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Just 2 weeks left of term! I am not entirely sure where the weeks have gone. The time has flown by whilst we have been having lots of fun dancing.

I am very excited to let you know we will be running 4 days of summer classes this August.  Open to Dance with Dash members and those outside of our dances school.

Contact Sarah to secure your place or enrole via your parent portal.

 

 

After another lock down in January due to a rise in covid 19 cases we sadly yet again closed our doors for a good 3 months. It honestly felt like the longest lockdown yet, however now I am thrilled to say after opening again on the 18th April we have been busier than ever!

We have not  only welcomed back familiar faces but many new students too.

The students have returned full of enthusiasm and have thrown themselves back into classes, taking all the social distancing measures in thier stride.

After so many weeks off the seniors in particular have been working especially hard to regain thier strength and staminar.

With so many restrictions for such a long time it has meant that many have missed out on exam and performance opportunities, but we have not let this get us down, and rather embraced learning new exam dances and thoroughly enjoyed simply being able to dance together again.

It has been wonderful to feel The Townsend hall come to life again and be filled with lots of music, laughter and the sound of Tap shoes. (even the sound of drums could be heard from another community group one week)

In May I could finally welcome back the Adult dancers.  We hadn’t been able to dance together since the November lockdown, and it really has been wonderful to be back together on a Thursday evening, dancing and having a giggle together.

As we approach the summer term we are looking forward to  some fun Contemporary sessions during August, before returning in the Autumn for October exams.

It really has been a busy term of dancing!

September saw a busy start to the new term with plenty of new faces joining our dance family at Dance with Dash. The children have adapted to the 2 meter distancing rules so very well and I am super proud of them. Thank you all for being so supportive and adaptable to all our new rules. I must say I do miss all of those scrummy cuddles I used to get though.

For the senior ballet girls they now have a dedicated 30 minute pointe class and they have progressed so much over the 7 weeks.

The younger ones have also thoroughly enjoyed getting back to dance with Melody Bear and gaining those sparkly medals.

Then just as we are ready to return from a half term break, Sadly Boris Johnson announced a 2nd  4 week National lockdown due to Covid 19.  So very sad for us to close our doors again after such a successful 7 weeks.

We did however dance on and took part in the annual Tapathon arranged by The Performers Project.

This year however 22 of us danced at home, joining virtually to dance together with our Tapathon family nationwide to yet again raise money for Children in need. I will update you on how many took part across the nation and how much we raised very soon.

Now heading into December I am very excited to say we will be returning home to The Townsend hall from Thursday 3rd December for classes for under 18s. Sadly no Adult Ballet or Tap, but I hope to see you very soon.

Can’t wait to see you all !

Sarah x

Woohoo!

As of 26th July dance schools have had the green light to re open from the government. Of course there are a list of guidelines to follow to ensure we all remain safe and we do everything we can to keep this virus as bay. Hence it took until August for me to consider reopening. The safety of my students remains my priority.

After a couple of week of reading and planning, last week on the 4th August we re opened to new socially distanced classes in the very spacial and well ventilated large hall. It was so wonderful to dance again with so many of you, and hear all about what you have been up to. I couldn’t believe how tall some of you had grown. I really had missed you and it was a delight to see so many happy, smiling faces.

I am now working on the September timetable, to ensure we can continue to work within guidelines to allow us to dance and most importantly do this in a safe manor. I expect more regulations in the coming weeks, and thank you for your patience in advance.  It is most important that we continue to dance in small consistent groups maintaining social distancing which means I may need to tweak our timetable to allow for cleaning, moving some students in to other groups. We also have some new exciting admin software which means we can move further forward in being paper free.  This is now particularly important as i cannot allow parents inside the venue currently to meet my venue numbers and due to track and trace.  All of our policies will now be uploaded onto the website as they are re done so please check out for these. It is my new continual class to keep updating them.

Do check your junk email in case you have missed my invite fore this.

I have yet to re start pre school classes but hope to do this come September, so watch this space and book in ready. Spaces will be very limited as I need to count both adults, students and even any baby siblings into my allowed numbers for class. Its not an easy process for this age group.

I still have a few spaces left on our summer days if you fancy joining us.

 

I look forward to seeing many of you again tomorrow

Sarah X

Wednesday 17th March saw us close our doors to classes suddenly due to government guidelines regarding the spread of the virus Covid-19.  Up until this point, extra precautions had been put into place to avoid the spread of the virus within our classes.  A a no touch policy was put into place within class and each and every person entering our room was asked to wash their hands before and after class. As always a high level of cleanliness was adhered to for all our props. Sadly however it was impossible to remain open and keep all of our dance family safe, and Dance with Dash closed its doors to classes.

This has to be one of the most difficult decisions  I have had to make as a dance teacher and many tears were shed. I had so much planned for this term. Many would be taking dance exams, watching week, bbodance days for both students and myself. I really was looking forward to returning to Elmhusrt Ballet School for this event; updating my Tap and Modern skills,  learning some new vocational grades. then an end of year sharing to celebrate everything we have learned and enjoyed over the years. It was however not to be.

We will however return to classes and celebrate being back dancing together. Its only been 18 months since I returned from 6 months off for maternity, and in that time we have had 2 lots of  fantastic exam results, a wonderful show, many fun dance workshops, lots of fun and learning at bbodance days, one of our students performing with English Youth Ballet and successfully auditioning to perform with them again. Then we also smashed that Tapathon record.

Currently I am at home focusing on my family and ensuring that my 3 young boys feel happy, loved and slightly educated, but I am preparing and am ready to throw myself back into dance life just as soon as I am given the go ahead to open those doors. I am missing all my dance family dearly, all those smiling faces, the giggles, the sound of tap shoes and the hustle and bustle. I cannot wait to hear all about what you have been up to, and to see how much you have grown. In the meantime, stay safe, keep well and stay in touch. I am here and I love seeing everything you have been up to. Follow Dance with Dash on Instagram and Facebook to keep in touch.  Join our Facebook group for Jill Bridger’s free Melody bear online classes and activities and for links to online classes you may enjoy.

See you soon

Sarah x

Wow! How time flies. It only seems like yesterday since I was wishing you all a Merry Christmas. I trust you all have had a lovely festive season and are looking forward to getting back into some kind of routine again.

I have had a wonderful time at home with my family enjoying lots of games, visiting, carol service’s, nativities, present opening and its been a great time to rest, recuperate and of course plan for the new term. Also 2 great Christmas workshops.  One with Melody bear where we tip toed across the roof tops, jumped down chimneys, galloped like reindeer, made reindeer food and ate many biscuits. The 2nd was with the senior tappers where we spent 2 hours creating a super fast routine to ‘step in time’ from Mary Poppins. We didn’t quite finish the routine but had lots of fun and burn’t off a lot of energy. Sadly we were all so busy i didn’t take a single photo.

We have a busy term ahead of us with a spring exam session planned and beginning to make plans for our summer show in July. Also watch out for some rather exciting workshops coming up for February half term.

Classes Start back this coming Monday 7th January and I very much look forward to seeing you all and hearing about your Christmas break adventures and to wish you a Happy New Year.

Sarah x