Covid & Health Safety Updates
Community Care
As of January 30 2023, BAX will no longer require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for individuals to participate in or attend our classes, programs, performances or space rentals. Our vaccination requirement will remain in effect for the remainder of our Fall 2022 semester (which ends on January 28, 2023), but families registering for Spring 2023 semester classes and 2023 School Breaks programs will not need to show proof of vaccination.
BAX is pro-vaccination and also realizes that the scope and implementation of many public health policies leave much to be desired in terms of equity for communities of color and persons with disabilities, many of whom have been the first to be threatened and too often the last to be protected. We are doing our best to work at the intersection of equity and safety in adapting to the constantly evolving landscape of this (and future) pandemic(s).
COVID-19 remains present in our local communities, accompanied by the presence of Monkeypox and a small but noticeable resurgence of Polio.
If you or your child experience any of the following, please refrain from attending activities in the BAX building: exhaustion, fever, muscle weakness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, new rashes/sores, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, persistent cough, or other severe cold- or flu-like symptoms. Your care and attention to your own health is also care and attention to your community at large.
More information on Covid-19 prevention and treatment
More information on Monkeypox prevention and treatment
More information on Polio prevention and treatment
Masking
Starting January 30 2023 (with the start of the Spring 2023 Youth Semester), masks will be optional but encouraged in all BAX spaces BAX reserves the right to resume a mask requirement should public health recommendations around masking change and/or for particular events.
Cleaning and Ventilation
Every studio space and bathroom is equipped with a well-supplied cleaning kit if visitors wish to wipe down any surfaces when they enter. Every studio also features functional windows, fans, and a MedifyAIR filter.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the collective effort in these guidelines – in particular the thorough presentation of material by HERE Arts Center and the robust research from the Dance Studio Alliance as included in Dance/NYC and Gibney Dance Center. New information regarding public health is released ongoingly, and we are working together as a community of arts organizations to adjust our guidelines accordingly. It is nearly impossible to guarantee protection for any visitor to our buildings by setting guidelines, even when they are followed completely. As we work together to create guidance, we also need the full participation of our community to realize the safest possible spaces to continue our work during a global pandemic. As HERE Arts Center so eloquently says: We are all in this together.