Willow Street Studios Needs Your Help
Donation protected
Help Keep Willow Street Studios Afloat During This Time
It has become apparent that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic will linger for many months. The temporary closure of the studio, not just this spring, but potentially through the summer, directly impacts our ability to manage necessary monthly expenses that will continue to accrue. The majority of the country is feeling the financial blow of this pandemic, and now, more than ever, small businesses need your help.
We are asking for donations to help continue to pay the studio’s expenses during this uncertain time. Willow Street relies on tuition payments to stay afloat, and it runs the risk of being unable to reopen if months of that tuition is lost. Anything helps, be it $5, $20, $100 – all will go directly towards studio expenses.
We are aware of the difficulties everyone is facing. We ask that you give only if you are comfortable doing so. Please know your donations will help keep our doors open in the future for the community’s dancers, and we are immensely grateful.
About the Studio
Willow Street Studios, an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art dance studio, was built by John and Susan Barnes in 2002. The studio has become a haven for hundreds of dancers of all ages, body types, and skill levels. Susan’s love and appreciation for the healing power of dance expression, release, and connection to a primal and spiritual element comes from her own life experiences. This love and belief in dance’s mental and physical healing power has been the driving force behind her efforts to bring dance to her community.
Susan began teaching dance in 1975, had two children, and started a small business in 1979. In 1988 she returned to SIUC to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance Pedagogy. She created Susan Barnes Dance Studio with the help of supportive, knowledgeable college instructors and an amazing woman who was the first teacher she hired. Moving a total of four times to accommodate increasing business, Susan and husband John eventually took the biggest financial risk of their lives and invested in the current structure renamed Willow Street Studios, Home of Susan Barnes Dance. It has served Southern Illinois by offering not just classes, but many opportunities that otherwise would not have been available. Dance workshops with internationally renowned companies such as Giordano Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Momix, Parsons Dance, Pilobolus, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and others have been offered through the years. Performance opportunities such as full-length classical ballets as part of the Southern Illinois Summer Music Festival, dancing roles in Moscow Ballet’s The Nutcracker, guest pieces with the Southern Illinois Dance Company, and others have been available. Students have gone on to major in dance at schools such as Kennesaw State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Some have danced with companies including Ballet Fantasque, David Dorfman Dance, Dow Dance, Found Movement Group, Frauenkreise Berlin, IUGTE, Roanoke Ballet Theatre, and The Big Muddy Dance Company (Convergence Trainee Program), among others. All have certainly benefited from the studio’s instruction and artistic presence in the community.
Mission Statement
“We strive to impart to our students a love and appreciation for the artistry of dance, a solid base in the fundamentals of dance technique and a safe environment for supporting each individual in their personal growth and potential.”
It has become apparent that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic will linger for many months. The temporary closure of the studio, not just this spring, but potentially through the summer, directly impacts our ability to manage necessary monthly expenses that will continue to accrue. The majority of the country is feeling the financial blow of this pandemic, and now, more than ever, small businesses need your help.
We are asking for donations to help continue to pay the studio’s expenses during this uncertain time. Willow Street relies on tuition payments to stay afloat, and it runs the risk of being unable to reopen if months of that tuition is lost. Anything helps, be it $5, $20, $100 – all will go directly towards studio expenses.
We are aware of the difficulties everyone is facing. We ask that you give only if you are comfortable doing so. Please know your donations will help keep our doors open in the future for the community’s dancers, and we are immensely grateful.
About the Studio
Willow Street Studios, an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art dance studio, was built by John and Susan Barnes in 2002. The studio has become a haven for hundreds of dancers of all ages, body types, and skill levels. Susan’s love and appreciation for the healing power of dance expression, release, and connection to a primal and spiritual element comes from her own life experiences. This love and belief in dance’s mental and physical healing power has been the driving force behind her efforts to bring dance to her community.
Susan began teaching dance in 1975, had two children, and started a small business in 1979. In 1988 she returned to SIUC to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance Pedagogy. She created Susan Barnes Dance Studio with the help of supportive, knowledgeable college instructors and an amazing woman who was the first teacher she hired. Moving a total of four times to accommodate increasing business, Susan and husband John eventually took the biggest financial risk of their lives and invested in the current structure renamed Willow Street Studios, Home of Susan Barnes Dance. It has served Southern Illinois by offering not just classes, but many opportunities that otherwise would not have been available. Dance workshops with internationally renowned companies such as Giordano Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Momix, Parsons Dance, Pilobolus, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and others have been offered through the years. Performance opportunities such as full-length classical ballets as part of the Southern Illinois Summer Music Festival, dancing roles in Moscow Ballet’s The Nutcracker, guest pieces with the Southern Illinois Dance Company, and others have been available. Students have gone on to major in dance at schools such as Kennesaw State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Some have danced with companies including Ballet Fantasque, David Dorfman Dance, Dow Dance, Found Movement Group, Frauenkreise Berlin, IUGTE, Roanoke Ballet Theatre, and The Big Muddy Dance Company (Convergence Trainee Program), among others. All have certainly benefited from the studio’s instruction and artistic presence in the community.
Mission Statement
“We strive to impart to our students a love and appreciation for the artistry of dance, a solid base in the fundamentals of dance technique and a safe environment for supporting each individual in their personal growth and potential.”
Organiser and beneficiary
Emmie Graham
Organiser
Carbondale, IL
Susan Barnes
Beneficiary