News

March 24, 2020

Dear Not Just Dance Community,

We are deeply saddened by the news that all Virginia schools are closed until the end of the year. We know this is an especially difficult time for students and their families.  For our students this means no more time hanging with friends at school, no proms, no school shows, no graduations, etc. Oh yes, and it also means you are learning how to “learn” differently. We especially feel for our theatre community, to include your teachers, your administrators and all those who help you to grow as theatre professionals on school grounds.

We know this also means that you are wondering what happens to Not Just Dance. The fact that schools are closed does not necessarily affect us. However, the fact that the Governor does not feel its safe to have groups of 10 or more gather, for the next 30 days, does have a significant impact on our business model. We will absolutely do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19 by physically closing our doors until April 24^th. However, we WILL be open “virtually”. At this point (as of 4 pm on March 24^th), we plan to continue with all activities that are on our schedule, just in a different format. This includes classes, workshops, performances, auditions and shows. The only show that has been postponed, at this point, is A Chorus Line (which was set to open on Thursday). Our audition workshops will be held virtually. Our classes will be held virtually. If necessary, auditions will be held virtually. While this is not ideal, we can make this work. In terms of our performances, we are exploring all potential options. If necessary, some dates and times might need to be adjusted. Also, the licensing companies are working with us to allow things that in past would never have been allowed (such as live streaming).

Thank you so much for your support and your patience as we work through all of the unknowns. Many of you have reached out to offer words of encouragement. Thank you! You have no idea how much your support means to us. Unfortunately, our fixed costs still exist, such as rent, utilities, etc. We have invested a lot this year and so have you! Let’s see this through to the finish line. Please trust that our team is working on creative solutions. We welcome your ideas and suggestions. We can do this together.

Thanks,

Ms. Dawne

PS

Parents – please be sure that you are checking for e-mails from us with details on how virtual classes will work. Also, be sure to watch my videos which include important information. If you have questions, I have e-mailed you dates and times for parent meetings. There is no agenda for these parent meetings. These are purely to help facilitate the flow of information. If you do not have any questions at this time, you do not need to attend the parent meetings.

March 21, 2020; 5:00 pm

Dear Not Just Dance Community,

What a crazy ride we have been on for the past week! I want to start by thanking the community for all of your support. All of your e-mails, phone calls, text messages, facebook messages of support mean the world to us. Thank you!

We know that this is a very difficult time for you as you all deal with the stresses in your homes. At Not Just Dance we are committed to providing all members of the community with some consistency. We are pleased to announce that we will begin on-line classes tomorrow and will continue to provide additional resources for all of our families.

Specifically:

• On-line, one on one voice lessons begin tomorrow. All of our voice teachers are available for this service. Contact us if you would like to add voice lessons.
• We have provided all of our families with links to pre-recorded supplemental materials for rehearsing and practicing at home.
• We have provided all of our families with a few other fun activities to keep the FUN alive within our Not Just Dance community. Be sure to check our facebook page for updates.
• On-line dance classes will begin this week. We will send out specifics to our currently enrolled dance students.
• On-line theatre and tech theatre classes are being worked on and will be available soon. Specifics will be sent to those families.

We hope that we will all be able to return to our studio soon! We will continue to provide on-line resources for all of our families. We remain committed to provided all of you with exceptional service, albeit in a different format!

For those of you with tickets to an upcoming performance, we ask for your continued patience. Because of the uncertainty, we are not able to make “going forward” plans at this time. But, once we are able to make plans, we will be in touch with options. Thank you for your patience.

Again, I can’t emphasize enough the gratitude we feel for your continued support. As a small business, we rely on the financial commitments of our Not Just Dance families and the community, as we navigate these unchartered waters. I am also thankful to our amazing staff for their support and their willingness to quickly learn this new world of on-line learning. We know we will come out of this together. This too shall pass!

Thanks!

Ms. Dawne

PS – Current families are encouraged to watch the video that was e-mailed on March 22, 2020 for future information.

March 15, 2020; 5:47 pm

It breaks our hearts that the events of the world disrupt the activities here at Not Just Dance. We are forced to make some hard decisions. The health and safety of the Not Just Dance community must be our primary concern in the rapidly evolving COVID-19 coronavirus situation. To that end, we have decided to close Not Just Dance and to postpone our performance of A Chorus Line. For everyone that has tickets to the performance, please hang tight and we will provide details about exchanges and refunds.

Not Just Dance will be closed from March 15 – March 29, 2020. We will re-assess by March 27^th and send any further updates at that time.

Thanks,

Dawne LeKang

At Not Just Dance, we have been carefully watching the events and educating ourselves on the best practices given the rapidly evolving COVID-19 coronavirus situation. The health and safety of our Not Just Dance community, our students, their families and our patrons, remain our primary concern. At this time, there are no known cases of COVID-19 at Not Just Dance and Virginia (along with Fairfax County) continues to be designated as low risk. Based on that information, Not Just Dance plans to be OPEN and will immediately implement the following policy changes:

For classes (dance, voice, theatre):

• If your student has a fever or are experiences any flu or cold like symptoms, please do not come to class. (Parents, please follow the procedures for reporting absences.)
• If a parent has a fever or is experiencing any flu or cold like symptoms, do not enter the premises.
• All students must bring a labeled water bottle from home. Students will not be permitted to use the water fountain.
• All students are asked to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer: upon entering the building, whenever they wipe their noses and when they use the bathroom. We highly recommend that you use hand sanitizer in the car on the way home and/or wash hands as soon as you get home. Please review proper hand washing techniques with your students. We have put the lyrics to some songs in the bathrooms that they can sing while washing their hands.
• No food will be permitted in the studio.
• Not Just Dance will wipe down commonly used surfaces (door knobs, bathrooms, etc) frequently per the guidance of the CDC.
• Not Just Dance uses a cleaning service that follows the guidelines of the CDC for cleaning. These cleaning sessions will continue every week.
• Please review with the students that they should cover their faces when coughing or sneezing. If they cough or sneeze into their hands, they should immediately wash their hands. We have placed tissues in all rooms of the studio.
• No hugs or handshakes please.

For A Chorus Line:

At this time, our plan is to move forward with all performances of A Chorus Line, with the following changes to our performance procedures:

• Please see all of the guidelines above.
• We will limit the number of tickets sold to each show to ensure that there are no more than 100 patrons at each show.
• We ask that any patron who is sick or experience cold or flu like symptoms not attend the performance. (Note: We recognize that it is allergy season. If you know that your stuffy nose is a result of allergies, you are welcome to attend the performances.)
• Anyone who is sick or has a weakened immune system and is therefore uncomfortable attending the performance, who has purchased tickets, will be eligible for a full refund. If patrons choose to donate back the cost of the tickets to Not Just Dance, we would be most appreciative. However, we will waive our “no refund” policy for this performance. To receive a refund, please e-mail contact_us@NotJustDance.net or call 571-392-3209.
• Concessions and Star Grams will ONLY have pre-wrapped goodies. No baked goods.
• We are doing what we can to secure extra hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes to have at the studio which will be made available to all patrons. (Note: If anyone in the community has these products and are willing to make a donation to Not Just Dance, we will gladly accept your donation as these products are hard to come by.)

We will continue to monitor this situation and if things change, we will use this website as a way to communicate any changes to these procedures/processes.

Sincerely,

Dawne LeKang

CDC Link:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Fprevention-treatment.html

Fairfax County Coronavirus Information:

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/novel-coronavirus