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Resources to Download from DANCEUSA Taskforce on Dancer Health:

2020 COVID-19 FAQ for Dancers and Dance Companies Returning to the Studios
2020 Return to Dancing and Training Considerations Due to-COVID-19

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April 14, 2020

To the American College Dance Association Community,

2020 certainly has taken us in a direction we doubt that any of us foresaw one year ago!  While six ACDA regional conferences successfully completed earlier this spring, seven of our regional conferences were cancelled for the safety of our members and patrons due to the emergence of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).  Soon after, also for the first time in the history of ACDA, the National College Dance Festival slated for May 29-31 in Long Beach, CA was cancelled.

ACDA shares with you the enormous disappointment that many of you feel for not coming together during this conference season.  For so many, ACDA Conferences are the highlight of an academic year, a place for dancing, sharing, thinking, creating, performing, and meeting with friends who share our passion for dance.  Yet like all natural movers and shakers, ACDA continues to push forward.

As you can imagine, the cancelling of seven conferences, some of which cancelled 24 hours prior to beginning, has catapulted the ACDA National Office into an apex of activity.  We are working diligently with these seven institutions, and our ACDA Finance and Executive Committees, to create policies for refunding Conference fees that will also allow ACDA to remain open and vital as a part of supporting dance in American higher education, as well as to protect our conference hosts from bearing the full brunt of the devastating financial impact of these cancelled conferences.  With that in mind, we thought we would share some information regarding the ever-shifting realities of ACDA:

• Though our National Office staff is now safely working from home, the ACDA Office is open for business.  You can still contact us at info@acda.dance. If you want a call back, send your phone number in the email.  
• Executive Director Diane DeFries is coordinating the plan for conference fee refunds from each of the seven cancelled conferences.  Thank you for your patience as Diane works with the seven host sites to facilitate refunds to both schools and individuals according to each institution’s required procedures.  When the plans are set, you will be notified!
• The biennial National College Dance Festival slated for May 29-31, 2020 in Long Beach, CA has been cancelled.  We look forward to our next national celebration in 2022.  ACDA is working to develop an online method to celebrate those schools and dances chosen to present work at the 2020 National College Dance Festival.
• Jacob’s Pillow has cancelled their 2020 Dance Festival, which includes the presentation of work on the Inside/Out stage featuring works from ACDA conferences.
• ACDA is exploring the feasibility of offering remote feedback for schools that were unable to present their dances for adjudication due to conference cancellations.
• The ACDA Board will still meet this summer, most likely in a virtual format, and looks forward to representing the needs of each ACDA region at our annual Board Meeting.
• ACDA plans to host regional conferences in 2021.  Even though much will be learned between now and October (our typical registration month) about how to safely presume gatherings of this type, the initial planning continues.

For now, we wish you all safety and health during this unprecedented time.  We urge you to stay current on the facts regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) and to protect yourselves and your loved ones from exposure (for up-to-date information, we suggest visiting the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov and to follow the advice of your local and state government and your institutions).  Reach out to us on Facebook (American College Dance Association) and Instagram (#americancollegedanceassociation) and let us see how you’re dancing these days!