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President's Message August 2020
I would like to speak on behalf of all of Australian Dancing to offer our support and well wishes of strength and encouragement to the residents of Victoria, and in particular, the Victorian dance community. You are currently going through the greatest challenge of a second lockdown and we all feel it for you. So much of our world and its future seems to be beyond our control. However, the teams of your state branch and the National Directors have chosen to adopt a mindset of adapting to the changes and working together to find unprecedented solutions to the challenges we all face.
Our primary focus has been to keep our members connected as a community. Despite the significant challenges, the pandemic has brought out the best in our studio’s, professionals and members of DanceSport. The Saturday night Video footage of Championships from the past years broadcast from the DSA’s DanceSportLive website has brought many memories and joy to our online community. There have been many innovations to how we connect with our people and how they have been able to continue dancing whether online or in live classes. In the past three months you will have seen the online podcasts and interviews with industry leaders and external industry professionals for advice on how to manage the crisis and help keep the studio afloat through zoom classes and online competitions.
I would like to commend the professionalism and dedication of our studio owners who have taken the responsible path of ensuring that they keep their students safe by rigorously complying with the ever-changing Department of Health regulations. This isn’t easy and has required constant vigilance to keep up with the changes. For the first time in dance history, dedicated online National meetings have included representation from each of the State Branches contributing to the solutions and being kept up to date with current decisions and changes in our industry.
Our second focus is to find our pathway forward to return to competition. In the majority of states, events are already emerging on the website for the second half of this year. As the only dance genre recognised by the Department of Sport, DanceSport is currently able to return to play following fairly achievable compliance standards. It is good to remember that we are only in August, there are still four months ahead where there is realistic opportunity to dance and compete in a safe environment. We are working now with each state to help launch events in 2020. Victoria will eventually emerge from its lockdown and we will be ready to work with the Victorian teams to provide competitive opportunities as soon as is practicable.
Our third focus is to find a way to ensure we have a Dance industry in the future. We are hopeful that it will be possible for all States to be running events by November of this year. To assist members wishing to participate in these Competitions, we will be offering an incentive where any memberships paid from 1 November 2020 onwards will receive an extension on their membership to December 2021. We are hopeful this incentive will provide some financial assistance to members while also helping everyone to return to the Competition floor.
We will emerge from this challenge. Despite the setbacks, many states are already returning to a sense of normality. In the ensuing years, I feel we will look back on this time, not just a series of major challenges but will remember the way our community pulled together, how so many demonstrated selfless actions to provide the opportunity to connect and continue dancing. How we adapted to develop remarkable technological innovations that gave us all a sense of belonging.
Kind Regards,
Gordon Gilkes
President DanceSport Australia
