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Navigating the New Normal - The Upcoming Dance Season · Making The Impact - A Dance Competition Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the table of the death competition?
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly what are the judges looking for anyway?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is making the impact of death competition project.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: This week we'll cover a different topic related to the world of competitive death from the perspective of the judges behind the table.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Studios around the world are talking about the closest of the 2020.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And death projects, like nearly everything else, will look a little different from what we're all used to.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: This week, making the impact of studio owners are at the top, and that's a fixed to hear about the team that they'll be implemented for the 2020-2021 dance season.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And discuss the positive outcomes that may result from finding a new normal in the studio.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: Hi everybody, it's Courtney Ortiz, and welcome to this week's episode of Making the Impact, a dance competition podcast.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: This is season two, and we are kicking off the season with a really, really great episode that I can't wait to jump right into.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: But before we get started, I want to give a shout out to my co-host Leslie Mueller, who sadly isn't with us today.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Fortunately, we had some technical difficulties in this remote podcasting interview style world that we're all living in right now, and she sadly couldn't be with us.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I am flying solo and Leslie, you are so missed, especially for one of our very first episodes of the season.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: But we also launched an intro episode today as well, where you can hear Leslie's lovely voice.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: So head over and listen to that if you haven't had a chance yet before we jump right into this week's episode.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: So, as I said, it's season two.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: We are so pumped to be here.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: We have some awesome episodes coming your way in season two, and we talked all about it in our intro.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: So definitely go listen to that episode.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm excited to kind of just jump right in.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to get right to it because this topic that we're discussing today, we're gonna have a lot of things to chat about.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: We've been on a little bit of a hiatus from the podcast over the summer, and so many things have evolved as far as the pandemic and where the world is going and what our dance season looks like this year, and what our predictions are for competition season.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna dig deep with our guests today and talk about navigating the new normal and what that's like in the competitive dance world and the studio world.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I have some lovely ladies joining me today who are both studio owners in two different locations.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: One of them is an IDA judge, and the other one is a studio owner that supports IDA through and through from the very beginning, who I love so much.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: So let's get to know our guest.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: I uh would love to get to know our first one, Erica.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: How are you?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, hello, I am great.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I am Erica Hogan and I own New Editude Performing Arts Center, and we've got one location in North Carolina and one in South Carolina.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: And do you have any career credits or anything that you'd like to share, you know, to tell the listeners a little bit more about you as a studio owner or even in your professional career?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, awesome.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, I'm an IDA judge, like you said.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: So excited about that.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um the newest board member on the National Dance Foundation.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that's what I've been doing.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: I danced around a little bit before, did some cruise ships, some theme parks, choreographed a lot of the character shows at Nickelodeon.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just been quite a fun ride.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm super happy to have you.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: I know that you are like newly joined to the IDA roster.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, last season was kind of non-existent, unfortunately.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully this season we'll be able to get you out in some live events, but really happy to have you on board and thanks for joining us today.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: All right, and our next guest is Becky.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, hello.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: Hi.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm great.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited to be here.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yay! I'm so excited to have you.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: And you're actually maybe one of like the first studio owner guests that's not on the IDA roster, which is kind of exciting.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: And we hope to bring in more studio owners and teachers and educators outside of IDA onto our podcast episode.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm excited to have you being the first to kick that off.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I know Becky for a long time, and I feel like that Becky, we kind of got connected in the industry because of IDA, which is really awesome.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: So thanks for being such a huge supporter and joining us today.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: And feel free to share with the listeners a little bit about who you are, where you're from, and what you're up to.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: My name is Becky Chason, and I own Spotlight Dance Academy in Westford, Massachusetts.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: And we are going into our 13th season.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: We started in 2008, and I am so excited to be here, like I said.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: And yes, we love IDA.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we started out by using your online critiques and went from there.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I wish all judges were like Courtney.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then you said, well, actually, I'm starting this company, and then the rest is history.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: So it's been a really fun ride.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, this past season has been crazy, but you know, we we like to roll with the punches.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: So here we are.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Here we are.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: We are here.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna talk about how we're here today on the pod.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you, Becky.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: And yes, Becky's been such a big supporter.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: And speaking of the IDA Online Critique Service, I'm gonna throw a little blast out to that really quick because we are relaunching our online critique service on our website for Impact Dance Adjudicators.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're interested in getting a critique from an IDA judge, you can send a video of any kind, whether it's a rehearsal video or a video from your first competition or a video from your last competition, and you want feedback before you hit the stage again, send us your video and one of our judges will be able to critique your routine.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: You can give us personalized feedback that we'll be on the lookout for.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: We're also going to allow you to request a a judge that's specific to your genre, which is something that we introduced into our virtual competitions as well.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: So we're really excited to relaunch this feature on our website.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: So head over to Impact Dance Adjudicators.com slash online critiques and check it out now.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: That's how we always start our season.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_03: We start by getting our online critiques first and then we head into our first competition.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: All right, y'all.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Well, let's just jump right in and chat about the dance world as we know it right now.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: It is 2020 and it's been a whirlwind of a year.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't think that any of us could have predicted when we jumped into this next decade that it would be what it is today.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I never in a million years would have said, oh yeah, a global pandemic's going to, you know, ruin 2020.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, honestly, that's that's unfortunately what has happened.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: And we all as judges, as teachers, as studio owners, as educators, we rely on that season right when the pandemic hit in March, is like the heat of our season.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: And things just went completely upside down.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: So tell me what it's been like for you guys in the past five months, how you kind of navigated, you know, that abrupt halt in your schedule for the studio, maybe like at the start of the pandemic.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what was it like for you as studio owners?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it was absolute insanity.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: I just knew for sure because you know, you never think it's gonna happen to you.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's always everybody else.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's happening over there.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started to prepare because I started seeing other studios throughout the country just shutting down and doing everything.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, okay, well, I'll make a virtual studio.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: If we use it, we use it.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: If we don't, we don't.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so then it came down to it and March 19th, we pretty much had a shutdown.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: So, but since I had been preparing, we went virtual the very next day.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: But then somewhere in my mind, I thought it was gonna be two weeks.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, two-week vacation, relax a little bit, and we'll be right back at it.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: I had no idea that now five, six months later, we would still be dealing with this.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Truly.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: It was insanity for us also and just devastating.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that was, I think, the biggest emotion that between the students, you know, the teachers and and the parents, even it was just, you know, we thought it would be more temporary than this.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_03: And then each time we got a new regulation, a new rule, a new, you know, extension to our shutdown, it was just devastating every time.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_03: And trying to, you know, stay strong for the dancers and you know, for my staff and for the parents was super hard.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that just kind of watching as an outsider who doesn't own a studio, who just teaches at studios, and I run IDA, so I am working on the competition side of things a little bit more.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: But just watching how the studios handled it so quickly was so impressive to me.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: Just following on social media.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and now we're living in such a virtual world where everything's on social media, everything's on the internet, even what we're doing right now is on the internet.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: So it was so inspiring to see how people really figured it out really quick.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: And it's hard.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's been hard for all of us, but especially because having to figure out how to implement technology into your dance life even more than you already do could be a really hard struggle for a lot of studios who might not be technology savvy and might not have the capabilities or might not have the money to be able to afford brand new equipment.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, let's be real and think about how much we've spent on trying to get the right cameras and like the lighting and the sound and the microphones to just be able to do a hybrid class on Zoom, you know?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's crazy to think like that.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's hard.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: So for our North Carolina location, it's the internet service out there is not great anyway.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a struggle, and that's when it becomes really hard as an owner because there's nothing we can do about that.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we're doing everything we can.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: We're, you know, shuffle ball change into the next thing that we have to do.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And now the internet in this pretty much this county or town is just not strong.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't support Zoom.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that was really, really hard to get through that.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then, oddly enough, prior to my year, our home marketing was that dance is a place where you get off the screen and into the dance scene.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: That was our thing.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we were saying, you know, the arts is a place where kids have to put their screen down and have face-to-face interaction and real conversations.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then here we are, and then putting everybody back on screen.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we took a little bit of a different approach because, you know, I just didn't want to rush into anything.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: And again, we didn't know how long this would last.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: So I kind of gave everybody a chance to breathe.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody, it was like, what's going on with school and what's going on with this and what's going on with that?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: And in mid-March, we kind of took those two weeks as like first we thought that was only going to be two weeks.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: And then we were like, we're going to make a plan for April 1st, what's going to happen?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_03: That's when our tuition, you know, gets deducted from everybody is the beginning of the month.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: And we do it monthly or by trimester.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so it was kind of like, I need to figure out what's going on in that sense.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so we took kind of the month of April, I wouldn't say we took it off, but we didn't jump to Zoom right away because it was, you know, some of my studio owner friends that are in different states were they did jump right away and they were like, oh, I'm so sick of it already, or things like that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: And so we kind of took that time.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: We pre-recorded videos, we kept our competition kids working by giving them assignments and saying, you know, do these things on your own time, but we want to make sure you're doing this.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: And we actually had them post make dance accounts on Instagram if they didn't already have them.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: And they had to show us like time-lapse videos of them doing their conditioning and their technique and practicing their dances, and they had to show it and was so we kept track of assignments and we did things that way to kind of just give us a chance to figure it out.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I have a lot of I have 10 instructors that work with me.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: So just trying to figure out everybody's schedules and what works for everybody was what we needed to do.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: And then we jumped into Zoom beginning in May.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, it was later than a lot of places had done it, but I think it ended up working out for us because by the end of June, when we finished our season, we, you know, people were kind of like starting to fall off and getting like, oh, this dancing on Zoom is so hard and da-da-da.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I thought if we had started this in April, it would have been a rough last month.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm glad we breathed, we tried this, and then we moved on to Zoom then.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_03: So that is that's what we did, and it worked for us.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: I think that everybody had to kind of figure out like the best approach for them, which I've heard so many different variations of how everyone's made it work.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that the the other thing that like I didn't even think about, which is just another little side, like a side thing, is the fact that you would think it'd be somewhat easy to transition to Zoom.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: And there's obviously so many learning curves with dealing with a computer and even just the fact we talked about it on some of the podcasts last season as we were slowly navigating this new normal, which is what this is called.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: But like do we face the camera?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Do we not face the camera?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: Do the kids mirror it?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: Or do we, you know what I mean?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like that is probably just so confusing and hard to figure out.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then someone made a really good point to me recently that what if there's a I'm sure you both have families who have multiple dancers in the family and siblings that dance, but what if they don't each have their own dance space?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: They're in different classes, they need their own device now to be able to participate, which then takes more bandwidth, which then could mess up the internet for dad that's working at home.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's just a vicious circle and it it just trickles down to, you know, so many different layers as to how we can really make Zoom classes work.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I applaud every teacher out there who has had to teach a Zoom class, every studio owner who has figured out how to make it work this season and potentially still making it work at at the current date, because it's it was not easy and it's I like y'all did it.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: Y'all made it work.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure it was hard and there were tears, but y'all did it.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for you know keeping the dance alive at home and and especially in this really dark time that we're living in, you know.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, your your teeth your kids like really look up to you guys, and I'm sure have loved the fact that you guys were able to, you know, keep dance in their homes and in their spirits during, you know, them losing their friends at school and the fact that they are not seeing them every day.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: And now you don't even get to see your dance friends anymore.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: And now your soul that you work so hard on, you don't even get to hit the stage.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I know Erica, you briefly mentioned that you didn't even get a chance to compete this season with your studio.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, we did not at all.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: We were scheduled to start competing, I think two weeks after the shutdown.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: So then everything got canceled.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, it's okay, guys, don't worry, they're reschedule.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'll be back in a couple of weeks, and then a month passed, and then two months passed, and then they rescheduled and they had to cancel.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: So at this point, our kids have not competed at all this season.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: We did get to have our revival, we did it outdoor, we rented a stage, put up a backdrop, brought an ice cream truck, did you know the most we could to make it.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: We did six mini shows in one day so that way people didn't have to stay.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: And and I think that that's kind of one of the awesome things about being in entertainment and dancing and stuff.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: They always tell you the show must go on, and you hear it all the time.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: You never really know what it means until the show must go on.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that is so true.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a good fact.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I told the kids and parents.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: I said, you know, they they've already lost so much this year.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I guarantee you there will be recital.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what it's gonna look like yet.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how, but I promise you we will do something for these kids.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to hear about how you guys approached recital.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm glad that you kind of led us right into that.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: So, Becky, what what did you guys do for recital?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that was a roller coaster ride also.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, ours is usually mid-June.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: So in the beginning, we were like, we're still having it, we're still having it, we're still having it.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_03: And then and then things changed and kept getting postponed and everything.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: And then the schools, then we didn't have a choice because we usually do our show in a school auditorium.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: So the schools were like, Nope, we can't have anything until further notice.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: So I looked into all different um ways of doing it.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: I looked into the virtual recitals, none of the outdoor places were kind of becoming an option at that point.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: The only options that we were having is if we pushed our recital out to August and did it outside.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: And that was an option that I was approached with by another studio owner to share their stage, to share their costs, and which was awesome.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I considered that.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: I ended up ultimately putting a survey out to the parents and just I just didn't know at that point where everybody stood.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: What do you guys want?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: You know, what are we just done with this?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like we've been zooming and we've been, you know, connecting and everything, but do we want to continue doing it this way through the summer?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_03: We didn't know if we'd be able to open in the summer yet at that point, but we needed to make a decision.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: So ultimately it was almost a 50-50 shot of like, do we do, do we just kind of end the season?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: Do we kind of do each class over Zoom, put your costume on, let's just have a fun celebration, or do we do this outdoor recital and keep our classes going through the summer meeting in Zoom, hopefully in person eventually.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_03: And the majority voted to kind of just end it.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think people were just, you know, devastated with what happened and just kind of wanted to start fresh in in the summer and in the fall.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: So we didn't have a traditional recital the first time ever that since I was dancing, that I haven't had a recital of some sort in in a season.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: And we just ended each of our classes that last week, and everyone put on their costumes and we danced and you know, some cried, and that was that.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: And then we did a little video, the teachers and I, we we did some interviews and asked funny questions, favorite memories throughout the years, and you know, and we just recorded ourselves and then put that together.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: We had the seniors record their solos and then we just put some fun things and awards together on and live streamed that as an end of the year thing.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: We had them record their little TikTok costume change challenge thing.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: So anyone that sent that in or pictures, we threw those into.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: So kind of a slideshow type of live stream, and that's how we ended our season.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but that still sounds like, you know, of course, obviously, a live real recital in one way or another is the goal.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: But it sounds like that you still were able to create some sort of video montage memory, you know, like look back at 2020.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, remember that one year when we didn't have recital, but at least we got these cute little video montages that we can remember.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it's kind of hard because you it's kind of like I'm sure a lot of people are are feeling, I don't want to remember 2020.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, in a weird way.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's like a lot of people, I've heard so many people say, I cannot wait for 2021.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, not only with the pandemic, but so many other things going on in the world right now.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: So everything going on in the world right now.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, everyone's just like, let's get to 2021 already.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, it I can understand how devastating it would be to lose the recital this this year, but this year is just it's been an interesting one for us all.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm glad that you were able to make things work for both of your studios in the best ways possible.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I know so many, you know, teachers had to get really creative with the recital options this year.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, even while you were saying your choices with the outdoor option, Becky, you know, it I'm sure there was that hesitation back in May when you were probably trying to plan this, which is still kind of early in the pandemic, where you're like, okay, I can't do it when I want to in June.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: And then August is an option, but then you're probably like, okay, I schedule it for August.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: What if that gets canceled?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's always that.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: And that's still what we're dealing with right now in the unknown.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: The absolute unknown of, oh, I my rescheduled competition, like you said, Erica, was scheduled, we're gonna go to the next one.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's canceled.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's rescheduled, oh, it's canceled.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's just like that ever the never-ending thing of just the the competitions and every and our recitals and our studio schedule, it's so unpredictable right now.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just a world we live in, which is unfortunate.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: And everything is, and it's so different everywhere.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: So even between my two studios, they're an hour apart in two separate states, which means we've got to follow whichever laws govern that studio.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: So in South Carolina, we were able to open back in person at the end of May.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we've been in person since then.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: North Carolina, they just told us five more weeks of shutdown, and then they'll come back and tell us what we can do.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I haven't personally stepped foot into my North Planner studio since March.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, wow.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's wow in there.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: And it's and it's really hard to because the kids are friends because uh there are two teams at both US compete together.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: So the North Carolina kids get to see the South Carolina kids in class and having a great time, and it's just like, oh, so that's kind of hard to explain that and keep that going.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: And why are we on Zoom and they're in class?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: And or then we started zooming in the North Carolina into the South Carolina classes, and it's just it's less sad too.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_03: They have to watch them in person with you guys, and they can't do it.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I'm so curious, you know.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: Now that we kind of talked about what we've dealt with in the past few months, I'm curious to hear how you're handling the current uh studio life right now, as a studio owner in September.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like you said, Erica, your one studio has been able to be open for quite some time now in person, and the other one is still on like that, no entry for another few weeks.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: But Becky, when were you guys able to to jump in?
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it was a little bit later, but yeah.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: We we didn't open until July 13th.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: So we could have opened in June, but we were closing up our season, like I said.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: So we kept everything just going the way.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: It was.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: We ended our season.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: We took a few weeks to get because we had to get all of the, you know, regulations, the protocols in place, you know, and get ready to open and get the studio ready.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_03: So we kind of and then made it a big deal because it was a big deal for those kids to come back in person.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, as much as we could.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, we opened July 13th and did a six-week summer session.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: And it went really well.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: So we're we're hopeful that the fall can at least go that way until things are even better.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm curious to hear about like some of the safety protocols and the safety measures that you guys have implemented into the studio, but also what has been requirements for your specific states where your studios are located, just to kind of like I'm it's so interesting.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: And especially Erica, you have two different studios in two different states, but like it's so interesting for me to hear how each state is doing this and how studio owners are navigating that.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: So Becky, what was it like for Massachusetts?
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: We, I mean, in our ever-changing environment here.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: So when, you know, when we started, it was it's it's a little bit, it's funny because it's unclear.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we fall, it wasn't really ever specific in in our rules where dance studios fell.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: So we're like, are we fitness classes?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: Are we gymnastics?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they specifically say certain sports or certain things, but then dance studios only just recently got specifically mentioned.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, when we opened in July, it was we're following the rules of 12 people only in a in a space where typically our classes, you know, I have pretty good sized studios and our classes max out at 15 plus one or two teachers.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_03: So we had to max our classes for the summer at 11 plus one teacher only.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: And we we went a little bit above and beyond just to because it, you know, dance is a choice.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's not like, you know, other things that, you know, we have to make the parents and the students feel and the staff feel safe coming back into the studio.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: So we followed those regulations for how many people we could have, but then also, you know, we created a different entrance.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: I have three studios in my building, and so we create a different entrance for each studio.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're entering, you know, our big studio, you come in the front door, our back studio, you enter the side door and so on.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so we did that so there's less traffic.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: We put markers all over the floor for where they can stand when they're waiting to be let in.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_03: The teachers are checking their temperatures when they come in, they're wearing masks in any common areas, and then they enter the studio, they have a specific spot to put all of their shoes, their water bottle, their stuff, and then they can take their mask off and take their place on the floor.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: We taped off six or eight foot boxes, depending on the studio, and then we're having them take every other box.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: So they're either 12 or 16 feet apart from each other, which is why it's okay for them to take off their mask when they get to their stuff spot and go to their box because they're distance well enough apart and the teachers are keeping their masks on.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so that also allows them room for if, you know, if we overshoot a leap or, you know, fall over or you got long legs or something, then we've, you know, hopefully have that covered and then they go to the bathroom, or when they leave, they have to wear their mask and sanitizing in and out of every room as much as um we can.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: And that's that's pretty much what what we've done.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_03: And it's worked out.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: It worked out well for our six weeks in the summer.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_03: The the kids were great, they followed the rules, they just wanted to be back in the studio and they were gonna do whatever we asked them to do.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm happy to hear that's working out.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: What about you, Erica?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: So we changed a couple of things.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Our lobby's closed, so only dancers are allowed inside, which is a little different because we've had we have TV monitors in our lobby for parents to watch class, so we had to figure that out.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: So now they get a link and they can join Zoom the last 10 minutes of class.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool to watch.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: We limited our class sizes, and so you never realize the luxury of space as well.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: We had a costume storage room, which has now turned into my extra bedroom in my house, and we're turning that storage room into another studio.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: So all the Christmas show costumes, all the tutus, they're all in my house right now.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: We're turning that room to another studio because we have to limit class sizes so that way we can have the same amount of students and less time.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're temperature checking, and we kind of here's a fun thing if you haven't opened yet, some of the younger kids, the two, three-year-olds, are nervous about the temperature check.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, guys, what can we do?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: So for us, the dance fairy comes and meets the kids outside and drops off glitter.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: So all the kids get glitter in their hands and they close their eyes, make a wish and blow the glitter.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: And while one teacher's doing that, the other one's temperature checking.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: So the kids don't even know that that's happened.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it makes a great photo op for the kids or for the parents.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: They take a picture of their kids and there's like glitter all around them.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: So trying to do things like that to keep it.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and we've told kids, you know, only bring what you need.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because we all know kids will bring their dance bag, book bag, lunchbox, soccer ball, violin.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, listen, guys, yeah, what you need for this class.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're trying to minimize things.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're really, really pushing like auto pay and pay online just for cash transfers and things like that.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it's different.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: We're offering hybrid classes.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: We put TVs up in each room because when the kids were on the laptops for teachers to see them on Zoom, it was really small.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: So we have TVs in each room now.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're when in doubt, sit it out, is our thing.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: So if you feel a little tickle in your throat, stay home.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Take the hybrid class and you can stay up to date and everything.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just it's different, but we make it work.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it sounds like you both have really figured out how to make it work.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure there's so many other studio owners and teachers listening.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: And some of these, you know, tips and things can be helpful regardless of where you're at around the country, because as we know, all of the safety protocols and the, you know, each state's rules are slightly different everywhere.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: I was actually teaching this summer over on the West Coast in Portland, Oregon, at a dance studio.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I spent like about four weeks there.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it was my first time stepping back into a studio space since the pandemic hit.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: And it was very interesting to see like how how understanding the kids were with it and how eager they were to just be able to be physically back in a space and moving again.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: But I know for me as a teacher, it was so hard to navigate how to do across the floor.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you kind of can't.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like you have to figure out.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay, guys, if we're gonna do across the floor, if you want to do across the floor, which I know you want to do, like you've got to make sure you stay six feet apart.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, don't get near your friends, stay, you know, keep your distance in your line as we're walking around and, you know, trying to work in our in our squares and in our little bubbles to, you know, not get too close to anybody.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: And the studio that I that I worked at, we also did the hybrid thing, like you, you mentioned Erica.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: So they had it all figured out.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it seems like they've been doing this for a little while, but it was it was a technology challenge for me as a teacher to try to navigate how do I do this in a 45-minute class that are just go, go, go.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: I had like a little lapel mic that my I wore for the Zoom, my Zoom, I call them my Zoom friends, for my Zoom friends to hear me.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: And then they had a big screen TV in the front of the room that blocked the mirror.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: So like I couldn't ever see myself in the mirror, but which was fine.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: And then I had a webcam on top.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: So we, you know, link, I signed on to my computer, logged into the Zoom session, put my microphone on, tested all the levels, made sure they could hear me, get them logged in, test the music.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: Can you hear me in the music?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like so many things before class even starts.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then I had kids behind me taking class like normal students.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I felt like for me, I loved this option to be able to give the kids that aren't comfortable coming in person an the ability to take class still.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: I love that if it kind of feels like you're there, you're learning the same thing.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's not like a special Zoom class for you and a live class for the others.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: But the thing that that made it challenging for me as a teacher is the fact that the dancers on Zoom, I was teaching it straight on.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: And the kids are learning it behind me, like you normally do when you look into the mirror and you learn it.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: But the kids that are on Zoom would have to kind of figure out how to reverse it because I wasn't flipping around for them.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: And they got so good at it.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they were like professionals by the end.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I can speak as a professional dancer.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: That is hard to do.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, even when I go to auditions, I want to be in the back and I want to watch them from the back.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: I don't like, you know, having to reverse it or learn off of a video dead on.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: Things like that are really tricky.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, this is really interesting to be able to like help kids understand some like real life tools that you're gonna have to know how to do if people do pursue a career or even if they are teaching on Zoom, which could be the future of dance these days.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's interesting and the approach for everybody.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: But one thing that was another hard thing was that we were all required to wear masks.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: So even the dancers, while they were actively dancing, had to wear masks.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_03: And that's one of our ever-changing things that we keep hearing about in Massachusetts is you know, they'll they'll say, now if there's more than 10 people, everyone has to wear a mask.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: But then you'll see something written under it that says, if you're doing high-intensity aerobic activity and you can stay six feet apart, you don't have to.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_03: So people, I I'm on a lot of forums of Massachusetts studio owners and things like that.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_03: And people are back and forth every day.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: So wait, is this required now?
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_03: Did this change again?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I still don't know because it's been changing so recently.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: I'm waiting on a call from our board of health here and trying to just figure that out as we are getting right into the beginning of our season.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: How do you feel like you're, you know, if depending on your state, or even just I guess, you know, you guys are studio owners, so I guess you can set the rules as to what you want to have happen in your space?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: How do you think that parents would take it if you laid the law down and said, well, even if the state isn't saying this, I personally want everyone in my space to be wearing masks during class?
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think that people would fight it, or do you think people would be understanding, or, you know, is that something that you've considered or wanting to implement and you haven't because, you know, the state hasn't made it mandatory?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: Or what are your thoughts on like the whole mask situation?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think as small business owners, we have the right to demand that, but even in the executive orders, you know, they give exceptions and we can't ask what the exceptions are.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: So if somebody comes in and says, I can't wear a mask, then our options are either to say okay or to tell them to leave and then lose that child.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, during these times, we can't I can't lose any kids.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a lot harder to navigate that way.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then it takes time for you to get to know your body depending on what age you're in.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I would know if I was dancing in a mask, at what point I needed to take a step back, take a mask off and take a quick breath.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, maybe a nine-year-old wants to really impress you when they're pressing and pressing and pressing, and they just haven't, I don't want to deal with that part.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_03: Parents are going to, I think, push back either way.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I have some that are, you know, everyone's being really nice because everyone just wants to dance.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_03: But I have some that are like, I don't know what's your rule.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: Do you know yet?
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_03: Because I don't want to send my kid if they're not wearing masks.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: And then there are some that are like, she's not going to be able to dance the way she wants to if she has to wear a mask.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I'm trying to decide what rules do I follow?
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: Is there a way to make it work for both scenarios?
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: But I mean, ultimately, like I do need to listen to the rules.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_03: So that's why I'm trying to figure that out.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_03: And then from there to see if there's something more that I need to follow or that works.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm kind of a big question mark on that one still right now.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_02: It really is.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I even think about the fact of just trying to, you know, I know how hard some of these routines are that we drill all the time, or you know, how how intense class can get for some dancers, and to just like to just not have that ability to be able to breathe fully free 100% is a little bit scary.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, Erica, you know, different age kids, like dance is hard.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: And when and as teachers, we say all the time, don't forget to breathe, don't forget to use your breath.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now we're adding a mask to it and potentially restricting some breath at times, but we have to do it if we want to dance together and if we want to, you know, be in the same room as all as each other.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, it it's an interesting dynamic uh to kind of figure out.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: But I I taught in my mask for six hours a night and I felt okay, but I also wasn't like actively dancing the whole time, you know, as the teacher and just in the front.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I can understand how it could be hard and challenging for for some kids.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that, you know, if your studio or whoever's listening, if your studio is requiring masks, you know, I think that we just have to all work together in this time to be able to follow those rules.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, if you want to dance, that's what that's what's got to happen at that studio, if that's what the rule is.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: And it's unfortunate and we might not like it, but I know that like the kids will figure it out.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_02: We'll work together, we're all doing it together, it'll be all right.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that the closer we can get to slowing down the pandemic and you know, not continuing the spread, I think that in the long haul we'll all appreciate the fact that okay, I wore my masks and I did it, I did things right, and now I can go back to competition.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: Which is what we all want.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's the goal.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or as a studio owner, too, because so many other places, like I know here the schools have changed dates.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: Are we opening?
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: Are we not?
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: Are we virtual?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: Are we?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then parents are like, well, how come you're so confident in opening and the schools aren't?
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just having people explain that.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think registration looks different right now, also, because our school got pushed back a month as to when it's gonna open.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_01: And parents are just, I think dance registering for dance is on their to-do list, but so many things keep getting piled on top of that.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's gonna be a few months before we know our real numbers, and then I'm nervous with when school does open, what is that going to do?
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Is that going to change?
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: How many people come in?
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's just so many, again, outside factors that we can't control.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as studio owners, we own our businesses for a reason.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: We we like to know what's going on and we like to make those decisions, and it's just so many things that we can't control.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the part that kills me.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm like, guys, we just affect.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: I've got Lysol wipes, I've got chlorophyll, we are good with schools closed.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: So how come you want to stay open?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just we're working on it.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, our our my enrollment for the like six and under crowd is really low.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's due to the fact of my kid is not going to stay in a six-foot box.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I understand that.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know how even I feel about making how do I make a child's day that's three years old in a six-foot box.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_03: Our enrollment for older kids is pretty normal, you know, keeping in mind our class limits, but our little ones not so much.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, looking into do we create more classes so we can have, you know, a limit of and say, we only allow four kids in this three-year-old class, and maybe then they'll feel more comfortable.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_03: But then I'm paying teachers for more time, you know, and that's normally what you're trying to get away from.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_03: You're normally trying to utilize the classes that you have and get those ones filled before you're opening different ones.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_03: And so it's it's a big balance of what is is worth it, and or do we just kind of hold tight until this passes, hopefully, sooner rather than later.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_03: I think we're all feeling uh holding.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: We just don't know when.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know when.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: And um also we had to remind our I did a virtual coffee chat with my parents to start the meeting.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: We're just talking about things, you know.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: I had to remind them that there are gonna be other kinds of illnesses as well.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's still a flu, there's still gonna be sinus infection.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: So every time a child or teacher is missing doesn't mean they've got COVID.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: So let's stop that rumor mill, let's, you know, flu season is coming around.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be another thing.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: Although I think we're so clean now and so sanitized and disinfected that's a good idea.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good point.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: I know I might keep some of these things in place.
• 37:40
  unknown: Exactly.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, yeah, maybe 10 minutes in between each class of cleaning up to avoid a lot of flu spread is well worth it.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's so hard because again, like you were saying, we've got to have less kids in class.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we either create more classes and pay teachers more, and then there's so much equipment and stuff we've had to buy to go with it.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like you were talking about the TVs and the microphones, and I bought medical grade air purifiers.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they work, but we have them and just everything.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then I didn't raise tuition personally just because I thought for me, it could be hard times for people, and I didn't want to do that to them right now.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: But it's where now where does extra funding come from for all of this?
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's hard.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that's been my quote of the hour.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's just hard.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_02: I know, yeah.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: All of these are so valid, and uh you guys are are doing the best you can to make it work, and I think that we're all trying to just figure it out as we go, and each day is a new day, and who knows what new safety measure is going to be thrown at us, or who knows, you know, if we are able to open the doors to the studio that we haven't been able to open yet.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's just so unpredictable.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: And and I mean, I I really hope and I fingers crossed that you know, we all keep doing our job, and as as people and everyone in the states just keeps working on staying safe and healthy and following the guidelines so we can kind of get back to normal life soon and not have this uncertainty of like what's next, how how is the next month going to look?
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_02: Because I think that I like to plan my life a little bit.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: I know that we all probably do, and especially when you're running a business, which we all are business owners, it's really hard to plan anything when life is so unpredictable right now.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_02: That being said, I'd like to briefly just chat about the competition aspect of you know, the dance world that we are all involved in in one way or another.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: As studio owners, you guys are sending your your kids to competitive dance.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_02: As judges and teachers, we're choreographing for routines, and then Eric and I judging on the back end of the routines at competitions.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: So what do you think the season's gonna look like?
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I know that Becky, you've had an an opportunity to go to a few competitions live in person since the pandemic.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm curious to kind of hear what your experience has been so far with that.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_03: My experience has been great, actually.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we attend, we're going to be attending competitions this upcoming spring, hopefully, that we have relationships with.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: I trust these people.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_03: I've known them for at least a few years and that what they're saying, they're going to follow.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: And the ones that we did just go to, we only had a couple of numbers go, but and we didn't know them well, but we their protocols were great.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it was you show up at a certain time, it's one studio at a time.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_03: So you can kind of follow your own guidelines within your studio as well.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_03: And you do your dances and you wear your masks in between, and then you go home.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_03: And then you wait for awards at the end of the, at the end of the whole event.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_03: It was kind of created a new mystery of like, we didn't see what that soloist did in your age division.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_03: We didn't see what that group did and all of that.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_03: So it's, you know, trying to make it like, you know, we put out a projector outside.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, well, one of the moms put out a projector outside so we could watch the overall awards at the end of the weekend together and got to celebrate with each other outside distance safely.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, it's just something we don't want to do that forever, but just to make, you know, the best of the situation.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_03: And the ones that we're looking forward to in the spring, we know are going to follow those same guidelines.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_03: If, you know, even if things are better, I kind of think this year that's still what they're going to do is do the studio, the studio blocks, you know, limit their staff as much as they can, and then limit the parents and the spectators and live streaming as much as they can.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_03: So everyone else can watch, get on the stage, do your dance, and then go, which is like it eliminates the exciting part of meeting new dancers in other studios and getting that camaraderie in the competition world.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's what we're missing the most.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_03: But we just have to know that it will come back eventually.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_03: And we'll we'll get that again, as long as we can get on the stage for now, is all we is all we want.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think again, hats off to competitions for adapting and doing what they have to do.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: But it is definitely harder, like you were saying for the kids.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like my kids, when I was explaining the block to them, and they were like, well, if we get second, we want to know what first look like.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: And if we get first, we want to know what second looked like.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's that part, and then there's, you know, maybe that kid finally wins first overall titanium, platinum, whatever it is.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: And they don't stand up on stage in front of everybody and say, my name is such and such, not like we have rehearsal for that.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like we have where we teach the kids how to talk into the microphone and you could do it for this competition and you could do it for that one.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it kind of takes that aspect away.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then having to explain to parents, you know, why we're driving three hours away to dance for two hours to drive back to hear live stream awards later.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's just kind of that's fun.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I I think at this point in time, everybody has to do what they have to do, and we'll support it because we want everything to still be here when this is over.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there can't be competitions without studios.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, as much as we love the competitions, they're trying, they're struggling just as hard as all of our studios are, as all of the dancers in the industry are.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, live, they are essentially live entertainment.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: And the live entertainment industry has gotten hit, probably one of the hardest in this entire pandemic, and we're still getting hit, obviously.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: So the competitions have tried in every way to make this work for the customer.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I applaud them as well.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think that everything that I've been seeing so far online for a lot of these rescheduled events have they've implemented so many great safety measures and have really tried to make it feel as safe as possible in this world, you know, as best they can.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I I think the block schedule is great.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: I agree, Erica, that I I don't know if you said this, Becky, but I agree that I don't love the fact that you aren't really getting to watch everybody unless you do go home and sit and watch the live stream.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, it's it's different.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: And it concerns me a little bit in the sense that like you're grouping the studio together.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then I know like from a judge's perspective, and I don't know.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: You've felt this before, Erica.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_02: But as a judge, we start to get to know the studios throughout the weekend.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: So to just kind of see like a recital of one studio and then a recital of another studio, it might kind of throw off the dynamic a bit of how judging might be done.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_02: Because, you know, sometimes you want to have that age 13 lyrical, lyrical small group category.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_02: And it's not really a comparison game and it shouldn't be.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I think in a way, that's the other thing that's hard about judging is people always ask, well, are you just comparing against what it is, or are you judging it for what it is?
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: So in these block schedules, we as judges should be making sure that we're judging it for what it is.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a different approach to judging this season for a lot of judges, which that being said, maybe, maybe I should have a little meeting with all the IDA judges before we jump in to just kind of like discuss how we go this new approach because it is very, very different.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_03: I think it would be really hard to, you know, if you're seeing if if there's a if there's a two-day event and you you're starting off by seeing this one studio and they're like, you know, you're like, ah, I'm gonna score them this way.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: And then the next studio is pretty similar.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_03: So you're like, okay, I get that.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_03: And then, you know, you're maybe then the next studio you're seeing the next day is like blowing you away, but you're like, oh, I just, I just kind of like scored everybody in this like platinum range.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_03: And now what do I do?
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_03: Now these guys have to have like all high platinums because now they're blowing me away.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like that must be harder to navigate, you know.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like what that would, yeah, I think you you probably should.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_03: I know like, what are we gonna do in this situation?
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's that's um, that's tough.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_01: I try to find silver linings sometimes, and so I told our teachers, I was like, you know, well, this is gonna challenge our choreography because when you know you've got a large group on one day and a solo, you might be like, oh, well, we can put the same turn section in it.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: But now I can't do that if we're watching all of my dances back to back.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_01: We better get more creative.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna see a trend, and the judges are gonna be like, all right, choreographer.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's such a good point.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that again, like you can't fall out of that turn four times in the same 30-minute time frame.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: We can't do that.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's that is the best point ever, Erica, because like I mentioned, as judges, we start to kind of get to know the studio.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_02: But I can't tell you how many times as a judge that I've seen like formula dances where it's pretty much just I changed my costume and I changed the song, but it's the same exact dance, and the same kid has the same leg catch turn, and the same kid does the turns in second, and it's a formula, and maybe like a different person's in front, or there's like a different line formation.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_02: But if you step back, it's pretty much the same thing.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's such a great point, and maybe that's some great advice for any teachers listening as we're planning for the season to really challenge yourself and make sure that you're bringing some versatile styles and different types of movement and kind of step outside the box when it comes to your choreography.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_02: So if we are competing in block schedules, you're not looking at the same dance over and over and over again and put your right leg out of the air, do something else.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: We've sing your right leg up 15 times now.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think that people need to step up.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_03: I felt challenged by teaching combos over Zoom and just and but then when I came back in person, you know, I realized this really like opened my socks, you know what I mean, of of things to do and to not go for the normal, like, you know, we're gonna travel this way and then we're gonna travel that way.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I'm trying to choreograph for these kids to be able to do something in their room, and that really opened my eyes to different things that I could do.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_03: So I, you know, again, trying to find the silver linings, like you said, Erica, that it made me be more creative as a choreographer.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm thankful for that.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'll take that into competition season.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_03: Totally.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm curious to hear your guys' um opinion on this because I feel like I've actually seen this question being asked by a lot of teachers um lately because everyone's trying to kind of plan for a potential competition season.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_02: And typically in normal season, you I every studio does it different, but some people have like choreography camps in the summer where they learn all their dances for this the upcoming season ahead of time, or some people gradually start doing their choreography throughout the fall, whatever it is.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of teachers are asking the questions like, well, are you guys doing large groups or productions this season?
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_02: And are you guys doing partnering at all this season?
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_02: Or and are you making sure your formations always stay six feet apart?
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_02: Do you feel like that that's something that you think is important to, you know, put into your your dances this season?
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_02: Or are you kind of just like, meh, no, I'm gonna ignore that and I'm hoping that things won't be, you know, that serious once we hit the actual season?
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think I think both we're gonna stay away from a production because we're assuming that that's not going to work out.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_03: Plus, I mean, we don't want to jump right into, okay, all of a sudden there's no rules.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_03: So, I mean, we have to rehearse a production.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_03: So we're rehearsing our, you know, 55-person production in the same room, even just even if the competitions allow it, we're not going to be okay with jumping right back into that.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_03: So productions we're gonna put off the table.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_03: As far as like partnering or keeping the formations apart, you know, I'm not sure yet, but I think that I've through this become a master at re-blocking, right?
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like I could re-block anything at this point.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I think that I might put things in as I want them.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like I maybe won't put them in as easily.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_03: But if I'm like, this is really what this calls for, I might be okay with that.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_03: And then just know in my mind that I might have to reblock this part if things aren't different enough.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_03: But also, it's like, you know, we're gonna have to rehearse these sooner rather than later.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_03: So if we can't rehearse them right now, they might not be put in there.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because we didn't get to compete.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_01: We're doing a lot of the dances that we did last season.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_01: So we're kind of lucky.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, oh, you guys kind of are if you don't know this dance by now, right?
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing else we can do.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're using this opportunity to do more small groups in different styles.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: We're very big, like modern-based, like real contemporary.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_01: We don't do a lot of jazz, a lot of so I was like, now's the time.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do a jazz.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's get a small group hip hop, and that way they get the experience and we can keep it in smaller groups.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's great.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_02: I was just kind of curious as to how you were approaching it because even that's a good, a good point, Erica.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of studios were like, well, do we do our dances that we didn't ever get to do lot from last season?
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_02: Or are the kids going to be burnt down and over it by the time they hit the stage in a whole year from now?
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_02: Or do we, you know, the kids aren't gonna fit in the costumes, what do we do about that?
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_02: Or even I'm sure some of the teachers are probably like, I'm sick of watching that dance.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: I need I need to get creative and do something new.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, everybody's approach is is different.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_02: And it is interesting.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen a handful of people already start choreographing and and mentioning the fact that they're going to keep the dances on a smaller scale, they're going to, you know, try to do those type of things as safety precautions, just so if down the road, even if, like you said, Becky, the rules fly out the window and it doesn't matter anymore, at least they were prepared and they, you know, wouldn't have to re-block or, you know, do any major changes.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_01: With the massive props that 15 prop dads have to bring on stage.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_01: And now you have to count them in the amount of people allowed in the theater.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's just prop less this season.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: Unless you if you can get carried on by yourself and do your dance, we're probably not gonna have a prop, just trying to be prepared for whatever might happen.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's true.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_02: Good points, good points.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_02: Well, this has been such a lovely discussion, and I think that it sounds like you both are really navigating this successfully as best you can as studio owners and making it work and doing all the right things for your students and for your parents and keeping things safe in the studio space.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it's been so lovely chatting with you guys.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that you both brought so many valuable tips and tools to the podcast today to help hopefully help inspire some other studio owners or some teachers who are dealing with the same frustration and things that we're all dealing with right now during this awkward time in our dance world, unfortunately.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I hope that any of our listeners who are listening have, you know, enjoyed some of our predictions as to how we see the season going and uh what this what the competition season might be like and things like that.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_02: So do you guys have any final thoughts that you would like to share with the world before we sign off?
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_01: I would just say keep going.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_01: Dance, we're dancers and we do hard things, and this is a hard thing and is what we're made for.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_01: So just keep pushing.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think that everyone just needs to understand that what's right for you is not always going to be what's right for someone else.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_03: So we need to support each other and support the competitions and support the judges and support everybody in this industry and leave your judgments at the door and just, you know, let each studio run things the way that is best for their families and just hopefully we can all get through this together.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for tuning in to our first episode in season two of Making Impact.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to our studio owner guests, Erica and Becky.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_02: You can follow Erica at each jazz and Becky at SDA underscore website.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Twitch so you don't miss out on our upcoming episodes released every Thursday throughout the dance season.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_02: Whether you've spent a long time about podcasts or a brand new webinar joining us for season two, we would really love to hear from you.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_02: Head over to Apple Podcasts.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_00: Season two of Making the Impact is full of new hot topics, listener questions, and interviews with the pros.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_00: Coming up in the next few weeks, topics include music at competitions, how to take class, and our first spotlight episode.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us for season two of Making the Impact.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_02: Till next time, keep dancing!