DATES TO REMEMBER:
CELEBRATION TALENT CONVENTION
Saturday, September 28
HUGOS PIZZA FUNDRAISER
Sunday, Sept 29 – Friday, Oct 11
BENOIT CHEESE FUNDRAISER PICK UP
Wednesday, October 9 (3:00-5:30 pm)
NO CLASS DATES
Friday, October 4 – Sunday, October 6
Thursday, October 31
Monday, November 25 – Sunday, December 1
COSTUME WEEK
Thursday, October 24 – Wednesday, October 30
SPOOKTACULAR DANCE COMPETITION
Saturday, November 2
PARENT WEEK
Monday, November 18 – Sunday, November 24
2025 WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
Friday, January 10
2025 SPRING DANCE RECITAL
Saturday, April 12
Offering Ballet, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Poms & Funk Classes
For Dancers Ages 3 & up
Studio Address: 802 Main St West, Ashland, WI Mailing Address: 1316 Main St W, Ashland, WI 54806
ASHLAND SCHOOL OF DANCE
HUGOS PIZZA FUNDRAISER
Our second and final fundraiser involves selling Hugos Pizza certificates. You can pick up an order form at the dance studio. Please submit all orders and payments by Friday, October 11. Make checks payable to Ashland School of Dance or ASOD. Note that you're selling pizza certificates, not actual pizzas. The certificates will be ready for pickup at your dancer's class in November. Dancers will earn about 20% of their total sales. Participation in this fundraiser is optional.
BENOIT CHEESE FUNDRAISER
Great job to everyone who participated in our Benoit Cheese fundraiser! Our group sold nearly $16,000 in cheese sales! Please remember that your Benoit Cheese orders will be available for pickup at Stacey's House in the garage (1316 Main St West, Ashland) on Wednesday, October 9, from 3:00-5:30 pm. Pick up on Wednesday is required as the items need to be refrigerated. If you can't make it, please arrange for someone else to pick it up for you. If you took part in the fundraiser, your profit has been credited to your dancer's account. For any questions about your account balance, please contact Stacey.
DANCING WITH MY GIRL
Dancers, here's your chance to have your mom, grandma, or aunt join you on stage at our Winter Showcase performance on Friday, January 10! All dancers registered for the 2024-2025 Dance Season are welcome to join in on the fun. This is a great opportunity for quality time together on stage. We will have 45-minute practices on Sundays: November 10, December 8, and January 5. To participate, please sign up by logging into your online account, selecting "Register – Dancing with My Girl," and choosing either the 10:30 Class or 11:30 Class. These times will be your class times for the three practice sessions. The cost to participate is $20.00, which covers all three practices. Dancers and their girl will need to practice at home between classes. We will provide a video to assist with your practice.
PRODUCTION DANCE
Dancers aged 5 and up are invited to participate in the Production Dance for the 2024-2025 Dance Season. A Production is a dance learned by a specific group of dancers of all ages from our studio. This group will learn a dance to perform in our Spring Dance Recital. Class for the production dance will take place 1-2 times per month on Sunday mornings, starting in September. The first few classes will be held on: Sept 22; Oct 20; Nov 17; Dec 15. The participation fee is a one-time charge of $40 per dancer (the $40 fee covers all the practices from Sept thru April),in addition to the cost of the recital costume (exact cost to be determined). To sign up, log into your dance account, click 'Register' and select '2024-2025 Production Dance.' Please sign up before the first class on Sunday, October 20 if your dancer would like to be included in the production dance.
RECITAL COSTUME PAYMENTS
The full balance for all recital costumes must be paid by Friday, October 11. To check the amount due for your dancer's recital costume(s), please log in to your dance account here: (https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/asod) Please be aware that if the full payment is not received by Friday, October 11, your dancer's costume will not be included in our group order and may incur additional shipping charges if ordered separately.
COSTUME WEEK
Dancers are invited to wear their Halloween costumes to dance classes Thursday, October 24 through Wednesday, October 30! Reminder: There's no dance classes on Thursday, October 31.
PARENT WEEK
Parents are invited to join their dancer during their dance class the week of Monday, November 18 through Sunday, November 24! Parents - you'll need to wear comfortable clothing, bring clean soled tennis shoes and a water bottle.
NO CLASS DATES
Mark Your Calendars! There will be no dance classes on Friday, October 4; Sunday, October 6; and Thursday, October 31. All of our instructors and assistants will be attending a dance convention in Wisconsin Dells from October 4-6.
A complete list of "no class dates" may be found on the schedule tab. Please note: ASOD doesn't follow the school schedule; sometimes we have class when there is no school and vice versa.
WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
Plans for our 2025 Winter Showcase Performance on Friday, January 10, are in full swing! Instructors have selected music, begun choreography, and finalized costumes. Tickets will go on sale in November. Dancers will wear their costumes, tights, and dance shoes for the performance. The Winter Dance Performance will include the following dancers –all competition teams, Level I Lyrical/Jazz, Level I Jazz/Funk, Level II Lyrical/Jazz, Level II Jazz/Funk, Poms (Monday class), Level III Lyrical/Jazz, Level III Jazz/Funk, Jr Co Jazz/Funk, Jr Company, Sr Co Jazz/Funk & Sr Company classes. I will continue fitting the Winter Showcase dancers for their costumes over the next couple of weeks. The Winter Showcase Performance will take place at the Northwestern High School auditorium on Friday, January 10. There will be two performances that evening: one for group dances and another for solos/duets/trios. Exact showtimes will be announced soon. Please check our website, your email, and monthly newsletters for updates on the Winter Showcase Performance. If your dancer's class isn't listed, they will perform in our Spring Dance Recital in April.
SPRING DANCE RECITAL
We are also gearing up for the 2025 Spring Dance Recital, scheduled for Saturday, April 12, at the Northwestern High School Auditorium. This recital will feature all dancers enrolled in our 2024-2025 Dance Season. Creative Movement, PreBallet/Tiny Tap, PrePoms/Jazz, and PreJazz/Funk classes will perform in one of the two shows, while Level I, Level II, Level III, Jr Co, and Sr Co will perform in both shows on Saturday, April 12. We will provide updates about the recital through our website, emails, and monthly newsletter.
2024-2025 DANCE SEASON
REGISTER NOW! A copy of our 2024-2025 Dance Season schedule is available the schedule tab. Several classes have limited availability. If you'd like to hold a spot in a particular class for your dancer, use the following link to register your dancer! https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/asod Please remember, all class space is available on a first come first serve basis and the schedule is subject to change depending on the number of dancers registered for each class. Our final shoe fitting for the 2024-2025 Dance Season is scheduled for Tuesday, August 27 from 5:00 – 6:00 pm. Please email (asod@centurytel.net) if you have any questions. 2024-2025 Dance Season classes are scheduled to start the week of September 8. All classes are 1 day a week with the exception for Jr Company and Sr Company on Sunday & Wednesday. Anessa's Jr Co Jazz/Funk and Sr Co Jazz/Funk classes are held 1 day a week on Tuesdays. ALL other classes beginning the week of Sunday, September 8 with a Winter Showcase on Friday, January 2025 and a Spring Dance Recital in April 2025 at the Northwestern High School. Participating in the performances is optional. If you have any questions regarding the 2024-2025 schedule please be sure to contact us, we'll help you find the perfect class for your dancer!
STUDIO WAITING ROOM
If you plan to stay at the dance studio while your dancer is in class, please remain in the waiting room once classes begin. Dancers perform better when they're not being watched by everyone in the waiting area. For those dancers waiting for their class to start, we also request that they stay in the waiting room until the previous class has ended. Once children enter the dance room, we ask that they avoid running around while waiting for their class to begin.
SOLO/DUET/TRIO DANCERS
Sign up for solo/duet/trio dances for the 2024-2025 Dance Season is complete. If your dancer is signed up for a for an extra dance, please make sure you are in contact with their instructor to set up private lessons. It's important that dancers practice their dance at home weekly! Please make regular practice a habit! These dancers will perform their dance at our Winter Showcase on Friday, January 10 at Northwestern High School. Additionally, dancers have the opportunity to register for competitions if interested. Participation in competitions is optional, all details regarding competition dates, payments & deadlines can be found posted at the dance studio. If you have any questions about solo/duets/trios, please be sure to contact ASOD.
DANCE COMPETITIONS
All competition teams, including Mini, Petite, Junior, Teen, as well as Jr Company and Sr Company classes, are set to participate in competitions for the upcoming year. If your dancer is unable to attend their group's competition, please inform us as soon as possible. Additionally, competitions are open to all dancers registered for a solo, duet, or trio for the 2024-2025 Dance Season. Dancers are allowed to do one solo and one duet at each competition. You can register your solo/duet dancer for competitions by logging into your dance account online. The document detailing the competition dates, locations, deadlines, and the classes participating in each competition is available for pick up at the dance studio or by email.
AGE REQUIREMENTS FOR 2024-2025 DANCE CLASSES
The following age requirements are required for 2024-2025 dance classes:
Creative Movement dancers must be 3 years old by Sept. 1
Pre-Ballet/Tiny Tap & Pre-Jazz/Funk dancers must be 5 by Sept 1
Level I dancers must be 7 by Sept 1
Dancers in Level 2 and up are all moved up by instructor recommendations. Please contact us if you have any questions on which class(es) your dancer may sign up for this fall.
DANCE SHOES
If your dancer needs to order dance shoes at any point throughout the dance season, please be sure to let your dance instructor know! Dancers can be fitted for shoes before or after their dance class. Dance shoes are mandatory when attending dance class. And please be sure to write your dancer's name or initials in their dance shoes!! The list below shows what each class needs for dance shoes:
Creative Movement - pink ballet shoes
PrePoms/Jazz - black jazz shoes
PreJazz/Funk - black jazz shoes
Preballet/Tiny Tap - pink ballet shoes/black tap shoes
Poms - black jazz shoes
Int/Adv Tap - black tap shoes
Mini Comp Team: pink ballet shoes/black jazz shoes
Petite Comp Team: tan lyrical shoes
Teen Comp Team: tan lyrical shoes
Junior Comp Team: tan lyrical shoes
Level I Lyrical/Jazz - pink ballet shoes or tan lyrical shoes & black jazz shoes
Level II Lyrical/Jazz - pink ballet shoes or tan lyrical shoes & black jazz shoes
Level III Lyrical/Jazz - tan lyrical shoes
Jr Company - tan lyrical shoes
Sr Company - tan lyrical shoes
Level I Jazz/Funk - black jazz shoes
Level II Jazz/Funk - black jazz shoes
Level III Jazz/Funk - black jazz shoes
Jr Co Jazz/Funk - Black/White Nike shoes
Sr Co Jazz/Funk - white shoes
Adult Hip Hop - clean soled tennis shoes
EMAILS, NEWSLETTERS & WEBSITE
Throughout the dance season, please be sure to check your emails regularly and read the monthly newsletters. Our main form of communication is email. The monthly newsletters always have lots of important information. All newsletters will be emailed to everyone who provided an email address at registration. Please email us (asod@centurytel.net) if you didn't receive a copy of this newsletter by email. All of the information is also available here on our website. (site.ashlandschoolofdance.info). You can also find ASOD on Facebook.
PRE-BALLET/TINY TAP & LEVEL I DANCERS
When dancers for the Pre-Ballet/Tiny Tap and Level 1 classes come to class, please make sure that both sets of their shoes have their names in them and please make sure their shoes are in a bag when they come to class each week. This will help lessen the confusion of whose shoes are whose since most dancers have the same shoes.
DANCE STUDIO PRO
We'll continue using the online program called Dance Studio Pro for our registrations, tuition payments, ticket sales and volunteer sign ups. DSP also offers an app which is also very convenient. This link: https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/asod can be used to log in your account. If you ever have any issues logging in, please be sure to let me know. Monthly payments can be done right online, otherwise payments can also be given to your dance instructor or sent via Venmo (@asod5678) if you want to avoid the fees from paying online. Please note, dance instructors DO NOT know how much each family owes on their account; you are responsible for logging into your account to get your balance due. Monthly newsletters and various reminders are also posted on bulletin board of DSP. Once our schedule is finalized after registration the calendar page on DSP will show the no class dates.
WEATHER/CANCELLED CLASSES
Please remember to check your email on a regular basis. A few of our dance instructors come from out of town to teach their dance classes; if we cancel dance class for any reason, I will send an email to notify parents. I will also post on facebook if classes are cancelled. All cancelled classes will be made up at a later date; all make up class details will be emailed to parents once dates and times are set.
CLASS ATTENDANCE
If your dancer is unable to attend their dance class, please be sure to email asod@centurytel.net or send us a message to let us know they won't be at class. If your dancer isn't feeling well, please be sure to NOT send them to dance class!! We want to stress the importance of attendance to dance class. In our policy handout it states: "Any student who misses 8 or more classes during the regular season (Sept-April) will not be allowed to participate in the spring dance recital performance." Dancers only progress if they attend class on a regular basis. If your dancer is going to miss 2 or more weeks in a row due to other commitments, you can expect that while they're missing class the rest of the class is learning parts to their recital dance so your dancer may be excluded from a portion of the recital dance. It is not fair to the instructors or the other dancers in the class, if instructors can't move forward each week with teaching their recital dances.
WATER BOTTLES
Remember to send a water bottle with your dancer to each and every class!!
CLASS ADVANCEMENT
Over the dance season, the instructors evaluate the dancers in their classes to decide who is ready to advance to the next level. All Creative Movement and PreBallet/Tiny Tap dancers advance to the next level depending on their age. Dancers must be 5 by September 1 to advance to the PreBallet/Tiny Tap class. Dancers must be 7 years old by September 1 to advance to Level I Ballet/Jazz; Level I Jazz/Tap and/or Level I Jazz/Funk. After dancers reach Level I they are moved up to the next level by the instructors. Instructors evaluate dancer’s skill & ability levels, their behavior in class, listening skills, maturity levels, respect for others (dancers & instructors), how well they work together as a team, their attendance...many things are taken into consideration when determining if dancers are ready to move up to the next level. As parents it’s natural to think that our dancer is ready to advance to the next level but we have to remember we aren’t the ones in the class each and every week. . . . . so we’ll leave this up to our instructors.
DROPPING OFF AND PICKING UP YOUR DANCERS
If you have a Creative Movement, PreBallet, Level I or Level II dancer please stay at the studio with your dancer until class starts. Dancers shouldn’t be arriving more than 10 minutes prior to class starting. And please remind your dancers there should be no running around and yelling or using loud voices while waiting for class to start. Also, when your dancer’s class ends each week we would like parents to come into the building to pick up their dancer (this is required for all dancers through Level 2).
LOST & FOUND
When you pick up your dancer after class each week, please be sure to make sure they have all their shoes.
CLEAN STUDIO
For those of you that bring a snack to the studio, please take a moment to clean up any mess before you leave. Please help up keep the studio area clean.
FACEBOOK
Like Ashland School of Dance on Facebook to keep up on all the dance updates and reminders.
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS OR CONCERNS
Please contact us by phone or email.
Telephone: 715-413-1074
Email: asod@centurytel.net
Mailing Address: 1316 Main St West Ashland, WI 54806
Ashland Studio Address: 802 Main St West Ashland, WI 54806 (next to The Alley)