Dear friends and dance family,

With pain in our hearts we have to bring you very, very sad news.

In this difficult time with the covid 19 virus, everyone’s lives have been turned up side down completely.  People have lost loved ones, their jobs or their companies. We live in a time full of uncertainties and change.

I was looking forward to celebrate my 25 years anniversary at the Dutch Championships this year. But because of the many uncertainties, like lockdowns and closed borders in different countries, the social distancing rules (our ‘1,5 meter society’) and not knowing when things will change in each country, Nisrine and I had to ask ourselves the big question.

Is it better to cancel the event now and maybe regret it later because the situation changed due to for example a vaccine, making the event possible? Or should we proceed preparations and wait and see what is going to happen, living in uncertainty?

Is it better to cancel now and not decide later?

• We are not be able to guarantee the health of our dancers, as we feel it is unlikely that covid 19 is fully under control by then.
• People might find themselves unable to come due to the situation in their country (including choreographers).
• As the social distancing rules are expected still to be in place in October, we will not be able to live up them as we expect with 500 dancers/competitors using amongst others the dance floors,  restaurants, and restrooms.
• If we find ourselves in the situation that we are not allowed to hold the event because of government rules, we’re forced to cancel at the last moment.
• The Dutch government has stated that there might be a (big) second wave of the coronavirus, which is expected to reach the Netherlands in October this year.

This is one of the hardest decisions that Nisrine and me have had to make in our lives, but because of all the above mentioned points, we have decided to CANCEL the whole event.

The 25 YEARS ANNIVERSARY and THE DUTCH CHAMPIONSHIPS will be CANCELLED.

I know this will be devastating for a lot of people as well as it is for us.

It would have meant the world for me to embrace my dance family, all my loved ones, friends and students. There is nothing that I would want to do more, especially in these difficult times.

But unfortunately we have to find another time for this.

What does this practically mean for you:

• The people that have already paid for the event/competition will receive their money back within 1 week.
• The people that have booked at the event hotel, Fitland hotel, can cancel without any charge.
• The people that have booked on motel/camping site “de Brenkberg” can consider their booking cancelled, free of charge.
• The people that have booked for the “Midweek sightseeing tour” after the event will get a total refund.

Other questions :

Q: I have booked another hotel, what can I do?
A: Please contact the concerned hotel immediately to let them know the event has been cancelled and ask for a refund and/or contact your travel insurance.

Q: I have booked a flight, what can I do?
A: Cancel your flight and/or contact your travel insurance.

Q: Will there be a follow up event in the near future?
A: Our main concern right now is to help everyone with questions, cancellations, etc. At the moment this decision has a big impact on our mental and spiritual feeling. We feel devastated that we had to make this decision, and not yet able to contemplate new plans for the near future.

Nisrine and I do hope that everyone will understand the decision we felt forced to make.

From the bottom of our hearts we feel sorry for bringing you this news, but we hope you will understand it.

We wish you all the strength and good health in this difficult time.

With love,

Roy, Nisrine, Amber and Naouel Verdonk
And your Dutch Championships and 25^th Anniversary Team