2022 January Newsletter

Happy New Year! 

What a year it has been:).  As we round out 2021, I am thankful for all we have experienced. I’m often asked what I do, and I used to say “Teach dance.” Now, I say, “raise up the next generation of leaders to accomplish all they set out to do using the platform of dance.”

The arts are something that no longer gets the recognition as they once used to. I know that and am aware of that. It’s part of the reason why I am so passionate about it!  Trust me, I get it.  There are days where you sit back and say,

 “I spend so much on the dance class.”

“This takes up so much time”

“I just wish we had a night to sit at home.” 

But, when I asked my dad the other day WHY he kept my sister and I dancing all those years He said,” I knew you would learn things that you didn’t even realize were being taught, but that’s when you learn them best.  Wisdom is gained from experience, and I wanted you to experience it all.” Fighting through the WHY or I’m tired of fighting with you to go he said was overruled with my parents desire to:

  • Want to give us more than they had.
  • Mentors that they knew one day would guide us in their absence.
  • They wanted us to not want to finish something so when we did persevere, we knew what commitment really meant. It means finishing what said you wanted to do long after the excitement you said yes in passes.
  • They wanted us to not always get the part so when we did actually get it we earned it.
  • They wanted us to find outlets of expression.
  • They wanted us to make friends.
  • They wanted us to be well-rounded seasoned adults. 

So, this holiday season I thank you. I thank you for giving us the opportunity to be the mentors, to be a place that holds them accountable to their greatness, the place that gives them a creative outlet, that place that parents with you as a village and I thank you for giving us the privilege of being a part of their story of life.  

Wishing you and your family the very best in 2022 and we will see you “NEXT YEAR!”. 

Ms. Amy

PAJAMA SUCCESS! Thank you to everyone that participated in our annual pajama drive and Benefit Concert, what a success!!  All the participating studios did an amazing job of turning a few heads by collecting a total of 1492 pajamas and 1165 books…WOW! What a great experience we shared together.  We were able to donate to: Safe Harbor in Kaysville, Utah Foster Care Foundation from Ogden to Provo, Christmas Box House, Murray Childrens Pantry and McMillian and Horizon Elementary Schools. Great job! 

Congratulations to the following students for meeting the requirements to join our Service Society! Carina Brown, Stella Rice, Aliyah Brunisholz, Monroe Hill, Indie Hill, Olivia Jensen, Madison Kennedy, Lilly Moore, Emma Nelson, Jessi Nelson, Alysia Shaffer, Hazel Sirois, Aubrey Stillman, Lillie Swenson, Amelia Winchester, Lucy Winchester, Stella Lum, Parker Winchester, Fox Warner, Tahlula Warner, Sophia Brunisholz, Alyssa Oshiro, Bridget Huddleston, Vivian Howa, Aspen Wagner, Ruby Van Dyke, Lillian Van Dyke, Kamree Nickle, Elexis Grass and Ruby Hurst.

WELCOMING NEW STUDENTS!

We would like to give a warm welcome to all the new faces.  It is open enrollment time.  Spots are going fast.  If you know of an aspiring dancer send them our way! Pick up a “Care Enough to Share” referral card in the waiting room and get $ off!! Help us spread the word about our amazing program!

CHECK-IN PROCESS

We want to welcome the new year by making sure all of our students have their check-in credentials each time they attend class. At the time of registration, each student received a membership card.  This card needs to be attached to the bag your child brings to class each week. Upon arrival to class or an event, they will scan their card to check in.  This system improves our attendance tracking and leaves more time for learning in class. If you forget your card, the office can help you sign in. Replacement cards are $5.

AVOIDING WINTER BLUES- PUSHING THROUGH THE COLD WEATHER 

While we can’t stop the snow from falling, we can help our dancers beat the winter blues by warming them up with dance. The winter months are the best time to be attending dance lessons since seasonal depression kicks in and there is not as much outdoor time to be had. Dance lessons get you moving, laughing, and make you forget about those icicles outside for just a little while! If your dancer is struggling to push through and come to class, it’s worth the encouragement! If you can just get them in the door, they are going to have a great time and leave happier!

FALL 2022 ACADEMIC PRESCHOOL ENROLLMENT OPENS JANUARY 3RD 

We are now accepting registration for Fall 2022 preschool!  The benefit to our preschool is that it INCLUDES our dance and tumbling classes!  Get it all done in one!  We offer it all and have the BEST TEACHERS around!  Space is limited! LEARN MORE

JAN 10-14 STUDIO 56 SPIRIT WEEK

Let’s have a little FUN this month!  It’s Sprit week Jan 10-14!!  

  • Monday, DECADE Day: Send your student dressed up in styles from any decade.
  • Tuesday, CARTOON DAY: Send your student dressed up as their favorite cartoon. 
  • Wednesday, PAJAMA DAY: Send your student to class in their PJ’s today!
  • Thursday, TEACHER LOOK A LIKE DAY: Dress like your teacher today.
  • Friday, Sports/fitness day: Studio 56 Swag, dress in your favorite team jersey t-shirt 

JAN 14 PARENTS NIGHT OUT 

We have SO MUCH fun at our event called Parent’s Night Out! Mark your calendar for your JANUARY DATE NIGHT and we will take the kids…Friday, January 14th from 6:30-10:30 pm!! We have lots of fun activities planned for the kids and you can enjoy a night out child-free!  Only $20 per child ages 3 and up (must be potty trained). We will be serving Pizza @ 6:45 pm.

Sign up in your parent portal or use our quick form on our website.

JAN 17 FROZEN FRIENDS CAMP 

Who has a kiddo that loves Frozen? Register to attend our Frozen Friends Camp and we will give you an elegantly wrapped box with an ice blue tutu and special invitation! Only a few spots left!

  • When: January 17th
  • Where: Studio 56 Dance Center, West Murray location
  • CLICK HERE to register

PRESCHOOL DANCERS CAN NOW “EARN THEIR WINGS!”

We are excited to continue our fun incentive to help our preschoolers master their SKIPS! When dancers pass off skipping at dance, they will be invited to earn their wings at a “Fairy and Prince Party!” on January 28th.  Start practicing skips at home so they can EARN YOUR WINGS!

HIP HOP CLASSES- SHOE POLICY

Winter is here! Please carry your hip hop shoes into the studio and change into them before you enter the classroom.  You will be asked to dance with no shoes if you don’t have a dry pair! Thank you! 

Don’t miss out on the chance to twirl your little lady on the dance floor! Fathers, grandfathers, and uncles are invited to spend a magical evening with their little princess. Don’t forget to dress to impress for the photo booth!

  • Ballroom class!
  • Dessert station!
  • Photo Booth!

$20 per couple

$5 for additional daughters (email office to add on a sibling)

Pre-registration is preferred

Sign up here: Go to the parent portal select enroll in a class, pick the Workshop/Special Event season, follow the prompts.  

Please Note: This event is separate from our “Dad Dance” that many of you have signed up to participate in at our year-end concert Saturday, June 18th

FOR PARENTS OF SCHOOL-AGED TUMBLING/ACRO STUDENTS

January Stretch of the Month- V sit hold | Strength Challenge- Hips

We are so excited this year to have a “stretch of the month” and a “strength challenge” in our acro/tumbling classes! Encourage your child to work on these skills at home to help them improve even faster!  Be more involved by printing off the at-home practice tracker HERE.

FOR PARENTS OF PRESCHOOL DANCERS- JANUARY THEME

In January our theme is “I need a hero.”  Each class will be focused on heroes in our community.  This month we are focusing on: moving hips from side to side, following directions, echappe, step touch with jump, angry face. We hope you can find time to review these elements with your dancer at home.  It is a great way to get EVERYONE moving!! 

STUDIO FACEBOOK GROUP: Join our studio Facebook group and be a part of our community HERE!  Stay up to date on current events and connect with us!

TEXT REMINDERS: We send text reminders to the first phone number listed on your account.  You can update this anytime in your parent portal.

THANK YOU! A BIG thank you from all our teachers for all the thoughtful Christmas gifts! As always, we want to thank you for your support and appreciate you trusting your children with us! We love working them and look forward to what 2022 has in store!  

2021 December Newsletter

Dear Studio 56 Dance Families,

Happy Holidays! Wishing you and your family the very best this season. We enjoy the opportunity to work with your family and love teaching your children!

SAFER STUDIO GUIDELINES: Thank you for continuing to follow the guidelines and helping us to remain a Safer Studio. Parents, thank you for keeping kids home if they are not well, and for your enhanced efforts to practice good hygiene. As we are going into regular cold and flu season, it is important that we continue our combined efforts to follow these guidelines.  Please continue to monitor your children and do not send them to class if they have a fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, etc.  Sending a child with symptoms to class in a mask is not an acceptable solution. Please keep children home when they are sick. We appreciate your enhanced awareness and efforts in keeping our students and faculty healthy.

TIS THE SEASON! Please take a minute and post a positive review on Google and/or Facebook for us! Your kind comments really help prospective customers to feel more confident in choosing us. We will be forever grateful to you. Thank you in advance for helping us out! We appreciate your support so much.

Studio 56 Dance Center

Little Learners Preschool

Your feedback is of the utmost importance to Studio 56 Dance Center & Little Learners Preschool. We are constantly striving to provide the ideal experience for our studio families, and your input helps us to define that experience. If you ever have any concerns or suggestions, please email us @ info@studio56dance.com. Thank you!

JAN 17 FROZEN FRIEND DANCE CAMP

Who has a kiddo that loves Frozen? Register to attend our Frozen Friends Camp and we will give you an elegantly wrapped box with an ice blue tutu and special invitation to put under the tree this Christmas

HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

  • When: January 17th, 9:00-10:30, or 9:30-11
  • Where: Studio 56 Dance Center, West Murray⁠ location
  • To purchase tickets: Visit our online events by clicking here
  • *Space is limited; availability will be a 1st come 1st serve, no refunds or exchanges. 
  • Gift boxes will be available for pick up Dec 6-18 @ West Murray

CLICK HERE to register your dancer for our Frozen Camp!

Dec 6-15: PARENT PROGRAMS 

We are very excited for you to join us for a “Holiday In-Class Parent Program” Your students will join us for regular class this day, you will join us for the parent portion only. 

To help with the flow of traffic, please drop off your student and return promptly 2min before your program time noted above.  

This is an amazing opportunity for parents to see what their students are learning and how they are progressing. Below are a few guidelines to keep in mind while participating:

  • ONLY ONE or TWO adults per student will be allowed into the classroom.  
  • Please lower voice volume upon entering our waiting areas and studios.
  • Seating and space is extremely limited, come prepared to sit on the floor or stand.
  • Please refrain from distractions that will disrupt learning.
  • We expect all observers to treat the classes like a performance, recording or photography is strictly prohibited.
  • Please turn off all electronic devices before entering our studios.
  • Please do not bring infants or other children into class.

We sent a personalized class email out this week showing your day and time of your program. We’ll also be sending a text reminder the morning of to the primary phone listed on your account!)

View the schedule HERE or refer to the holiday program email for your child’s class performance date and join them for this extra special end-of-class presentation!  

DEC 10 – LAST DAY TO TURN IN PAJAMAS AND BOOKS FOR OUR WINTER SERVICE PROJECT

Our annual pajama and book drive is going on now! Our project will help support Utah Foster Care and several other local Utah charities.  We are collecting new pajamas and books at both studios until December 10th. We hope you will join us in this cause!

So many of us have grown up with the tradition of opening up a new pair of pajamas every Christmas Eve.  Kids love pajamas! We felt like giving pajamas to other children was a way to help even our youngest dancers grasp the concept of giving.  We have been collecting pajamas and books for the Utah Foster Care Foundation and several other local charities every year since.  They are always so excited to see us and so grateful for new jammies right in time for the holidays!  This event has been a wonderful way to create more holiday spirit in our students and share a little dancing joy at the same time! 

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

  • Donate new books and pajamas size preemie to adult. Drop donations off at the studio. Items can be handed to any teacher at pick up or drop off next time you are at the studio.
  • We are also collecting monetary donations which will go towards more jammies and books! Bring in cash or Venmo donations to @danceforlife and include the dancers name so the amount can go toward their service society recognition!
  • Invite others to donate! We want to involve as many people in our community as we can. Share this letter with families and friends this holiday.

What is Service Society? The pajama and book drive is our “Winter Project” and an opportunity for dancers to qualify to become a member of the “Studio 56 Dance Service Society.”  To meet the qualifications for Service Society, a dancer needs to donate 10 pairs of pajamas, or 20 books, or $50 in cash donations. We will also accept a combination of the three donations (ex. 5 pjs and 10 books).  We want to encourage students to put their hearts into this by asking friends and family to get involved and donate towards our project.  Students who meet the donation requirements will be recognized for their service with a certificate. These credentials will acknowledge their involvement in a good cause and will look amazing on future college scholarship applications and resumes! We are so excited to have a program within our studio to help teach our students the importance of service and community involvement! To get credit for your donations be sure to fill out the form on the clipboard next to the donation box!


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DEC 15: CONCERT CONSENT FORMS ARE DUE

We are starting to plan for our year-end Concert (June 17-18) and Tumbling Exhibition (June 8). Please make sure you’ve filled out the consent form to participate. 

Concert costumes must be ordered months in advance, so we’re moving forward to continue using the end-of-year performance as a tool to build confidence and provide a sense accomplishment to our students- even if that still has to look a little differently than we would like it to. We hope you’ll join us in this celebration of a successful year of hard work!  

We’ve already been busy this past month getting dancers sized for costumes and now we’re getting ready to place orders over the next few weeks! If you have NOT filled out your consent to participate in the concert, please fill it out by this Wednesday, December 1st.  Watch for the Concert Theme reveal coming soon too!

Not sure if you have registered for the concert?  You can see your concert registration by logging into your online account.

  1. Click account login
  2. Click the drop down menu (hamburger icon) in the top left corner
  3. View all my classes
  4. There you will see the enrollment for concert pay in full or 7 installments
  5. First installment payments for the concert process on December 1st or upon consent if after the 1st. 

Not sure what Concert is all about? Click here to see our highlight video!

CLICK HERE to head over to the online consent form to view details and submit the participation form.

DEC 13-17: HOLIDAY SPIRIT WEEK!

Let’s have some fun and get into the Christmas spirit! December 13-1 will be Christmas spirit week for our development and Company classes! See below for our fun dress-up themes and activities this week! Prizes will be given for creativity and stand-out outfits throughout the week.


DEC 17 PARENTS NIGHT OUT – DROP AND SHOP

We have SO MUCH fun at our event called Parent’s Night Out! Mark your calendar for your DECEMBER DATE NIGHT and we will take the kids…Friday, December 17th from 6-10 pm!! We have lots of fun activities planned for the kids and you can enjoy a night out child-free!  Only $20 per child ages 3 and up (must be potty trained). We will be serving Pizza @ 6:30 pm.

Sign up in your parent portal or use our quick form on our website.


DEC 20 – JAN 2: STUDIO CLOSED FOR WINTER BREAK

We hope you all have a wonderful December! Our schedule stays the same when we return on January 3rd. The classes you are currently registered for will continue through June 2022. NOTE: We charge the same amount every month for convenience and consistency to our families. Holidays and studio closures are factored into the season’s tuition amount and is then broken into even monthly payments.


BUN DRAWING

We loved seeing so many buns in Stars classes (school-aged ballet/jazz) last month! Keep coming with proper hair to class and earn a ticket each week for the bun raffle! Tickets will be entered into a raffle where we will announce 3 winners per studio each month for a special prize! We’ll draw new winners each month through June! To earn a ticket your dancer must:

  • Have her hair in a secure ballet bun (not a doorknob bun)
  • Use a hairnet
  • Use bobby pins to secure bun

WATCH THIS TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DO A BALLET BUN

FOR PARENTS OF SCHOOL AGED TUMBLING STUDENTS | Superman – Straddle

We want you to join us in our monthly strength and stretch challenge!  Each month we have a new challenge we are working on.  You can print it out and track your progress at home.  In the last week of the month, we will “test” our students in class and see if they can meet the goals for their age!    

CLICK HERE for this Month’s Challenge


FOR PARENTS OF PRESCHOOL DANCERS

We are excited to have a new theme each month just for preschool dancers!  This month our theme is “From My Heart to Yours“ We will be singing and dancing to holiday tunes while working on our routine for the holiday show. We encourage you to get involved and have them practice their skills at home!  This month we are focusing on gallops, head isolations, 6th position, shoulder isolations, toe touches, and sharing.  


HOLIDAY GIFTS

We can help you out this time of year! Great stocking stuffers could be new tights or dance shoes! We have limited studio beanies, hoodies, and water bottles available on our ONLINE STORE!  

Shop online and pick it up at the studio the next time you are in!


HIP HOP CLASSES- SHOE POLICY

With winter weather approaching, we need to remind you that we CANNOT have wet, salty, muddy shoes stepping onto our dance floor. Please carry your hip hop shoes into the studio and change into them before you enter the classroom.  You will be asked to dance with no shoes if you don’t have a dry pair! Thank you!