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 5 star 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.
Your feedback is of the utmost importance to Expressions Dance & 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@dancetoexpress.com. Thank you!
DEC 2: PARENTS NIGHT OUT- DROP AND SHOP!
We have SO MUCH fun at Parent’s Night Out! Mark your calendar for your DECEMBER DATE NIGHT and we will take the kids…Friday, December 2nd from 6-10 pm at our Centerville location! We have lots of fun activities planned for the kids and you can enjoy a night out CHILD FREE! Cost is $20 per child. Pizza will be served. Must be potty trained. Register in your parent portal in the “Special Events” season or respond to this email and we can sign you up. Space is limited!
DEC 21-JAN 3: NO CLASSES FOR WINTER BREAK
We hope you all have a wonderful December! Our schedule stays the same when we return on January 4th. The classes you are currently registered for will continue through June 2023. 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.
Dec 17: HOLIDAY SHOWCASE: “CHRISTMAS COOKIE SOCIALS”
Our in-studio Christmas Cookie Social offers students a low-key, fun, and simple performance that allows dancers time in front of an audience to help them become more comfortable performing! Participation includes a cookie (of course), and a simple costume accessory rental (skirt, tutu, hat, etc.) given to dancers when they arrive. Female dancers in stars classes will wear their class uniform as their base costume. Preschool/Pre-K girl dancers need a black leotard for their base costume. Boys will wear blue jeans or black pants and a red or green tshirt.
Participation is $30
Check enrollment in your parent portal by clicking on “View My Classes”
If you still need to sign up, you can register online for a show time in the parent portal HERE
Select “Enroll in a class” and select the special events season
Scroll through to Dec 17th and find your child’s class type. Select any time for that class!
Free admission for up to 4 spectators per participant
Tumbling classes, Tiny Tots, and Diaper Dancers do not participate in the Holiday Performance
RECITAL UPDATES:
Can you believe it, we are already preparing for our next big show! The Tumble Exhibition is June 2 & 3, 2023 and the year-end Recital is June 10, 2023. Costumes must be ordered months in advance, so we’ve already started sizing dancers in classes and will be getting costumes ordered this month.
When starting class this season, you submitted the waiver that included details about our June Recital. All students are automatically enrolled to participate in the year-end recital and/or the tumble exhibition.
The automatic performance deposit processed on Oct 15
Installment amounts will be processed with tuition from November-June.
To see your child’s participation schedule, go to your parent portal HERE.
Select "View All My Classes" in the top left navigation.
Your child’s registration for events in which they are participating will show there.
If you have not submitted your form, you can do that here: https://app.hellosign.com/s/4G1b4sAE
If you need to review the information, the Parent Guide includes all performance details.
Not sure what recital is all about? Watch this highlight video. New knowledge and skills abound when it comes to preparing for the recital … and we’re not just talking about learning dance steps! There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to all of the advantages of recital participation. Check out some of the unique benefits your child will acquire that go beyond the performance itself HERE.
THINKING OF THE HOLBROOK FAMILY
We are sad to announce a tragic loss for one of our studio families this week. Abby Holbrook, on our Petite Company, lost her mom, Jenn, on Thursday night. She passed away in her sleep. Our hearts go out to Abby and her brother (Jack) and father (Derek) in this horribly difficult time.
We've put together a flower delivery for this week from our dance family. We are also organizing a 12 days of Christmas delivery for Abby and her brother with her Petite teammates.
As a studio family, we want to help in any way we can. Here are a few options if you’d like to contribute:
We’re collecting donations as a studio family to give directly to the Holbrook family in the form of cash gift cards to help them. They’ve had so many people drop off food already, so we’d like to be able to give them help when that stops coming. Send venmo to @expressionsdance with HOLBROOK as the memo.
Drop off gift cards, letters, or anything you’d like to either studio, and we’ll deliver it to the family.
Friends and extended family have set up a gofundme you can donate funds to. (We encourage you to contribute to the studio donation fund so we can avoid fees on the gofund me.)
Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
WINTER PROJECT: PAJAMAS AND BOOKS DUE BY FRIDAY, DEC 9
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 Friday, December 9. We hope you will join us in this cause!
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!
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 “Expressions 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!
DRESS CODE STICKER CHARTS
We are excited for our new dress code incentive program! All students have received a sticker chart at their first class this week. This will need to stay in their bag and brought to dance each day. Every day they come to class in proper dress code including hair and all required shoes, they will receive a sticker! When they fill up their sticker chart, they will receive a dress to impress pin they can put on their dance bag! We hope this program will help make kids excited and motivated to follow the dress code and help be responsible at home with packing their bag.
WATCH THIS TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DO A BALLET BUN
CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS!
We can help you out this time of year! Great stocking stuffers could be new tights or dance shoes! We have limited studio beanies, bags, and water bottles available on our online store HERE! Order yours today! While supplies last!
FOR PARENTS OF PRESCHOOL DANCERS- DECEMBER THEME
In December our theme is "From My Heart to Yours." Each class will be focused around Christmas! This month we are focusing on: gallop, moving your head, shoulders, 6th position (feet together), sharing, and toe touches. We hope you can find time to review these elements with your dancer at home. It is a great way to get EVERYONE moving!!
FOR PARENTS OF SCHOOL AGED TUMBLING/ACRO STUDENTS
December Stretch of the Month- Straddle | Strength Challenge- Superman
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.
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!
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!
UPCOMING EVENTS 2022-23
December 17: Holiday Performance @ Bountiful
December 21-Jan 3: Winter Break, no classes
January 7: Frozen Friends Camp
January 16: MLK Day, no classes
February 4: Valentine Ball @ Centerville
February 20: President’s Day, no classes
February 24: Skipping Party (preschool/pre-k)
March 31: Mom & Me Paint Night @ Centerville
April 3-7: Spring Break, no classes
April 10-21: Parent Peek Week & Rollover Rally
April 14 Tutu Testing (for Pre-K students)
April 17: Pathways for Dancers Meeting
May 20: Recital Picture Day @ Centerville
May 29: Memorial Day, no classes
June 2-3: Tumble Exhibition
June 10: Recital
June 12: Family Appreciation Pool Party
June 15: Banana Splits Pass Off Party
June 16: Last day of classes
June 19-21: 2023-24 Company Auditions
Dear Dancers and Parents,
We are so excited to tell you about our pajama and book drive. Together, with other sister studios, we are going to collect new books and pajamas for all children sizes Preemie to adult to be donated to those in need throughout Utah.
In 2009 a few studio owners decided that it shouldn't just be about dancing during the holidays, it should be about “making a difference” in someone else’s life! 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 each and every year since. They are always so excited to see us and so grateful for new jammies right in time for the holidays!
PROJECT DETAILS:
Pajamas and books must be new, please NO hangers!
Pajamas are needed for all sizes. From preemie up to adults.
We are also collecting monetary donations. This 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!
Our studio has a goal for each dancer to collect 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 recommend having students purchase pajamas they would wear themselves to donate. This way they feel more connected to the project and the recipients. We are always in need of more adult sizes too, so spread the word!
Involve everyone around you! Ask for donations from your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. We have included a letter that we encourage you to share with everyone you know. We want to involve as many people in our community as we can. An email version will also follow this letter. Please forward it to your contacts.
We will be collecting pajamas at the studio, and the night of the benefit concert.
This is one of our favorite times of the year and we feel that this is a wonderful opportunity to teach our students about giving service. We want our dancers to be involved with friends and classmates in feeling the spirit of giving together during the holidays. We are a strong group of loving individuals and if we come together we can make a difference in someone else’s life! Please help us make our project a huge success!
Happy Holidays!
Expressions Dance and Preschool
