The Town of Morehead City on the North Carolina coast has become a popular destination, not only for summer vacations, but for people moving out of big cities and settling down.
During the past year, the area has seen a handful of new businesses pop up as more residents move in.
What You Need to Know
Morehead City became more popular as people moved out of big cities during the pandemic
New businesses are popping up including Lynette Johnson's dance and fitness studio
Johnson moved out of New York City when COVID-19 hit
The dancers are excited to get back to in person classes instead of dancing on Zoom
Lynette Johnson is the owner of one of those businesses. She was looking to turn a space into a dance and fitness studio for the past ten years, and now that goal is a reality.
“It's been so exciting,” Johnson said. “I had a friend come out the other day and she was like, 'how is it going.' And I got so choked up because it's a dream come true.”
The View at Sugarloaf is Johnson's recently opened studio, and the place where she is holding weekly dance and fitness classes for all ages.
“It helps with just your presence in the world to be physically fit, and to have dance be part of your life,” Johnson said.
Johnson used to teach dance at East Carolina University, but eight years ago she moved to New York City where she taught dance and fitness classes with the Broadway Dance Center. Things were going smoothly until COVID-19 hit. Because of the pandemic, many people living in big cities decided to move to smaller ones and more rural areas to get away from the crowds.
“It was so bad,” Johnson said, describing what New York City was like last year. “I think the people in North Carolina can't really understand how dense the population is in New York City.”
Johnson said that's one of the reasons she decided to start her studio in Morehead City. There is a lot more space to spread out.
It seems that over the past few years, and especially during COVID-19, the area has started to boom. New businesses are popping up, and more people are settling down. Johnson is excited for her studio to be a part of that growth.
“I could never see myself living here permanently, you know, digging my soul into the earth here,” Johnson said. “And all of the sudden I just feel like this invigoration of energy in this whole downtown area of Morehead City.”
However, even in Morehead City, it was hard to be a performer in a world that was shut down.
“Everything went through Zoom classes,” said Timour Bourtasemkov, a professional dancer from the Soviet Union. “We as a teacher would be at home playing music, give the combination, and everybody dance.”
Bourtasemkov is the founder of Carolina Ballet and currently dances with the Cary Ballet Company. Years ago, he met Johnson while teaching dance classes at ECU.
“We dance when we're happy, and we dance when we're not happy to make us happy. Basically it's a wonderful physical art,” Bourtasemkov said.
Bourtasemkov and Johnson are happy to be back with students and doing what they love.
“It's not competitive, I want everybody to feel loved,” Johnson said. “I think it's important for people to just love dance.”
Johnson opened classes to the public in June. She offers beginner and advanced dance classes, fitness classes and kids camps and even has an event area in her studio for rent. The class schedule is on their website at theviewatsugarloafmc.com.