Looking for a new studio

There was a lot of sad news this week. The studio closed with no advance notice and it's left the students and staff in search of a new home. It's sad, the COVID crisis has hit the industry hard.

Avant Garde Ballroom Closes

The song has ended but the melody lingers on. Another studio closes, but this one feels like the death of a friend. A good job, no scandals, good bosses, fair pay, better than pay was the freedom to travel, do what we please and create... they gave us trust. The studio lead the way in this region on breaking color barriers, female owner, female office manager. Pinky, Nick, and Slava were good to work for. Affordable classes for underprivileged youth. A workplace with diversity and acceptance. Was too good to last, like many good things in the dance business..... now gone .... to the land where the good songs go.

Dark days for dancing with the Cornona Virus

Only days after we returned home from the New York Dance Festival, news about the Corona Virus escalated. During the first week of March, many of us at the studio were living our days normally, with no idea that we would soon be shut down, and closed for business completely.

Heading into the month of March, we still had a packed schedule, we had flights booked for a studio crusie in March to the Carribean, along with April tickets booked on the Queen Mary 2. Life was going full swing, with plenty of dates filled in on our dance cards and calendars. Little did we know how quickly things would change. By the 16th of March, I was out of work completely (from both jobs), and we've been stuck with stay at home orders ever since.

Since the lock down began, the stress began mounting. Working as an independent contractor at the dance studio, I still have been unable to navigate the unemployment system as far as dancing goes.

I was working more than full time before all this started, but the only unemployment benefit that I qualified for was from working part time at Mr. Henry's.

As dance gigs have been put on hold, I've been passing my time by volunteering for seniors citizens meal delivery. I've also been helping with conference meetings by phone with the American Legion.

With all the downtime that I've had, I've been running two dance education groups on Facebook, taking yoga class daily online, and running the Anacostia River trail.

The downtime from the stay at home order has afforded me time to update my video library on youtube. In a way, I'm still just as bsuy...... but it's frustrating. Eveyone in the dance business is wondering if and when things will get back to normal by November.