APRIL 2026 NEWSLETTER
Here is our third newsletter for 2026. Welcome to those that have joined us since Christmas, we hope you are enjoying your classes.
Here is my last correspondence from our new temporary home in Grange. We will be overseas during May, and plan to be in our new apartment early in June. We would ask that, if you decide to not attend class because of the fuel shortage for an extended time, please let your instructor know, so they can adjust the classes accordingly if there is unlikely to be enough attending.
Information below on.
Lost and Found
2026 Regular Socials
Class Changes and Holiday Closures
Class Lengths vs Price Rises
LDSA Travel News
See you on the dance floor,
Liz & Peter Heath and the Instructor Team
Lost and Found
The following items were found at the last social last year. If they are yours, please let us know and we will get them to you.
2026 Regular Socials
Socials are an integral part of our line dance organisation. They provide an opportunity for our dancers to test out their knowledge and skills, check out their options to stretch themselves in a higher level, and meet other members of our community from different regional areas.
Following the survey run last social, we will be continuing with the same format as last year, with an afternoon tea break at around 3pm, so bring a small plate to share, and your own coffee cup if you want the free tea and coffee we provide.
The program is made up from requests from those attending. There have been an increase in the new members of our community attending the socials, which is wonderful. We have adjusted the programme to accommodate this with an increased number of easy level dances on the program.
The social dates for this year are:
Sunday 14th June 1:30pm to 5:00pm
Sunday 12th July 1:30pm to 5:00pm
Sunday 16th August 1:30pm to 5:00pm
Sunday 20th September 1:30pm to 5:00pm
Sunday 25th October 1:30pm to 5:00pm
Sunday 29th November 1:30pm to 5:00pm
The Address is: West Croydon and Kilkenny RSL, 19 Rosetta St, West Croydon.
Dancing starts at 1.30pm and concludes at 5pm at a cost of $15 (cash only). The program is run by request, and everyone gets a request form when they enter, to nominate 5 dances they would like to do. We try to ensure that you get at least one of those, but we only do about 5 level 6+ dances during the session, so don't just ask for really hard ones (or lots of unusual ones), or you could miss out altogether.
We have a break about half way through, where we share a combined afternoon tea for 20 minutes. Please bring a small plate of food to share with your fellow dancers. Also bring a coffee cup if you wish to take advantage of the free tea and coffee provided. We will have minimal fridge space, and a pie warmer, but no oven, so please don’t bring food that needs cooking or defrosting. We feel this is good way to assist people to mix and chat. Doors will open 30 minutes before the starting time.
Class Changes and Holiday Closures
Due to some instructors being on holidays (Liz, Peter and Patch) over the next few months, there will be some class changes to cope with their absence. The other relevant classes will have relief instructors to keep them running. Please support those instructors, as they are giving the classes a chance to continue rather than closing. If they are not supported, then next time the class will shut instead.
Peter Monday Arvo Plympton Challenge has changed to a 1:15pm start for 2 hours - Closed 20th, 27th April, 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th May
Peter Wednesday Morning Windsor Mainstream/Transition – Closed 21st, 28th April, 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th May
Patch Tuesday Evening Seaton Transition – Closed 21st, 28th April, 5th and 12th May
Patch Thursday Evening Seaton Mainstream - Closed 23rd, 30th April and 7th May
Class Lengths vs Price Rises
The last time we had a general price rise in our organisation was March 2022. Last year we did raise the price of the 1 hour classes from 9 to 10 dollars to reduce the usage of coins. A lot of things have changed since 2022, and we are struggling to cover the additional costs. Public Liability Insurance, Music Licensing, cost of music, venue hire, fuel etc have gone up considerably in that time.
One of our original principals when the organisation was formed in 1993 was that we would have "consistent class length (2 hours) and class pricing (same for all) across the network". This principal has become untenable as we have explored different length classes to accommodate our aging population, and the modern "fast food" mentality. We experimented with 1.5 hour and 1 hour classes in the recovery period of covid, with a high degree of success.
Some of our 2 hour classes are being surveyed about remaining 2 hour, or changing to a 1.5 hour format.
We have decided on a class price rise starting in June 2026. Hopefully by then this cost of living and fuel crisis will reduce as the war with Iran runs its course.
Existing 1 hour classes will remain at $10.
Existing 1.5 hour classes will rise from $12 to $14
Classes that change from 2 hour to 1.5 hour will stay at $15 (cost reduction due to shorter venue hire)
Classes that remain at 2 hours will be $17
The Challenge Class will remain at $20
Some regional classes may have different prices to this. Speak to your instructors for clarification
If you have a multipass with clicks remaining on them from 1st June, you can still use them, just supplement the cost with coin to make up the difference.
LDSA Travel News
Our long awaited trip to Turkiye, Egypt and Jordan is about to get underway. The current crisis in the middle east has certainly made the whole thing more difficult, more costly and caused much anxiety.
Travel insurance does not cover War, or "change of mind", so we were at the whims of the airlines, tour providers and the combatants as to the viability of the trip and the possibility of cancellations and likelihood of refunds.
We decided last week to abandon our flights on Qatar Airlines as being too risky to not fly. Instead (at additional expense) we have flights on China Southern, that will get us to Istanbul without going through the war zone (and back again).
All of our tours are in areas not affected by the current warring parties, though Jordan is certainly a target, but the parts we are going to are not, so we do not envision any further issues.
We are allowed to get excited now, so our party of 12 is raring to go.
Next years trip will be to Greece, Viking Mediterranean Cruise, Italy and Malta. We already have 7 travellers, so consider joining us for a wonderful relaxing time from 2nd to 30th August 2027.