Why continue Zoom classes?

Let’s imagine this.

You’ve spent six hours at school, online, and now you have some options for free time. For one thing, you can hop onto social media or turn on the TV, but you don’t want to spend any more time on the screen. You could get your homework done, but you just finished school! Besides, your back couldn’t bear to be hunched over your desk a minute longer.

Or maybe you’ve been working from home the last couple of months. You could start some house work, or…

Dance?!?!

The last couple of months have been full of mixed feelings. Some of us have enjoyed staying at home, working in their pyjamas and not having to travel... Others are stressed, missing their family and friends, and some may even know someone affected by coronavirus. Whoever we are, there’s one thing we all have in common, and that’s enjoying dancing.

Dance brings us together, it regulates and releases us. In a time of isolation, our dancers and staff have never felt closer, enjoying being able to socialise with each other in these uncertain times. When you are able to see others, whether online or in person, and have a sense of routine, your mood and emotions increase significantly and you become happier. Dance can make this isolation period just a little bit easier.

In times of isolation, we all need something to keep us fit and healthy. It is recommended that we exercise at least 30 minutes each day. This means it is particularly important to actively seek exercise during isolation as we are not moving around as much as we usually do in everyday life. Taking our Zoom classes help our students achieve this 30 minutes.

Are motivation levels low for you at the moment? After interviewing some of our students about their motivation levels before and after online Zoom classes, we found that beforehand, most students had very little motivation and were not as excited as usual. However, after the class, most students had a significant increase in mood and felt so much better than before. The key to having the motivation to attend class online is thinking what you would be able to achieve, or, picturing how you will feel during and after the class. It may be a little hard to get yourself to class so make sure you take time to get ready in your favourite dance outfit and warm up.

Another benefit to continuing with Zoom classes is that it will prepare you for when we move back into physical classes. It can ensure to maintain your strength and flexibility and continue to improve your dance skills. It can also allow students to learn adaptability and resilience to changes in their learning which is a fundamental skill, not only in dance but life as well.

There are also benefits in taking a break and we understand that not everyone can get to online classes during this time. That is why we are offering financial options for our classes and are posting helpful videos and posts on our members sites (Instagram and Facebook). If you are unable to join us for online classes, we hope you enjoy your time off, dance around the house and cannot wait to see you back in the studio for physical classes.

We thank our AT Dance students for recognising the hard work our staff and teachers put into making our school a place we enjoy coming to, whether that be physically or on virtual classes. We knew that not offering online classes was not an option for us, no matter the number of students that joined us. As long as we could offer you the chance to continue to have fun, express yourself and dance, we knew it was the right decision.