PARENT WEEK: NOVEMBER 13 - 19
Parents are invited to join us during their dancer's class during the week of Monday, November 13 through Sunday, November 19! Wear comfortable clothing, clean soled tennis shoes and bring a water bottle. At the end of class, parents will be able to video the recital dances so dancers can practice at home.
NO CLASS DATES: NOVEMBER 20 – 26
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! There will be no dance classes Monday, November 20 thru Sunday, November 26. We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!! Classes resume regular schedule on Monday, November 27.
DANCE WORKSHOP
Don't miss our One Day Dance Workshop with Clara Douglas on Saturday, November 26! She'll offer an hour of ballet, acro and contemporary for dancers ages 8 & up. Sign is available online: https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/asod
ASHLAND'S CHRISTMAS PARADE
All dancers ages 6 & up are invited to join us in the Christmas parade here in Ashland on Saturday, Dec 2 at 4:30 pm. Dancers will learn a short routine during their class time for the parade. For the parade, we ask that everyone joining us wears a Christmas Sweater. We usually find out exactly where and when we meet for the parade a day or two beforehand so be sure to watch for an email with that information. Dancers MUST be picked up after the parade on Main Street East near Stuntz Avenue. DANCERS CAN NOT LEAVE TO GO FIND THEIR PARENTS!!
RECITAL COSTUMES
Costumes for the dancers performing in the Winter Showcase have been ordered. Costumes for dancers performing in the Spring Dance Recital will be ordered as soon as we finalize the measurements & sizes on those dancers. As costumes arrive, we will ask dancers to try them on to make sure they fit. Parents are responsible for any alternations needed on costumes. ALL COSTUMES MUST REMAIN AT THE DANCE STUDIO UNTIL WE ARE ABLE TO GET THEM ALL STEAMED. For the dancers that are performing in the Winter Showcase you will be able to take your costumes home before the Christmas break. Dancers performing in the Spring Dance Recital will take their costumes home before their picture day.
WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
For the Winter Showcase Performance, dancers will wear their costumes, tights and dance shoes. The Winter Dance Performance will include the following dancers – all solo/duet/trio dancers, Mini Comp Team, Teen Compete Team, Level I Ballet/Jazz, Level I Jazz/Funk (Tues & Thurs classes), Level I Jazz/Tap, Poms (Ages 6-8), Level II Ballet/Jazz, Level II Jazz/Funk, Poms (Ages 8 & up), Level III Ballet/Jazz, Level III Jazz/Funk, Jr Co Jazz/Funk, Jr Company, Sr Co Jazz/Funk & Sr Company classes. The Winter Showcase Performance will be held in the auditorium at the Ashland High School on Saturday, January 6 at 11:00 am & 3:00 pm. Each solo/duet/trio dance will be perform at one of the performances & each group listed above will perform at both shows. Watch our website, your email and monthly newsletters for all updated on the Winter Showcase Performance. If your dancer's class isn't listed above, they will perform in our Spring Dance Recital in April.
WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE VOLUNTEERS
An adult volunteer is needed to supervise each class of dancers backstage when they aren't performing on stage during the performance. As a volunteer, your main responsibility is to assure that each child in your dancer's class is safe and accounted for. Volunteers are responsible for making sure that each child in your group is in the proper costume and shoes, and is backstage at the appropriate time. You are also responsible for seeing that all children return to their appointed dressing room area after their performance on stage. Dancers can't be backstage without a parent volunteer. For the 11:00 am performance, we ask that volunteers arrive by 10:30 and for the 3:00 pm performance we ask that volunteers arrive 2:30 pm. You can sign up to volunteer by logging in your dance account (https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/asod) and click volunteer on the home page. When volunteering, you aren't able to sit in the auditorium and watch the recital during that performance; however, you do get to watch your dancer perform from the backstage area and you would have the opportunity to watch the entire performance that you're not volunteering at.
WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE TICKETS
Tickets for the Winter Showcase Performance are available for purchase. All parents, family members and friends that want to watch the performance on Saturday, January 21 at 11:00 am and/or 3:00 pm need to have a ticket; The only exception is kids 3 & under are free if sitting in an adult lap. Cost is $12.00 per ticket (ticket fees have increased due to the increase of cost for renting the facilities at the Ashland School – the district has tripled our fees). We ask dance families to only buy the number of tickets that you're going to use because tickets are nonrefundable. When purchasing tickets, you do need to know which performance you want a ticket for; we can only sell a certain number of tickets for each night. If you are volunteering backstage for one performance, you do NOT need a ticket to watch that performance! Tickets are available for purchase by using the following link (https://dancestudio-pro.com/tickets/asod) or by logging in your dance account and click tickets on the home page. Doors open 30 minutes prior to each performance.
WINTER SHOWCASE REHEARSAL
Dancers will be required to attend their rehearsal on Friday, January 5 at the Ashland High School Auditorium (1900 Beaser Ave, Ashland) For rehearsal, each class is allotted a specific time on the rehearsal schedule. Dancers are only required to attend their classes specified time unless they want to watch other dancers' practice. For rehearsal, dancers must wear their costume, tights, dance shoes and have their hair done. Make up is optional for the younger dancers. Once dancers have practiced their dances on stage they may leave. Attending rehearsal is mandatory. A copy of the rehearsal schedule will be available for pick up at the dance studio once it's finalized.
PRODUCTION DANCE
The first practice for the Production Dance is Sunday, November 17 from 11:45 – 12:45 at the dance studio. The next practice is scheduled for Wednesday, November 22 from 4:00-6:00 pm. For those dancers that signed up to participate in the Production Dance, your $20 fee for participating in this extra dance has been posted to your dance account. If you have a dancer that still wants to sign up for the Production Dance or if you have any questions, please email me. The dancers in the production dance will perform at all 4 of the Spring Dance Recital performances in April.
ASHLAND SCHOOL OF DANCE APPAREL
If you placed an online apparel order, those orders will be available for pick up at the dance studio mid December.
SPRING DANCE RECITAL
We are also planning for the 2024 Spring Dance Recital which is scheduled for Thursday, April 18; Friday, April 19 & 2 performances on Saturday, April 20 at the Ashland High School Auditorium. The Spring Dance Recital will include all of the dancers. Dancers in Creative Movement through Level I will each perform 2 dancers in 2 of the 4 recital performances; dancers in Level II, Level III, Jr Co and Sr Co will performance in all 4 performances. We will keep everyone updated on the recital through our website, emails and monthly newsletters.
STUDIO WAITING ROOMS
If you plan to wait at the dance studio while your dancer has class, we do ask that all parents and other family members stay in the waiting room when dance classes start. We have found that dancers perform better when they aren't being watched by everyone in the waiting room. If you have a dancer that is waiting for their class to start, we also ask them to stay in the waiting room until the prior class has ended. Once kids enter the dance room, we ask that kids DO NOT RUN AROUND while waiting for class to start.
COMPETITION TEAMS
These teams will perform at our Winter Showcase in January, Spring Dance Recital and possibly one other local performance. Being on a competition team does involve additional time, commitment and costs which include but aren't limited to - cost of another costume, travel costs & the fees associated with registering for a competition. The approximate fees is $60-$80 per dancer per competition. Registration costs vary with each competition as each competition sets their own entry fees. These fees would be in addition to your regular monthly class tuition. Each team practices one day a week; this would be in addition to their regular dance class(es). There will be a monthly tuition fee associated to this class. This fee are applied to your dancer's account each month.
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 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.
SOLO/DUETS DANCERS
Solo, Duet & Trio dances have become more and more popular with each dance season! It's a great opportunity for dancers to get extra time on stage to showcase their skills. Instructors begin working with these dancers before the start of the season. If your dancer is interested in doing an extra dance, please email me so I can get them added to the list. When you email, we need to know what type of dance they want to do (jazz, lyrical, poms, tap, contemporary, hip hop, etc) and which instructor they want to work with (Ally, Anessa, Lily or Brooke). Doing an extra dance does involve extra costs which include private lessons, another costume and a $35 fee to cover studio and music fees. Private lessons are $30/hr or $15 for 30 minutes and to be paid directly to the dance instructor. Dancers will need 2-3 lessons with their instructor to learn the dance. All solo/duet/trio dancers are allowed to do 1 solo and 1 duet for the Winter Showcase in January. Those dancers are also able to do their dance(s) at competitions if they choose to go that route. Sr Company dancers will be the only dancers allowed to perform at the Spring Dance Recital. Please be sure to email me ASAP if you have a dancer interested in doing an extra dance.
DANCE SHOES
All dancers are expected to have the appropriate pair(s) of dance shoes for their dance class. Please be sure to write your dancer's name or initials in their dance shoes! Dancers are expected to have the appropriate dance shoes for their dance class. Wearing must dance shoes during class is a must! No exceptions!! Below is the list showing what each class needs for dance shoes. If your dancer's shoes are too small, you can order new shoes through the dance studio at anytime. Please let your instructor know if your dancer needs to get fitted for new shoes.
Creative Movement – Pink Ballet shoes
Pre-Ballet/Tiny Tap – Pink Ballet & Black Tap shoes
Level I & II Ballet/Jazz classes - Pink Ballet & Black Jazz shoes
Level III Ballet/Jazz – nude lyrical shoes
Jazz/Tap – Black Jazz & Black Tap shoes
Poms – Black Jazz shoes
Level I, Level II & Level III Jazz/Funk classes – Black jazz shoes
Jr & Sr Company – Nude Lyrical
Jr Co Jazz/Funk & Sr Co Jazz/Funk – Black Nike 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.
AGE REQUIREMENTS FOR FALL DANCE CLASSES
The following age requirements are required for fall dance classes: Creative Movement dancers must be 3 years old by Sept. 1; Pre-Ballet/Tiny Tap 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 let us know if you have any questions on which class(es) your dancer may sign up for this fall.
CLASS PLACEMENT
For all dancers in Level 2 & up: dancers advance to the next level by instructor recommendations. If your dancer advanced to the next level, you should have received an email last week stating class placement details. Please remember it isn't abnormal for dancers to be in each level for multiple years (2-3 years typically). If you have any questions as to which level your dancer is in, please be sure to email.
NO CLASS DATES
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.
WEATHER/CANCELLED CLASSES
Please remember all families 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)
Offering Ballet, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Poms & Funk Classes
For Dancers Ages 3 & up
ASHLAND SCHOOL OF DANCE
Studio Address: 802 Main St West, Ashland, WI Mailing Address: 1316 Main St W, Ashland, WI 54806
DATES TO REMEMBER:
NO DANCE CLASSES
Monday, November 20 - Sunday, November 26
PARENT WEEK
Monday, November 13 - Sunday, November 19
PRODUCTION DANCE PRACTICE
Sunday, November 19 11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Wednesday, November 22 4:00 – 6:00 pm
ASHLAND'S CHRISTMAS PARADE
Saturday, December 2 4:30 pm
2024 WINTER SHOWCASE REHEARSAL
Friday, January 5
2024 WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
Saturday, January 6
2024 SPRING DANCE RECITAL
Thursday, April 18 – Saturday, April 20