Karen Feldman’s Dance Studio owner says lessons should return by October
The owner of a major Geelong dance school is pushing for children to be allowed to return to dance studios when school returns next month, arguing it “doesn’t make any sense” to wait until November.
Geelong
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DANCE lessons for children should be allowed to operate in studios when school returns next month, the owner of a major Geelong school says.
Ballerinas, dancers and toe tappers face being locked out of studio classes until late November when the next stage of easing of COVID-19 restrictions is due in regional Victoria.
Founder of Karen Feldman’s Dance Studio, Karen Feldman, who oversees 12 dances schools across Geelong said the government needed a consistent approach to adolescent education.
“Kids are going back to school on the 5th of October; they’ll go to school and be socialising with their friends but they can’t go to their dance class after school which is typically with less students, in a very controlled environment where they are socially distancing, and kids over 12 years of age are wearing masks. It just doesn’t make any sense,” Ms Feldman said.
“That November 23rd (reopening) date is only on the proviso that there are zero cases in all of Victoria for 14 days, including Melbourne, that just seems almost unattainable at the moment. This could see the tipping point for a lot of dance studios.”
The health department said dance studios conducting outdoor classes with up to 10 students are allowed to operate in Geelong and other regional areas.
But Ms Feldman said that was inconsistent with the ruling for other sports.
“Cricket teams, two groups of 11, can go out and they can play a game of cricket but yet even if we were to open up outdoors, we could only have 10 students under the age of 18 (in a class).”
Ms Feldman said she was concerned children would lose interest in dancing if they continued online dance classes after they returned to at-school learning.
She said 1200 dance students across Geelong had completed online classes for 16 weeks this year.
A health department spokeswoman said dance instructors were allowed to attend their studios to record or stream digital classes with up to five people.
“Indoor physical recreation facilities, including gymnastics and dance studios are currently closed under Victorian restrictions as the nature of exercising in an indoor space carriers a high risk of transmission, due to sweat and heaving breathing, as well as shared equipment,” the spokeswoman said.
“Under both the regional Victoria and the metropolitan Melbourne road maps, indoor physical recreation facilities are scheduled to reopen … from November 23 subject to having no new cases and public health advice.
“We understand everyone is making huge sacrifices and the closure of gyms have been difficult, but this strategy is working and we are driving cases down.”
The spokeswoman said those participating in dance classes outside needed to socially distance.
Originally published as Karen Feldman’s Dance Studio owner says lessons should return by October