Problem #2 Understanding How Government Regulatory Agencies Might Impact Your Future.
Please this is NOT POLITICAL! Keep it that way here please.
As of this writing many states are starting to open up out of quarantine. Since studios do not have a big prescence advocating for them we are very likely to be at the end of the line unlike the big gyms, restaurants, theatres that have huge powerful mouthpieces. This is where the various dance councils could serve but I am not expecting anything at this point.
Unless we have a well thought out, reasonably detailed plan, we will either be forced to change in a way we won’t survive, or be impacted in the future that will prevent us from ever hitting critical mass as a sport/artform.
Ok, here is the strongest argument I will make over the issues we face. as I said in the welcoming/invitation letter. While teachers can teach at home, in the park, in gyms and a host of other places. Once the big ballrooms shut down, they will go the way of dinosaurs in many places. The same will apply to studios. Let me explain in detail here. Having convinced a planning comission to allow me to open an almost 1,000 person entertainment venue in downtown Alhambra I understand something most of you don’t. Every year parking, noise, safety and now social distancing rules become more restrictive. Many of the huge ballrooms around the country were built in the 1930s -1950s. Sprinklers? Nope. Attached Parking lots that can handle 100 cars? Nope, Noise proof buildings that keep sound within 15 feet of the perimeter? Nope. High arched ceilings? You won’t see that again. Had a bar that could dispense alcohol or else allowed patrons to BYOB? Doubtful in the future. Because these rules were put in by NIMBY neighbors, because of rules put in by police departments that had to deal with rowdy clubs in the past, because of fires in clubs that killed dozens around the country, because parking is at a premium in most cities, and because of the projected social distancing measures we will not see the return of big ballrooms in urban environments.
Let’s look at the immediate issue of COVID. Regulatory agencies already look at us like a giant Petri dish. People working out, changing partners every three minutes, sweating, using bathrooms, extreme close contact, teachers attending competitions worldwide every weekend returning without quarantine, traveling coaches, and students attending dance events in multiple venues is a recipe for disaster. You can bet they’ll be looking at us next.
Fortunately, many medium-large big box stores have folded so there are going to be buildings available. Landlords looking at 6, 12, 18 months of no rental income will be willing to make deals- especially if they don’t have to do many tenant improvements (T.I.s)
If these ballrooms remain empty, the grandfathering of old regulations that allowed a new owner to take over, disappear and the new much more restrictive rules will apply. So it is my strong belief that we have to start here and I’ll detail that much more in Solutions elsewhere. Nut I will stress- nothing is more important that saving ours ballrooms and studios.
Moving on to social distancing issues. As I said above, we must have a plan or we’ll be force fed one. Can we dance with masks? Can we sanitize after every partner? Can we assist in contact tracing by creating dance cards that document who we dance with for the typical 40 dances over 2 hours of a dance. Do we design PPE gloves, gowns that are effective and comfortable? Do we redesign our seating to only for 1/2 the customers? Do we limit our income by cutting our occupancy?
All these questions must be addressed or at the very least considered. Some will be implemented if not easily, at least possibly. Others will be to onerous or expensive. But we have to at least plan.
Future
If as some have predicted, Covid comes back more seriously in the Fall then God help us all. If it just becomes something that we have to live with, then our business model may have to completely change. If it dissappears like other calamaties in our recent histories, (earthquakes, fires, floods, terrorist, etc) it will impact us, but not destroy us. We have to be flexible and smart. But most importantly we will need to cooperate, collaborate, communicate and think like a family not COMPETING businesses. Every studio or ballroom that closes, every competition that ceases, every teacher that leaves the industry will hurt us all. Our clients will come back, dancing is a most basic human need. Our task is to survive until they do.