Not only is it back to classes, but we are also celebrating our third year in business!! We spent our holiday reflecting on our journey thus far, and to say we are grateful, appreciative and humbled would be an understatement. We want to express our deepest gratitude for your support and loyalty! Thank you for helping us create such a beautiful community and joining us on the path we've taken!! Without your family, none of this would be possible.

We are so excited to get started with our upcoming session of Parent & Tot geared for children ages 18months-3yrs old.
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February 2nd - March 9th  
SATURDAYS
9:30am - 10:00am 
6 week session
$45

If this class is of interest for your family, we recommend to register as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. This is a popular class that typically has a waitlist within the first two weeks of opening registration, don't wait to long! 

WHAT TO EXPECT
Parent & Tot is a repetitious program, providing the same routine each week. We will focus on foundations such as pointing toes, gallops, tippy toes, marching, sommersaults and more! We also have a lot of fun tossing scarves into the sky, popping bubbles with our magic wands, playing cats, taking our horses out for a ride and so much more! Although you may think of ballet when you hear the words dance class, we can assure you that P&T is geared to the interest of both boys and girls. By combining our Kinder Ballet and Kinder Acro curriculums together for your child, we are certain that this class will develop the foundations of dance in an energetic, encouraging, fun and caring environment. Slowly, but surely, you will notice a shift in your child's ability to focus, follow direction, explore their movement and other important skills young children develop for future success. We are excited and eager to help build your child's motor and social skills!
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REGISTER HERE: https://app.thestudiodirector.com/squamishdancecentre/portal.sd?page=Login

• 🔸If you are a returning family: login to your account to complete registration
• 🔸If you are a new family: please create an account in order to complete registration

We can’t wait for one of our favourite weeks of the entire dance year!! Next week is PJ WEEK! What better way to celebrate the holidays then wearing our pj’s to class...?! 

December 17th-22nd — PJ Week
December 23rd-January 6th — Winter Break *CLOSED*
January 7th — Classes resume as usual 

Please note that our Winter Break studio closure, also includes our office. All enquiries will be responded to as quickly as possible upon our return to classes on January 7th. We thank you for your patience and understanding!

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Conditioning Workshop
with Paula Mattusch
Saturday, October 27th 

1:00pm-2:00pm -- ages 8-9 with at least one year dance training 
2:00pm-3:30pm -- ages 10-11 with at least one year dance training 
3:30pm-5:00pm -- ages 12+ with at least two years dance training 

1hr workshop = $10 per SDC dancer 
1hr workshop = $15 per non SDC dancer 
1.5hr workshop = $15 per SDC dancer 
1.5hr workshop = $20 per non SDC dancer 

We are so excited to welcome Paula into our studio for a workshop specified on conditioning for dancers. This is a not to miss opportunity for our competitive and non-competitive dancers!! This workshop will benefit your child's dance development and provide them with tools to help train their body in a healthy and safe process inside and outside their regular classes. Conditioning offers dancers the unique opportunity to explore how to strengthen their quality of movement and the understanding of why we need to strengthen and stretch our bodies to keep them in tip top shape during dance training. Space is limited!! Please reply to this email to reserve your child a spot! 
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Paula grew up in Langley BC where she began her dance training at the age of 6 years old. She has extensive training in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical and Modern, as well as Traditional Ukrainian dancing. She is also well versed in conditioning and improvisation or dancers. Receiving the award “Most Promising Jazz Choreographer” from Surrey Festival of dance at the young age of 13, Paula continued to and has been choreographing and teaching since then receiving numerous awards from festivals and competitions. Most recently her choreography can been seen on the TV hit show “Supergirl”. She has trained throughout BC, and Ontario, at such schools as York University, and Toronto School of Dance. Paula’s passion for dance really shines through in her teaching and she is very concerned with the health, happiness, and positive learning experience of the individual dancers and helps them strive to be the best they can be. In recent years she has completed her level one and two in the International Dance Teaching Studies, as well as became certified in Marie Walton-Mahons Progressing Ballet Technique program. As education is very important to Paula, she continues to educate herself on a regular basis and is currently a CBTS student through the Royal Academy of Dance, set to graduate as a certified ballet teacher in October 2019. 

It was so fun to be back in the studio with this crazy bunch! We are excited to perform this Sunday in the Canada Day Parade at 10:00am and our competitive dancers hit the O’Siem stage at 4:30pm! Lots of local performers, food and activities for the entire family to enjoy at downtown Squamish for Canada Day, don’t miss out on the fun! ​

That's a wrap for our second season! Thank you to every person who made the year unforgettable!! We are already counting down the minutes until next season starts, as we have big plans in store for your family!

Until then, we must rest, restore and rejuvenate. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we take a two week break from office work. We will reply to all emails, Facebook messages and phone calls by June 27th. We had such a fantastic time at our first annual year end banquet! It was so much fun to end the season with a new tradition to send off our incredible families into our summer break. Thank you to everyone who made it out for an evening full of memories! 

Congratulations to the following award and scholarship recipients:
Future Dance Teacher Award: April McKechnie
Future Cirque de Soleil Award: Reese Winn
Future Prima Ballerina Award: Zoe Larkin
Unstoppable Award: Chloe Pereverzoff
Leadership Award: Chloe Lonsdale
Spirit Award: Melanie Booth
Performance Team Scholarship: Katie Moran
Kinder Star Scholarship: Everleigh Hodges
TTD Convention Scholarship: Norah Kazimirski
Passion Scholarship: Willow Paull
Just Boyz Scholarship: Jasper Fofonoff
Rising Star Scholarship: Paige Akey
Debbie Vidas Scholarship: Kylie Bloom 

We are so excited to have raised $3,000 for Squamish Helping Hands during our annual year end recital concession bake sale!!! Thank you to every single person who donated to such an important organization for our community!!

We are going to bed with the biggest smile and warmest heart! Every single show, all 6 of them, were absolutely outstanding. Every time we thought it couldn’t get better, it did! We laughed, we cried, we held our breath and we cheered LOUD on the sides for every single dancer who took the stage this weekend. The support from backstage and the audience was humbling, there is nothing that makes us more proud! 

Dancers: You are amazing. You inspire us to be better teachers. Every time you took the stage, we beamed with pride and joy. Words cannot express the love we have for every single one of you!! YOU are the reason we love what we do! YOU are the reason we come to “work” every single day! 
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Parents: Thank you for your support for your children and our team. We are honoured to have so many incredible families who are always there when needed and there when not needed. We love you all to bits! 

We are already itching for next season to start!! But until then, we have one more week left of classes: last day of classes is this Saturday! We can’t wait to see you one more time before we break for the summer!!! 

Saturday, May 12
3:00pm-3:45pm -- ages 6-8
4:00pm-4:45pm -- ages 9-11
5:00pm-5:45pm -- ages 12+

Is your child interested in taking their dance training to the next level? Our competition team is the perfect opportunity for them to do just that! Our competitive program offers children a more intensive training experience and larger performance opportunities, but without the demand of dancing rigorous hours and meeting high expectations. Did we mention that we do not turn aspiring dancers away? Everyone gets a spot on our competition team given they meet our requirements!!
What is Competitive Placement Day? Any dancers who wish to be part of our competition team, are required to attend placement day. Although we do not turn dancers away, given that they meet our following requirements, we hold placement day in an audition setting. This is because we believe auditions are a great experience for children to ready themselves for future success. Placement day also allows our instructors to ensure dancers are placed in the group we feel will allow them to reach their full potential. Please note that dancers may not be placed with their friends, as we have their development and training in our best interest. 

What to expect on Competitive Placement Day? Please arrive 20min early ready to dance and complete our placement form. Upon arrival, please see our front desk to receive a number for your child to wear on their belly. Dancers should wear a body suit, dance shorts, jazz shoes or ballet slippers and hair in a tight, secure bun. We will have two "judges" on our panel to help appropriately asses dancers. With Miss Sara, dancers will be lead through an adequate warm up, centre work such as pirouette basics and sautes, across the floor work such as grand jetes and chasses, a short choreographed combination to perform for their panel of "judges" and lastly improvisation. Improvisation gives them the opportunity to show us how they move freely and what makes them unique! Dancers will be dismissed once their scheduled time is up and you'll receive notification of your child's competitive placement for the 2018/19 season by May 19th.
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What does your child need to do in order to be part of our competition team? Please take a look at the following requirements. 
—At least 1-2 years of dance training in any genre of dance. 
—Enrolled in Ballet for the 2018/19 season.
—Enrolled in Conditioning for the 2018/19 season. 
—Enrolled in Performance Team for the 2018/19 season (official registration for this class will come after placement day).
—Black jazz shoes are mandatory for competition.
—Dancers are to attend all their competitive and non competitive classes. 
—Commitment to two competitions which will be scheduled by the end of September. Competitions will take place between April and May. Please note that competition costs and schedules are at the discretion of the event coordinators such as registration fees and competition days. Your child may need to take 1-2 days off school for each event, depending on how many competitive routines they will perform. 
—All competitive dancers are expected to have a SDC jacket and wear it at all competition events. If you do not already own a SDC jacket, you can put an order in for September. 
—Dancers who wish to compete a solo, duo or trio will need to fulfill the following requirements. At least one year of training in our competitive program. Attends all classes regularly and punctually. Demonstrates a positive attitude and strong mentality. Placement day "judges" choose dancers who show readiness such as; sportsmanship, picks up choreography quickly, applies corrections, strong technique, positive attitude and most importantly a strong passion for dance! Not all competitive dancers will receive a solo, duo or trio.

Are you looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift? We've got your butt covered with plants galore! We are excited to be working with Growing Smiles Fundraising to help send our dancers to Disney Land! Visit us at the front desk to receive an order form or put in an order online with the following link! Spread the word and get your orders in for moms, grandmas, aunts, friends and yourself!

ORDER DEADLINE: Monday, April 9th

https://squamishdancecenter.growingsmilesfundraising.com/home

Proceeds go towards our Disney Land trip.
We thank you in advance for your consideration and support!!! 

We want to know why you love to dance, how it makes you feel and what it means to you. Submit your letter by February 17th for a chance to win a prize! 

Submission Guidlines:​
- letters can be hand written or typed on the computer
- letters must be written by the words of the dancer
- letters should be dropped off in person at the studio or by email to info@squamishdancecentre.com 
- letters will be displayed after our contest is closed: if your child does not want their name displayed, please write name on the back of your submission. 

​We are excited to offer another adult program and are extra excited to offer a 10% discount for SDC mommas!! Space is limited, register soon so you don't miss out!! 

Are you looking for a unique ladies night out? Are you looking for a fun way to feel empowered? Are your heels collecting dust in the closet? Look no further, we have a class just for you! Our stiletto class will focus on creating an environment for ladies to feel comfortable, confident, sassy, empowered, fit and so much more. All shapes, sizes and abilities welcome! Heels are encouraged, but not necessary, indoor runners are welcome! 

Click the following link to see Stiletto instructor, Caitlin Aboud, doing her thang! https://vimeo.com/248090539

Have you met Bob and Charlotte?
They are the key to our success! 
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When a beloved dance school announced it would be closing it's doors in December 2015, leaving dancers, parents and teachers up in the air, Miss Sara and Miss Chloe decided the show must go on. They gathered a select handful of parents to attend a meeting at Bob and Charlotte's house to discuss what could be done. With no plan, the big question was "How do we move forward?". That evening, Sara and her parents did not have a clue of what was to come. With overwhelming support from the parents in attendance, it was decided that the only option was to open a new studio. You can imagine the look on her parent's face, Bob & Charlotte, during this meeting. Not that they didn't believe in Sara, but they were reasonably worried: where would the money come from? how are we going to find space? how are we going to build a studio in two weeks? Was this even going to be a sustainable business? 
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Bob, who was still reluctant to settle to the idea of Sara opening a studio at the age of 22 with no prior business background, agreed to visit studio facility options. They found the perfect space and Sara convinced her dad that the opportunity needed to be jumped on.
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Now it was time to build the studio. In under two weeks, Bob built the desk, wall, installed the barn doors, helped lay the floor down and many other jobs. All while still running his own full time business. Charlotte took on the roll of helping organize and manage the administration end of things. Between Bob, Charlotte, Sara (and many others of course!) we had a studio built and open in two weeks! Phew! 

As if that wasn't enough work, SDC grew faster than we anticipated. Now we needed to expand...! After four months in business, we made another leap from our old 1,875 square foot facility to our now 4,800 square foot facility. Now imagine the look on Bob and Charlotte's face... 
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Bob and Charlotte are truly the foundation to SDC's success. Supporting the studio in every way, shape and form. Whether it be building an entire facility, doing a coffee run, to putting a pony tail in a dancer's hair, they are a constant source of support and love. The next time you see them, be sure to say hi and give them a big hug! 
Wait until you see the look on their face when Sara tells them we will be expanding yet again with a brand new 10,000 square foot facility featuring four dance studios, girls AND boys change room, viewing tv's in the waiting area, homework station and more...! Our goal is to have the facility up and running for the 2019/20 season, construction dependant. Yippee!!

Can you believe that in less than one month we will be TWO YEARS OLD?! We sure can't? As we reflect on the past two years, we can't believe how fast it all went by! We'll be posting tidbits about SDC for the next month. To get us started, here's our answer to one of the most common questions we get asked. "What is the significance to your logo's colours?" 

PURPLE: universal energy - the universe's energy essentially created SDC. We had no prior plans to build such a place of dance until a beloved dance school closed it's doors unexpectedly due to unforeseen circumstances in December 2015. We took a plunge and began to create SDC's foundation. We branded and found studio space in under one week, opened in two weeks and also put on our first year end Recital 4 months after opening. As the stars continued to align (and hard work of course!) we have now tripled our student body and expanded our studio space. The universe works in mysterious ways, but we believe everything happens for a reason! 

GREEN: growth - we are committed to continuing to grow each year. Grow our programs, grow our knowledge, grow our passion, grow our service and most importantly grow our dancers. Green evokes energy, and we feel that the energy inside the studio is like no other. We will always foster a positive energy for dancers of all ages to be in presence of. 

​YELLOW: happiness - dance is happiness, simple as that! We believe that bringing dance into your life, brings happiness. We are committed to offering a positive and enjoyable experience for families. A place where you can escape the everyday hustle and bustle. Coming into the studio and feeling a sense of joy and security. Come by for a visit to see for yourself!