With the new government lockdown starting this week, many businesses in Kent are being forced to close their doors for the second time this year. This also means that dance studios across the county will have to put their training on pause for at least a month. 

Amazon took this as the main idea behind their Christmas advertisement this year. The video captures the essence of the mood of dancers across the country. A ballet dancer is shown moving her training from the studio to various places around her house – this includes her bedroom and the staircase. 

The main character then finds out that the performance she was training for was cancelled and her family creates a show outside their apartment building where she is tracked by a neighbour’s spotlight he bought from Amazon. 

The tragic yet heart-warming story is unfortunately the reality for so many dancers across the country, especially as we entered the second lockdown this week. 

However, the dancers are keen to continue their training in the studio to stay well prepared and this is now impossible. Many have only been back training together for just over a month and they are already being told to close again. 

A Medway-based Irish dance studio, Reel Eire School of Irish Dance has dancers preparing for the World Championships next year, and they are now being told to stop training once again. For Irish Dancers, their World Championships in March this year were called off. It has already been announced the 2021 event has been postponed until at least July. They are now being told that they may have to compete virtually. 

Danielle Martin-Young, the principal at Reel Eire School of Irish Dance said: “That will be very different for us because we’re used to dancing on stage in front of huge audiences, adjudicators and all of our friends so it will be different for us but, that might be the way forward now.”

In Medway, nine young performers from the studio qualified to attend the world championships and were training at the highest level. This was until they were forced to close for more than 6 months, moving their classes online. 

Dancers rolled out floors in their living rooms and kitchens, making the best out of the difficult situation. One of these dancers was an accountant, Annalise Carter from Walderslade. In 2019 she travelled to North Carolina and placed fifth in the Under 19 ladies’ competition. 

She said that when she placed fifth the feeling was “just amazing” as she had been working towards that for a long time. 

“For a lot of us dancing is a distraction from normal life and to have that taken away again in just horrible.”

Just like other small businesses, dance studios are also suffering financially as a result of the first lockdown. Now they are being told to close again, and for many studio owners this is their only source of income. 

Mrs Martin-Young said: “Like a lot of small businesses it has been really tough to close. Being a small business, we are not entitled to any kind of government grant or furlough scheme. 

“We managed to get through the first one and now we find ourselves in this situation again it’s definitely going to be tough.”

For now, all they can do is hope that it won’t be too long before they are back in the studio and competing again. There are currently plans to travel to Dublin in July next year for the World Championships, bringing home titles and trophies to Kent. But, for this month at least, the floors have been rolled up and the studio will remain empty until they can return.