Greetings Dance Families,

Firstly, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to everyone and their dancers for their support and patience during these past few months. This is also coupled with a huge personal appreciation to all the dancers who have been online and participated in virtual classes.  Dance and teaching is my passion.  Dance has been a part of my life since the age of four and since that time I have never gone more than a week without dancing or teaching in a studio.  I am thankful to all my students who have been online to take virtual classes.  It has meant so much to me to be able to continue to teach and share my dance knowledge during this difficult time and seeing your smiling faces and your eagerness to continue learning has kept me going through all of this.

Over the past few weeks many parents and students have been inquiring as to how
Arcade Dance Arts will be proceeding for the remainder of the season given the unveiling of the Ontario government’s slow reopening plans.  The studio has developed many plans without having a clear timeline for reopening and now that the Ontario government has announced that schools will remain closed until September we are now able to unveil the studio’s path through the summer.  

Our Initial Response to Covid-19 Closures:

From the onset of the measures to combat Covid-19 beginning in March we were optimistic that there would be little impact to our dance programming.  We were hopeful that our closure would be short lived and that we would be able to get back into the studio in a timely manner and hold our year-end recital.  We have since been mandated to postpone our return to the studio several times and have had to adapt our dance instruction to a virtual platform.  As a courtesy to our dance families we have been providing online classes to our students on a rolling schedule free of charge since mid April, with the underlying hope that this would keep our students engaged and able to remember their dance routines for when they return to class. Now that it is apparent that our return will not be in a timely manner and our closure is reaching into June we have been forced to reconsider how the studio will be operating moving forward and reset our course with the new information being provided.  

Studio Closure Update:

After much consideration and consultation and with great disappointment, it is at this time that we are announcing a postponement of Term 3 recreational dance classes until September of 2020.  This has and continues to be a very difficult time for the studio and its community and we are not making this decision lightly or of our own.  I have been in touch with our MP, the Ontario government Covid-19 information line, and have been diligent in researching any information that could paint a picture of a reopening date specifically for dance studios to no avail.  Although we would very much like to return to the studio,  the safety of our students and their families continues to be of the utmost importance to us and our studio cannot reopen until the Ontario government says it is okay to do so.   This is definitely not how we wanted for the end of our 7th season and we must continue to practice great patience.  We had hoped that we would be able to extend Term 3 into the summer months and culminate with a show in late June.  We even made plans to host our recital outdoors if necessary, however as our closure has been extended with no clear reopening date in site, we simply cannot continue with this plan.  In speaking personally with many of you, we have also come to understand that many families have summer plans that they wish to proceed with if/when restrictions in the province are lifted. Even if we were allowed to reopen and implement an extension of Term 3 into summer months, we realize that many of our families feel this is not ideal for their dancer’s participation.  We also acknowledge that even if restrictions are lifted we may not necessarily be allowed to return to the studio and resume classes in the same capacity as before and that remaining restrictions may not allow for large group classes and may also prohibit us from hosting a recital for some time.  Being that our Term 3 programming is primarily designed to produce a recital event as a final exhibition of everything learned by our students in the year, we feel it is in the best interest of all our students and families to postpone our Term 3 and year-end recital until the Fall. We would like to give everyone time to be safe and feel comfortable in groups again before attempting to host a recital event that sees many people in one venue at the same time.  We want our dancers to feel comfortable and happy when they finally get to perform onstage and we would like to still preserve the opportunity for a recital experience as much as possible.  Postponing Term 3 allows this programming to stay intact and operate at a later date in its original form.  It also allows the studio to shift focus towards the possibility of summer day camps and other planned summer programming that is more adaptable to restrictions that may remain over the summer months.  We can also focus on continuing to improve and deliver a quality online dance experience to supplement and work alongside in-person classes when they are allowed to resume and ensure that the studio is well informed and prepared for new protocols for safe operation in the Fall.  We ask that everyone please continue to follow the guidelines set out by the governing bodies, practice social distancing throughout the summer, and be safe to help stop the spread of Covid-19 so that we can be allowed to reopen and operate the Fall without further delay.  It takes everyone’s commitment, so please do your part to support these efforts and continue to practice caution despite the lifting of restrictions over the summer, so we can continue to flatten the curve and prevent a second wave of the virus in the Fall.  

How will the postponed Term 3 and recital work?

In September, classes will resume with a schedule similar to our current Term 3 schedule. Some adjustments will most likely need to be made to allow time between classes for cleaning/disinfecting.   We are hopeful that in September current students and even new students will be able to return to the studio, work on their technique and resume rehearsal of their already existing and almost completed recital routines.   This “new” Term 3 will be extended from 10 weeks to 13 weeks and will operate until December 2020 culminating in our “Circus 2020” recital performance.  This recital performance will replace our annual holiday showcase that is usually scheduled prior to the December holiday break.  We are continuing to stay in touch with Redeemer College to facilitate our rebooking of the year end recital for a date in December and to keep up to date with how large attendance events will have to handle new protocols for Covid-19.  After our “Circus 2020” performance in December we will break as usual for a holiday and from that point, students would return in January for a new schedule of classes and essentially start a new year of dance.  The January 2021 and March 2021 dance terms would end with a themed performance recital in June 2021 as opposed to a production recital.  We are currently working on the adjusted September schedule and the new January 2021 schedule so that we may operate our registration process as usual in the summer and fall.

What if I already paid for Term 3 dance classes?

In the next couple of weeks all families will be receiving a personal email from the studio.  This email will outline your current account status at the studio.  We will be applying a credit for Term 3 charges to invoices.  For those that have paid for Term 3 classes already, this will then reflect a credit that can be used in the future towards summer programs, the postponed Term 3 in September or towards any of our future paid online or in-person dance classes.  We have every intention of provided services that credits can be used towards.  We cannot discuss or offer any refunds at this time.  We have always maintained a no refund policy, but understand that these are unforeseen circumstances and we kindly ask that our families hold onto their account statements once they are sent for any future discussions regarding enrollment, which can take place in the Fall when things are hopefully back to normal.  

What about the costumes for our recital?

Many of the costumes for our recital were ordered and paid for.   Many arrived at the studio prior to our Covid-19 closure.  Included in our personal email to you we will also outline which costumes that you have paid for have arrived and which costumes are still in the warehouse or on the seamstress table that have not yet been delivered. The costume companies we order from in the U.S had to close their warehouses for a time due to the pandemic and they are now slowly reopening.  We have reached out regarding our orders that have not yet been delivered to determine their status (whether they have been shipped or are currently still in the warehouse).  We are hoping that we can hold our remaining orders until the Fall so that we may adjust sizes if necessary.  We want the costume companies to be aware that we may have new students in the Fall that will need the same costume styles as some that have been delivered already and that some of our current students may require size exchanges before a new recital date in December.  

What about competitions for our pre-competitive dancers?

In your personal email updating the status of your account and costumes we will also update on the amounts you have paid in competition entry fees.  Currently our pre-competitive groups, duets and soloists are still scheduled to perform at competitions in July and August.  We cannot update at this time if these competitions will in fact take place.   We are working with the information we have been given regarding postponement dates.  We will be continuing to rehearse our competition routines virtually to keep them prepared until they take the stage in July and August or until the competitions decide to postpone again.  When we are allowed to return to the studio for classes we will begin with in-person solo and duet rehearsals only while continuing our group practices online.  We would then branch out to include rehearsals for groups when we are told it is safe to do so.  In the event that in person group rehearsals cannot take place in time to prepare our students adequately for competition, we anticipate that the competitions will either offer a refund or credits towards next season.  At this time competitions have not discussed any refund or credit options regarding competition entry fees.  We will update when we have more information.

Our current plans moving forward:

With all families successfully updated on their account status, with Term 3 recreational classes postponed until September and a need to continue rehearsing our competitive teams online for the time being we will be moving forward in the following manner:

Subscription Based Online Classes:

We will be taking a brief break from online classes to roll out a new virtual program for the month of June, July and tentatively August.  This new program will be a monthly subscription that our students can enroll in that will provide them with distanced dance education via live Zoom classes with Arcade Dance Arts  faculty and special guest teachers.  This live schedule will also be combined with 24/7 access to a catalogue of pre-recorded content and live webcast classes provided by our new partnership with CLI studios so that our dancers can also take dance class whenever they want.   The CLI pre-recorded content and live classes are prepared and hosted by dance industry professionals and celebrities dance choreographers. Subscribing to CLI as a dancer costs $100/month but through the studio partnership program will be able to offer this service to our dancers at a much more affordable rate and in addition provide access to our own live classes and content, so our dancers can stay connected with each other and our staff!  More details about this program will be coming later this week.  Students will be able to apply their credits received for Term 3 towards this subscription program if they choose to enrol.

• For competitive students we will be asking that they enrol in this monthly subscription program for the month of June to start.  This way they can keep up their training and review routines for their competitions in July and August.  They will have access to weekly live routine review sessions, technique classes as well as special guest teacher classes and pre-recorded catalogue content provided by CLI studios.  

September Term 3 & January 2021 Registration

Beginning in late June, students will be able to confirm their commitment for the postponed Term 3 in September and apply the credits received to their registration for the postponed Term 3.  They will also be able to view and pre-register for the new January 2021 schedule.

Summer Programs:

We will be announcing our summer day camp dates in early June and pre-registration for these camps will then be open.  All summer camp dates are currently scheduled for August.  Additional dates for July may be added if restrictions to business closures are lifted.  Credits from Term 3 postponement will also be able to be applied towards summer camp programs. 

Online Adult Classes:

We are hoping to continue our adult ballet and adult tap classes through the summer online until we can use the studio again in person.  We will also be looking into providing Zumba and Yoga classes online as well.  

In Closing:Again, we thank you very much for your continued support.  We miss our dance family very much and we are working tirelessly to ensure that the studio will be a safe place for our dancers to return to.  We are training, researching and developing our new protocols for when our turn comes and when we are able to reopen we will be ready! In the meantime we hope to see many of our dancers online through the summer.  We cannot wait to have everyone back to the studio in September and to finally see our dancers perform on stage again. We will be unveiling more details about our summer online classes and programs shortly, as well as details about registration for 2020/2021.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the studio at [email protected] or by phone at 905-333-1121.   Until then we hope that everyone has a fun and safe summer.