Ararat Dance Centre in Ararat, Victoria | Dance studio

Ararat Dance Centre

Locality: Ararat, Victoria

Phone: +61 417 302 671

Address: 406 Barkly St 3377 Ararat, VIC, Australia

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• Sport & recreation
• Dance studio

25.01.2022 Last night we tuned in to listen to the results for the Front&Centre September Online Competition. Congratulations to all our solo students who entered into this comp. We received wonderful feedback from the adjudicator on their routines, from costumes and presentation to technique and choreography. The voice crits received were something different as well. Wonderful effort by these students with how little time we have had in the studio this year Well done everyone and thank you parents for supporting this opportunity for the kids. Results on the photo collages below!

24.01.2022 One more week of our outdoor spaces (sorry adults you’re out here longer) and we can be back inside our studios for our kids classes!! Very excited to get back inside and keep working on our routines. Thank-you to all our dance families for your support through this crazy time. It has been wonderful seeing the kids in their groups and having fun together again. Special thanks to Mum, Jules, Greta, Beth, senior tap students and adult tap for rolling up the carpet each night in our undercover space - with this unpredictable weather, we can’t leave it out and it’s a big task daily!!

24.01.2022 What a year!!!! Long post but hey it’s 2020 nothing has been small this year!! Incredibly grateful that we made it through and still had so many achievements that we can all be proud of. Thanks to the beautiful ADC family for riding the rollercoaster that was 2020!! Not my fav ride and I’m not a big scary ride fan anyway!! -2020 started with FYD nationals in Melbourne. A great achievement and experience for Maddy, Milly and Karly. ...Continue reading

22.01.2022 Ok ADC family. We need to share and like this as much as possible. If school camps and contact sport can happen then why not dance. Some of you may recognize Lataysha from comps too!!! Front page of The Age here we come. ... #letkidsdance See more

21.01.2022 After many radio interviews, tv interviews, newspaper articles, petitions, etc etc we were finally heard and recognized and we got some good news in today’s press conference! We can return to indoor dance classes on Monday November 2! Two more weeks of outdoor classes in the carpark or undercover area and then we are back in the safety of the studio. We can wear our dance shoes again! I wonder if we remember how to tap in tap shoes? ... Do your dance shoes still fit? Do you know where your dance uniform is? Happy dance here today!!!! See more

20.01.2022 Thank Ararat Advertiser. SEPTEMBER 18 2020 - 4:00AM 'We are not being heard': Dance schools remain closed * Taylor Padfield... While most businesses in regional Victoria celebrate reopening their doors, dance schools stay closed. Ararat Dance Centre teacher Karly Harris was "shocked" to discover dance schools had been categorised alongside gyms. "With the current restrictions we have to wait until November 23 which is after our concert date, so we are done for the year which is devastating," she said. "The DHHS website has quite conflicting information. There was a new area added called 'creative studios' and we thought we would come under that. "It's so hard to tell the kids that their friends are going to be starting cricket and tennis but they can't start dancing. "People can even take their caravans and travel away but kids can't come and do their local dance class." Ararat Dance Centre has 85 children and Ms Harris said dance was an important after-school activity for many. "Some families have said their kids are really not coping and they have realised how much dance is part of their life," she said. "I also have two adult groups of 20. That's their social outing for the week, they come and tap dance. This is their outlet as well. "The Ararat Eisteddfod also would usually start Friday which runs for 10 days and brings so much business to the town." Ms Harris said their Covid-safe plan involves regular wiping of surfaces and not allowing parents on-site. "We would like to go back to where we were at the start of term three. We had all of the measurements in place and we all wore masks for classes," she said. "I am really lucky my front studio can hold 22 people with the 4 metres square rule and the back studio can hold 16. "I am also a teacher at Ararat West Primary School. Kids in primary school don't even have to wear masks and social distance. "At our dance studio we have the floor marked out for social distance. You do everything right ... it's just a bit disappointing." Ms Harris said the dancing industry had not received much support from Ausdance Victoria. "They are supposed to be our peak body. So a big band of Melbourne dance studio owners have come together and created this new alliance on Facebook," she said. "A lot of studio owners have not been able to access any support through jobkeeper or any of the grants because they are set up as sole traders with contracted teachers that freelance around. "My sister is in the Australian Ballet, she is really suffering at the moment. The whole performing arts has been decimated really. "The Australian Ballet are even struggling to get their company dancers back to the studio because they are not seen as elite." * I said Elite sport but that’s ok. We know they are elite. I also forwarded all the facts from press conference too and mentioned that this applied to gymnastics for kids and also mentioned there was dynamic dance in Ararat with around 100 students too

20.01.2022 Well done Urban Funk Dance in Bairnsdale. This is so well explained with what we are going through in regional Vic. Just so hard for the kids that have a second family at their dance studio https://m.youtube.com/watch

20.01.2022 Families please share. We are starting to be heard and now we need to return to what we love. We will keep trying. #letkidsdance He mentioned today primary students are at the lowest risk and he’s allowing them all back to school, even in metro. If this is the case then dance should be back.

15.01.2022 Front & Centre October online results. To give more of our fabulous dancers a go at a competition this year I decided to select some troupes from our concert last year to enter in the troupe sections. Fabulous results. Well done all!

15.01.2022 Article link if you’re a subscriber

14.01.2022 #saveourdanceschools When we apply for sporting club grants we are told we are not a sport. When Covid rules are put in place we think we are creative studios to only be told we are indoor sports. So please Daniel Andrews tell me where we fit. ... If we’re sport then let us access those grants and if we’re creative studios then let us open our doors here in regional vic. There are so many creative kids suffering because they choose to dance and you are denying them exercise and their creative outlet. Don’t you think they’ve suffered enough. Just because they don’t play a ball sport don’t ban them from their exercise choice in a safe place. We are safe, we have policies in place and we were social distancing before you enforced it. I invite you to come and see a dance studio in operation. You clearly need to learn what it is we do. #letusdance

12.01.2022 Local paper support. Thank you #letkidsdance As the rules currently stand we cannot open our studio doors until the last step which is currently scheduled for November 23. Regional vic has to wait for metro to catch up and this step will only happen if the whole state has no cases for 14 days leading up. In regional vic we have already achieved this. What’s more, in this last step brothels and strip clubs are also able to operate. So kids dance classes have been deemed to ...be the same risk and placed in the same step as adult entertainment. If you are not ok with this then stand up and be heard. Contact all MPs, radio, media and let them know that kids after school activities should not be at same step and should be allowed to open in line with school returning in term 4. Let kids dance. They need a physical and mental outlet. See more

12.01.2022 Please watch, listen and share. Everything Mike states is so clear for all to understand the suffering of dance schools across the state. The facts and figures are scary. We just want kids to be allowed back in the studio where they are safe. #letkidsdance

11.01.2022 ADC celebrating 10 years in 2021! The studio will be open next week for new enrollments and timetable collection for returning students. Times to be confirmed ASAP. We will also be having a 2nd hand dance wear and shoe sale. Before you buy and new items come see what we’ve got!

08.01.2022 If you’ve driven past the studio the last few weeks it has been looking rather neglected . It has been hard to go there when we can’t do what we love in the building. But today mum and I have given the front a little makeover a little bit of tidying up to go but looking much better!!! All going well we will be back very shortly. Keep doing the right thing and following the rules. The daily average under 5 means we can get back very soon and we can’t wait

07.01.2022 Wishing all our ADC family and friends a Merry Christmas Hope the jolly fat man has visited and that you all get to spend some quality time with family and friends

06.01.2022 This Corona-coaster is big! We need YOUR help as this crazy story grows! After advising that dance studios fall under the Creative Studios category yesterday, and therefore able to open sooner (last week for Regional Victorians), the government has backflipped within a number of hours. Thousands of kids, studio owners and teachers hopes have been dashed once again. In regional Victoria, kids can congregate on a playground. They can crash tackle each other on a football field.... But they can't dance!!! So here’s how you can help: - Get in touch with your local MP. Say how this affects you and your dancer/s - short and long term. - Email who you can in parliament and in the media to express these affects. - Sign the petition and comment your thoughts in the comment box https://www.change.org/saveourstudios We will not stop fighting to get our students back to dance as soon as it is safe to do so. #saveourdanceschools #letusdance

05.01.2022 All the feels Unless you have performed on the stage - whether young or old - you don’t get what it feels like to be in the wings, the rush, the fun, the sense of pride, being up there with friends. The arts have been forgotten in all of this. we provide a platform for kids to shine and feel proud of their achievements. Cannot wait til the day we grace the stage again or even the studio #savethearts

04.01.2022 We thought the next step we are taking tomorrow in regional vic would mean back to dance but no the Andrews government has decided that all kids community sport could return but then puts dance in the gyms, fitness category. Kids that don’t play ball sports need their outlet too. Some choose to dance because they are more creative and don’t just kick, throw, hit and catch a ball. Please sign the petition and make as much noise as possible. At this stage dance class cannot ...return until the last step which is scheduled for November 23 when the whole state reaches zero cases . That’s 2 more months of no activity for kids that dance. What is even more frustrating is in that last step of the roadmap (to nowhere) brothels can also open. Please tell me how they are considered similar in risk to kids dance classes. What a joke. Sign and share. Be loud and be heard. http://chng.it/tdx8MCWdnX See more

03.01.2022 Front & Centre October online results Well done to all our ADC solo students for their efforts with online comps in this crazy year. Some fabulous results this round!! Congrats also to our HM recipients - Harriet, Greta, Beth, Olivia, Poppy, Sophie, Ella, Milly, Ebony, Penny, Ellouise and Sruthi. Well done to our duos/ trios too!!

03.01.2022 Mike Harrison could not have articulated this any clearer. Bravo. Please share and save our studios #letkidsdance

02.01.2022 #letkidsdance My radio interview this morning. Missing my ADC family

01.01.2022 Ready for a big week of classes back in the studio (see private group for timetable). Classes are most definitely running Monday and Tuesday (cup day)!Ready for a big week of classes back in the studio (see private group for timetable). Classes are most definitely running Monday and Tuesday (cup day)!

01.01.2022 Check out April McMahon and students on 9news tonight. Possibly the 4pm and 6pm editions. She was our adjudicator for the last round of Front & Centre online comps and has been advocating for dance school returns along with every other dance studio owner in Victoria.