These are truly uncharted waters we are navigating. We plan on taking on this challenge week by week, making/adjusting our plans as the situation progresses, so that we may resume in-studio instruction as soon as it is safe for the community to do so.
We deeply thank you for your support. As a small business, your continued dedication to our mission to provide your child with invaluable life skills through dance ensures we can continue doing the work we do. Our dance family is wonderful and we truly feel that you all understand and appreciate the fact that our dance studio is our family business with overhead and employees. We want to make sure our studio is here to serve your needs after all of this uncertainty is over and we get back to our routines.
As we recognize that everyone’s situation is unique, we ask that you be honest and consider your plans in regard to dance classes for April. We are asking that families process their April tuition online. If you have not done this before, go to our website and click the “My Account” tab. You can log in to your account with the email address we have on file and click forgot my password. (Side note: You may notice that your balance looks higher than usual - this is because costume balances are on file at this time with a due date of 4/24. If you cannot figure out your tuition balance, just send Miss Becky an email to check). This pandemic has affected families in various ways and we are sensitive to this fact. We don’t want to exclude anyone from our program or our recital. Please reach out by email if you need to set up an alternative payment plan or request discounts or temporary scholarships. Alternately, if your family is in a position to donate to scholarships for families extremely affected by this pandemic, please reach out by email as well. Either way, we need to hear from ALL families by Friday 4/3 about their plans for April, communicated by an email or processing a tuition payment online. This will help us gauge our next steps.
This first week of online classes will remain our regular schedule as we consider it finishing out March but changes are possible in coming weeks as we evaluate how this platform works and figure how to best serve our families.
While we are sad not to see our students face to face, we are looking forward to connecting with them weekly and sharing the magic of dance! This virtual platform is new to all of us in the dance community, so bear with us as we learn this together and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email us.
Studio K Dance Center