Dear TDC Families,  Parents, we thank you SO much for your support over the past weeks as we transitioned to distance learning and dancing safer at home. Together we have done perhaps some of the most important work of this season - that of providing kids an anchor to the familiarity and comfort of their friends, peers, and teachers during a very difficult time. And, yes we did some dancing! We even did some GREAT dancing! But, this season - more than any other season - we have truly embodied what it means to be MORE than just great dancing.  Now, it goes without saying that when we chose our theme for Recital of "One Magical Day" that finishing the last 8 weeks of our season at home was not what we envisioned. It's not what any of us envisioned. But, as I share the following plans to finish our 26th season strong and prepare for the future, I am at peace with the care we have taken and the decisions we have made. At all times, and in all ways, we have gone above and beyond to provide love and life for our teachers, our students, and our families and will continue to do so as we move forward.   Our plans for Recital, Summer, Fall & More are described in this 20-minute video presentation and outlined below.

Coming Back Together:  We take the safety of our kids and families and our responsibility to our staff and the community seriously. Any considerations to move towards face-to-face service is being done with the utmost care and consultation of our local leaders and authorities. Recital Reimagined: We will be offering two opportunities for families to reimagine recital and to showcase the accomplishments of our ALL of our students. #1 - One Magical Day, Bringing the Magic Home , an at home performance with your class and teacher, Saturday, May 30th Fix your hair, wear your costumes! Bring the family, pets, and stuffies! Facetime grandparents so they can see the fun! No sign up necessary. Just come to class in your costume. We'll do the rest! Our Students will make their own magic and every parent will have a front row seat!

#2 - One Magical Day, A Special Day Just for your Dancer - In Person at the studio in June, dates TBA. Where every child is the STAR of the show at the studio and every parent gets a front row seat! Registration information will be emailed AFTER our at home recital experience. One child + 3 guests  Our studio transformed into a magical performance space Perform for your family with your teacher A Magical experience with special surprises for every dancer!

Whether you are planning to attend our Bringing the Magic Home Experience, A Special Day Just for Your Dancer Experience or BOTH, you can start getting ready by visiting TDC Online  and checking out the recital practice videos we filmed for each class. There have been some changes to choreography to comply with social distancing considerations and dancing at home, but the videos are still a good tool for your dancer to review with. The password for all videos is tdc2020 (all lowercase). You can also bring that costume out now and start practicing in it! Dress Rehearsal Week starts Saturday, May 16th! Students come to each of their classes with: Costume Tights Shoes Hair Up Accessories 50 Minute classes shortened to 40 minutes to allow for costume changes. Class starts at the same time, but will end earlier Set Up your camera and dance space- Good lighting (no window behind dancer) Clear a big enough space for dancer Make sure you can see whole body Our Fall-Spring class session ends Friday, May 22nd. Dress Rehearsal Week is our final week of classes.

A Special Note for Seniors As dancers, our hearts ache for our graduating seniors knowing that "Finishing Strong" for them is not just about ending the year well. It's about the finish line of their entire dance journey with us. Our teachers will be helping all our older students, but especially our seniors, process the rollercoaster of emotions that accompany loss in their classes during the coming weeks and helping them to know that it's okay to be sad about what "cannot be" and still be grateful for what "can be". They are not mutually exclusive. Sadness and gratitude are both valid, and normal, responses. But, as for much as this has been hard for our upper-level students, I am confident of this - THEY WILL RISE AND SHINE. We remain hopeful that we will be able to celebrate our Seniors and our Performance Team dancers onstage, outdoors in July. We will continue to celebrate them at all our recital reimagined, events and other special surprises leading up to that.

Summer and Fall Schedules As we look past Phase 1 to Phase 2 and 3 operations we are making an outline for the following:   One Magical Day, A Special Day for your Dancer, Mid-June Donner Picture Sales, Mid-June Fall Class Registration Opens- Mid-June Summer Reimagined Registration Opens- Early June Potential Celebration for Seniors and Performance Team- Mid-July Potential Rescheduled Competition Dates for Performance Team- Late July- August

NEW - TDC Helping Hands Initiative We recognized that this situation has been a challenge in many ways for families, including job loss and loss of income. To that need we have established the TDC Helping Hands Initiative for the 2020-21 dance season. No participation fee or ticket cost for at home or in-studio recital experiences Crediting families for any unused competition fees if not rescheduled Waiving summer class requirements and audition fees for Performance Team Waive membership fee for all families who register for fall session by June 30th Modifying some of our class and costume requirements Establishing a family emergency communication system 100% back up on all classes

Emergency Communication Beginning with our summer programs and continuing into fall, we will be establishing a family emergency communication so that at all times there will be a colored circle on the home page of our website and social media pages indicating to families what the status of classes is for the day. If it's green it means that classes are happening as usual. If yellow, it means we are proceeding with some kind of changes, so please check your email for further instructions. Red means stop, stay home and learn online.

In closing Thank you for your support for our students and teachers to FINISH STRONG. As we enter our 27th year, we are more excited than EVER for our shared future!  With appreciation, Miss Carrie and Team