Dancin’ In The Era of COVID-19, Cold & Flu (oh my!)

(updated 9/1/2022)

To keep you safe and healthy, we continue to address the Novel Coronavirus and its impact on our community and families. We take pride in our operations and would like to highlight the policies we’ve implemented at the studio to keep us dancing in these strange times. EDC families and staff continue to do a stellar job keeping each other safe. We are so grateful to have a caring, conscientious culture. Thank you for looking out for one another. Keep up the great work. 

In-Building Prevention Steps

• Life Time Fitness has increased their deep cleaning practices.
• Masks are optional for all ages; we respect each individual family’s decision to mask or not. (Please make sure the teacher of your child’s class is aware of your wishes if you need us to help enforce your family’s mask rule for younger children.)

In-Studio Prevention Steps

• Handwashing & Hand Sanitizing: We encourage frequent handwashing/sanitizing of our students and staff.
• Discouraging close contact: We have adjusted certain aspects of our classes to increase personal space and decrease frequent touching.
• Surface Cleaning: We wipe down frequently touched surfaces. Community equipment, such as mats and barres are wiped down before and after each use. Hands are also sanitized before and after using equipment.
• Coughs and Sneezes: We are encouraging dancers to cough and sneeze into their arms, not in their hands. We are actively teaching this technique in pre-primary classes where younger dancers are still learning.
• Staff is operating by the same wellness standards as students; staff members who are sick or have illness in their households will not be at work.

How You Can Help

• Teach your child excellent hand-washing skills and make great hand-washing a standard home practice.
• Teach your child to cough and sneeze into their arm, not in their hand.
• Please discuss the importance of personal space with your dancer. Our kids are craving contact and love to see their dance friends, but please help us remind them to keep their hands to themselves. Keep toys at home. 
• Use your best judgement and treat your neighbor as you would want to be treated. When in doubt, call your doctor.
• If your child is actively sick (fever, aches, onset of symptoms- new cough, sore throat) keep them home.
  • If your symptoms are minor and/or resolve in 48 hours, return to dance.
  • If your child has recovered after illness but their face is still leaky (lingering/persistent cough, snot), consider wearing a mask.
  • If your symptoms are major and/or do not resolve quickly, please take a COVID test and make sure your results are negative before returning to dance. (You will not be asked to disclose test results to EDC staff. We will be using the honor system.)
  • Students who are home but well enough to dance are encouraged to join class via Zoom. Please see the procedure and credentials for Zooming dance class by logging into your parent portal announcements.
  • TEAM members missing class due to illness will not be penalized for attendance.
• If you are unsure if you can or should return to dance, please seek the advice of your healthcare provider. EDC staff members are not qualified to give medical advice.

If at any time during the season we are forced to close in-person classes, we will pause the season for up to six weeks during which we will offer free drop-in class virtually for technique and strength maintenance. If a closure results late in the season and we cannot enter the studio for longer than six weeks, then we will finish the season with a virtual schedule. We will do everything in our power to keep our kids dancing IN PERSON with zero interruptions. We do not expect to close, but we like having a plan in place just in case. 🙂 The situation is known for changing, and we monitor it constantly. You will be notified of new safety protocols and/or schedule changes as they emerge. Thank you for your support and cooperation. Let’s DANCE!