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DOWAGIAC — With the cancellation of sports and other extracurricular activities, Michele Winchester-Greer, the owner of Miss Michele & Co.’s dance studio, has gotten creative in continuing to offer lessons to both her students and the community.

While dancers will not have their usual dance equipment such as mirrors and a barre, living rooms have begun to function as dance spaces, as Winchester-Greer has invited four seniors from the 2019 dance season to do a 20-minute Facebook Live dance-along and tutorials at 1 p.m. every Tuesday through Friday, which are posted on Miss Michele & Co.’s Facebook page.

The live dance tutorials have already covered a variety of different styles of dance such as jazz and hip hop, as well as strengthening and stretching. The studio is also encouraging dancers to take pictures and videos of their moves and tag Miss Michele & Co.

“That’s fun for our seniors as it gives them a chance to be in front of the camera,” Winchester-Greer said of the dance-along idea. “I think mostly all of the kids like to be in front of the camera ,but it provides a chance for friends and families to see the dancers live.”

During last Thursday’s hip hop live class taught by Grace Clark, Winchester-Greer and her daughter, Jacki, took their dancing outdoors.

Now, Winchester-Greer wants the entire community to be able to have the same experience.

“That is why I did the live feed because there are people who aren’t enrolled in dance in the area, and that just gave us an opportunity to share what we have,” she said.

Winchester-Greer said the last day anyone was in the actual dance studio was March 14.

“My thought process was I really can’t see being in the studio and putting everybody at risk,” she said. “It was a tough decision, and it was a mixed reaction. Some people thought it would just pass. I know I probably had the look of fear on my face.”

As the studio’s owner, director and choreographer, Winchester-Greer said it has been tricky to come up with a good plan moving forward.

Another idea the dance studio has implemented is Digital Dancing 2020, which was a name pitched by one of the studio’s dance moms, Winchester-Greer said.

“What we’ve asked is our staff to send weekly videos,” she said. “What I have requested in the videos is terminology, two or three vocab words and then the definitions. I have also asked for their important person in dance history, who they liked and who they looked up to as a kid, activity pages and then recital choreography.”

The staff and dance instructors send in their submissions, and Winchester-Greer and her daughter, Madelynne, who is also a dance instructor at the studio, help compile all the videos. The goal is to send the virtual digital dancing materials to studio families so they can take the class at the same time they normally would.

Winchester-Greer also said the studio has become a member of CLI studios ,which connects them with choreographers in the dance industry.

Despite being disconnected face to face, Winchester-Greer said what has helped her the most through the COVID-19 situation is the supportive group of dance families, some of whom she has spotted in live videos.

“I think even some of the moms are joining in, so that is nice,” Winchester-Greer said.

The dance studio’s recital, which is scheduled for May is likely to be moved, Winchester-Greer added.

“I am just trying to stay optimistic,” she said.