An article I wrote yesterday about dance, and some of the comments I received lead me to ponder a lot about dance and my life. Of course in an ideal world we'd all have our own dance studio with a perfect floor, clean mirrors, a barre, and a rockin' sound system. But then I thought about the history of dance and how most of the dancers past and present don't even have access to dance studios and they dance their hearts out.

I recall the years I spent in San Luis Obispo CA in the 80's were groups of breakdancers would throw down a giant piece of cardboard and dance their feet off in Mission Plaza.

And at a cultural festival I attended people danced in the gazebo, on the sidewalks and on the lawn.

Folk dancers dance on everything from cobblestones to pavement to village lawns.

And in many cultures, people dance in the markets, on the corners, in the barn, in the fields, or wherever they happen to be.

To a degree dance studios have spoiled us. Now I know what some of your are thinking. A dance studio properly designed is the safest surface to dance on. I'm not debating that. I'm sure there are safer cars to drive than my 30 year old truck, too. And I'd buy one in an instance if I could. In a neighborhood stifled with poverty, a dance studio is very low on their priority list.

Now if someone wanted to donate a studio so I could teach underprivileged folks how to dance, I'd be all over that.

Believe me I've tried. Here are just a few of my experiences. Keep in mind most studios will only give prime time to their own classes and to their performing troupes. During times when they are getting ready for a show like the Nutcraker studio space may not be available at all. And in this day and age of lawsuits most will insist on insurance. So the only spot they may be willing to rent to you could well be at 1 PM in the afternoon (kids are still in school) or 11 PM at night (after their classes are done). Have you ever tried to get 20 women to take a class in those time slots?

Case in point I rented a studio to teach belly dance one night a week. Students prepaid for a 6 week course. I paid the rent and at that time she said insurance wasn't an issue. A week later she insisted on it. Two weeks into it she abruptly changed her mind, kept my money and that was that. I had to apologize to my students and refund their money. I lost all the money I had spent advertising the class. I felt like that damaged my career in the eyes of my students. People want a stable place to come to. I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me.

Another time I signed on to teach at an adult school. They advertised my first class and I had 8 students. They also prepaid for 8 weeks. When the class bulletin came out for the next session, my class wasn't listed. When questioned about it, they said since advertising was expensive, they couldn't put every class in every bulletin. So when it was time for my last class, I called the school to ask about registering my existing students for the next session. She informed me that the school was closing in a week. So that was that.

I probably have a dozen similar stories. Parks and Rec departments that failed to have the building unlocked and ready at the time students were arriving. Many places that weren't even set up to have a dance class and still had tables, chairs, and speakers set up from either the last event or the next event. Even though I come to every class early to get set up, it's not enough time or energy to clear an entire room of tables, chairs and junk. Places are happy to take your money for rental fees, but often forget you are showing up. Twice I've had to share my space with a church that thought nothing of walking through the middle of the class to gather up their signs and musical props while I'm trying to teach my class. And places like that are notorious for accidentally double or triple booking their spaces.

Eventually I got to the point where if I can't have my own studio, I don't want to rent one either.