Dance studios in Toronto and Peel have been closed since November 23, 2020 under lockdown restrictions.  While we all recognize the importance of public health precautions in the midst of the pandemic, we also recognize that extracurricular activities like dance classes are essential for children's mental and physical health.  We want to get our students back in our studios safely.

Arts schools in both the Public and Catholic boards are currently permitted to run dance classes in Toronto and Peel as part of their curriculum.  They are using Dance Safe guidelines created by Dance Safe Ontario in order to teach their dance classes safely.  We are asking to be able to use these same guidelines with our own students. 

Like schools, our dance studios are a controlled environment.  All students are registered in consistent cohorts, exactly as they are in schools.  They dance with the same group of students each class, with no drop in students, making contact tracing simple and efficient.  Health screenings are conducted each day before students enter the studio.  We have invested thousands of dollars and are cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing to ensure that all health protocols and safety standards are followed for children to have a safe place to dance.  Smaller class sizes have been implemented to ensure social distancing, with each dancer in their own dance space separate from everyone else.  Activities in classes have been modified so that dancers can maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet apart at all times.  Teachers and dancers alike wear masks in class.  Class start times and dismissals have been adjusted so that students can maintain physical distance when entering and exiting the studio.  Our changerooms and lobbies are closed. 

Our studios have now been closed for four months.  If Dance Safe guidelines can be used in our schools to keep students safe while dancing at school, our dance studios should also be allowed to operate, as we are following the same guidelines to ensure our students are safe while dancing at our studios.

If Toronto and Peel are to remain in the Grey Lockdown Zone on March 22, 2021, we ask that our studios be allowed to open while maintaining the above safety measures that allows dance in schools.