We did it!!
Together, we have persevered beyond all obstacles and are now greeting the end of this unique dance season with a huge sense of accomplishment.
It is with thanks to the dedication of our students, families and faculty that this has been possible.
You are all rockstars!!
It is my belief that hard work, dedication, progress and effort should be celebrated and recognized. Our team has been trying to wrap our heads around how to make that possible for our students. I am thrilled to share our plans.
As you know, pre Covid, this week would have been our final week of classes. We would have celebrated with our year-end recital this Sunday, June 21st at the Cowichan Theatre.
But since that can’t happen, here’s the plan!
In lieu of our recital, we will be extending our dance season in to next week (Tuesday June 23, 2020 – Friday June 26, 2020) and will be welcoming registered students to join us for in-studio classes. Students can wear their costumes, put on performance makeup and join their teachers and classmates for a final week of in-studio classes and celebration. We will take videos of them dancing and pictures to capture the memories. Students will receive the same awards and recognitions that they would have received on stage at recital.
At the end of the week, we will begin putting together video clips and pictures from the ENTIRE season to produce a “Recital Video”.
We want this celebration to be inclusive for all dancers and families. We understand that not every student is inclined to participate in in-studio classes at this time. Or perhaps some may already have plans for next week that won’t allow them to be present. It is our hope that those students will take a home-video and/or photos and send them to us to be included in the Recital Video. You can make it fun and decorate a space at home to use as a backdrop or go outside in a garden with the sunshine. Whatever brings you joy!
There really is no one-fits-all solution but we hope that this final week of celebration, and the highlights of a Recital video, will act as a beautiful bow wrapping up the end of our season.
There is a lot of information and many procedures to unpack in order to host in-studio classes. We will be sending out communication on Monday laying out the details for the week ahead. Please anticipate beginning classes at your regular class time but completing classes fifteen minutes early. Ms. Erika’s classes that are usually held at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre will be moved to a different time and/or day. We will send a separate email to those classes directly.
We have been discussing the possibility of this plan with various students and parents during the last couple weeks of zoom classes. This has been a great sounding board so that we can anticipate some common questions and address them promptly. I have detailed some frequently asked questions and answer below.
Q: Due to the Covid interruption, my child did not receive a dance costume. What should they wear for their in-studio class / home-video?
A: They should wear their regular class attire with stage hair and makeup. If they are in hip hop and don’t have regular attire, they can wear whatever makes them feel special unless otherwise directed by their teacher during their final zoom call. An LT Dance Studio merchandise tshirt or hoodie would be a great option too. Also, please note, any students who did not receive a costume will have a credit applied to their account towards next season.
Q: Will there be zoom meetings next week during the in-studio classes, for those who can’t attend in person?
A: No. There will be no zoom classes next week.
Q: Will parents be able to come in to the studio?
A: No. There will be social-distance measures in place and occupancy restrictions in order to meet opening requirements.
Q: Will you accept cards or gifts for teachers?
A: ABSOLUTELY
Q: Will you be having a lake jump like every other year?
A: It’s possible! We know the lake jump is an important symbolic tradition for many of our dancers who have been with us in previous years. We are going to focus on in-studio classes right now and will send out an invitation if we can make the Lake Jump a possibility in the next week or weekend.