Studio News and Updates!

We have started practicing for recital, so it will be EXTRA IMPORTANT to make sure you’re at EVERY CLASS! Watch for new videos and recital songs to be uploaded to your parent portal over the next few months, and make sure your dancer is practicing them at home!!

RECITAL DATES/TIME/VENUE CHANGE!! MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!!!

Our recital venue/dates have to be changed due to Polk State College informing me last week that they are still not up and running with COVID measures in place as had been planned they would be by this time. They are now telling me they will not be able to accommodate our event by June.

As a result, we have the exciting and unique opportunity to hold our annual recital in person at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland (The Lakeland Center) with dress rehearsal on Wednesday evening, June 2nd, and one show on Thursday evening, June 3rd.

Since this is a much larger venue (seating for 950 people even with seats taped off for social distancing), we will actually be able to have more audience members even with the one show versus the pre-planned two shows at the college. With COVID restrictions, we would have only been able to allow two audience members per dancer, and RP Funding capacity means we no longer need to have that limit in place.

There are definitely some inconveniences due to it having to be held during the weekdays (no weekends were available at the RP Funding Center), but we all just have to work together to make this work for your children, who deserve to finally get their chance on stage at recital after last year’s lack of a true theatre experience.

Due to availability of this new venue, we will have our single recital date on Thursday Evening, June 3. Dress Rehearsal will be June 2.

All dancers (except for our 3-4 and 4-6 year old classes) were required to be free for rehearsals at the studio both of the nights we are now having our dress rehearsal and recital on. So there should be no issue with dancers not being able to participate in the new dates. Dancers still need to be available on Tuesday June 1st for rehearsals at the studio to help us have a smoother dress rehearsal at the theatre the following evening.

I hope that this much of an advance notice will give everyone time to make arrangements with work schedules, etc to attend the show Thursday (it will start at 6) and dress rehearsal the night before will need to start at 4:30 so I know some arrangements may need to be made on your end to make that happen.

And of course, this could all be tentative and have to change again because we never know what could happen and I appreciate all of you understanding and working together to make these things happen to the best of our ability for our dancers.

There is a possibility that we may choose to use parent volunteers as a way to help our dress rehearsal and show run more smoothly. Indicate your interest in “POSSIBLY” assisting with either the dress rehearsal or the show, or both, if we decide to do so. This form is simply to gauge interest, and we would be providing more information and details before asking for any sort of commitment.

Dad’s Dance!

Every year, we have a Loved Ones Dance as part of our recital. We’ve decided to do something a little different this year, a DAD’s DANCE! Dads will come to the studio with their dancer to learn a routine, and the dancers will help their dads at home, but it will be ONLY the dads performing on stage at our recital!!

Dad’s Dance Signup

Costume Fees and Recital Fees

Costume Fees

Costume Fees became due February 1st. The fees are in your parent portal should already have been paid. If not, they are now past due and must be paid A.S.A.P. Costume fees are $65 per class. Some of our advanced classes will not have recital costume fees. You will see your individual fees posted to your Parent Portal, and they will NOT be auto-drafted. You’ll need to log in and pay those manually, even if you have tuition auto-drafted.

Recital Fees

Family Recital fees of $150 per family (charged on a per-family basis, NOT a per-dancer basis) will be due on April 1 and will also be added to your Parent Portal. This mandatory fee will cover:

Four tickets
Yearbook(1 per family, more can be purchased as pre-order)
Digital copy of professional recital video

Additional Information and FAQS

Esprit Boutique and Esté Second-hand Shop

We have our Esprit Second-Hand Shop and our Esprit Boutique items available for purchase any time that Christie is at the shop. Just let her know, and she’ll bring it out for you to shop while she’s at the studio. If you have any items you’d like to donate to the second-hand shop, bring those by anytime as well!

Dress Code and Studio Procedures

REMEMBER, BALLET SHOES MUST BE CYNTHIA KING PINK (BLACK for BOYS) REBELLE BALLET SHOES. NO OTHERS ARE TO BE WORN TO CLASS.
Tap shoes should be Balera Brand Black Oxfords (Model B160) or Bloch Chloe and Maud Black Tap Shoes for ALL Tap classes. Combo Tap/Ballet Class wears Balera Brand Black Mary-Janes (Model B70) tap shoes (boys wear Oxfords). These are all ordered through the studio. They can be purchased from other locations, but MUST be those particular styles and colors only.
Tights are REQUIRED for Ballet and Combo class, and are to be either Capezio or Ballera ballet pink tights ONLY. You can purchase through the studio or from elsewhere, but MUST be one of those. They is a big difference in colors between manufacturers, and the dancers all need to have matching tights. They should be convertible tights, which have an opening at the bottom of the foot to allow the tights to be pulled up to the ankle and back down over the foot as needed.

STUDIO ORDERS are placed on the 20th of each month, so make sure you have the correct shoes and/or tights for EACH class and place your orders in time so that your dancers are prepared for class. We recommend you have extra tights on hand, since they are easily torn, stained, etc.

Please remember water bottles, masks, and proper attire! Every class has a dress code, listed on the parent portal under the Files tab, Class Files. They are also written out on your Bulletin Board/Messages icon. Please take some time and read through all the information provided in these places. **NO hanging jewelry or bracelets/scrunchies on wrists/etc.**

Waivers and Studio Policies

Be sure to log into your parent portal and review the waivers. You will have agreed to these when enrolling, and they provide important information about our studio rules and procedures:

Our Covid Procedures
Drop-off/Pickup Rules
General Rules
Dress Codes
And More

How Can I Help My Dancer At Home?

Parents can access helpful videos and info to use to practice at home through the parent portal. New content is added often so check it frequently! We are also adding music and videos from the combos we learn in classes and any other information so that students and parents can review and practice what they are doing in classes at the studio. Specific notes and suggested exercises for your specific dancer may be shared to you through notes as well.

CLI STUDIOS! Additional Training at Home

CLI Studios

Ms. Sonya has purchased a subscription for our studio with CI Studios, to provide additional training for our most dedicated dancers. Click here for instructions and a link to sign up for your your personal account. TRAIN ONLINE WITH 300+ TOP CHOREOGRAPHERS Learn to dance with over 300 of the world’s most talented choreographers who’ve worked with Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Dancing with the Stars, Hamilton, World of Dance, and more!

Can I Observe My Child’s Class?

Parents can keep watching class on our Studio Livestream as well as our Zoom setup. Zoom classes are linked on your parent portal for each class. Just click the camera icon under the class listing name under your “Online Classes” in the parent portal.

We have two Zoom Room accounts:
- ID 893 654 9048 (Password 3239)
- ID 404 270 3127 (Password 3239)

If you are wanting to watch a class and the camera isn’t up for any reason, simply text Christie @ 863-258-6115 as we don’t always set it up if we’re not expecting someone to be viewing.

Livestream is set up in Room A, and can be accessed on our studio website. www.espritperformingarts.com. You will need to have a website login and be granted access to watch the livestream.

If you are using ZOOM to watch class, just please keep your video and sound turned off. If you need help with either of these things, please email admin@espritperformingarts.com

Why do I have a balance due? A guide to statements and payments in the Parent Portal

Viewing and Understanding Statements

Many parents and caregivers are unaware they can not only view their total balances due, but also see a detailed breakdown of their payments and charges on their parent portal. Since everything is now billed through this single, centralized system it is a change for our longtime parents and may be a bit confusing to our new parents as well.

In addition to tuition, we have fees such as costume fees, recital fees, convention/competition fees, and possibly other fees that will be invoiced at various times throughout the year. Since we may post these fees weeks or even months before they’re due, it can make your balance due seem alarming at times. That’s when it will be helpful to be able to see your statements.

Main Parent Portal Image. Options for "Pay" in Quick Links, "Make Payment" in Your Account, and the Icon "Make Online Payment" are all highlighted with a red circle. — To get to your payment screen and statements, select any of these three options on your parent portal.

In this main payment screen, you’ll see options for “Pay Balance for All Students”, “Pay for all overdue items”, or “other”. We’ll discuss that in more detail momentarily. Under that you’ll see the name(s) of your dancer(s) along with their balance(s) and their statement(s). There is one for each dancer. If it is a family fee(such as recital fee) it will only show on the statement for one of the dancers, not all of them. Beside each you’ll see an icon labeled “view.” That will allow you to see your statement for each dancer.

In your statement, you will see a list of all transactions starting one month back, including all posted transactions that have a future due date. We will typically post fees a few weeks to a month or so before they’re due. Some fees we will post even sooner (such as recital fee) because those are set at the beginning of the year. Posting in advance allows families to make partial payments on those fees up until they are due, if they’d like. The Balance on the final column is a running total, so any posted fees and payments will affect that total. When making a payment that you have not specified how to apply that payment, the system will first credit the oldest or any past due amounts. If you would like to pay specific items or have your payments applied in a different manner, you’ll use the “other” option in your payment screen. More on that now.

Making Payments

Image of the Payment Screen showing only the Online Payment Options of Pay Balance, Pay for all overdue items, and other. — If you choose to pay balance or pay all overdue items, the system will automatically apply your payments accordingly. If you choose to pay less than the full balance(which includes items due in the future) then select “other.”

Payment Screen with Dropdown Options after choosing "other." — In this screen you will have the option to choose a dancer name (if you have more than one enrolled) and the item(s) you are choosing to pay now.

After making your choice, the amount field will be auto-populated with the total amount due. If it is not quite due yet, you can select a lower amount to make payments on it. After making your selection, select “Add to Payment.”

After selecting all the items you’re wanting to pay (make sure to select EACH dancer if you have more than one) then you’ll head to the payment screen. You can choose to pay with the Buy Now link, which will take you to PayPal to make your final payment, or the Make Payment link, which will use your credit/debit/or bank account for payment.

**If you are on Autopay, that ONLY applies to your tuition. You will still need to log into your parent portal and make payments for any additional items that come due.***

That’s all there is to it! If you have any questions or need any more help, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Contact Information

Please call me at 863-585-7861 with any questions (leave a message if I miss you). If it’s during the hours of classes, please call or text Christie at 863-258-6115 as I do not answer the phone or reply to texts when I am teaching. If you need to text that you are running late for class or picking up your child, you can text me in those cases so I know. I do keep my watch on which lets me see your texts. Thank you all! Sonya Cheatwood Owner/Manager/Teacher

March Studio Newsletter