“I don’t know what spring is without dance, without my students, and without our recital,” said Bronze McGhee Lougheed, partner and studio director.

Since 1999, Lougheed and her sister, Ebony Arrington Steele, have run the studio, which has become an institution in the Birmingham performing arts community.

Lougheed, who is also founder of the nonprofit Sisters Inspiring Sisters through the Arts (SISTA Inc.), has conducted all of her classes on Google Meet, Zoom, and Instagram Live since March 16, when COVID-19 began to force closures of local businesses.

After completing grad school in 2002, Lougheed started as an instructor at her sister’s Ebony Arrington Dance and Performance studio, teaching ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance.

Lougheed—who also volunteers at Phillips Academy, where she offers a “dance experience” curriculum, and conducts classes and training via the Thinkific online course platform—credits REV Birmingham, an economic development organization that stimulates business growth and improves quality of life in Birmingham’s City Center, for helping to keep her programs sustainable.