SAN ANTONIO — With the coronavirus crisis, many businesses are going virtual. That is even the case in the ballroom dancing world/
Imagine going into a coronavirus lockdown with no dance abilities at all, and coming out as a professional dancer. Now it is possible thanks to Fred Astaire Dance Studio's online classes. Philip Gutierrez, the co-owner of two studios in town told us, "Over the years we've done it. Personalized in person with touching a person, so we had to develop it now so it's more auditory and visual."
Dancing as a way to lift your spirits during this tough time. Dance instructor Tony Dovolani, said, "You are home and you're doing nothing, you want to stay active, you want to try to do something that's fun and exciting and it gets you in a good mood.
Some taking classes for one, some for two, learning a line dance in threes, some even in wheelchairs, and some doing it wearing a panda head.
Dovolani told us, "If you don't have a partner dance with a broom, dance with a vacuum. But if you have kids at home it's a great way to get the kids involved." Gutierrez added, "Some people are pretty active so we make their lessons pretty tough, very physical, and we can scale it down to anyone else that isn't as physically fit we still do work out for them."
They're even chipping in to help make masks that are desperately needed across the country. Dovolani added, "What we did is we partnered up with a law firm from Chicago and we are actually raising money to make masks. We are calling at the Million Mask Movement, meaning dance movement"
To learn more about it check out their GoFundMe page here.
To learn more about their online lessons go here.