Returning to the dance studio safely (covid-19)

I think it's highly unlikely that Crystal Ball will happen this year because they are going to roll things out in a phased manner. First step will be re-opening studios and private 1 on 1 lessons with masks/gloves etc. That will hopefully happen in June. Big events like comps aren't going to happen until the last phase which I imagine won't be until the fall. The problem is that the state needs to allow large gatherings and they need enough students, judges, pros etc willing to go to make it viable.

But as Warren says it's kind of a wait and see since no one really knows. For my planning purposes I'm optimistically targeting a comp in the fall. There are lots of nice Chicago area fall comps and there's always Ohio :D. But some pros I talk to aren't expecting any comps to happen this year and to pick things back up in 2021...
 
Colorado Star Ball is on for June:
The schedule will be initially shortened to run on Friday, Saturday and 1/2 day on Sunday if needed.

Face Masks and gloves will be optional but not required.

Social distancing will be enforced per the guidelines.

Spectators will be limited and be spaced out as per guidelines.

Temperatures will be taken.

Sanitizing of surfaces and chairs will be done frequently.

Prize Money will be subject to reduction.

Package Pricing will be determined based on final schedule of events.
 
My Pro has said that he can't see us doing a competition "for the foreseeable future". We were supposed to do Tri-State, which got cancelled just as everything started to happen in mid March, and I think emotionally that was very hard to handle, so I think there's a piece of the plan which is just to be more certain that the comp will happen. Also, I think it will be local, as I don't think my Pro will be willing to fly (and I'm not too keen on it myself).

Beyond that, though, where I live, I'm not sure when we'll be able to practice together and not via social distancing. My Pro and I both know that I need a good month (preferably more) of actual, real practice before a comp would make any kind of sense.

My Pro has continued to express concerns about returning to a shared studio space, as he hasn't gotten a lot of answers from the owners where he rents floor space about what they would do/require around social distancing, masks, if they would limit the number of people etc. I'm sure at least someplace would have worked, but it no longer matters because he has found a ballet/jazz studio that we can rent (once we get past stay-at-home orders). The ballet instructor has said she isn't planning to reopen until fall, so he can sublet the space for a very reasonable fee for a couple months and he'd be the only user. My Pro went and looked at it and reported that the floor space is a little small for standard, but usable, and fine for Latin, and that the floor itself is "fabulous". My Pro has said that he's only planning on dancing with 2-3 students and then working with a couple of couples and possibly a couple children's group classes. So the number of total people would be pretty limited. When we can start again, I'm planning on taking more lessons per week than normal since I've now gone weeks with just a handful of parking lot lessons. Fingers crossed this all works out.
 
Our governor announced a multi-stage plan yesterday afternoon for the gradual "re-opening" of our state.

That evening, I received a text that my studio would be re-opening on May 11. Showcase, which was originally early May, is now scheduled for mid-June. No mention of social distancing or other measures. Another local studio that I follow on FB is also re-opening that day.

My knee-jerk reaction to this is that I think it is too aggressive. I'm not even clear on how this is compliant with the state plan (there are a lot of specifics and details on what gets to re-open how and when and at what capacity, if I didn't know better I'd think an actuary came up with it). I have some thoughts on how I plan to proceed but I want to make sure they are not coming from an irrational place (e.g. irritation that the virtual lessons requests went mostly ignored, but "we're re-opening!" came out within hours of the governor's announcement). And that I am making a sensible decision for my own situation - not "sky is falling" over-cautious but also not endangering myself or others if avoidable.
 
Theoretically Emerald in LA is still happening in early June since haven't heard otherwise. I don't know how you social distance on a dance floor unless you run 2 or 3 couple heats with on-deck being at each corner of the floor. Right now I just want to get moving on a real dance floor.
 
@IndyLady, I also am skeptical that these studios will be opening cautiously enough with suitable precautions in place. When it comes to showcases, all the ones I attended had tables packed with people from different households.

I've done some thinking about measures that could reduce (but not eliminate) the risk to people.

The first regards contact tracing, which will be a significant factor to really being able to open the economy more without overwhelming the healthcare system. Studios should have a log of everyone who enters the studio along with their contact information. Instructors should also log their students and anyone else they interact with closer than 6 feet. These records should be made readily available to contact tracers should anyone come down with COVID. If social dancing ever resumes, then everyone should wear a name tag with at least first name & initial of last name or a nickname, and log everyone they dance or otherwise have close contact with. If someone becomes sick, then they could tell the contact tracer that they were at a certain studio on a particular date and with whom they had close contact, and the contact tracer could get the contact information from the studio and isolate the contacts before they infected others. If there ever is an outbreak from a studio activity and the contact tracers can't contain it before the whole region is thrown back into lockdown, I guarantee you that the wrath of the regulators will pour down on the dance industry. Trust me, the dance industry does not want that to happen. So figure out procedures on how to mitigate the risk or the regulators will do that for you or more likely shut you down.

Everyone should wear a mask/face covering when in the studio and particularly while dancing together with someone not from your household. While mask will NOT eliminate the risk of spread, they should reduce it significantly.

I am not a fan of gloves. The way most people will use them would mean that viral particles are spread with gloves instead of bare skin. Instead, everyone washes their hands on arrival at the studio and immediately after dancing with someone not in their household, or at least uses hand sanitizer.

Particular activities listed (mostly) in order of increasing risk.

--A private lesson with a couple of the same household and the instructor maintains 6-feet of separation.
--The same, except the instructor closes briefly at times (< 15 seconds) to make corrections, everyone wears a mask.
--A group class where the couples don't rotate and the instructor does not closely interact. Class sizes are limited to ensure that 6-foot separation is maintained between couples.
--A party where the couples don't rotate and attendance is limited to ensure 6-foot separation. Other measures needed to ensure separation. Couples sit at tables with 6-feet of separation.
--A private lesson with a pro/am student. Both instructor and student wear a mask and wash hands frequently.
--A party where people dance with a number of other people from their household. Everyone wears a mask, washes their hands after each dance, and keeps a list of with whom they've danced.

If I've left out a common situation or you can think of a reasonable way to reduce the risk further, please provide your suggestion.
 
Our governor announced a multi-stage plan yesterday afternoon for the gradual "re-opening" of our state.

That evening, I received a text that my studio would be re-opening on May 11. Showcase, which was originally early May, is now scheduled for mid-June. No mention of social distancing or other measures.
I would hope the lack of detail is that they haven't figured out yet the specific measures they are taking, rather than that they are just taking no measures. I'd be interested in what actually happens, though.
 
Theoretically Emerald in LA is still happening in early June since haven't heard otherwise. I don't know how you social distance on a dance floor unless you run 2 or 3 couple heats with on-deck being at each corner of the floor. Right now I just want to get moving on a real dance floor.
They have a list of measures they are planning to take here:


Other than between the couples, you could social distance by keeping the couples six feet apart in the on deck line.
 
--A private lesson with a couple of the same household and the instructor maintains 6-feet of separation.
--The same, except the instructor closes briefly at times (< 15 seconds) to make corrections, everyone wears a mask.
--A group class where the couples don't rotate and the instructor does not closely interact. Class sizes are limited to ensure that 6-foot separation is maintained between couples.
--A party where the couples don't rotate and attendance is limited to ensure 6-foot separation. Other measures needed to ensure separation. Couples sit at tables with 6-feet of separation.
--A private lesson with a pro/am student. Both instructor and student wear a mask and wash hands frequently.
--A party where people dance with a number of other people from their household. Everyone wears a mask, washes their hands after each dance, and keeps a list of with whom they've danced.

If I've left out a common situation or you can think of a reasonable way to reduce the risk further, please provide your suggestion.
There are group technique classes where nobody dances with anyone else.

In the group class and party situations, are you assuming that the couples are each from a single household? If they aren't, I wouldn't think they would be safer than private lessons.
 
In group classes and party situations where a couple dances only with each other and not others:

-- if a couple is from the same household, the couple is at somewhat increased risk of catching COVID from others and can mitigate that by wearing masks for momentary situations where the 6-foot spacing is violated.
-- increased risk if a couple is NOT from the same household. But if they wear masks, that can reduce the risk of infecting each other (and others). Plus the contact tracing is simpler and actually should be direct not requiring a contact tracer to do the notification.
 
They have a list of measures they are planning to take here:

Quick observation . . . posting is from mid-March before much was known on the severity of COVID-19.

Theoretically happening, but practically unsure. It really doesn't align with the staged re-opening of CA. Is there anyone on this board planning to go?

I was looking forward to dancing there :(, but now looking toward to next year.
 

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