24
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
VIRTUAL DANCE:
Summer session
is planned in July
Continued from page 3
and reshaped them for an
online audience.
Liddell explained, <I set
it up so that all of our classes
would be offered on the Zoom
platform and remain on their
normal schedule. There was
a big learning curve for me
and the other teachers, and it
took many hours to get it all
set up, to communicate to our
families how we would be
continuing, and to help them
understand how to access
their child9s classes.
<We started our online
schedule April 6, and are so
grateful and amazed at the
adaptability of our dancers
and families and the contin-
ued support to make it all
work.=
She added, <The kids have
been dancing in their homes
4 anywhere from bedrooms
to living rooms, to kitchens,
to hallways, outside in their
backyard, you name it, we9ve
pretty much seen it!=
One benefit of virtual
classes is an opportunity for
more parental engagement.
Instead of waiting in the car
for their kid9s class to finish,
mom, dad, and the rest of the
family can join in.
Dance mom Tara Shafer
was moved after watching
her daughter dance during a
We started our online
schedule April 6, and are
so grateful and amazed
at the adaptability of our
dancers and families and
the continued support
to make it all work.
— Lonnie Liddell
PHOTO PROVIDED
A young dancer works on her moves with virtual tutoring from Lonnie Liddell.
Zoom class.
Shafer said, <I wasn9t
expecting to get emo-
tional during Autumn9s first
COVID-19 quarantine dance
class, but it hit me hard how
strong the human spirit is and
I couldn9t stop the tears!=
As with any new platform,
there are always struggles and
learning and teaching online
is very different than being
physically there.
<Some of our students
just couldn9t continue with
the online format for vary-
ing reasons and over 30 per-
cent of our students chose to
end their dance season early,=
Liddell said. <Not only finan-
cially was this a big loss to
the studio, but with each stu-
dent9s farewell, our hearts
ached to not to be able to con-
tinue teaching and connecting
with them.=
This is the first time in
11 years that Sisters Dance
Academy did not present a
live show in June.
Liddell said, <It has been a
difficult thing to accept 4 not
only for myself as the artistic
director, but for our teachers
and students. The spring show
Sparks will fly!
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GoFundMe fundraiser for the
academy to help support the
programs through these diffi-
cult months.
<When I got word that
they were doing this, I was
overwhelmed with gratitude,
humbled beyond measure,
and was literally brought to
tears,= Liddell said. <In not
even two weeks9 time, the
fundraiser goal they had set
for $6,000 was met.=
As Oregon entered Phase
1 of re-opening, Liddell was
met with another wave of big
decisions to be made.
<We wanted to be able to
reopen and bring students
back in, but we knew there
were still many uncertainties.
THANK YOU to all our readers
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is something we all look for-
ward to and train for all year
long. The June performance
also brings in revenue that
helps support and maintain
the studio through its slower
summer months.=
Then something unfore-
seen took place. Candy
Williams, parent to teacher
and choreographer Kayla
Wi l l i a m s , a n d A n d r e a
McAffrey, sister to Kayla
Williams and a parent of a
dance student, recognized
the hardship the dance stu-
dio would be facing with the
effects of losing students,
not having a spring perfor-
mance and on the business
as a whole. They organized a
I wanted to be able to make
decisions that gave our fami-
lies flexibility and choices
for students returning to
our physical dance space. I
decided for a slow open start-
ing in June.=
Sisters Dance Academy
will gradually bring dancers
back in person with all of the
COVID-19 protocols in place
and continue to offer all of
their classes online through
Zoom, so if families still feel
uncomfortable to return, they
can still dance online. They
plan for the Spring 2020 sea-
son to conclude the fourth
week of June.
Liddell noted, <We have
also decided we will be doing
recordings of each of our
classes the fourth week of
June. Students who choose
not to return to the physi-
cal studio have been asked
to record themselves per-
forming their choreography
at home and submit them to
us. We will then be editing
together all of the footage for
a special recorded showcase
that will be available to our
dance families as a free digi-
tal download.=
Going forward the dance
academy will be having a six-
week summer session from
July 13 through August 21,
which will include a com-
bination of small in-person
classes and online offerings.
Once the summer schedule
is finalized it will be avail-
able to view and enroll online
through their website, www.
danceinsisters.com.
541-549-9280 | 207 W. Sisters Park Dr. | PonderosaForge.com
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