Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

As work continues on the old Calhoun Street warehouse, a new business is already making plans to fill one of the vacant storefronts. The Southern Dance Collective, formerly known as Off Broadstreet Centre for the Dance Arts, announced their planned expansion not long after work began on the property. Located in Cairo, Dana Willis, owner and director of the OBCDA/SDC, has been interested in Bainbridge’s arts community for years, with her husband a Decatur County native.

When asked about the decision to move to Bainbridge, she explained, “I have had the upmost respect for Mrs. Lucretia and the foundation that Lucretia’s School of Dance has laid for dance in Bainbridge for the past 65 years.” She continued, “With the recent closing of LSOD, we felt it was the right time to expand my dance program and continue the legacy Mrs. Lou and her family started.”

The Southern Dance Collective will offer a variety of dance classes, for children from age 18 months to 18 years old. Willis is also the owner and director of the FIRM Dance Company, a regional competitive performance/performance company that will continue to operate from the main Cairo location, serving surrounding counties including Decatur.

With the Shops at Calhoun renovations expected to be completed by the end of September or the beginning of October, SDC classes will begin on October 1. “We will offer Bainbridge students to attend Cairo classes during the month of September if they choose at a discounted rate,” Willis explained.

“Our dance program can now ‘collectively’ bring quality ‘dance’ instruction & opportunities to our ‘Southern’ area,” Willis said in the studio’s initial announcement.

For more information about the SDC, visit their Facebook page, or their website,

https://obcdancearts.com/