When you have two kids taking 14 dance classes a week, and they're not always scheduled at the same time or in the same town, what do you do to avoid spending all your waking hours shuttling them back and forth to classes? You do what John Klak is planning to do -- you open your own dance studio.
Klak -- the drama teacher at Mount Pleasant High School -- and his wife, Allyson, will open the Off-Broadway Performing Arts Studio in Downtown Mount Pleasant on Aug. 21. Once open, they'll offer a full range of drama classes and dance sessions for children and adults. At the studio, people will be able take ballet, tap, modern dance, and ballroom dancing lessons.
While their children's needs played a factor in their decision to start their own business, there also is a need in town for another dance studio. One of two dance studios in town closed earlier this year. Some people started going to other dance studios, and some people stopped dancing altogether.
"There's definitely a need. There's a demand out there," he says. "We already know many many people who are going to be dancing with us."
And with the
Broadway Theatre in town, there also is a demand for drama lessons -- for adults and young children.
With the downtown location at 118 South Washington, Klak says he's also looking forward to helping bring more business into the downtown. Parents waiting for children to get out of class probably will run errands, eat dinner, or grab a cup of coffee downtown.
"They'll use the downtown, and it'll become part of their experience as well. And that's good for all the businesses down here," he says. "If we would not have found space downtown, we probably wouldn't have done the business. Downtown was a big deal for us."
For more information about classes and the studio, call 989-317-3119.
Writer: Jenny CromieSource: Off-Broadway Performing Arts Studio, John Klak
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.