StEPS Initiative Free Educational Course

What Is The StEPS Initiative?

We understand 2020 brought to light so much pain in the world, injustices to be corrected, loss, desperation, and a feeling of helplessness. Apolla was created to HELP dancers and give support inside AND outside the studio. We feel the calling to shine a light and DO something we can control, to give help where we can starting with our home, the dance community. So we created the StEPS 2020 Initiative...Studios for Equity, Prevention, and Science. This is our way of starting conversation and igniting a catalyst for change in our dance industry.

Click below to go to our FREE educational course. We curated this course from the generous donations of experts in the fields of racism, sexual abuse prevention, dance medicine and science, gender equity, dance integration, and nutrition. This is a broad starter course to creating a safe space for your studio and is great information for parents too! In each chapter there are also resources for you to continue to learn more and continue your journey into each topic!

Additionally, every FRIDAY live on FACEBOOK we go BEYOND THE STEPS. We have partnered with Melissa McDaniel from Turning Pointe Dance Creation to continue the conversation, dive deeper into each topic with guest experts each week. Please follow us on social media each week and join the discussion live, every Friday at 2pm EST. OR you can catch the episodes on our FB videos section if you want to catch up.

Go to StEPS 2020 Initiative Course

Why did we create this course? It started with a charity for the LOVE of dance...

We raised thousands and every penny went to helping dance studios all over the country through our partnership with Dance Arts Centre.

This past summer Apolla Performance Wear, in partnership with the nonprofit Dance Arts Centre, created a virtual charity event to raise money for dance studios hit hard by COVID-19. We had incredible dance industry leaders step up to donate their services that dancers bid on to win. All the funds raised was granted to studios that applied for financial relief...Uniting For the Love of Dance!

We felt it is a time for action and for unity. While we were getting ready to launch the charity, our community as a whole was deeply impacted by the deaths in the black community and we heard the call for change and equity. As a company, Apolla is committed to creating an environment in every dance studio that every dancer feels safe and equal. One of the foundations we believe creates change is EDUCATION. So we curated this course from the generosity and donations of experts and every studio owner that applied for the financial relief was required to complete the StEPS 2020 Initiative. We then realized it was such a valuable professional development and continuing education course for ALL educators. So we have decided to keep it available for FREE for all. This course provides education, perspective, and actionable items that every studio can implement right away to effect change. We hope every studio owner has their staff take the course and we hope this starts everyone on a journey of creating change in the dance community that is safe for ALL students, mind, body, and souls. 

As painful as 2020 was, we don't want to go back to "normal." We appreciate the challenges life has brought during 2020...for pressure and resistance is what creates strength and change. We saw this as an opportunity to take STEPS towards coming out of this year as a rebirth. Bringing the dance community TOGETHER to heal, overcoming our heartache to become STRONGER with action, and bring the future of dance closer to being a BETTER & SAFER place than it ever has been before.