Studio Announcements | Aug 31 - Sep 6
Studio Announcements | August 31 - September 6, 2020
View NEWSLETTER Here - https://mailchi.mp/12889315d5bf/happy-2020-2021-season
Welcome to the 2020-2021 Season
We are excited to welcome you to our 2020 - 2021 season! This marks 42 years of the Gasper family bringing dance education to the Fargo-Moorhead community. We are thrilled to be in the studio at some capacity but also bring class to students via ZOOM. It is amazing how much we have had to adapt and upgrade equipment at the studio to make these things possible. And we are excited to get back into the studio and continue to train your dancer(s). This e-newsletter is filled with lots of information about our season! And it is not too late to add a class or register for classes. We have on-going enrollment. We are looking forward to an amazing season!
ZOOM Classes
Did you know? Our entire schedule is on ZOOM! If you are feeling under the weather, stay home and don't miss class, just Zoom in! Or if you are a parent and want to check on your child's progress, Zoom in (keeping your camera and sound off). Please be patient with us over the next few weeks, as we are still trying to purchase some equipment to make every class ZOOMable (new word?). Classes that have students registered on ZOOM will be 100% up and running. If your dancer feels a little under the weather, email or call us and we will make sure your class is on ZOOM. We are waiting for a few laptops and computers to make every studio virtual and have asked our staff to bring a laptop if they have one. If there is a full class you would like to enroll in, please let us know and you can ZOOM the class until it is safe for us to open new spots. Once more spots open, the dancers on ZOOM will be the first to be able to accept an in studio spot. We are doing our best to keep everyone healthy and safe! And giving as many options as we are able to. Thank you for continuing to support Gasper's School of Dance through this pandemic. Want to sign up for a class on ZOOM, register through our system and email us at info@Gaspersschoolofdance.com letting us know you would like to take class virtually. If there is a waitlist, we will push you into the class. ALL Zoom links will be on your parent portal under the designated class. Please do not share these links with people outside the class, our staff will be monitoring.
Drop Off & Pick Up
Due to COVID our lobbies are closed to all non-dancers. What does this mean?
Drop Off
Use our drive-thru to drop your child off at the front door. We will be asking everyone to keep the flow of traffic and not park. (Downtown)
Drive & drop off at the front door. Please make sure your dancer is ready to exit the vehicle so we don't have any traffic jams. Watch your child walk into the building. (South)
Park and walk your dancer to the door.
Pick Up
Wait at the front door (outside) to pick-up your child. We will send them out when they see you at the door in the drive-thru.
Use our Drive-Thru. Please keep the flow of traffic going. If your dancer or an instructor doesn't flag you down, please exit and rotate around again. It may be that your dancers class is still in session. (Downtown)
North Side building drive: Please use this for flow of traffic, do not park here. If your dancer is not released or an instructor doesn't flag you down, please drive around the building and get back in line. We will have a staff member, instructor or student assistant walk your dancer to your car. (South)
We will only send your dancer out if you are at the door or your car is up in the drive-thru line. PLEASE be patient with us during this NEW class transitional time. We are going to do our best to keep all your dancers safe and get them to your vehicle. Also, WATCH the parking lots and roads. WE will be doing our BEST to get everyone where they need to be, some kids in the past had agreements with parents to go to their car across the street or in the parking lot, please WATCH where you are driving as we anticipate the flow of traffic to be heavier than normal. Thank you!
Mask Required
To keep our staff, instructors, and students safe we are requiring MASKS until further notice. We really want to do our part to squash COVID and not contribute to it. Please help us do our part in flattening the curve so the studio can get back to 100% capacity and continue to grow. And so we all don't have to wear masks anymore. We are doing our best to keep the studio spaces clean and safe for all. Temperature checks at the door, touchless hand sanitizer machines, touchless soap machines, lobbies closed, dressing rooms closed, wiping down of equipment and barres, etc. Masks are just part of this process right now to help keep everyone healthy and safe when coming to the studio. Instructors may give mask breaks if needed during class. The dancers will stay social distanced during these quick breaks. Remember, our FULL schedule is available via ZOOM.
Lobbies & Dressing Rooms
Due to Covid and limiting the amount of bodies in our space our lobbies will be closed to ALL non-dancers, instructors, or staff members. Parents, please drop and pick up your dancer at the door. We will make sure the flow of traffic keeps moving in our drive-thru at pick-up time.
Building
Inside the building / lobby: dancers will have a taped out square or cubby in the lobby / common spaces to put their items.
Classroom
In each studio classroom: we have taped out a spot for each dancer. We have safely added 10 spots in Studio K, M (Downtown) and Studio A (South), 7-10 spots in Studio E (Downtown, depending on class), and 6 spots in Studio B (South).
Dressing Room
Our dressing rooms are currently closed to keep dancers safe and not in close proximity. We highly recommend all dancers bring a dance bag and have their name somewhere on it. Luggage tags are great!
Restrooms
The restrooms in the lobby are open to dancers in the studio and cleaned often by our front desk receptionists.
Novice Level
For Itty Bitty and Pre-Ballet classes this summer we allowed 1 adult / parent only to drop their dancer off the first day to the classroom (wearing a mask). We noticed through our three summer sessions that the dancers did an amazing job paying attention during class. There was little distraction, since there was no one in the portals. Please note that we have not only our instructors, but these classes will have a student assistant and we have our front desk staff. We will take care of your dancer and we are trained to control the room. We have also made these classes even smaller than in past seasons. Please trust us and you can always check in with your dancer on ZOOM. Our staff and instructors will assist at pick-up with these dancers making sure they get to their parent. Parents may always stand outside the door to pick-up their child. But we will be training our staff to walk these kids to their car in the drive-thru. An additional email will go out to all Itty Bitty and Novice dancers tonight or tomorrow morning.
Make Up Classes
Due to COVID, if you need to make up a missed class, please do one of the following:
Call us to schedule a make-up class
Email us to schedule a make-up class
Please do not just show up, as there may not be room in a class. You can also make-up any missed class on Zoom, we will need to know in advance so we can get the class information to you. Thank you
Dress Code
Remember, at Gasper's School of Dance we have a dress code. Our dress code is in place to encourage concentration and a sense of inclusiveness (variations in attire can be distracting and contribute to feelings of inequality). Uniformity in dance wear allows the teachers to assess how well the students are implementing the technique being taught, problems with alignment, and other important aspects of dance training.
Leotards
Itty Bitty Ballet: light pink (attached skirt encouraged) Pre-Ballet: light blue (attached skirt encouraged) Ballet 1: Fuchsia Ballet 2: Turquoise **New color** Ballet 3: Lilac Ballet 4: Royal Blue Ballet 5: Burgundy Ballet 6: Eggplant **New Color** Ballet 7: Black **New Color** Ballet 8: Black
Skirts
Ballet 1 - 8: skirts are optional. They MUST be purchased at Gasper's School of Dance. Some instructors do no allow skirts. Please review our policies for Jazz, Lyrical, Tap, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop, etc on our website. As well as our dress code policies. You have 3 weeks to comply to our dress code before we ask your dancer to sit out of class. At this time we will charge your account for a new leotard and fit your dancer for their level color. IF you ordered a leotard from us, you can wear black or the previous level color until the leotard arrives. These pre-orders often take 5-6 weeks.
Pre-Order
Pre-Order your leotard today! Do you need a leotard for your specific ballet level? We will be placing an order September 4, September 25, and then the end of each month.
App
Did you know we have an app? Have you ever gotten annoyed with using your parent portal on your phone? OR wanted easier access to your parent portal or the GSD content? Download our app! You can download for both Android and Apple phones. Stay connected with us.
Studio Challenge | Round 1
Get ready for a new season of studio challenges! We like to have you involved in our studio culture and with COVID and limited studio interaction and events, we are trying to find ways to connect with our dancers.
Round 1 Challenge
Ends September 27, 2020. Take a picture in front of the GSD Studio or Gasper Studio Signs (outside our buildings) for a chance to win a prize package from us. Are you a ZOOM Student? Take a picture in your dance space sporting some GSD Gear! A great way to not only get your first day of dance photos, but to also have a chance to win a prize! So let's see those dancer shots in front of our Downtown or South studio or your Zoom studio space.
Submission
Submit to the NEW GSD App (Photos)
By email (info@gaspersschoolofdance.com)
Tag us on Facebook or Instagram
GSD Masks
Sport your Gasper Pride on your face with our custom GSD MASK! Place your order for a custom Gasper's School of Dance mask by September 8.
GSD Spirit Wear
Do you have your Gasper's Spirit ready for classes this week? Are you in need for some new merchandise? Check out our online shop. We will also be carrying some basic pieces at the studio mid-September! So stay tune for even more items to put your dancer in the GSD Spirit!
2020 - 2021 Performance Teams
We are super proud of all dancers who auditioned for this season's Performance / Competition Teams. We had a great turn out of dancers who shared their love and passion for dance with us. If you did not make a team, we just need to see a little more training and we can't wait to see you next season. Don't be discouraged by not making a team, use it as motivation. If you are interested in who made the team this year, click HERE to find out.