CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Latest Update – Thursday, April 30th, 2020

Due to the public health crisis caused by COVID-19, American Youth Dance Theater is conducting Spring Semester classes through distance learning. All students enrolled for the Spring 2020 semester have the opportunity to access weekly dance class and recital choreography videos through our online classroom, as well as participating in Live Zoom Sessions with their teachers during their regularly scheduled class times. 

Currently, our Summer 2020 schedule is set to begin on June 22, 2020. American Youth Dance Theater will continue to follow all safety and social distancing guidelines that are set in place by the CDC and New York City. We will be regularly posting updates to our website and social media platforms. For more information on our Summer Programs, please click the links below to view our Summer Class Schedule and browse our Summer Camp options for children’s ages 3.5-10 years old. 

Summer 2020 Class Schedule

Kids Dance Camp (Ages 3.5-5.5)

Half Day Dance Camp for Kids (Ages 6.5-10)

Junior Art in Motion (Ages 5.5-6.5)

Art in Motion (Ages 6.5-10)

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Dear Parents and Students,

We hope that everyone remains in good health. These are trying times and we all so much look forward to seeing your children at the studio again and resuming normal life. Our teachers and administrative staff have been working very hard over the past two weeks to put together an online platform for our students to keep up with their dance classes while we are confined to our homes.  AYDT Online is now live and will run until we are able to resume classes at the studio!  Please note that we have cancelled our April spring break and will be running straight through the end of the semester. Please read the general information below. Instructions for accessing your class portals were emailed on Friday, March 27.  If you did not receive the email please contact admin@aydt.nyc for more information.

GENERAL:

• WEEKLY CLASSES – Each level will have a new pre-recorded class each week to access at your convenience. Classes will contain all the material normally covered in classes, which the teachers feel can be done safely at home, in a small space and without bothering your neighbors :)
• ADDITIONAL CONTENT – To offer our students more dance related activities while they are cooped up at home, teachers are also providing optional additional weekly activities.
• UNLIMITED CLASSES – As an added bonus we are giving students access to all the classes that are available for their levels, so all students will have the option to do multiple weekly classes and students in Pre-K4 through High School will have complimentary access to all dance styles offered for their age group to give them extra physical activity and inspiration during this difficult time period.
• ZOOM – In lieu of personal in class connection, teachers will be offering live Zoom sessions with their students once a week for 10-15 minutes. This is where students will get to connect with their teachers personally, say hello, have small talk, ask questions about the weekly class material and discuss any optional assignments which they’ve completed. It will also be a nice opportunity for the students to “see” each other and interact with their classmates. Please note that we are putting out an initial zoom time schedule now, but that it is subject to change based on the needs of our faculty, many of whom are also juggling childcare and homeschooling.
• RECITAL – At this point it is too early to make any definitive recital plans. As the weeks progress and we get a better idea of how long the duration of this confinement period may be, we will be in touch with our decision on how to handle the recital. For the time being teachers for all Junior classes and younger Senior classes will continue working on recital choreography with their students. Upper level Senior classes will concentrate purely on technique for the time being since their dances are much more complicated and not really conducive to remote learning. We know that our upper level students are fast learners and we feel that if they spend their remote learning time on maintaining their technique, they will be able to learn their dances quickly if we are indeed able to return to the studio early enough to prepare for a recital.
• SAFETY – As noted above, teachers are planning their online classes based on what students can safely do at home. The best home surfaces to practice on are carpet or wood floor. The small amount of jumping that is included should be done lightly and smaller than would done on a dance studio floor. (Your neighbors will thank you for this too)! If your home surface is hard or slippery students should use extra caution. Bare feet sometimes work better on a slippery surface. A yoga mat, towel or blanket can be used as a cushion for exercises done lying down. Other specifics including how to practice tap at home will be discussed in the videos and zoom sessions.

Stay healthy!