California dance schools and studios have been grouped with fitness facilities and gyms in the state’s Covid-19 re-opening plan, despite the differences in operation and the different demographics that we generally serve. As a result, California dance schools and studios are forced to halt indoor programming every time a county enters the purple re-opening tier. Many studios do not have access to a safe outdoor space in which to hold their classes, especially during the winter months, effectively requiring them to close. Obligating dance studios to close, while schools and other indoor services/businesses remain open, is a blanketed and arbitrary approach.

Additionally, because dance studios and schools have not been classified as their own industry in the state’s re-opening strategy, we have not been given guidelines specific to our businesses. We have had to follow guidelines devised for gyms and fitness facilities and it has been up to us to decipher and decide how to best adjust them for our models of operation. This approach has resulted in miscommunication, confusion, and frustration. Our studios and schools haven’t been given the tools or guidance to operate effectively. We haven’t even been given the chance. 

As studio owners and staff, we are committed to the well-being of our students, their families, and our communities at large. However, it has become increasingly clear that Covid-19 will be an ongoing health crisis, and it is time to develop a more long term and sustainable solution for our businesses and students. While the arts are often overlooked, our schools are an integral component to the vitality and economic growth of our communities. Our patrons are not only dedicated to their educations at our facilities but they often help to support local food and service vendors, sustaining small business owners throughout our communities. Furthermore, our schools support and nourish the emotional well-being of our students by providing an outlet for physical and emotional expression; all of which is more important now than it has ever been. Our younger generations, while resilient, are enduring something none of us can relate to. Losing their connection to their training, their passions, and their peer groups is destabilizing, and we have begun to see the damaging results.

We implore Governor Gavin Newsom and the state’s Health and Human Services Agency to reclassify dance schools and studios in the re-opening strategy, to directly reflect and consider our models of operation, the demographics we serve, and the available ways in which we can operate safely without having to shut our doors.

The arts heal. Save Our Studios.