Dear Academy Families,

Hathaway Academy of Ballet hopes this finds our ballet families doing well. We hope you know that we are keeping our students in our hearts, and have planned a Virtual Class system with Zoom to keep them connected with their extracurricular dance classes. We know our students love dance, and the dance studio is like their second home.

We are excited to announce that we will be starting online virtual classes via Zoom! Classes will commence Monday March 30th.

Per the City of Plano, Hathaway Academy of Ballet unfortunately is required to keep the doors to our studio closed until April 24th. You can see the order from the City of Plano below. During this time that social distancing is encouraged and we have been mandated to isolate ourselves, the academy has put together a virtual class plan based upon the appropriate student age and class level, and we have constructed a schedule that is as close to the students’ regular ‘in studio’ class times as possible. We hope this will keep the students connected to their regular weekly dance schedule. The capabilities of these virtual classes will be interactive, and we will have the ability to communicate instructions easily, as well as being able to give corrections and feedback to the students.

As we navigate through this difficult time, our faculty will ensure that this style of learning is useful, beneficial, and productive for all our students. With that being said, we have put together some guidelines that will help the students be prepared and will make their virtual dance class experience successful.

A link to your dancer’s specific class has been emailed to you with the following instructions. Please note that these links are for internal use only and are not to be shared with students outside of the academy.

Set-up Guide: Before the class begins:

• Download the app to your device and create an account with ZOOM

• Find an area in the house away from noise, that has enough space where your dancer can sit to stretch and stand to kick.

• Decide which device will be used, we suggest an ipad, tablet, or laptop. You can use a smart phone but it’s more difficult for students to see what the instructor is doing on such a small device.Other ideas include screen mirroring your device to your TV, Smart TV, or connecting your laptop to a TV with an HDMI cord. Figure out in advance how you will set up your device so that the student’s full body can be seen.

• If your floor is hard you may want to have a yoga mat or towel to lay on. If it’s slippery go barefoot or try socks.

• Students need to mute their device once the class begins to avoid outside noise distraction to others. This is also important so that younger students don’t visit with each other while the class is in progress.

• Once the class starts, please use the ‘pin video’ function to make the teacher’s screen bigger on your device. If you’re on a computer, toggle your mouse over the teacher’s image, click the three dots highlighted in blue in the upper right hand corner and click ‘pin video’. If you are on a phone, press and hold on the teacher’s image to ‘pin video’.

• Have young dancers use the bathroom before class and keep a water bottle nearby.

• Dancers should come to class with hair neatly tied back, in a leotard and leggings or tights. This puts them in the right frame of mind and alleviates distraction.

• If you have a dancer between ages 3 and 5 it is helpful for a parent or older sibling to be near or even take part in the class, to make it more fun and help keep them focused (you don’t have to be seen on the screen).

PLEASE NOTE: students are welcome to take more classes during the week than what they would normally take ‘in studio’. They may take classes at their assigned level as well as the level below*.

*If your student would like to participate in a lower level or make up class, please email us for the Zoom ID link to attend.

If you have any additional questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact us. Your class teacher will also be able to help once you get logged in to the meeting/class.

Disclaimer: if you choose to record any classes, please note that the recording(s) can only be for personal use. It is prohibited to post recorded classes on any public platform [i.e. YouTube or any social media sites].

In these chaotic times of finding our “new normal”, Hathaway Academy of Ballet is happy to be able to provide the opportunity for our students to move and dance, to continue their technical and physical training, and to have an outlet for their emotions that all of us find ourselves dealing with in these interesting and trialing times. Our directors, faculty, and staff are dedicated to the well-being and education of our students, and we know that we will come out of this dancing with fuller hearts, and stronger than ever. Know that we miss seeing and having all of you in the studio, we can’t wait to be back!

Thank you for your patience and continued support. As teachers we were all young dancers and know how much they miss their classes. Like any serious young artist, dance becomes so much of who they are. Our goal is to try and keep their bodies strong, minds engaged, and community together.

Kirt and Linda and the HAB Faculty