A teenage dance school owner has taken classes online to help her students keep dancing through the coronavirus lockdown.

Demi Naylor, 19, opened DLN Dance based at Vernon Carus Sports Club in November 2019. Despite only being open a few months, a number of Demi’s dancers have already qualified for worldwide street dance competitions.

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Demi says she has not only started online classes to help keep training going, but also as a way to keep her students happy and well.

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Demi said: “The day we had to sadly close our doors was the day we took DLN Dance online.

“Our dancers are still keeping up the team training for the British and world championships, which have unfortunately been postponed.

“I’m trying to keep the dancers’ spirits high and make sure they know there is light at the end of the tunnel. They miss each other so much. We make sure we do daily group FaceTimes to check everyone is okay.

“Before closing I gave each dancer a DLN Dance Diary, so they can write down day-to-day what they are doing and how they can improve. Once we reopen these will be given back to me and the teachers so we can have a nice read through them.”

Demi has also opened classes up to members of the public.

She said: “We have been offering classes to everyone, even none DLN Dance members, and the response we’ve had is unreal. We have had new dancers join our classes, and they have been loving it.

“We have also been doing free daily workouts at 1pm for anyone to join in to keep fit. We think keeping fit and motivated at this hard time is difficult, but if you have people to help you then you do it.

“We have had over 15 dancers at each online class, and it’s so amazing to see everybody sticking to it.

“One thing I do say is never stop dancing – keep fit and keep healthy. The second my dancers are back competing the dance industry won’t know what has hit them!”

Read more: Preston dance school shimmy online with a promise to ‘Keep Dancing’

To find out more, visit the DLN Dance Facebook page.

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What do you think of Demi’s efforts to keep her students happy? Will you be joining a class? Let us know in the comments.