September Newsletter
Academic Year Season 2023
From the Desk of Miss Ashley
What a wonderful first week! It was great to welcome all of our recreational program dancers into the studio again. Thank you all for being flexibile as we made room for those on our waiting lists and combined classes to makes sure dancers are surrounded by supportive peers!
We completed our first bi-weekly family participation challenge! Cheers to 42 out of 78 families that found the Hippopotamus! 🦛 Keep an eye out for more ways to win ASAO / dance items!
*Tip: Tap/Click on the photos throughout this newsletter to access additional links.
Parent Resource Links 💻
Dancer Portal
Studio Calendar
*Tip: Click Week View in the Top Right Corner
ASAO Website
Downloads, Boutique, Social Media Links, Photo Galleries, Convention & Elite Program Details
Recreational Program Spotlight
The ASAO Recreational Program includes all of our "Core Subjects" in dance. These classes are offered weekly in our curriculum. Some class levels require more training than once a week to progress, in which case dancers are given home program worksheets (such as Pointe).
- Ballet (& Pointe)
- Lyrical
- Modern
- Tap
- Jazz
- Acrobatic
- Technique
In Acro, to make sure dancers are progressing safely, a second hour per week is required and worked into our program. Acrobatic Dance is one of the most strenuous subjects offered.
All Recreational Program classes follow the same curriculum schedule!
- During Week 1, our dancers learned the classroom rules, dresscode, lesson formatting (warmup, center, across the floor, action dancing), and got to know their peers and instructors.
- Weeks 2-4 will include learning fundamentals of each style of dance (jumps, leaps, turns, kicks, and floorwork or balance, limbering, tumbling, strength, and flexbility).
- Week 5, which will be the last week in September, is an assessment week to make sure all dancers are still being adequately challenged and not overwhelmed.
You will find photos and videos of our Recreational Program progress on ASAO's Instagram and Facebook! Our staff does their best to post daily. Not all classes have time for photo/video, but we do our best to include everyone!
A Media Release is located in the policies agreed to at the time of registration. Special consideration is given to necessary registrants to comply with child protection laws. We ask that parents discourage comments regarding these edits on our social media.
Coach's Corner
Who are the Elite Performers?
The Elite Performers are ASAO Dancers that have auditioned for additional studio commitments. These dancers make up the Community Performance Troupe and Competition Team. Elite Performers are ambassadors of our company; they must have perfect attendance (or makeup classes), excel in skills, and create a welcoming environment for new friends at our studio.
The Community Performance Troupe is a group dedicated to sharing dance with Sault Ste Marie and surrounding areas. They work on social media outreach, dance education for parents/newcomers, and participate in community events when invited.
The Competition Team is a group that attends 3-4 regional events in the spring. These dancers perform various routines in front of a panel of judges, then receive feedback videos to improve before their next event. Each routine earns individual adjudications, and sometimes specialty judges awards or overall placements. These dancers train extensively, beginning before the Academic Year season starts, and concluding with a Showcase in April for all to enjoy.
Before our season began, these dancers attended auditions, Media Day, and a Pre-Season social where they submitted song and costume requests. See the results on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook!
Dancer Wellness
ASAO is a Danscend Member
In the coming months, our studio will be including a Wellness segment of the newsletter for dancers and parents. This month, our administrative staff will receive training from Danscend Coucil. ASAO is enrolled in the Mental Wellness Program for Healthy Dance Schools.
ASAO uses monthly activities from Danscend in all classes!
Behind the Scenes
What is the ASAO Staff working on this month?
This season, we have 20 dancers that interviewed for the apprentice program! Before our season began, they attended a 4 day training program as well as a photo shoot with Mary Boike!
Most of them are in the classroom helping your dancers! Some of them requested additonal office tasks this season to help out a bit more. We are so thankful for all of them! Here are some highlights:
- Miss Maddy will be working to update the ASAO Website with all sorts of new boutique items! She will be adding all of our fun merchandise, dance mallows, new apparel, and some surprise items!
- Miss Eleanor, Miss Hope, and Miss Jasmine are organizing our new storage room! We are very thankful that Mr. & Mrs. Townsend have made space for all of our performance tubs, monthly decorations, and costume organizing supplies!
- Miss Evah will be continuing our seasonal deep clean, and Miss Kirsten will be personalizing your boutique purchases as well as our Christmas Revue shirts!
❓ Que the Questions ❓
Why do you have a Registration Fee and a Performance Fee?
Our Registration Fee covers technology access for our dance families. We use Jackrabbit Dance, a software that allows for attendance tracking, mass emails, skill tracking, portal access (which includes assigning links to classes), and Zoom membership for online classes when the studio has to close unexpectedly. We pay for the highest level of Zoom membership to prevent entry by anyone not authorized, as well as to increase sound quality for class streaming. At the end of the season, we often also stream performances for dancers to watch.
Our Performance Fee covers venue rental, in addition to backstage supplies for our dancers and incentives for our volunteers. Each dancer is assigned a dressing room area, which has an activity bin, snacks, emergency supplies, and water. All dressing room areas have color coded signage. Our volunteers all have binders with emergency notices and costume change information, and a few of the staff and volunteers have radios to communicate regarding high needs dancers. This fee also covers printing/office supplies to make sure each dancer has a name tag on his/her seat to all be accounted for. We often take donations at this time, as our performance fees do not cover the extensive supplies we place backstage.
Recreational Style Focus: Ballet 🩰
By Age (3-4 or 5-6 or 7-9)
This course reviews fundamental body mechanics, basic steps, and body positions. Skills and combinations were taught in French, with English translations, following mainly the Cecchetti Method. Curriculum utilizes barre exercises and a combination of center floor work and across-the-floor activities; while emphasizing that Ballet is a highly technical form which requires hard work, dedication, and discipline. Dancers focused on building the strength, flexibility and control needed to execute Ballet moves.
By Skill Level (Age 10+)
This course focuses on advancing body mechanics, intricate footwork, and elevating displays of body positions. Skills and combinations were taught largely in French, with minimal English translations. Dancers were exposed to the Cecchetti, Vaganova (Russian), Royal Academy, and Balanchine methods. Curriculum utilizes barre exercises and a combination of center floor work and across-the-floor activities; while emphasizing that Ballet is a highly technical form which requires hard work, dedication, and discipline. Dancers focused on building the strength, flexibility and control needed to execute highly advanced Ballet moves, through batterie, jumps, leaps, and turns. As dancers progress through the year, curriculum became increasingly intricate.
Wait, don't 🍁yet! We still have to get our groove on!
Here are some practice videos in our style focus for this month!
(These videos increase in difficulty as you scroll down)
Coloring Sheet of the Month
ASAO Boutique Highlights
Not all items are on our online store yet - many are available in person only at this time. Just in- Ballerina Cat Squishmallows!
Pre-Orders for items that we do not make in-studio will go out via email Friday, September 15th. Most merchandise is available in ASAO Teal (Recreational Dance) or ASAO Navy (Elite Dance) options.
- Backpacks - Glitter or Regular (Navy or Teal)
- Sherpa Blanket Hoodies (One Logo or Many)
- Blankets (Navy or Teal)
- Slides (Black, White, Navy, or Teal)