Dear All,
I very much hope that you have all been keeping well during this tricky time.
I for one, have missed dancing a great deal and I'm very much looking forward to being able to restart.
Apologies that I have not been in touch that much over Lockdown however, as the government's plans kept changing I thought I would just wait until we had a bit more of an idea as to what was happening before reaching out to you all.
Some of you have been doing our socially distanced fixed couple workshops and solo lessons throughout lockdown and I, together with all the teachers at the Court, are very grateful to you for coming along and for being so jolly about everything, you have lifted our spirits.
Please forgive the length of this e-mail although I am trying to answer all the questions I have received over the past few months in one go so here goes …..
Plans for Re-opening
September
The Dance School has always operated with March and September being the change over times in the school to coincide with the medal tests therefore we have decided to stick to that timing and therefore all new medal classes will start in September 2021.
The first medal classes will start on
Thursday 2nd September 2021
Fridays will start on 3rd September 2021 and
Tuesdays will start on 7th September 2021
At present we are finishing off the last set of Fixed Couple Lessons which will take us (pretty much) until the end of July.
August
Therefore, in August we will partially re-open the school and run some update classes. You do not need a partner to attend and we will be able to welcome back dancers on their own.
Following the governments announcement yesterday we intend to still put measures in place to keep everyone as safe as possible.
Therefore, we propose to open the school by running two separate bubbles in order to minimise any risk in the initial stages. We will need to see how this goes and naturally we may review this after the first few weeks if it is necessary to do so.
Please note that everyone who attends during August will need to provide us with a name, contact phone number and e-mail address on the register and inform us immediately if you contract Covid 19.
It would be helpful for me to have some idea of how many people to expect and therefore if you are able to kindly e-mail me and let me know if you are planning on returning to dancing in August that would be very helpful for me (karen@courtdancing.co.uk).
Revision Classes and Mini Socials
In the JNA Hall we will welcome dancers who are Silver Level and Below and we will run the timetable below. Your Entrance time will be 7.45pm for an 8.00pm start and your evening will run until 9.30pm with 45 minutes of teaching/revision followed by 45 minutes of practice time.
The cost will be £6.00 per person.
The disabled toilet will be available for your use.
The Timetable will look like this;
Tuesday 3rd August - Quickstep and Rumba Revision
Friday 6th August - Waltz and Cha Cha Revision
Tuesday 10th August - Tango and Jive Revision
Friday 13th August - Quickstep and Rumba Revision
Tuesday 17th August - Waltz and Cha Cha Revision
Friday 20th August - Tango and Jive Revision
Tuesday 24th August - Quickstep and Rumba Revision
Friday 27th August - Waltz and Cha Cha Revision
In the Colman Hall we will welcome anyone who is Gold Level and above and we will run the timetable below. The Entrance time will be 8.15pm for an 8.30pm start and the evening will run until 10.00pm. There will be 45 minutes of teaching/revision steps and 45 minutes of practice time.
The cost will be £6.00 per person.
The male and female toilets will be available for your use.
Tuesday 3rd August - Quickstep and Rumba Revision
Friday 6th August - Waltz and Samba Revision
Tuesday 10th August - Tango and Jive Revision
Friday 13th August - Foxtrot and Cha Cha Revision
Tuesday 17th August - Waltz and Samba Revision
Friday 20th August - Quickstep and Rumba Revision
Tuesday 24th August - Foxtrot and Cha Cha Revision
Friday 27th August - Tango and Jive Revision
Please note that we will be leaving as many doors and windows open during this time and therefore please do bring a cardigan if you are likely to get cold
Partner Changing and Glow Bands/Bracelets
We have always been a dance school that has encouraged changing partners, however, we realise that it is possibly going to be some time before everyone feels comfortable with that and we totally understand and want you all to feel at ease. We appreciate that some people cannot wait to dance with everyone, whilst others are understandably anxious.
Therefore, we propose to implement a Glowband system.
We will have Glow Bands (so they can be seen in the dark) available each week on the Front Desk.
Fixed Couples - wear Glow Bands (please do not ask to dance)
If you do not wish to change partners or be asked to dance, please take (and put on), a Glow Band on your wrist. You will need to have a fixed partner to dance with and you will not be rotated in classes.
People who wish to circulate - not to wear Glow Bands (please ask to dance)
If you are not wearing a Glow Band, then it will be assumed that you are happy to change partners in both the Classes and the Social. It will further be assumed that you would like to be asked to dance and that in return, you will ask lots of people (not wearing glow bands), to dance with you! If you don’t have a partner and want to remain fixed you need to find yourself a partner
We propose to run this system until Christmas 2021 and review it at that stage and you can decide each week whether you would like to change partners or not so this system allows flexibility as and when people start to feel more comfortable.
Are Masks, Vaccines and Restrictions on numbers required?
The short answer to this question at the moment is ….. 'we don’t know', as it depends on what the government set out as being the ‘new normal’ for organisations such as ours.
However, naturally we want you to feel entirely comfortable and therefore if you would like to wear a mask/gloves you are very welcome to do so, equally if you would prefer not to wear a mask then that is fine too.
As the rules currently stand, we are not intending to limit numbers, to insist upon face coverings (as dance is seen as exercise) or dancers having been vaccinated, although if any of this changes we will of course let you know and we will naturally abide by all government restrictions/guidance on these matters.
New Classes
In September 2021, all being well, there will be a Bronze, Silver, Gold and Gold Bar One class for both Latin and for Ballroom on offer Beginners Classes will also be run regularly.
If you would like to attend one (or more) of the classes, please prebook online, this way I can draw up the registers in advance and also make sure the right class size is put into the right hall etc. Some people have already registered and you are on my list so there is no need to register again.
We have organised it so that there is only one Ballroom Class on in the hall at a time, however, this does mean there are some unintended clashes of classes and the timetable has had to be juggled about and we apologise if you cannot do all the classes you would like to.
Speciality Classes
There will also be Speciality Classes like Modern Jive and Salsa running for 6 week periods which will be advertised. There is no need to prebook these classes you simply turn up and join in.
Advanced Classes
For Gold Bar Three Latin, you will need to have a fixed partner.
If you would like to attend one of the advanced classes, please reply to this e-mail and we will confirm with you, it is not possible to register for advanced classes on the website.
Medal Tests
All the Latin classes are due to take their medal test in March 2022 (only 6 months of lessons) and all the Ballroom Classes are due to take their tests in September 2022 (the normal 12 months of lessons).
We have set it up this way because so many people have been doing purely Latin over the past 18 months in the fixed couple lessons, we assume they will be ready to take their next exam much sooner than those in Ballroom Classes (who haven’t had a class in the past 18 months).
Therefore, if you have been regularly attending the Fixed Couple Latin Lessons throughout Lockdown then you should join the same level Latin class in September and aim to take your test in March 2022.
If you have not danced in the past 18 months, then it would be my recommendation that you join the class below (e.g. if you took your Bronze medal in Latin in March 2020, then rejoin the Bronze Latin Class to revise before attempting to do the Silver Course in just 6 months).
All the classes will move on in the same slot, therefore, if you attend Bronze Latin at 7.45pm on a Tuesday, then after the Medal Test that class will change to a Silver Class and you can simply carry on in that class.
This 6 months is a great opportunity to really embed what you already have learnt and get yourself in a great position to start your next class in 2022.
What I have said above does not apply to Ballroom, as the Ballroom classes will have their normal 12 month period of practice prior to the Medal Test.
All the steps are on the website, so you can see what we will be teaching in each level, and you can ensure you know all the steps of each level before moving on to the next.
The Date of the March Medal Test is Sunday 13th March 2022
and the September Medal Test is Sunday 11th September 2022.
Payment Options and Prices
From September 2021 the Price list for the classes is as follows;
1 Class - £8.00 per person (social and a 30 minute speciality class (if running) is included)
2 Classes - £10.00 per person (social and a 30 minute speciality class (if running) is included)
Social Only - £5.00
Private Lessons - £35.00 per hour
If you attend a lessons on a Thursday evening, you are welcome to attend the social on either the Tuesday or Friday night FOC.
We will have a card reader on the front desk for people wanting to pay by card, cash will also be accepted.
Finally, to save queuing at the desk each week, we will now be offering a monthly direct debit option which over the course of a year will save you 10%. If you would like more details on our new 'pay online' scheme then please e-mail me for all the details.
Saturday Night Dances, New Years Eve and October Charity Dance
If all restrictions are lifted, we hope to start our Saturday Night Dances from 14th August, all details are on the website.
We have booked for New Years Eve 2021 and tickets for that event will be available from 1st October 2021 on a first come first served basis.
We are also going to be running a Halloween Charity Event on Saturday 30th October 2021, more details to follow.
Newsletter
I will be sending a bi-monthly newsletter and if you would like to sign up for this,
please reply to this e-mail to let me know.
Summary
phew…… I think that’s it for now,
Thank you so much for reading this far, I promise any subsequent e-mails won’t be this long.
We cannot wait to welcome you back
Sending you my very best wishes,
On Behalf of myself, Margaret, Judy, Phil, Debbie and Graeme
Karen
