Arts Caravan Closes, Plans to Reopen Next Year in New Location

After six years, Dana Merritt has closed the doors for good at in the on Bedford Road but plans to re-open her dance studio business in a new location by January 2013.

Both practical and personal reasons have affected her decision, according to Merritt.

The lease on her space—one she said was too small for a growing business—was up, and she'd begun scouting a location where she could retain her current students, many of whom arrive by bus from Katonah Lewisboro schools.

After classes ended this Spring, she had hoped to re-open by September. Then she found out she had bladder cancer. She reported she had a successful surgery on June 14 and is now awaiting news from her doctors about whether she'll need to undergo chemotherapy treatment. 

"My doctor's prognosis [for surgery] was originally bleaker than the outcome I had—and I know it was, in part, due to the prayers, good wishes, and helping hands of the ArtsCaravan family," said Merritt. "The parents and students have been so comforting and supportive." 

Her diagnosis and treatment plans led her to revising her re-opening date for next January.

The dance studio offered students of all ages classes in acting, ballet, HipHop, Jazz, Modern, Musical Theater, Nia and Tap since 2006 in the arts center, and before that on Railroad Avenue in Bedford Hills for three years.

Merritt's said her dance business was born out of a desire to offer a welcoming, non-competitive studio experience to young people.

"Some of my current high school dancers started with me when they were just three years old," said Merritt, a Cornwall-on-Hudson resident who declined to give her age.

Does she ever feel like retiring?

"I'm not ready to quit," said Merritt, referring both to her business and her personal battle with cancer. "I feel like I have helped raise a whole generation of dancers—and I'm not ready to quit on them, either."