WHAT’S UP AT LTD

We are honoured to serve the needs of our LT Dance studio families. Offering, and registering for, dance classes is a commitment that we take seriously. With so much uncertainty in the months ahead, we want to be transparent and share with you our PANDEMIC-PROOF contingency plans!

It is of the utmost importance that students and staff refrain from attending the studio if they are feeling unwell, or in the event that they need to self-isolate due to Covid-19 exposure. Due to the heightened cautions, we anticipate an increase in student-absences during our in-studio classes.

In order to support everyone in staying home when unwell, we are prepared to implement a hybrid business model utilizing both in-studio and virtual classes, programs and events.

What does this mean? There are many ways we can implement a hybrid model, we have detailed some possible scenarios below:

1) We are prepared to provide a live zoom call during our in-studio classes so that students who are at home sick, or self-isolating, can still participate in their classes and not fall behind. This is becoming a standard practice in our industry.

2) We may utilize pre-recorded digital dance classes and send them out to students if their class has to be cancelled due to an instructor illness, or to assist a student in catching-up if they have several absences.

3) Our well-rounded faculty are prepared to fill-in and provide quality instruction for classes outside of their regular schedule in order to support other teachers who need to take a sick day or self-isolate.

4) We are planning specialty workshops that can be held in-person, or virtually, as an added value to our regular programs. Students will pay a fee to participate. As part of our contingency plans, we may be able to offer free access to a workshop, for applicable students, to compensate for a class that was cancelled due to an unexpected studio closure

5) If we must further reduce the number of students allowed in our space, to accommodate more strict physical distancing measures, our classes could be split into two groups (Group A & Group B) that would alternate weeks attending classes in-studio and virtually on zoom.

We have every intention of operating our classes in-studio throughout our season and will be preparing for in-person performances and celebrations. As we have come to realize already, sometimes it’s best to have a back-up-plan! If we are required to close our studio doors for an extended duration of time, we will uphold our commitment to offer our programs and will continue virtually. We will not reduce class fees if we have to switch to virtual classes. We did so last season as a compassionate measure to support families through the unexpected interruption. We are now aware that we could experience interruptions and you are committing to our programs knowingly. We will be adhering to our regular policies with regards to withdrawals, late payments, no-refunds and no-credits.

We are in it for long hall and together we will thrive!

It is of the utmost importance for us here at LT Dance Studio to create a safe and accepting environment for all of our dancers to express themselves creatively.

We would like to share some insightful knowledge by black leaders from the Canadian Dance Industry to honour this.

Please note that these are RAW and AUTHENTIC discussions.
THERE IS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

Please follow this link to access the videos.
https://www.facebook.com/100000909525748/posts/4112528105454133/?d=n

Video 1: introductions/history of hip hop and why hip hop is black culture.
Video 2: guest in hip hop culture and the USA aspect
Video 3: Racism, systemic racism, discrimination in the dance community, dance competitions, and dance studios.
Video 4: THE CALL OUTS: what can each dance community do across Canada (BC, ALBERTA, ON, QB)
Video 5: Black women in the dance community and what they have to deal with? What can people who are guest in hip hop do to uplift black culture? Questions and answers.

Here at LT Dance Studio we follow the Acro Dance Teacher’s Association Syllabus. See this blog post from the creator of the Syllabus explaining from her experience, the differences between Acro and Gymnastics!

https://www.acrodanceteachersassociation.com/acro-vs-gymnastics-whats-the-difference/?v=707f3a40153b

As many of you know, CLI Studios is an online platform that offers quality classes to aspiring dancers and teachers all over the globe. You are able to access it as an exclusive member if you dance with us here at LTD!

CLI Studios has just begun their 2020 Dance Experience, an eight-week online dance intensive with 50+ world-renowned choreographers and 5+ days a week of LIVE Classes, performances, showcases, and more.

This is a wonderful opportunity to keep dancing through the summer and learn from some truly fabulous professional dancers.

We want our dancers to have access to this amazing experience and continue to grow as creatives so we are offering it to all of our Season 7 2019/2020 students free of charge. With full access all of the classes and events that they offer for free, we are waiving the regular fee of $99 USD.

Please let us know if you have any questions or are interested in participating. We hope that you will take advantage of this unique opportunity.

Please follow the button below to log into CLI STUDIOS or create an exclusive account.

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.

Tap Dance is a form of dance that uses metal “taps” on the heel and toe of a dancer’s shoes to add percussion to the music. Tap dance uses a lot of footwork and involves big smiles and high energy from the dancer’s.

Last week we shared with you some special Tap classes from our partnership with CLI Studios. Have a look and try out a class! We’d love to hear how it went!

The Shawnigan Focus Team produced a special edition in May with the theme – how is Covid affecting Shawnigan? They have included PAGES of stories from local businesses, community organizations and families sharing how we are all getting through this together.

We encourage you to take some time to read through the incredible stories. You can find an inclusion from our Studio Director, Bonnie Cuthbertson, on page four of the paper or see the text copy-pasted and detailed below.

The image you see here highlights some of the brave, committed, smiling faces we are so fortunate to connect with through this pandemic. This dance family inspires us week after week to persevere and continue our programs. We ARE in this together!

Social Dis-DANCE-ing is in full swing for LT Dance Studio students and families!

“Move the couch, put away the video games, get your kids into their dance attire and get ready for online learning!” – the start of a new era in dance education.

On Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 we received the news – schools and businesses would need to close. Without hesitation, our team rapidly pulled together to deliver an exceptional online learning platform. Students ranging in ages from toddlers to adults began their first week of virtual dance classes Tuesday March 24th, 2020.

We could have never predicted that we would “return” from March Break through only a screen. Yet, here we are and we’re making the most of it! The level of support we have experienced from our LTD Families over the last seven weeks has been remarkable. We have received many heartwarming messages of gratitude and appreciation for our abundant efforts to continue our programs.

Our students sign-in week after week, enthusiastic and ready to not only learn, but connect with their peers and share their passions. We have met their pets and danced with their siblings, used cans of soup and stinky socks for props, we have tackled technique and explored new choreography, enjoyed games that keep our spirits high and shared heart-warming conversations that inspire us to continue. We have celebrated Earth Day and International Dance Day and we are now navigating how to recognize them with a year-end performance and celebration.

We are resilient through this diversity thanks to the incredible commitment of our faculty and the vigorous support and encouragement from our students and their families. We have greeted this opportunity to exercise our mettle and encourage our students to do the same.

With hearts in our windows and painted rocks in our garden, we send our hope, love and support out to our communities. We are in this together.”

Living To, Loving To, Learning To Dance,
~Bonnie Cuthbertson

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you incredible Dance Moms and caregivers! 💐💕🥰☀️

From a mother to all others, wishing you a beautiful day of peace and joy.

I wish I could be with our students to share a flower and a poem, for each of them to bring home to you, again this year. While I can’t share flowers, I can still share a poem; this one is close to my heart.

This is “My Mother” by Jane Taylor (Also known for writing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). This scrapbook was my great grandmother’s and this is my favourite poem in this volume. Enjoy and happy Mother’s Day! 🌷

– Bonnie

Your LTD faculty are still here, working so hard to keep you all motivated and encouraged to accomplish your dance goals. We are so proud of each and every one of you!

During our connection this morning we each came up with a word to share with you..

Miss Bonnie: ENERGY
Miss Erika: GRATITUDE
Miss Joey: COMMITMENT
Miss Jill: ADVENTURE
Miss Avery: EXPRESSION

What do these words mean to you?

We are so happy to be behind the scenes here at LTD and we love seeing your continued effort each and every week.

Keep smiling. Keep dancing.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our Earth Day rock painting! We are so pleased and proud to see all of the beautiful pieces of art and words of encouragement outside of our studio.

Please continue to be safe and take care of Mother Earth 🌍