SYDNEY, N.S. -- A dance studio in Sydney, N.S. has been forced to close its doors after welcoming dancers, young and old, for nearly two decades.
After almost 18 years of classes and practices, the Lucy Wintermans School of Dance will be closing because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"It’s a competitive dance studio so, when you take competitions out of the mix, it makes it really hard to keep going," said 39-year-old Lucy Wintermans, who owns the dance studio.
Wintermans says the studio has been struggling this year with COVID-19 restrictions making it almost impossible to plan ahead.
With dance events cancelled, Wintermans says the revenue stream quickly dried up.
"Ultimately, it’s been almost a year and it doesn’t seem, right now, like it’s going to go back to normal anytime soon, which makes it extremely difficult to go into another year like that," said Wintermans.
This marks the second business to recently close its doors in the downtown Sydney area due to the pandemic.
"Of course we don’t like losing any businesses and this one would absolutely be no different," said the executive director of the Sydney Downtown Development Association, Michelle Wilson.
Wilson says the pandemic has affected businesses differently, and while some are happy with the changes, others are not.
"Some businesses have reported being surprisingly busy and you know others have not, unfortunately," said Wilson.
"We lost Tim Hortons downtown, just before Christmas. It’s really all ends of the spectrum."
Back at Wintermans' dance studio, she’s planning for a final curtain call, with three dance competitions still on the schedule to take place in the coming months.
"We really want the focus to be on preparing for those competitions and really go out with a bang, and make this the best competition they can have," said Wintermans.
