The Southwest Washington Dance Center is located at 437 N. Market Blvd, in Chehalis.
Buried amongst the many appropriations in the 2019-2021 capital budget passed last month by the state legislature is a $62,000 grant to the Southwest Washington Dance Center in Chehalis.
In a document full of line items totaling six, seven and even eight figures, that $62,000 may seem like pocket change in comparison, but not to the staff at the Chehalis nonprofit.
“We purchased our building about 18 months ago after having rented for more than 30 years,” said Marcia Greenfield, administrative director of the dance center. “We had to do some remodeling and other things to finish the project, like removing columns and putting a beam up in a large room. It’s an old building, so we’ve had some plumbing and electrical issues, things that we haven’t been able to address without that funding.”
Being able to fully take advantage of the new space in downtown Chehalis has allowed the dance center to have four dance studios at its disposal, one more than before. Staff members have been able to run more classes and take on additional students. Greenfield said being able to reach out to a larger swath of the community has already paid dividends.
“Being downtown, we’re kind of a presence in the core of Chehalis,” Greenfield said. “Being on street level has given us more visibility to people walking by as we’re working to make this a sustainable building for hopefully another 35 years, or more.”
The Southwest Washington Dance Center already occupies space in the Centralia arts scene by way of its annual winter run of Nutcracker shows at the Corbet Theater on the campus of Centralia College. It also puts on a number of smaller recitals at the same venue. Their next performances at the Corbet Theater are scheduled for June 20 and June 22.
Following those recitals, staff and students will begin preparations for their debut on a grander stage, one made possible in part by those renovations allowing for more practice space and reliable infrastructure at their building.
“We will be featured as headlining entertainment at the Southwest Washington Fair in August,” Greenfield said. “We’re doing two shows out there, which will be new for us and new for the fair as well.”
