The past couple of weeks have been challenging for everyone. From parents managing at-home school and working-from-home to the kiddos who have been trying hard to stay on top of school work and reach out to their friends. It has certainly been a challenging time during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. At the studio we have been working hard to keep our dancers engaged and feeling connected during online dance classes. And boy, oh boy! We have certainly learned a lot about our dancers during these crazy times too.
Throughout the past few weeks we have talked with our students and our staff about what they have learned about themselves, or learned about dance during our safer-at-home online dance classes. We were blown away by the reflectiveness of our dancers and want to share with you their discoveries:
Staying Physically Active & Mental Health
This may seem like an obvious one but our dancers were blown away by how much staying physically active has affected their mental well being and kept their dance skills fresh. Its no secret that physical activity is a part of living a healthy lifestyle and we are so happy to be able to provide our dancers with an outlet to let some of their stresses go and keep their bodies fit and ready. This is especially true during our cold, snowy Canadian winters too!
Having a Sense of Normalcy & Routine Even in Online Dance
We have heard from more than a few parents about how much they appreciate having a schedule and routine to follow during these crazy times. We have even heard a dancer or two say, “I know its Tuesday today because I know I have dance tonight!” Being able to provide a little bright spot in our dancers’ weeks is so incredibly important to us. We love seeing our dancers come dressed in their dress code outfits, raising their hands when they have questions in class, and following all of our ‘normal’ dance class rules. Keeping things “like regular class” has been a high priority for our team.
Staying Connected with their Footprints Fam
We say it all the time but these challenging times have shown us more than ever that our dance friends really are our best friends. Community is a key value at Footprints and we are so proud to see so many of our dancers tuning into their online classes and spending time with their Footprints Fam. We have seen so many of our dancers go through some big life changes during this already-crazy time. Giving our dancers the opportunity to share something about their day, answer a funny question-of-the-day or participate in our Wingman activities gives our dancers a chance to feel connected to our community, further develop their sense of belonging during an isolating time and help them maintain their beautiful dance friendships with one another and their teacher.
Become Responsible for their Online Dance Learning
Our teen dancers are probably tired of hearing this but online training really does put the onus on the student to become responsible for their learning. Making the choice to get off of the couch and tune into their dance class is an act of responsibility, commitment and self-motivation. These are life skills that will certainly help our dancers later in life when they are faced with difficult situations.
Take a Break in their Happy Place
Dance is our happy place. Our Footprints Family has given up a lot of what makes them happy from birthday parties, Nana and Papa hugs, trips to the movies, etc. By providing our dance family with the option of online classes, we hope to extend their happy place while keeping our dancers safer-at-home.
The phrase “The show will go on!” is tossed around a lot in the performing arts world. But this year, we have learned that it is truer than true! We are so proud of all of our dancers and families for raising to the occasion to keep
