Newmarket dance studios welcome province's reversal on closure

Dance studio owners, instructors, students and parents were able to convince the Ford government they should not have to shut down again under modified stage 2 regulations

Yorkregion.com
October 21, 2020

Dance studios in Newmarket and York Region are resuming in-person classes after the provincial government amended its emergency orders for modified stage 2 regions following an outcry from studio owners, students and parents.

When York Region moved to modified stage 2 Monday morning due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, dance studios were among the facilities forced to close their doors.

Dance studio owners and students were outraged that martial arts facilities and gymnastics clubs were not required to close.

Angela Tucker, owner of York Dance Academy and director on the York Region Arts Council, said she was stunned that her three dance studios -- in Newmarket, Aurora and Stouffville -- were forced to close, while centres for more contact-oriented activities like martial arts were allowed to continue.

"I believe we have been treated really unfairly. All of the dance studios have been trying so hard to maintain limited numbers. We have our floors marked off with six-foot squares (to maintain physical distancing), checking kids' temperatures as they come in the doors. We have gone above and beyond and to be targeted like that was really unfair," Tucker said.

Tucker and several other dance instructors created a Facebook group urging the government to amend the rules, while parents began circulating a petition.

Similar groups formed and petitions were circulated acoss the province.

Those efforts seem to have paid off, as the Ford government announced today that dance studios wouldn't have to close after all.

On Sunday, two days after the announcement that York Region would be joining Toronto, Ottawa and Peel in modified stage 2, Ontario's Minister of Sport and Culture, Lisa MacLeod, acknowledged the dance studios' concerns and said she was working on the issue.

"I have heard from dance studios loud and clear. I am talking to the (Chief Medical Officer of Health), health experts, and the command table looking at options to ensure a safe resumption," MacLeod said in a social media post.

The emergency order regulations for York, Toronto, Ottawa and Peel now permit classes for the purpose of teaching or training amateur or professional dancers in dance techniques, with specified conditions.

"This change to the regulation recognizes that dance styles such as ballet, hip hop, and ballroom, can still be taught and practised safely when certain public health measures are followed, similar to other permitted activities, such as cheerleading and gymnastics," the province stated.

However, some dance classes that do not meet the criteria, such as zumba classes, are not permitted.

Tucker said she is pleased that MacLeod was willing to listen to their concerns.

"I really don't know what the reasoning was behind that (original) decision, but Lisa MacLeod could see that and was willing to fight for us, thank goodness," she said.

The revised rules allow studios to bring in students for classes as long as they are pre-registered and stay two metres apart. They can also only have 10 people in a studio at one time.

That last point needs some clarification, said Leah-Anna Sanguinetti, owner of In Harmony Dance Studio in Newmarket.

"There are some health departments saying that means 10 people in the whole building, or in a studio. The language isn't really clear," said Sanguinetti.  "If it's 10 in a building, we have (other businesses) in the building, so that's impossible. If it's 10 people per studio, I have four staff members here, so does that mean I can only have six kids?"