We will be closely following the news, local laws/guidelines, industry best practices, and the lead of our colleagues to determine when to move between phases for in-person classes. Decisions about moving between phases will be determined by guidelines set forth by the Operations Committee, staff, teaching artists, and the Board of Directors. We will always communicate those moves between phases with you!

In the meantime, we intend to take advantage of online capabilities to bring you the best possible programming so you may continue to dance with us.

Due to government-mandated shut-downs relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, Joy of Motion has been operationally shut down for in-person classes since mid-March. This has come at a steep financial cost. It costs the organization over $75,000 a month to pay rent, utilities, and insurance for the three studio spaces and 80% of Joy of Motion’s income came from in-person classes. With mounting costs, substantial refunds, and little new revenue coming in, the financial picture for the organization is difficult, as it is for many organizations.

80% of our revenue comes from in-person classes and the vast majority of the revenue from our Winter/Spring session and Summer Camps has been refunded to our students. Thus, earlier in March, in anticipation of government-mandated closure, the board established a Covid-19 task force to help guide the organization through the pandemic. The task force spent the following weeks evaluating the financial impact of the studio closures, and concluded that we were facing losses of an estimated $100,000 per month and that layoffs were our organization’s only option.  

The organization made the difficult decision to lay off all of its 83 part-time teaching artists and staff members, and to make significant cuts to the pay of the full-time staff members who were needed to maintain the organization’s existing obligations and plan for reopening. Had we not taken this painful step Joy of Motion would have run out of money by mid-April.

In late May, Joy of Motion obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan with which the organization offered employment back to all of the individuals who were laid off in the spring. From July 2, 2020 through September 8, 2020, we formed committees of staff, volunteers, and teaching artists to help re-imagine and re-build a new Joy of Motion in a way that is just and equitable and helps us to live up to our founding principle that Dance is for Everyone.

Given the reality that in-person classes are not likely to resume any time soon to the extent we previously offered them, we will be focusing on online content to help bridge the gap.

Earlier this year, our teaching artists brought to the attention of leadership a number of concerns. That the concerns had not previously been addressed revealed that our internal systems need to be improved.

It has become apparent that the teaching artists, staff, and dancers need to know where to turn for assistance, to have the assurance that their questions and concerns will be addressed on a timely basis, and to have an avenue for recourse if they believe those concerns have not adequately been addressed. Moreover, all stakeholders need to know that they are encouraged to bring their questions and concerns to the organization without fear of a concern for their jobs or positions in the community, and that they have a mechanism for doing so anonymously if they so choose. Putting these systems into place is a top priority for fiscal year 2020-2021.

We also seek to renew our commitment to a variety of dance forms. We will be adding two rotating 1-year board seats for teaching artists members so that the programming proposed by management can be vetted by teaching artists representatives as well as having teaching artists present to understand the workings of board operations, particularly as governance impacts the policies that govern the organization, as well as the selection of management leadership.

We established teaching artists and community committees on matters relating to institutional policies, strategic direction, programming, as well as further diversification of our organizational leadership and board, reflective of both our institution as well as our location in the nation’s capital. Management will take into account the recommendations from those committees in their ongoing assessment of internal controls and procedures, which are then considered by the board.

Finally, a critical need in the upcoming months will be to identify a dynamic new Executive Director. We will seek a new leader with strong business skills and knowledge of the dance community who can lead Joy of Motion in a manner consistent with our mission and in keeping with its history as a diverse home for dance of many styles and for every person.

We are committed to diversifying both our board and Joy of Motion’s staff, and look forward to changes in the months ahead!

Joy of Motion is taking steps to heal systemic issues in the organization and to actively ensure that we act in a manner consistent with our anti-discrimination policies. We are doing this through: 

• Ongoing professional development & training for employees, board members, and volunteers.
• Programming that ensures the inclusion of Black voices, dancers, and dance forms. 
• The development of anti-racist and anti-discrimination procedures to ensure that the organization’s long-standing anti-racist policies for the conduct of employees, board members, and volunteers are implemented.
• The development of ongoing committees and forums to actively engage part-time employees, teaching artists, and volunteers that will provide clear pathways for collaboration at the institutional level.

The Board of Directors is committed to refreshing its membership and making it more diverse. As part of the board’s annual renewal, we have actively recruited new directors. We will introduce our new members in September.

There will likely be additional opportunities to apply in the coming months, so watch for information if you would like to be considered for board membership.

Over the next several weeks, we will be considering what we need to have in place for students to be safely permitted back into the studios for Phases 3 and 4. 

In the meantime, you will soon be able to join our ever-growing daily offerings of exciting content. Stay tuned!

We appreciate that each family’s financial situation is unique in these unprecedented times. Our studio staff are here to help you navigate the choice that would be best for your family. We temporarily suspended our no-refund policy for students who registered for the in-person instruction we unable to offer during the spring and summer months. We hope that you will consider utilizing your unused tuition dollars to make a donation to ensure Joy of Motion’s future or apply them to an account credit.

Please reach out to info@joyofmotion.org if you still have outstanding tuition before September 30. Requested refunds may take up to 16 weeks to be fully processed. Any remaining tuition from our 2020 Fiscal Year (September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020) will be converted to account credits at that time.

Any outstanding class packs will be extended for a period of six months after your first visit, either in-person or online. If you have any questions, or are unable to use your class pack, please reach out to info@joyofmotion.org.