Hello everyone and welcome to Troyanda's 2020-2021 dance season!

Firstly, I would like to thank our 2019/20 board members, our instructors and assistants, and all of our families for all of their hard work the past year with an unexpected twist that brought our club and many other things to a halt. Some of our board members have resigned from their positions this year and a new board was chosen at our Annual General Meeting that was held on September 3rd. 

So, with that being said, I would like to introduce myself: I am Stacie Fahlman and I will be Troyanda's president this dance season! Over the past four years I have held a few different positions on the Troyanda board and I have been a Troyanda dancer in the adult groups since 2010, my daughter joined the club in 2017 and my son in 2019. I have Ukrainian danced with multiple other clubs over the years, as well as instructed for four Ukrainian dance groups including Troyanda! Those who know me know how passionate and dedicated I am to Ukrainian dance and culture, so I am very VERY excited and looking forward to a different but fantastic year for our children and club! I would also like to welcome and introduce our board members: Sheri Ferris (Vice President), Christie Ockochinski (Treasurer), Cheryl Mikolas (Secretary), Megan Mickelson & Verena Popowich (Past Presidents), Michelle Eckhart (Fundraising Coordinator), Tammie Latimer and Elyse Thomas (Costume Coordinators).

This season of dance will begin in Yorkton on Thursday, September 24th; Serhiy and Liana Zabutnyy will be back to instruct! The first month of this dance year will look slightly different than previous years. Upon receiving all registrations, we will be dividing the children based on age and will be starting with technique. Covid-19 guidelines will be followed and will be explained in further detail below. These technique classes will be used as an assessment tool for the instructors and children will be placed into groups according to their abilities, we want all of our dancers to be challenged and in a group that they will succeed in!

As for the Covid-19 guidelines, we will be preparing a page on our website for our club. Most of where we are getting our information from can be found at the links at the bottom of this post. Here are some key points of the guidelines:

1. Class sizes will be limited and class schedules will be staggered to allow for the smallest possible traffic volumes and time for sanitizing of all rooms and surfaces between groups.
2. No gatherings or spectators permitted; Parents will walk their child to the door and a designated person will ensure they get to their class.
3. All dancers and instructors will sanitize their hands before and after class.
4. No changing areas will be provided; dancers will be required to show up and leave in their dance clothes and long hair will need to be pulled back into a bun.
5. Limited belongings are allowed to come inside with the students; please ensure your child has their own water bottle if needed and it will be sanitized at the studio entrance before being taken into class. No food allowed.
6. Absolutely no sick children or instructors will be permitted in the studio.
7. Floors will be gridded off in approximately 6’x6’ sections for each child, which they will remain in throughout the class.
8. Masks are not required for in class but students may wear them if they would like. Masks are recommended but not required while getting to and from class within the building.

As you all know, we really can’t predict what this entire year will look like for performances (etc.) as details on Covid-19 have been changing almost daily! But we will continue to monitor the changes and keep the club informed and adjust accordingly, let's all keep our fingers crossed for the better! At this time, we are hoping to have some sort of choreography for the groups, even if it is just bits and pieces to keep our kid’s mind’s engaged, but social distancing will be applied. It is sounding like in-person competitions will not be happening this year, however there are clubs that will be doing on-line competitions which we may be able to take part in!

Take care and stay safe!

Stacie

Links:

Saskatchewan Performing Arts Guidelines

Saskatchewan Dance Reopening Guidelines for COVID-19 (Created by Canadian Dance Teachers’ Association SK Branch)