Article by:
Bethany Lodge
A dance instructor who spent her own wedding fund on a business venture is still hoping to get to the church on time.
Danielle Newton has transformed a derelict coffee shop on Loftus High Street into her dream dance studio - spending her £7k wedding fund in the process.
The 26-year-old has been a dance teacher for four years, running classes from Loftus Town Hall.
Her new studio, Triple Dee Dance Studio, has been renovated in just six weeks.
She said: “We’ve ditched the place and absolutely transformed it.
“It happened quite fast - I viewed it on Monday and by Thursday it was mine.
“I talked it over with my fiancé and, unfortunately, I’ve emptied my wedding savings.”
Danielle approached several bodies to ask for funding but said she received a “big fat no” from each of them.
She says her fiancé Gary Stone has been “a rock through it all”.
“We had planned to get married next November and we are still hoping to recoup and get married then.
“For two years I’ve been running classes in the town hall and I’ve never made a loss yet!”
Danielle, who started dancing when she was four years old, did a degree in dance at Teesside University before becoming a professional dancer.
She had a daughter, Poppie, four years ago, and also has three step-children.
“I performed in Footloose in Darlington when I was pregnant with my daughter and nobody knew,” she said.
“Then I said to myself: ‘before this baby is one I want to be a qualified dance teacher’.
“That was four years ago, and I’ve got 35 children on the books at the moment. We’ve started adult classes as well.”
The renovation has been a “real community effort” with local businesses offering their services.
Danielle said: “I wholeheartedly believe Loftus is a fantastic place.
“The community is really pulling together to help us. The majority of the work has been done by my partner who has done this alongside working full-time at Cleveland potash.
“The idea is to rent the space out. It’s for the whole community to use. It proves that Loftus has good people in it.”
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