As Idaho has entered the first phase of a four-stage plan to reopen the economy, many businesses are starting to reopen their doors for the first time in weeks.
Fuzion Dance Studio in Sugar City had to close in mid-March, and at the time, the owners didn’t think their closure would last more than a few weeks.
“We thought it would just be a few weeks at that point in time that we shut down, but it’s been seven weeks,” said Marcel Parkinson, the owner of Fuzion Dance Studio.
The studio had to make a quick decision to come together and move to online classes.
“We canceled all of our classes and had an emergency staff meeting and made plans to go online,” Parkinson said.
Though most kids preferred in-person classes, Parkinson said some of the kids enjoyed the online experience.
Now, the studio enters the first phase of reopening its doors, and because of the risk of the virus still aloof, the owners are taking preventative measures to keep the students and staff safe.
Some of those restrictions include no spectators in the lobby (with the exception of parents of a child between ages three and five), students will wash their hands before starting class, students will have an assigned dance space that’s marked six feet apart from other spaces, no touching anyone else and no usage of ballet bars or tumbling mats.
Though the whole coronavirus ordeal has thrown a wrench in some of the studio’s plans, Parkinson holds onto the hope of holding summer classes as the studio normally would.
“We plan to go ahead with our summer classes as they were schedule-wise,” Parkinson said.
Parkinson said that although they hope things normalize soon, she doesn’t see things looking exactly the same ever again.
“Hopefully, we gradually get back to normal, and hopefully by next Fall it’s past, but I don’t think it’s going to go back to the way it was before,” Parkinson said.
Get information about Fuzion Dance Studio.