Keep Dayncing
Milwaukee studio fights to move into new home, continue sharing culture
Ten years ago, Amber Rivard and Josh Burgos found connection to their community and one another as students at a salsa class in Bay View.
But the couple struggled to develop their skills in Milwaukee.
So, for the next couple of years, they began studying with dance teachers both inside and outside the country. Then in 2016, they signed a lease and opened Daync Studio on Hamilton Avenue on Milwaukee’s east side.
Now, Rivard and Burgos are hoping to find a new home. They have until
March 31 to move and have their eye on the old Milwaukee Ballet building, 504 E. National Ave. They are in the midst of a fund-raising campaign to make that happen.
They see their studio as a community anchor, and a celebration of dance and culture.
Burgos grew up on the near south side and is proud of the fact that his grandfather was one of the first people to move to Milwaukee from Mexico and purchase a home. “I am Mexican-American and to be able to offer (this studio) to the people here in this area — we are passionate about it,” he said.
Rivard said both of them have experienced the physical and mental health benefits of dance and created the studio to ensure others can have that experience.
“The anxiety of coming to your first dance class has been mitigated by coming through our space; our mission is for dance to be affordable and accessible for everyone.”
‘We sacrificed a lot’
Since opening on Cinco de Mayo five years ago, the couple has faced their share of challenges.
Six months after purchasing the business, Rivard and Burgos had so little cash flow they had to move out of their apartment. For a year, they lived in the studio, showering at an Anytime Fitness nearby and sleeping on a combined couch and a bean bag that kept their feet off the floor.
“We’ve sacrificed a lot,” Burgos recalled. “We hid a lot of our personal possessions in the trunk of our car or under our couch. We lived out of a grocery bag one day at a time.”
But the business took off. Along with a recently added fundamentals class, there are hip-hop, bachata and heels classes.
“In 2020, two months before the pandemic hit, we completely sold out at the salsa and bachata levels for January and February and that was four years of work paying off,” Rivard said.
Like so many businesses, the pandemic forced the couple to temporarily shut down the business from midMarch to June while they worked on establishing a way to provide social distancing and other safety features.
The couple applied for an online Kiva loan in May and used the funds to pay back-rent and their employees.
Then they reopened. Their fans rejoiced.
Madison Bevan, a social media and client outreach specialist for the studio, said she was one of many people who would have struggled without Daync Studio. “I think 2020 was very hard year for a lot of people, and everyone I talked to at the studio said that space and that community has helped us get through that year,” she said. “It’s a second home for a lot of people.”
It became Bevan’s second home after she saw Instagram videos posted by a friend who teaches at the studio.
Bevan, who had danced in college, said she was nervous when she first stepped through the doors. “But after my first class, I felt so welcome and I was not scared,” she said. “There’s a notion of studios being very cliquey and not having that experience was really refreshing.”
Jenna Trusso, another member of the studio, started taking classes in July of 2018. “I had danced when I was young and every time I would go out, I would hear Latin music and I would get up and start dancing, but I had no idea what I was doing. So I thought I should take a dance class so I know what my feet are supposed to be doing,” she said.
A year later, she was on the studio’s competitive bachata dance team and also started studying under Rivard and Burgos to become a teacher at the studio.
Their dream building
Rivard and Burgos said their current landlord has worked with them to find a new building, since letting them know in February that a new tenant would be coming in the spring. With the deadline fast approaching, they started a GoFundMe campaign to relocate to their dream location: the old Milwaukee Ballet building on National Avenue.
Burgos said moving to that location became an option when a relative of the co-owners saw the GoFundMe page on Facebook and reached out to them.
“She said that rather than demolishing the dance studio in the building, we have an opportunity to keep dance history going from Milwaukee Ballet to our studio,” Burgos said. “The really important thing about that building is that we’re retaining history and opening up to more communities because we’re on a major bus lines”
The building has more parking space, a dance floor three times bigger than their current one and more than 60 feet of window space for advertising.
After reaching their $30,000 goal, they plan to begin offering scholarships, adding youth programming, and expanding their offerings.
“I believe they’re going to get this space,” Trusso said. “I’m excited for what they will mean to the community, working with other businesses and schools, and the scholarship. I just know it’s going to be a beacon of light in the area.”
Donors have contributed nearly $18,000 to Daync Studio’s GoFundMe campaign.
“We’ve always been very passionate about helping the community, and we were really committed to being good dancers and caring about the technique and the history,” Rivard said. “The level of support, authenticity and willingness that people have to put themselves out there has been really beautiful.”
To donate, visit www.gofund me.com/f/dayncstudio.