LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A Lakewood dance and arts studio that offers affordable space to artists, dancers and community groups is asking for help to keep its doors open.

Move Dance Space & Arts Center owner Alicia Karczewski launched a GoFundMe with a goal of $65,000. That’s enough to cover two years of property taxes and building insurance.

“I just knew that my goal was to support lifelong movers, and that would be an older community that may have trouble finding dance classes, et cetera,” Karczewski said.

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Lakewood dance and arts studio launches GoFundMe to stay afloat

The studio rents affordable space to a wide range of artists and groups, including ballet, martial arts, yoga and improvisation theater. Karczewski also works with nonprofits, providing them studio space for free.

“What we really support are people that want to keep doing their thing,” she said.

But keeping prices low has made it difficult to keep up with the costs of owning the building.

The center offers studio space for many artistic disciplines from martial arts and yoga, to adult tap dance lessons.

“I am finding that it's really challenging right now to be a proprietor of a building,” Karczewski said. “With property taxes and building insurance, those things are so much bigger than what we do here financially.”

Launching the fundraiser was not an easy decision.

“It was really hard for me to do because my generation is older and we’re really independent,” she said, laughing. “But I thought, ‘you know what? I’m not doing this for me. I’m really doing this for everyone that holds space here.’”

Students say this is one of the only places for adult, intermediate dance classes within a 45-minute drive.

Among the classes offered is intermediate tap dance — one of the few options for adult tap dancers in the area.

“For people who have danced their whole lives, you really can’t get good, advanced, or intermediate tap anywhere, unless you drive half an hour at least,” Sandy Goldhaber, a student at the class, said.

For many, the studio is far more than a place to take a class.

“I do a lot of things,” Marry Mittag-Miller, another student, said. “But this is by far the best thing that keeps me going and keeps me happy.”

Tap instructor Tina Miller said losing the studio would leave a void that would be hard to fill.

“A piece of your heart, really,” Miller said. “That’s going to be missing if it goes away.”

You can check out the GoFundMe here if you would like more information or if you would like to donate.

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