School and Academic Year 2020/21

In the Dormitory of the Palucca University of Dance Dresden there is a confirmed case of COVID-19. The concerned student is in an isolation room on a separate floor. The student has no symptoms and is doing well. There is one further student who has been deemed to be a K1 Contact person and this student has also been placed in an isolation room. After a thorough investigation, there are no other students or Staff who are K1 Contact persons. A Covid Test is planned for all current 7 Resident students on Monday January 18th 2021. Students will only return to presence classes following a negative PCR Test.

The Dormitory remains in isolation and no one, except the working Dormitory Matrons, are allowed inside. No further resident students will be allowed to return to the Dormitory at this time and the Crisis Management Team has placed the following measures into effect:

  • All classes, both Dance and Academic for the N4 will remain online until and including Wednesday January 20th 2021.
  • All N4 students have the chance to have a PoC-Test on Monday January 18th. The participation is voluntary but is urgently recommended. The N4 will be informed by the Class Leader, Frau Schneider about how this will be organized.
  • The on-Campus Activities of the BAT 3 (none of whom live in the Dormitory) remain unchanged and will start on Monday, January 18th as planned.

The Crisis Management Team is in permanent contact with the Dormitory and the Health Au-thorities of the city of Dresden and we will do our best to keep all as informed and up to date about the situation as quickly and regularly as possible.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Best regards,

Your Crisis Management Team

Dear All,

Hello and we hope this finds you all healthy and well.

Our online activities continue and we are looking forward to welcoming back our N4 and BAT 3 on Campus starting on Monday, January 18th 2021, with their exam preparations.

To ensure the health and safety of all, we have heightened Hygiene Rules in place, which you will find attached (Rules of Conduct – Protection and Safety Rules as January 18, 2021).

The wearing of a mask on Campus is now obligatory in all classes, both Academics and Dance, as well as everywhere on the Campus, by all persons at all times. The only exceptions are when a resident student is inside their own room, when a staff member of the Administration is in their individual office or when a musician is seated at the piano behind the newly installed protective movable walls.

Extra precautions have also been taken for all returning resident students and students returning from outside Germany in high-risk areas and these have been communicated directly to all.
The numbers are still very high and it is only through such increased safety measures and the cooperation of all that we can continue to do the utmost to protect and keep all healthy and safe.

Please read the attached new Hygiene Rules (Rules of Conduct – Protection and Safety Rules as January 18, 2021) carefully and please ask us if anything is unclear. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.

>>> Rules of Conduct – Protection and Safety Rules Secondary School (Oberschule) and Palucca University of Dance Dresden as of January 18, 2021

Best regards,

Your Crisis Management Team

Prof. Jason Beechey, Rector
Dr. Claudia Schlüter, Chancellor
OSR Bernd Hähnel, Secondary School Rector
Jörg Schotte, Health & Safety Officer

Dear All,

Hello – and Happy New Year! We hope this finds everyone and their families in good health and despite all the restrictions, that all were able to still enjoy the Holiday Season. May 2021 bring us all a return to a more stable and normal situation.

The Lockdown has been extended until the 31st of January. However, we are still waiting for the complete information on the exact terms and conditions. We will hopefully have the complete information by Friday this week.

What we do know at this point, is that the Secondary School is online for all academic classes and for the O1 – N3, this will continue until the end of January. The N4 will be allowed to return to classes on Campus, as of Monday the 18th of January for their Academics.

For all N4 resident students (including guests), who are returning from a high-risk country, they will be allowed to enter the Dormitory on Sunday January 10th, but only with proof of a negative Corona test that is not more than 48 hours old. They must also complete the online registration form from the Health Authorities prior to entering Germany (www.einreiseanmeldung.de). These students will be able to do their quarantine in the Dormitory. The quarantine is for 10 days, but a Corona test can be done after 5 days and when negative, the quarantine is lifted. This will enable these students to start classes on Monday January 18th.

For all returning N4 resident students (including guests) from countries not declared as high-risk countries and from inside Germany, they will be allowed to enter the Dormitory on Friday, January 15th, but only upon presentation of a negative Corona test, that is not more than 48 hours old. These students will be kept in an isolated room for 48 hours over the weekend to ensure that there are no symptoms that could be associated with Corona and then, they will be able to start the on-Campus classes on Monday January 18th.

We request all returning N4 resident students, that they don’t travel home on the weekend of January 23rd & 24th to avoid any unnecessary travel inside these two weeks of on-Campus classes before the Winter Holiday.

For all other classes (O1 – N3, BAT, MADT, MAC), we are waiting for information, hopefully by Friday of this week, to know if any on-Campus activities will be allowed during the Lockdown extension and we will inform all with a new newsletter as soon as we know more.

We also know at this point, that the Winter Holidays have been moved forward and shortened. We will now finish after classes on Friday January 29th and resume classes on Monday February 8th. The plan and hope are that more classes will be allowed to return on-Campus then, but this decision will be made only in the last week of January. The Easter Holidays have been extended to make up for the lost holiday week in February and our new Easter Holidays will start after classes end on Friday March 26th and resume on Monday April 12th.

For all Students, please check your emails regularly (at least once a day) and stay in close contact with your Class Leader to be sure you receive all the information that is being sent. The Class Leaders are available to answer any questions and to ensure the online activities are running smoothly.

We all know how frustrating this extended Lockdown is, but with the situation of the pandemic in Saxony on a very critical level, these measures are necessary to get the pandemic under control and we thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Jumping to a different topic – our new website is online! The internal username and password have been sent by the Class Leaders to all and we hope you are finding the updated website more user friendly. It is also barrier free, should it should work well from smartphones and other devices.

Please take all of your precautions, stay safe, keep your distances and more information will follow shortly.

Best regards,

Your Crisis Management Team

Prof. Jason Beechey, Rector
Dr. Claudia Schlüter, Chancellor
OSR Bernd Hähnel, Secondary School Rector
Jörg Schotte, Health & Safety Officer

Dear All,

We hope this finds you and yours all healthy and adapting to the new Lockdown, which started yesterday in Saxony and will be in place for all of Germany as of Wednesday. Unfortunately, under the new rules, all “on Campus” activities are suspended and all of our activities will be exclusively online until the 10th of January 2021. The Secondary School is via “LernSax”, the MA Programmes through “OPAL” and we are currently organizing online dance classes to start as of Monday January 4th for all O, N & BA Classes. The current Lockdown is in place until January 10th and we will hear in the first week of January if this will be extended or if “on Campus” activities will be allowed to resume as of Monday January 11th .

The re-opening of our Dormitory in 2021 will be done in phases. For students returning from outside Germany, we will allow them to return to the Dormitory from 12:00 on Sunday January 3 rd 2021. Only these students will be allowed to return then. For students coming from Highrisk Countries who need to do Quarantine, we will be placing them in isolated rooms until their Quarantine is completed. The current regulations allow a corona test after 5 days of Quarantine and if negative, then the student would be allowed to join the “on Campus” activities which will hopefully resume on January 11th .

For all returning resident students from inside Germany, the information as to when they can return will be communicated on Wednesday January 6th 2021. The Dormitory will be in touch with all resident students and their families directly.

For all resident students, we must insist, that only students who appear to be completely healthy and symptom free, are allowed to return. We thank you in advance for your patience, cooperation and understanding.

The situation with Corona in Saxony and Germany is currently very critical and hopefully such measures will prove effective to bring the pandemic under control and to ensure the health and safety of all. We will do our best to keep all informed of how the situation evolves. Also, in the name of the Crisis Management Team, please let us take this opportunity to wish everyone, a very healthy and safe Holiday Season and best wishes for a more stable 2021!

Best regards,

Your Crisis Management Team

Prof. Jason Beechey, Rector
Dr. Claudia Schlüter, Chancellor
OSR Bernd Hähnel, Secondary School Rector
Jörg Schotte, Health & Safety Officer

Dear All,

We hope this finds you and yours all healthy and coping in these challenging times.The situation continues to evolve very rapidly and a much stronger Lockdown is set to begin on Monday for Saxony. The exact conditions of the Lockdown will only be passed in the Parliament of Saxony on Friday and we will receive the official information in writing over the weekend. However, we have already made the following decisions today in our Crisis Management Team to enable all to plan for the coming weeks.

•As of Monday December 14thall classes and activities on Campus will be suspended. This will remain in effect until Monday January 4thfor the BA and MA Programmes and until Monday January 11thfor the O & N Classes.

•The activities of the Secondary School O1 –N4 will continue online until Friday December 18thand resume online, on Monday January 4th.

•We are in direct contact with all our resident Students and their families to ensure the necessary supervision can be provided until all students are able to travel homethis weekend or early next week. The Dormitory is planned to re-open on Sunday January 3rd2021 for the resident BA Students and Sunday the 9thof January for the resident O & N Classes.

•The Administrative Staff will be working from Home Office as of Monday December 14thexcept for Employees whos’roles can only be doneon Campus.Details will be announced in due course.

•At the present time, with the draft version of the legislation we have received, the BA and MA Programmescould resume on Campus, as of Monday January 4thand the O & N as of Monday January 11th, but all is subject to approval in the Parliament this Fridayand then also according to how the situation with the pandemic evolves.

We hope that with the decisions that we have made today, this will enable all to plan accordingly for the coming 4-weeks. As always, we do our utmost to keep all as best informed and as earlypossible.Please check your emails and our Website on a regular basis for the latest information and updates. Please take all precautions necessary for all travels and to ensure the health and safety of all.

Best regards,

Your Crisis Management Team

Prof. Jason Beechey, Rector
Dr. Claudia Schlüter, Chancellor
OSR Bernd Hähnel, Secondary School Rector
Jörg Schotte, Health & Safety Office

Press Contact

Bianca Sayers

Telephone: +49 (0)351 25906-90
Email: b.sayers(at)palucca.eu or presse(at)palucca.eu