How to Prep for the Best Dance Year Ever!

Prepping for the BEST Dance Year Ever!

We are SO excited to get back to dance! We’re looking forward to a year filled with classes, performances, workshops, and more! Whether your child is returning or BRAND new to Positions Studio, we are so excited to welcome them back. 

Most parents are very accustomed to prepping and shopping for the school year. In order for your dancer to have the best experience possible, we recommend taking a little time to also do some dance year prep! 

We’ve rounded up some of our BEST tips for prepping for a new dance year. If you have questions or need more information, please feel free to reach out to our team. We are always happy to help and want you to feel confident as we head into another dance season. 

Four Tips for Prepping for the Upcoming Dance Year: 

1. Make Sure Your Dancer Has the Proper Dance Supplies

Different dance classes require different supplies. It’s important for dancers to wear the appropriate attire and shoes for their classes. Just like any other sport or activity, having the right dancewear and shoes will help students perform better and focus on their technique. Luckily, we have everything you might need for classes in our Dance Store! Located in our lobby, we maintain a large inventory of shoes, leotards, and accessories! 

You can stop by our store during our office hours and our knowledgeable staff is always there to make recommendations and answer any questions you may have! 

2. Start Stretching and Cross Training Before Our Season Starts to Avoid Injury

We hope everyone had a fun, restful, and exciting summer! Fall may mean a return to more technique classes and longer, fun-filled dance days for your child. 

In anticipation of a more rigorous schedule, we recommend taking some time to stretch and do some cross-training. We recommend taking a look at this wonderful article discussing all the ways dancers can continue to care for themselves and maintain a healthy dancing body! 

3. Prepare Your Child’s Dance Bag

Having a dance bag is SO helpful when you’re running out the door! All shoes, clothing, first-aid (for older dancers), and accessories can be put in your child’s dance bag. Giving your child’s shoes a home and reminding them that they are only for dance class can help you avoid last-minute scrambles to locate your child’s dance gear.  Please put your child’s name on everything, including their bag. 

4. Discuss Expectations for Dance Classes 

If your child is a bit older, you already know that it is perfectly fine to drop them off and pick them up later. For younger students, we recommend taking some time before the first week to discuss what they can expect when they arrive at the studio. 

Parents will walk their child into the studio, help them get ready for class, and then pass them on to their teacher to take the lead. We will ALWAYS come find you if your dancer needs you. Things tend to go much better when you give your child a little space. This may be a new space and experience for them! Please give your child a few weeks to adjust. After class, be sure to greet your child with an enthusiastic hug and let them show you what they learned! 

We are ready for another amazing dance year filled with learning, new memories, and growth! We’re ready to watch our dancers soar this dance year. Our team is passionate about continuing to make Positions a dance studio that your child loves being at and training at! 

Registration is ongoing in classes with availability for the 2022/2023 dance year. We’d love to have your family join us. Cheers to the best dance year ever! Please remember we are ALWAYS here to help! 

Fall Fitness: Self-Care Season

Happy Fall! We’ve survived our first (and hopefully our last) summer in a pandemic! On top of that, we survived a stay-at-home quarantine, and NOW the start of a socially-distant, masked school year. We’ve been through a lot!

This month on our blog, we are talking about self-care! Now that your kids are off to school and their Fall schedules are taking shape, it’s time to focus on YOU. This may be the first time you’ve experienced a kid-free house since March. So together, let’s make this Fall the Season of Self-Care! 

Ask any expert, and they will tell you that one of the best ways to care for yourself is to stay active and get those endorphins flowing. That’s why we are BACK and better than ever with the best Adult Fitness Classes in Babylon this Fall! Our classes are in-person with safety precautions in place such as limited class sizes and a pre-registration requirement. 

Who’s ready for some Fall Fitness?! Check out our class offerings and join us as we start a NEW Season of Self-Care! 

Yoga
We’re putting this one at the TOP of our list this Fall because it pairs your workout with breathing and meditation… the IDEAL self-care combo! Get a full body workout through a series of poses that work on flexibility, strength, and stamina. Class finishes with a guided meditation! 

Mindful Movement
Another class that is not only a great workout, but also PACKED with self-care goodies! This class improves core strength and flexibility and always concludes with breathing/mindfulness exercises to help you conquer your day! 

Power Vinyasa
If you’re ready to take your gentle yoga flow up a few notches, join us in this class as we move through our poses and rock out to a new, upbeat playlist each week! 

Barre Fitness
A ballet-inspired workout that will help you tone your legs, lift your glutes, and strengthen your upper body and core. We even offer Barre Express options that will pack your workout into 30 mins for those of us who struggle to fit self-care time into our schedules!

Cardio Strength
This class is a well-rounded, full-bodied workout that incorporates strength training, stretching, AND cardio.

Adult Dance Classes
Dance is our FAVORITE workout here at the studio, mostly because you forget that you are working out! It’s easy to get lost in the music and the fun dance moves while you focus on new skills and technique. We’re offering adult ballet, tap, and modern this Fall which is the perfect way to pencil in some me-time!

Pilates 
Pilates is a series of exercises designed to strengthen and lengthen the core muscles, a great way to care for your spinal health and posture!

Ready to join us during our Self-Care Season?! Here’s how to get started while helping us stay safe this Fall:

1. View the class schedule online! 

2. Find the class and time that work best for you! 

3. Click on your desired class and Pre-Register 

4. Pay for your class at our drop-in rate OR purchase a class card!

5. Head to the studio and get to sweatin’! Be sure to bring your own gear to class (mask, yoga mat, towel, and any props needed for class) due to our new COVID-19 protocols. 

6. Smile and pat yourself on the back as you conquer a self-care win! 

We can’t wait to see YOU at our Adult Fitness Classes in Babylon this Fall! 

4 Reasons Why Being in a Dance Class is SO Important Right Now

Being a parent during a pandemic is not exactly a walk in the park. When a child is hungry, you feed them. When a child is sick, you take them to the doctor. When a child experiences a pandemic, sees the world flipped upside down, and probably doesn’t completely understand why, you…? 

Well, if you’re feeling lost on how to support your kids right now, check out this great article from the Child Mind Institute that we stumbled upon a few days ago. It’s got some great tips! When we read it, we couldn’t help but realize that dance class just so happens to check off quite a few things on that list. 

Dance is amazingly beneficial for kids. We’ve known this for years, which is why we’ve chosen to dedicate our lives to it. But when we think about what kids NEED during a pandemic, dance class seems even more magical than ever before. We are SO excited to dance with your children this Fall, especially because we know they will need it more than ever before. 

4 Reasons Why Being in a Dance Class is SO Important Right Now:

1. Back to a Routine

Kids need structure in their lives, and with almost nothing normal these days, finding that structure is super difficult. That’s why a weekly dance class that remains consistent throughout the ENTIRE school year is so valuable right now. 

We guarantee that when you sign up for one of our Fall Dance Classes, your child will have something to look forward to every week. They will settle into a groove when they have that consistency in their lives. More importantly, when they have consistent activities and structure, they will be less likely to act out and need YOUR attention at home. 

2. Socialization

In the year of social distancing, all of us are feeling the negative emotional impacts of isolation and being apart from others. While we may not be able to help your kids feel physically closer with their friends, we certainly can help them feel connected once again. 

In dance class, the smiles are contagious. The community feel is automatic and comes about organically. When you’re in a room dancing together, you feel together, no matter how far apart. We can’t wait to help your kids bloom into the social butterflies that they were before quarantine!

3. Physical Activity

With many sports cancelled, and A LOT more use of technology over the past couple months, I think we could ALL use some move-your-body time. Here at Positions Dance Studio, that is what we do BEST! 

Send your kids to us this Fall for a full body workout and a feel-good endorphins boost. In class, we get our heart rates up while also utilizing muscle control and flexibility. Dancing really is the whole package. Not to mention our adult fitness classes! Come move with us this Fall! 

4. Supportive and Positive Adults 

We KNOW you’re already doing this at home. But parents are humans too, and it’s unrealistic to expect yourself to stay positive for you kids 100% of the time (especially during a pandemic). That’s where we come in. 

It’s our JOB to be there for your kids. Our goal is to bring our students unwavering and unconditional positivity. At dance, we’re here to build them up for their own sake, but also so YOU don’t have to be the only one doing so. We’re here for both you and your child, now more than ever. 

Are you ready to make all of this magic happen for your child this Fall?! We are too! We are now accepting enrollment for our 2020/2021 Dance Season. Click here to view the schedule and register today! 

Making this list got our warm and fuzzies going, simply because we LOVE what we do. It’s time for another great year of dance at Positions Dance Studio, and we can’t wait to bring your children all the things that they need MOST right now. 

How We Are Safely Returning to the Studio

Positions Families, the time has finally come! The moment we’ve ALL been waiting for: a return to in-studio classes at Positions! For months, our staff has been saying that we CAN’T wait to be back in the studio with our dancers. Now that we are preparing to do so, the excitement is building, but this big step is certainly not one we take lightly. 

During all the chaos these past couple of months, one thing has always stayed the same. Your safety is our number one priority. Our staff is busy transforming our facility and re-thinking our procedures to ensure that our students are safe when they walk in our doors. We are dedicated to you and our responsibility to the community. 

As we accept enrollment for our fall and summer classes, we have put together a new set of policies that we’d like all of our families to take note of. The studio experience may look a little different than years past, but we are confident that it will be a great one.  

How We are Safely Returning to the Studio: 

1. Limiting Class Sizes

To ensure that there is room in our studios for proper social distancing, our class’ capacity numbers will be smaller than usual. If classes fill and there are dancers interested in joining, we will open new classes to ensure that our families get the classes they need. 

With limited class sizes in mind, be sure to view our schedule and register before your preferred class time fills up! 

2. Now Requiring Pre-Registration for All Adult Classes

Adult classes are being offered in-person (outdoors) and on Zoom. Due to limited class sizes to allow for social distancing, we are utilizing a new software to ensure that our drop-in adult dance/fitness classes do not exceed capacity limits. We’ve made it easy for you! Just visit our website and click the registration link next to the class you’d like to attend. 

Those who previously purchase class cards will be able to reactivate them. Please contact the studio to unfreeze your account! Our Summer 2020 Adult Classes run from July 20th - August 28th. View the schedule today! 

3. Drop-Off Only Policy

For all students over the age of 5 years old, parents will not be allowed in the studio to watch class or relax in the lobby. You will have the option to remotely view class via the Zoom Links posted in the parent portal. Parents of preschool children may accompany them inside and occasionally check on class, but we ask that you rotate your time in the lobby. This change was made in order to reduce the amount of people in our space at any given time. 

4. Hand sanitizer and temperature checks at the door!

When arriving at our facility, your student will be greeted by a Positions staff member who will use a touchless thermometer to check the temperature of each dancer before. We’ve also added hand sanitizing stations at the entrance, which will be mandatory for all dancers to use. 

5. Now Requiring Masks to Enter

Students must wear a mask while entering or exiting the building. However, the mask is not required while dancing. Need a mask? We’ve designed special Positions Dance Studio masks for our dancers who are ready to enter in style! Stop by our dance store to get yours today!  

6. Now Requiring Props for Ages 5+

In order to keep our surfaces free from cross-contamination, all dancers ages 5+ are required to bring a yoga mat and hand towel to class. View our graphic below to double-check that your child has everything they need!

Positions Dance Studio is now offering special, branded back to dance packages! Take 20% off when you purchase all 3 items!

7. Socially Distant Dancing! 

We’ve prepped our studio from top to bottom - literally! Our dance floors are now equipped with floor stickers for our dancer’s feet, surrounded by individual, taped boxes. 6 feet apart, but dancing together! 

8. A Revamped Cleaning Schedule

Our staff will be sanitizing high traffic areas such as barres, doorknobs, and bathrooms between each class. Heavy-duty cleaning will be done at the end of the night to prepare for the next day of classes. 

As you can see, we’ve put great thought and detail into our back-to-studio planning. We’re committed to a safe return to the studio. The safety of our dancers, families, and staff is always number one on our list. Be well, and we can’t wait to see you at the studio!