Centerville Academy’s Plan for Dance in 2020—2021
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Enough with all this ‘waiting.’ Yes, we will dance! Dance is not exactly essential for survival; but we feel it is essential for helping our children and growing girls to live well! This letter is about how we plan to proceed with common sense, smarts, and optimism.
Our goals at Centerville Academy have always been to:
#1: Provide a safe place—physically & socially—for children and youth
#2: Instill in our students a love of their bodies, as they learn skills and make good friends
#3: Use clean, uplifting music, with wholesome, appropriate movement
#4: Engage all dancers together in a yearly story recital on a big stage
#5: Move with joy!
This year, we have made the following additions to our studio and policies to help keep dancing as safely and as we can! I’ll address them in the form of questions that you may have:
1) What happens if my daughter is sick? Don’t send her! Wait a few days. If she is sick on Sunday, the earliest you should send her is on Wednesday. Give a grace period of a few days out of courtesy and thinking of all the others in her class. This grace period entails at least 72 hours without a raised temperature, cough, runny nose or other sickness symptoms. We ask that you take your child’s temperature before bringing her to class to ensure she (he) does not have a fever. If she is sick, do not send her—just like you wouldn’t want any other mother to send their dancer if he/she is sick (the golden rule reigns!) We won’t be taking temperature at the door; we are looking to the parents to do this, and of course, to keep your child at home if they are not well. Do not panic that she is missing out on class. We have already planned for this! No stress! Here’s how . . .
2) How will my daughter learn if she is not at class? I have paid for the class, how will I still get my money’s worth? Videos! When the teacher notices that a student is missing, she will video the last part of class, where they review all they have learned in class that day. The teacher will then call the mother/father of the missing dancer that evening, and let her know that this video is going to be sent to their email for the dancer to watch and learn at home the choreography that she missed at class. We will also have instructional videos for technique on our website for additional content for her to use at home. Her teacher may refer you to this as well during the phone call. This way, she won’t need to worry about being too left behind.
3) What if my daughter or someone in our family comes down with COVID-19, or is directly exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19? In this case, your child must isolate at home according to state health regulations. The health department will contact you and let you know how long she/you/your family needs to wait until she can return again. This protocol is not up to us; this is what the CDC demands at this current time.
4) Should my daughter wear a mask when she comes? On the first day of class, please send your dancer with a mask. As the class progresses, the teacher will evaluate if the dancers should wear a mask again as a whole group the next week, and so on. A lot depends on the maturity level of the dancers, and their ability to distance themselves by themselves. Each teacher will assess this, class by class. If you feel that your child is in a high-risk situation, please take extra pre-caution and by all means have her come with a mask. Parental judgement is the best judgement for your child! At Centerville Academy, we’re grateful to have the luxury of ample space, small classes, and a tall old church ceiling that accommodates well for indoor social distancing. Common sense tells us that asking all dancers to wear a mask while dancing, no matter what, is unnecessary, and physically strains the dancer by limiting her supply of fresh oxygen intake. As she moves, she needs air. Restricting air could lead to other physical problems. Our studio is taking the following preventative measures:
*One way entrance and exit doors. Your dancer should always arrive 5 minutes before class and enter through the white south-facing side door of the building. Drop-off procedure is for parents to drive east up the blacktop and make a loop in front of the car-port, drop her off at the sidewalk, and then you’re on you way. When she/he comes in, she will place her things on the chairs or benches in the first hallway, and come into the bathroom and wash her hands with soap and water while she sings “Twinkle Twinkle” to herself 😉 ( for 20 seconds). When she is finished, she will wait for her teacher to bring their classinto the studio space. Her teacher will then lead them to the front foyer, where they will place their items to be handy when class is over, and at the end of class, your dancer will exit out the front doors. Parents picking up the students will use the front parking lot. To help with social distancing, parents, please refrain from entering the building entirely. If you have a question, please plan ahead and call Salli at (801) 872-2004. However, please don’t expect her to answer during class time ;).
*Readily available tissues and trash cans. We will instruct the dancers that if they need to touch their face in anyway, they should use a tissue to do that with. Then place the tissue in the trash provided. Could you please practice this at home? Help them be aware of what they touch and don’t touch with their hands. Thank you!
*Better barres! Our new barres have a special anti-microbial powder coat finish which inhibits the growth and transmission of harmful microbes and germs. We will also wipe them with lysol wipes after each class. We will sanitize door knobs each day.
*Restrooms are mainly for washing hands. For younger children especially, please have your dancer use the restroom at home just before they come. That will help us in so many ways!
Moving forward now . .
Recital information
We need to have something special to look forward to in 2020! Thus, we have decided to have the recital that was going to be last May, be this December instead, on Saturday December 12th. Mark your calendars! This will be the date of our Parables recital. We will plan on having it at Viewmont High School (unless we hear otherwise), with it’s spacious size, and we will be able to keep the number of audience members and dancers lower by giving 3 mini recitals—The Parable of the 10 Virgins, the Parable of the Lost Sheep, and the Parable of the Good Samaratin. Each Parable will be a recital in and of itself! This way, you can enjoy inviting all those grandparents and people close to you, and we can still keep the appropriate number of people as specified by the CDC at each gathering. Additionally, we will have a professional recording made of all 3 parables as a larger recital, so they can still see them all together, which will be available for purchase before Christmas. As time draws closer, we will let you know which parable your dancer is in, and what time your recital is that day. If we can’t have it at a high school, we will be flexible and hold it here at the Academy instead. We hope that at least the vast majority of our dancers are healthy and well on Dec. 12th. It’s the best we can do to plan!
If you’ve already paid the recital fee last Spring, it will carry over to this December when we can finally enjoy our Parables recital. If you haven’t, it will be due first week in November. It is $30 per family.
Costumes
Do you know where her costume is? 😉 Start looking now, and keep your eye out for a hair accessory that may have come with it. Doesn’t fit anymore? We will have instructions as to how you can alter it yourself, or if you’d rather a seamstress do it for you, we have a studio seamstress with whom you can arrange a fitting, and pay her a small fee for the service.
If you’re new and don’t have a costume yet, information regarding her costume will come home with you in September, and payment for that will be due the first week in October.
Picture Day
Picture Day will be on Friday, November 6th, starting in the afternoon. Times for each class photo sessions and prices will be given out in mid October.
Dress Code
For ballet class, pink and black is really the best way to go. Black leotards, pink ballet tights and pink ballet slippers. Ballet skirts are optional. Pats Dancewear in Bountiful has a great variety of black leotards. A different color leotard is fine too—just please no patterns. They are distracting. Solid colored leotards, especially black, create clean lines which help the girls dance brighter and look better. For Irish and clogging, wear athletic, non-baggy clothing.
Class Schedule
The 2020-2021 class schedule is updated and found under the dance tab. We’re keeping a cap on class sizes, so registering now is better than later. Please note the new jazz class on Tuesdays! And we will still be having Gingerbread Kids on Mondays. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call (801) 872-2004.
Better together,
SalliJune Allred, Marcia Anderson, Katie Beisinger
Joani Stevens, and Lorinda LeFevre
Please click on links below and return all 3 waivers/forms to class, first day
(helping those who may have to stay home during a class or two)
