Hi There Wonderful Dancers & Families of Aurora Dance Arts, 

Ms. Maggie here, checking in with our monthly newsletter. It's still July, but back-to-school time is right around the corner & that also means that we're going to be heading BACK TO DANCE!!! Autumn is my favorite season. There's such a buzz of energy in the air & such a feeling of renewal & excitement, especially in regard to starting a new dance season. 

We have been having a sensational Summer Dance season, and we thank all of you who have been participating in summer dance technique classes & camps/intensives. We have been noticing growth in many of our existing dancers, and we have been happy to meet new faces & families. Summer is such a great season, and we're are grateful to share it with all of you. Please feel free to continue to share about our program to anyone you know who might be interested in dance for themselves or their child.

We also know that you have all been anxiously awaiting the 2023-24 Continuous Children's Dance Schedule & the Fall 2023 Recreational Dance Schedule for Youth & Adults. We appreciate your patience as we have finalized all of those! There's always many working parts to planning each year. We are excited for our year long celebration of Aurora Dance Arts' 50th Anniversary Season, which kicked off in the Spring Dance Recitals in June! We've been busily assessing ways to continue to expand the schedule & make sure that you are getting the absolute utmost out of your training & experience with ADA. Contained within this large e-mail is information about both the Continuous Dance Program & the Fall Recreational Dance Program for Youth & Adults, with details about: scheduling, pricing, level placement, how to register, dress code, etc.

Here are a few important items to note:

*Level Placement e-mails for all dancers who were involved in last season's Continuous Dance Program will be sent this coming Wednesday, July 19. Please see those level placement e-mails to plan your dancer's 2023-24 dance schedule. 

*Registration for the Continuous Dance Program for 2023-24 Opens on Monday, July 31 at 9 a.m.

*Registration for the Fall Recreational Dance Program for Youth & Adults opens on Wednesday, Aug. 2.

One other BIG REMINDER is that Auditions for our Fall production of "The Nutcracker" are also right around the corner on Aug. 12, with call-backs on Aug. 13, at Expo Recreation Center! We are so excited for this year's more traditional rendition of our Nutcracker production, along with some fun new ideas that we have in store. We hope that your dancer will consider auditioning to be part of this special, holiday extravaganza, especially since it will be Nutcracker of our 50th Anniversary Season.

The Aurora Dance Hearts Performing Groups have also been quite busy this summer with appearances all over the city of Aurora & will continue to be performing through August/September. Please keep an eye out on our Facebook page & on the website regarding their upcoming appearances & also the information about the auditioning to be a part of this group for the upcoming season.

There's so much to look forward to in the fabulous Fall season & we hope that you are as invigorated as we are to get back to whirling & twirling away, with all of us here at ADA! 

With warmth, light & gratitude, 

Ms. Maggie (Director of Aurora Dance Arts) 

Aurora Dance Arts is extremely excited to announce the Continuous Children's Dance Program for the 2023-24 school year.

REGISTRATION OPENS JULY 31

CONTINUOUS DANCE CLASSES BEGIN SEPT. 5

WHAT IS THE CONTINUOUS CHILDREN'S DANCE PROGRAM:

The specialty Aurora Dance Arts Continuous Children's Dance Program is progressive dance education for students, ages 3 to 20. It consists of a comprehensive, 9-month program, with classes currently in: ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, contemporary, choreography, dance conditioning, lyrical, poms, tumbling/acro/floorwork & hip hop. Highly qualified instructors implement an established syllabus for beginning through advanced level classes designed to grow with dancers through childhood & adolescence. This program is intended to provide dance education for the diverse community of the city of Aurora & welcomes any students interested in training for both physical & emotional growth & fulfillment.

Students in the Continuous Program take dance classes from September-May, parallel to the school year. The Continuous Dance Year culminates with large-scale Spring Dance Recitals, in which dancers get to learn dance choreography, wear a costume & perform for a live audience on stage!

REGISTRATION:

All Continuous Dance Program registrations must be processed by calling the Dance Office at 303.326.8308.

Registration for Continuous Dance is NOT available online!

At time of registration, the Dance Office provides information regarding dance styles & levels offered, availability of classes & pricing. The Dance Office will also place your family on the required monthly payment plan & process payment for your first month's tuition & costume fees.

CLASS PLACEMENT

Children are placed in classes based on age, ability & technique level. Classes are arranged sequentially so that each student progresses safely, without gaps in training, and are well-prepared for the next technique level. Instructors may recommend a transfer to another class (up or down a level) based on ability & the best interest of the student. Students should expect to spend 2-3 years in any given level/style in this program for proper development.

*IMPORTANT! PLEASE NOTE: If your child was enrolled in the Continuous Dance Program last year, you will be receiving an e-mail from the Dance Office on Wednesday, July 19, detailing the level recommendation/s from your child's teacher/s for the appropriate level/s for the upcoming year. Once you have your child's level placements, you can re-consult the schedule to plan what classes you would like to take this year.

Please also note that it is very common for a child to be recommended for the same level as the previous year. Dance is very different than school & it takes a significant amount of time to gain the body awareness & coordination to master the large amount of technique & terminology of each level/style's syllabi. Also, for dancers, ages 3-20, we only have a total of 8 levels, so it only makes sense that dancers spend 2-3 years in each level. 

If this will be your first time in the Continuous Program, the Dance Office is happy to help you with correct level placement for your child. You may inquire about level placement by calling the Dance Office at 303.326.8308 or by e-mailing [email protected]. 

Please see the next section for the full Continuous Dance Schedule & a checklist to be prepared to register. All schedules & other information are also posted on our website at AuroraGov.org/Dance in the "Continuous Dance Program" section on by Tuesday, July 18.

Because registration for the Continuous Children's Dance Program requires you to call the Dance Office, we would like to provide a checklist of reminders of how best to prepare for enrolling. Please see below!

• Look through the schedule of classes provided & decide which class or classes you would like to enroll your child in. Please note that there are 4 pages to that schedule & multiple rec center locations where our dance classes are offered! Due to studio availability, the bulk of the Continuous Dance Program is located at Expo & Meadowood Rec Centers with supplementary offerings at Central Rec Center. 

• Please see the level placement notes in the section above. There are a couple of special case age/level specifications starred below. 



*If your child was in Tippy Toes for 3 year olds in the summer & they are turning 4 before December 1, they may be moved up to any Pre Ballet or Pre Combo class (i.e. - Pre Ballet/Tap, Pre Ballet/Hip Hop, Pre Ballet/Tumble). Excluded in this is Pre/Beg Pointe, which is for older students with much more ballet experience.

*If your child was in a Pre Class in the summer & they are turning 7 before December 1, they may be moved up to any Beg level class. Excluded is Pre/Beg Pointe, which is for older students with much more ballet experience.

*You may also receive a specialty e-mail from the Dance Office by the end of this week if your child is in higher levels of ballet/pointe (II, II/III, III or IV) about options for taking a second ballet class to enhance their training. 

• If your child has not taken dance before, please consult our Styles & Levels Document on the Aurora Dance Arts website & contained in this e-mail. This comprehensive document can guide you in finding the most appropriate style & level for your child. The Dance Office will also confirm if you've picked the correct style & level when you call to register.

• The Continuous Dance Program requires monthly automatic payments on the 15th of each month. Please make sure to log into your cityofaurora.perfectmind.com account & save your credit/debit card information in the Finance Info section. Already have a card on file? You're all set!

• Call the Dance Office starting Monday, July 31 at 9 a.m. We will not be taking any registrations earlier than that time. We thank you for your patience & your enthusiasm to get registered. 

• Because of high volumes of calls that we receive for the Continuous Program, we will not be able to answer your call directly. We ask that you leave a simple message stating your name, your phone number & that you would like to register for the Continuous Dance Program. That's all of the information that we need & then we will call all customers back in the order in which your message was received to process your registration & make your initial payment.

• Please do not make multiple phone calls to the Dance Office to register. This clogs up our phone lines & makes it difficult for us to properly serve our customers. We will make sure that you get registered fairly, if you follow the simple voicemail protocol described above.

• And finally, when you register for the Continuous Dance Program, please be prepared to pay the first month's (September) tuition & 50% of your costume fee/s for the Spring Dance Recital. As stated above, all subsequent monthly payments will be charged to your card on file on the 15th of each month through April of 2024. For full pricing information & policies, please visit our website or see the document below.

We promise, if you follow all of the directions on this checklist, we will get your child registered for our fabulous Continuous Dance Program as quickly & efficiently as possible. The Dance Office is always here to answer your questions & clarify all details of this program to ensure that you & your child are well-prepared for the upcoming dance year!

We are so, so excited to "FALL" into a new dance year with all of you! 

There's so much to look forward to & so much we hope to achieve.

Enjoy the rest of your Summer & we look forward to hearing from you regarding Continuous Registration when it opens on Monday, July 31!!!

As always, thank you for choosing Aurora Dance Arts for you & your children's dance education!