Even at a time when physical interaction is nonexistent, dancers find a way to give learning a new spin. When in-person teaching stopped happening at Judith McCarty School of Dancing in Texarkana, it didn't stop teachers and students from finding a work-around.
They come together through Zoom, which provides a way to maintain contact and keep skills strong. Instead of a physical studio, it's a studio on the screen for a young dancer's arabesques and leaps.
"With the closing of schools for the COVID-19 pandemic, dance schools were left searching for a way to continue to have classes. We needed a way to stay in contact with our students," said Kathy Fomby, the school director. "Zoom has provided us the avenue to accomplish this."
Kathy has seen plenty of innovations and new technology over the years, so she appreciates that her teachers and dancers can meet online now.
"Zoom is very user-friendly with a slight learning curve," Kathy said. "We became more proficient with each class."
Zoom gives teachers the opportunity to watch student progress. As they watch, teachers can make the necessary corrections.
"Dance has a very distinct technique and needs the eye of a teacher to ensure that dance steps are being done correctly." Kathy said. "Virtual classes can be taught anywhere internet service is available."
Meeting online this way is still useful, even if it doesn't allow teachers to use the full range of their instructional skills.
"Of course it doesn't take the place of having the kids in the studio where you can reach down and place their foot and turn their leg out and things like that, which is what we do," Kathy said.
Some Judith McCarty instructors teach from home while others teach from the studio. And on the other end, students have refashioned their living spaces into makeshift studio space.
"Students take class in their bedrooms, living rooms, garages, outside or even at grandmother's house," Kathy said. "I think some of the moms have moved the coffee table out of the middle of the room trying to make a space."
On her personal Facebook page, teacher Ann Nicholas wrote about the experience.
"Some come in classic dance attire, others in shorts and ponytails. But they come!" Ann said. "I love seeing little brothers and sisters in the background, and I've met many family pets. It's adorable when they join the turns and jumps."
]Using Zoom, students and teachers are able to maintain the connection they need to make learning a reality. The connection is also personal.
"Not only do we see advancement in our students, we still have the best experience of all the personal interaction with our students," Kathy said.
Students are working on recital dances, too. The school hopes to do a recital, which is traditionally held at the Perot Theatre, by the end of the summer, perhaps in August.
"Most of our kids have been dancing since they were very young. They've probably been dancing longer than they've been doing anything else. And when this came about, I feel like it just kind of jerked the rug out from under kids," Kathy said. "This makes it more normal."
That said, young dancers and their mentors agree these temporary methods won't replace in-person instruction. But it helps.
"I hope it keeps their love of dance going," Kathy said. "I hope that it improves their technique and their dances so that when we do get back in the studio and hopefully get to the stage, we will not have gone backward but will have gone forward."