We had an excellent response to the survey with a 53% return. Since the bulk of our summer students are household partners, this takes us over 90%. Thank you. Your responses help us to continue building Edgett Dance & Wellness as a dance community.

The majority of our students – 72% – indicated that they would continue classes through the summer, so although we merged a couple of classes, we made few changes to the schedule (see below). We appreciate your commitment to us.

Our decision to discontinue our virtual classes for the summer was supported by your comments. Many of you don’t want to be virtual in the summer, and who can blame you! Definitely, come fall, if not able to meet together, we will bring back Brenton’s Virtual Party. We have learned some things from our first try at a virtual party. Our next attempt there should be better sound and we will have a brighter studio so that you can see Brenton better. Our yoga and stretch classes will likely be a mix of in studio and virtual classes to accommodate those who want to participate but still find it difficult to go out.

What is important to you to continue to dance? The top responses from our couples indicate the following are the most important things we are doing in order of priority.
Videos relating to class material
Limited class enrolment
Social distancing
Technique classes
Masks and the bi-weekly newsletter tied

We have taken a break from the videos for the rest of the summer as we discuss how to best showcase what you learn in class and to prepare for the fall. We have learned a lot for our recent experiments and from your comments. In our recent schedule changes, we kept our classes small – 6 to 12 dancers in each class. Social distancing and the wearing of masks will continue until there is a major change in Department of Health regulations. We will continue the bi-weekly newsletter as we navigate all the changes together so you can keep informed.

You miss having a partner to dance with right now, but all are in agreement that keeping safe is the priority.

You are missing the intensives. Not to worry, we have plans to start offering them again in the fall. The practice parties and quarterly showcases are things we are looking at to determine if there is a way we can accommodate them somehow. This will depend on how well we do in the larger community.

It is not a surprise that our students are more concerned about opportunities to dance together than additional wellness activities but it seems there is interest in continuing the stretch class and offering zumba come fall.

We learned we sometimes make assumptions as our dancers were wondering what a Formation Class is. It is an opportunity for you to work with other dancers on a choreographed dance that will be performed for the rest of the studio. Last fall students worked with Brenton and Cheryl on a tango formation that they performed at the Christmas dance. We all gained from that experience and will be offering it again. This time we are working on choreography that can be danced by individuals and have chosen a beautiful piece of music reflective of our recent shared experiences. We are really excited about it and look forward to working with you on it.

One of the things we are considering for the fall is introducing a membership fee. Details to come soon!

This is your studio. We bring expertise in teaching dance; you bring enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn. Together, we will make this the premiere dance studio on the East Coast!