In the month of Feb. it was all normal for Kelsey Jensen. Her life was consumed by dance competitions all over the state and midwest.

The month of March was a huge setback due to the virus outbreak, but the Revolution School of Dance is making its comeback in April.

The dance studio for dancers of all ages mission is to be committed to creating an atmosphere where dancers are inspired to better themselves as people and dancers.

It is run by Jensen, owner/operator, who says that her competition classes had just wrapped up a dance competition in Oklahoma City at the beginning of March and were scheduled to head to Topeka for another weekend long of dance competitions before things around the state of Kansas–and the rest of the world for that matter–began to change.

The COVID-19 pandemic had struck, meaning the closures of businesses and cancellations of events.

Jensen says that the cancellation of the rest of the dance season came as not only disappointment to her young students–many of whom are below the age of 12–but with confusion as well.

While Revolution School of Dance doesn’t have any full-time employees outside of Jensen, the studio–which is located at 141 S. Santa Fe in downtown Salina–relies on instructors who are all part-time employees. Many of which are studying at Kansas Wesleyan University.

Jensen says when the school closed down due to the virus outbreak, it meant not being able to have help from some of her instructors.

With the loss of some crucial instructors and the tough nature of trying to decide whether or not it was safe to leave the studio open for dancers to come in and learn, Jensen made the difficult decision–a similar one that many other business owners have had to make as of late–to close down her studio for the month of May.

She says that the business will suffer financially because of closing down the studio. The worst thing for Jensen and her instructors, however, is not being able to be with the students who were so excited and happy to be learning a skill that takes lots of time to perfect.

This isn’t the end of Revolution School of Dance–not by a long shot.

Much like other businesses featured on the “Small Business Spotlight,” Revolution School of Dance has found success in offering and teaching virtual classes through its website.

Jensen acknowledges the difficulty that was setting up her website to now become a virtual studio, but says it is something that will payoff in the long run.

She even says that because of the new virtual studio, she and the other instructors get to see their competition level students every day, more than if no virus outbreak had ever taken place.

Although many of the youngest students at Revolution School of Dance really enjoy being able to interact with their instructors through online classes while getting back in to some sort of normalcy, Jensen does say the new format is an adjustment for other students who are having to perform their activity from their own home, instead of a traditional studio.

The pandemic has also allowed a chance for Jensen to look back and the Revolution School of Dance and see what are some improvements or changes that she can make to help families financially coming off of the pandemic.

She hopes to debut some changes to her business this summer if restrictions are eased in Kansas.

While the uncertainty of the virus pandemic has made some things uncomfortable for Jensen, she says being able connect with her students virtually has really made the changes to her business enjoyable.

She hopes to still have the studio-wide recital at some point in the late spring or summer, but does not yet have a date for it.

However, the Revolution School of Dance is continuing to count down the days to when they can officially reopen their doors and prepare for their next competition. Jensen hopes it is soon, once things are safe so she and her instructors can once again teach their craft in person.