2020 Spring Production Impact from Covid-19
Dear Chamberlain School of Ballet Families and Students,
It has been a while since my last email to you. I hope you and your child(ren) have been enjoying our online classes as much as my teachers and I have. The time I get to spend connecting with my students and seeing them smile, as they learn a form of art which has so deeply shaped my life, has been the shining bright sport in what have become some otherwise worrisome and anxiety riddled days. For that relief, and that joy, I am forever grateful.
As you may remember, our annual Spring Performances were originally scheduled for this past weekend, April 24-25. After COVID-19's outbreak we were forced to reschedule our annual recital performances to be held on May 3 and May 20. Sadly, these will also be cancelled.
We will begin refunding performance fees to you beginning May 30 as we need time to be refunded our deposit from the performance venue. As for options of refunding your performance fees are:
1) refund your full payment either by check or onto a credit card of your choice.
2) apply your performance fees as a credit towards summer or fall dance classes.
3) designate your performance fee as a donation to help Chamberlain School of Ballet financially sustain itself during these difficult times.
Carolyn Cox will be sending an email to each family member whose accounts have a credit due to the cancellation of our Spring Performances. Please respond back to Carolyn with your preferred option for the refunding of your performance fees.
My heart breaks knowing that we won't get some truly special moments on stage this year. I know we all ALWAYS laugh with joy when an adorable pre-ballet student bows, smiles SO bright, and saunters off the wrong side of the stage with their classmates wondering "..where are they going????". Children need to be able to dance, learn, laugh, and be themselves.
I am putting in every effort to forge ahead and be able to continue providing dance education to those who are wanting to continue. As such, Carolyn will soon be sending out a quick survey which we hope you will take a few minutes to answer. We know times are difficult, and we would love to be able to form a solution to meet your needs. In the event we are not to run the school at full capacity by the summer, we are trying to identify a path forward which harmonizes your needs and our capacity to train through online, reduced class sizes, and private/semi-private coaching.
In the event we are able to assume partial or full reopening of our school this summer, we will be taking every precaution we can. From sterilization of the facility to coordinating entry/exits per studio to minimize contact between individuals; this virus will be with us for some time, and your family's health is always of top concern. More details will follow upon reopening the studio space.
We all wish this virus had not happened, arrived, or been allowed to affect all our lives with such impact. Humans are a social species. It is why we love our ballet schools and time together. So, please do try to stay safe with clean hands and social distancing. As we are out running our errands we need to do our best to minimize our possible spread of the virus. For now though, if your only human contact is seeing our faces in our online classes, that is wonderful...you should wash your hands after class, top. Thank you all for your continued support.
Stay safe, stay well, and peace be with you,
Kathy Chamberlain
Founder/Artistic Director