Every student of LODG is expected to behave throughout the facility in a disciplined, responsible, and courteous manner. LODG reserves the right to suspend or dismiss any student whose attitude, attendance, or conduct is found unsatisfactory.

Regular dance classes run from the week of August to May with the Centre Stage performance concluding the “dance season”. Depending on the day of the week, this equates to approximately 35 actual classes the student will take.

A non-refundable $45 registration fee (per family) will be charged in order to help offset the costs involved with invoicing, postage, printing, office supplies, bottled water, newsletters, miscellaneous communications, memos, flyers, and general maintenance of your account. A $75 Centre Stage performance costume deposit is also required of new performing students at the time of registration.

Tuition is calculated by the sum of all classes taken for the entire Dance Season. To simplify bookkeeping, monthly tuition is prorated in 10 equal payments. You are therefore charged equally every month regardless of short months, long months, holidays, etc... Monthly tuition is due the first class of each month and is considered late on the 10th of each month. The grace period is 14 days. If no payment is received in our office by the 15th a late fee of $20.00 will automatically be billed to your account. We do not mail out monthly statements, it is your responsibility to send in or drop off your tuition payment on time. A $25.00 fee will be charged for any returned check. Consistent delinquent payments or accounts over 30 days may result in the suspension of that student’s participation in class. Students will not participate in the performance until all fees, late charges, damage charges, and costume money is received and clear. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please call the office. We do not want to deny any child an opportunity to dance if a viable solution is available. Checks should be made payable to: “Los Olivos Dance Gallery.” To ensure proper credit, Please put your child’s name on the payment - especially if your child has a different last name than yours.

LODG offers tuition rate discounts based upon the number of classes taken by any given family. For example, if you have 1 child who takes 3 classes you pay the 3 class rate. If you have 3 children who each take 1 class, you pay the 3 class rate, etc... Discounts are provided for multiple class enrollment, families, session and annual payments only. Private lessons are not included in the discount program. Tuition does not include dance wear, shoes, costume fees, recital fees, recital program ads, T-shirts, sweatshirts, portrait photos, or show DVDs. These are additional costs parents should be aware of.

In order to achieve one’s goals in dance, regular attendance is essential. The building of necessary memory and muscle aptitude and strength will not happen if the student is not committed to frequent, repetitive practice. It is the student and parent’s responsibility to advise the appropriate teacher in advance when a student will miss class. Students are expected to arrive on time and prepared for class. Small children should be taken to the bathroom prior to class. Dance classes are designed with a warm-up and progression of exercises which graduate to more challenging work. When a student misses the beginning of class, his or her experience lacks continuity and bad habits will be set for future training. Students who arrive late or unprepared will not make good progress and are disruptive to the class. These actions demonstrate a lack of respect for fellow students and teachers. Dancers who are late risk injury due to improper warm-up. Dancers missing warm-up will not be allowed to participate in class. They may stay to observe. Our staff does not guarantee supervision of a child picked up late from class. If you are running late, please call the studio as soon as possible. This will ease the child’s nerves as well as allow us to make special arrangements as needed.

There are no refunds for missed classes. When a student misses class, it is their responsibility to make up the class by attending another class, at the same or a lower level. Once you register for the year and have reserved your place in a space limited class; you are obligated to see through the financial commitment of the full term. If a teacher cancels a class for an emergency, then the class will be made up at a later date.

The Director should be notified immediately (in writing) if a child must withdraw from a class. Until such time, the space will be held for the student and the charges invoiced to the parents. Any fee in arrears will also be assessed. Students quitting after January 30th will be charged for all Centre Stage costume fees. Once a student has quit twice in the middle of the session for reasons other than illness or hardship, the parents should not consider returning to our studio. It is not conducive with our philosophy to participate when quitting becomes a habit. We recommend the parents’ stern commitment to completion.

A student’s dress is a reflection of their discipline and respect for the art form. Placement and line are also paramount in dance. Our dress code allows our teachers to observe and correct the posture and alignment of our students. We ask that students come dressed prepared to dance in the appropriate dress code. Hair needs to be secured and out of the face. No jewelry, watches, or cellphones. Remember loose or dangling jewelry and costumes other than proper dance skirts are a safety hazard and distraction for dancers and are not allowed. Jeans, jean shorts, play clothes, or school clothes are not suitable dance attire as well. Please keep all valuables at home.

Dance Gallery faculty make all placement decisions. Appropriate levels of classes are determined with the student’s best interest in mind. Placement will depend on age, ability and experience. All placements are reviewed for appropriateness, and students may be moved, even after the term has commenced. Students will be placed on a first come, first served basis, and some class sizes may be limited. In all cases, Dance Gallery faculty will make the final determination.

Students should arrive dressed according to the dress code and with all necessary hair accessories and extra shoes in a small dance bag. Students’ names should be on every item, especially, dance shoes, dance bags, and book bags. Students who are not adequately prepared or late to class due to lack of preparation will observe class only. The staff will assume no responsibility for lost, stolen or misplaced items.

Street clothes are not allowed in class and students will not be allowed to dance without the proper shoes and attire. Wearing jewelry in class is strongly discouraged. Hair must be pulled back away from the face and neck for all classes. Cover-up clothes should be worn while entering and leaving the studio. Do not wear dance shoes outside of class. Proper dance attire is important for the instructors to have a clean look in order to check body alignment and muscle extension.

Pre-Ballet/Tap Classes:
4-7 year olds: pink ballet shoes, black tap shoes, pink tights, and any style or color of leotard. (Skirts are acceptable)

Ballet classes:
No Exceptions! Black leotard, pink tights, pink ballet shoes. Dance skirts and colored leotards are optional for Ballet 9 and the Teen Ballet program.

Hip Hop:
Tight fitting dance tops and baggy pants, clean sneakers or jazz sneakers (for studio use only). No loose shirts.

Jazz and Tap classes:
Any style or color leotard, bike shorts or dance attire. No clothing may be worn that obstructs the view of the body. For jazz classes, black jazz shoes should be worn.

Jazz and Tap classes as well as Hip Hop may wear their hair in a ponytail, but all Ballet classes should have their hair up in a bun. Parents are asked to help their younger children with their hair. If there is a problem with this dress code for any reason please talk to the director and a solution can be worked out in advance.

Class will be dismissed by the teacher. If class started late, it may run late. If a student needs to be excused for any reason during class, they must ask permission of the teacher. No child will be released from class on their own accord. For early dismissal, the parent must make arrangements prior and come to the door to retrieve the child. This is a matter of safety.

The Dance Gallery’s business neighbors are entitled to exclusive use of parking stalls directly in front of their premises during normal business hours, and four stalls in front of the studio are reserved for faculty. Please be reminded that the parking lot can be a very busy place full of danger. Let’s keep our children and selves safe by abiding by some simple rules.

1.) Enter from the Nojoqui Avenue (Church) side and exit the Jonata Street (dirt alley) / Grand Avenue route.

2.) Drive SLOWLY and don’t hold conversations while there is a row of cars waiting to come in. Find a safe place to park and then talk.

3.) Parking and leaving your car unattended along side the grass located directly in front of our lobby doors is a HUGE inconvenience for anyone trying to back out of the legitimate parking spaces in front of the studio. Accidents have happened with damages incurred. Instead, park on the other side of the grass on the Jonata Street (dirt alley) side. If you park diagonally many cars can fit.

Communicatoin between faculty and parents is just as important as communication between student and teacher. We cannot be responsible for communication between parent and child. Important notices regarding upcoming events and class rescheduling will be mailed or handed out to each student affected, as well as posted on the bulletin board. Please check the board frequently. Concerns regarding an individual student should be raised with the particular teacher. Please make an appointment, as the time before or between classes is usually insufficient for lengthy discussions. It is inappropriate to discuss particular students during class, or in the presence of other students and parents.

Dance is ultimately a performing art, and students will never truly feel the thrill of performance in a studio setting. Centre Stage offers them such an experience. It is a tangible reward for months of hard work and provides a focus for the commitment they are asked to make. Throughout the term, dancers, teachers and parents work together as a team, preparing for that final week. We feel everyone deserves a chance to showcase their talents in a theatrical setting, with the response of a live audience. Participation is not mandatory, however, each student is encouraged to perform as the instructors have worked hard choreographing their pieces to include everyone in the class. A polished performance requires not only an appropriate venue, but suitable costuming* and competent professional technical support. A show of this nature is expensive and we find it necessary to charge admission. Centre Stage is our biggest fund-raising venue for supporting our own scholarship program. The money that is raised benefits LODG Scholarships. Centre Stage takes place at the end of the term, on the third full weekend in May. Families with zero account balances will be given an opportunity to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public. Don’t forget to notify relatives who may wish to attend.

Costumes are sold below cost and we are committed to not “gouge” for this essential element of Centre Stage. A $75 deposit (1 costume) is due at registration. The balance of the costume amount is due no later than mid-December. Absolutely NO REFUNDS of costume fees will be given after January 30th. Browsing a Centre Stage program booklet is a good way to comprehend the enormity of costumes in the show (there are over 700!). Now consider managing all those get-ups and you will soon figure out why we rent vs. letting you keep costumes. Typically, the younger the dancer the less expensive the costume. The costumes that you keep cost us an average of $75 (hence the $75 costume fee). The costumes that we keep (to reuse) cost much more! Initially the cost of the older dancers’ costumes range anywhere from $75 all the way up to $300 each! After we order extra costumes (to meet future demands and in case any of them meet an unfortunate fate while they are out of our care) we then pay a seamstress to alter “old” costumes to fit your dancer. It is then rented to you for $75. Later, when they are returned to us after the show we professionally clean every single costume. Next, we pay helpers to spend about 50 hours inventorying, organizing, hanging, toting, or vacuum “space bagging” costumes that wind up on steel shelving racks and closet poles in a space that rents for $5,000 a year. We have high hopes that someday we will break even on our costume rentals but for now that doesn't seem likely. Since we started or generous costume rental program we find ourselves with a large deficit ($20,000± not counting rent, shipping, storage supplies, finance charges, labor costs, professional cleaning, or alteration fees). We acknowledge that some families have multiple dancers at the studio and incur significant costume fees. We do have a vehicle in place to help you cope with the high costs. A form (supplied by LODG) can be used to approach a business or family member that perhaps would like to sponsor your dancer(s). These sponsors receive special recognition and are promoted in the Centre Stage program booklet. This “promotion” can be a tax write off for businesses!

Proper respect for the director, staff, studio, curriculum, fellow students and facility is EXPECTED of all students, parents, siblings, on or off-site. When participating in a studio event, performance, out-of-town excursion, or when wearing the studio logo, general deportment and behavior is as important as your ability to dance!