DATES TO REMEMBER:
HUGOS PIZZA FUNDRAISER
Sunday, October 1 – Thursday, October 12
BENOIT CHEESE FUNDRAISER ORDER PICK UP
Thursday, October 12 (3:30-5:30 pm)
COSTUME WEEK
Tuesday, October 24 - Monday, October 30
NO DANCE CLASSES
Friday, October 13 - Sunday, October 15
Tuesday, October 31
Monday, November 20 - Sunday, November 26
PARENT WEEK
Monday, November 13 - Sunday, November 19
2024 WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
Saturday, January 6
2024 SPRING DANCE RECITAL
Thursday, April 18 – Saturday, April 20
Studio Address: 802 Main St West, Ashland, WI Mailing Address: 1316 Main St W, Ashland, WI 54806
ASHLAND SCHOOL OF DANCE
Offering Ballet, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Poms & Funk Classes
For Dancers Ages 3 & up
HUGOS PIZZA FUNDRAISER
Our second and final fundraising is selling Hugos Pizza certificates. An order form is available for pick up at the dance studio. All orders and payments for the Hugo's Pizza fundraiser are due back by Thursday, October 12. Checks may be made payable to Ashland School of Dance or ASOD. With this fundraiser you are selling Hugo's Pizza Certificates (not actual pizzas). Pizza certificates will be available for pick up at your dancer's class in November. Dancers earn approximately 20% of their Total sales. Participating in this fundraiser is optional.
BENOIT CHEESE FUNDRAISER
Awesome work to those that participated in our Benoit Cheese fundraiser . . . Our group sold almost $20,000 in cheese sales! Remember your Benoit Cheese fundraiser orders will be available for pick up at Stacey's House (1316 Main St West in Ashland) on Thursday, October 6 from 3:30-5:30 pm. Please note I will be out of town Friday thru Sunday so pick up on Thursday is mandatory because orders need to be refrigerated. If you're unable to pick up your order, please arrange to have someone pick it up for you! If you participated in the Benoit Cheese fundraiser, your profit has been applied to your dancer's account, you should see the credit deducted from the balance due on your account. Contact Stacey with any questions regarding your account balance.
DANCING WITH MY GIRL
NEW! This year we are adding a special dance to our Winter Showcase line up! Dancers this is your chance to get your mom/grandma or aunt on stage with you at our Winter Showcase performance on Saturday, January 6th! All dancers are invited to be involved. It'll be a lot of fun and a good time spent together. We will hold 1 hour practices for this dance from 12:00-1:00 pm on a couple Sundays in November/December. Please sign up at the studio or email by Friday, October 6 to let me know if you and your dancer are interested in participating in this dance.
PRODUCTION DANCE
We will have a production dance again at our Spring Dance Recital! A Production is a dance that is learned by a specific group of dancers within the dance studio. All dancers ages 7 & up are invited to participate in the dance. It does involve extra practices – most practices will be held on Sunday afternoons from 12:00-1:00 pm. Practices will be held on Sunday afternoons 1 or 2 times per month starting in November or December. Cost to participate is $20.00 per dancer plus the cost of the recital costume. The recital costume cost TBD. Please sign up at the dance studio by Friday, October 6 if your dancer would like to be included in the production dance.
ASHLAND SCHOOL OF DANCE APPAREL
ASOD gear (tshirts, sweatshirts, tanks & joggers) will be available to order soon! A link will be emailed to all dance families to view the online store. All merchandise needs to be preordered. (WE WILL NOT ORDER EXTRA SIZES). Orders will be available for pick up at the beginning of December. All orders must be placed online no later than Thurs, Oct 26th.
RECITAL COSTUME PAYMENT
Costume fees will be to your dancer's account the first week of October. The balance on all recital costumes must be paid in full no later than Thursday, October 19. Please log in to your dance accounts (https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/asod) to see the balance due on your dancer's recital costume(s). Please note if your dancer's costume isn't paid in full by Thursday, October 19 their costume won't be placed with our group order and will incur separate/extra shipping charges if ordered separately.
NO CLASS DATES
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! There will be no dance classes on Friday, Oct 13; Sunday, Oct 15 and Tuesday, Oct 31. Most of our instructors and assistants will be attending a dance convention in Wis Dells Oct 13-15.
COSTUME WEEK
Dancers are invited to wear their Halloween costumes to dance classes Tuesday, October 24 through Monday, October 30! Reminder: There's no dance classes on Tuesday, October 31.
PARENT WEEK
Parents are invited to join their dancer during their dance class the week of Monday, November 13 through Sunday, November 19! Please only one parent per dancer in each class since most of our classes already have about 10 kids. Parents - you'll need to wear comfortable clothing, bring clean soled tennis shoes and a water bottle.
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
WINTER SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
Plans for our 2nd Annual Winter Showcase Performance on Saturday, January 6 is underway! Instructors have chosen their music, started their choreography, costumes have been finalized. . . tickets will go on sale in November. 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. I will measure these dancers for their costumes over the next couple weeks. The Winter Showcase Performance will be held in the auditorium at the Ashland High School on Saturday, January 6. There will be two performances that day – 11:00 am & 3:00 pm. Each solo/duet/trio dance will be perform at one of the performances (the list for each show will be sent out soon) & each group listed above will perform at each show. 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.
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 are beginning to work with these dancers in August. 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)