For Zoë Hershaw, the rise of her dance school in Elgin has certainly been rapid.
She set up Zodiac Performing Arts after returning home from London during lockdown after years of being a professional dancer.
It was a childhood dream to run her own business, which had become a reality.
Initially she had been running the dance studio at the Elgin Business Centre on Maisondieu Road.
Now, soaring demand has encouraged her to move into the heart of Elgin with town centre premises at 9 – 11 Lossie Wynd and transform the vacant spot into a specialist dance and performing studio.
Why move into Elgin town centre was needed?
Zoe says the dance academy had been quickly outgrown their last premises with just under 200 people now taking part in classes.
She said: “It’s been fantastic how quickly it’s grown.
“I think having many performances in the local area over last two years has helped the school grow.
“It has been great to see more kids through the door. The classes vary in size and overall we have got just under 200 people which is crazy.
“So we needed a new place, but luckily we got this one.”
The two-storey building has played many roles over the years.
The premises was used by the BBC as a dance hall.
It was recently home to furniture store Relax, which closed in 2018 after 32 years in business.
The last tenant before the new dance school was Curves, which specialised in strength training and cardio for women.
She said: “The history of the building is really interesting.
“For years it was a BBC dance hall, so where all the dances were hosted by the BBC.
“Northport was in there too and the furniture store Relax.
“Curves was most recently here and now we have the dance academy inside this beautiful old building which I feel super lucky to be in.”
How the opportunity came about with the building?
Last year, she first spotted the building was being marketed by CCL Property and got to look around it.
However, it was only for sale.
In the end, the building owner changed his mind and agreed to lease the premises to Zodiac Performing Arts.
Zoe said: “I had seen the property on the CCL website and Coralie Pickering has been an incredible help.
“I came to view it, however the landlord at the time only was looking to sell and I wasn’t in the position to buy.
“After keeping tabs on it and keeping in touch with Coralie the owner then turned around and said he would rent it out.”
The first floor has already been renovated and has been opened to be used for classes.
Meanwhile, the ground floor will be renovated during the summer holidays.
Zoe said: “It is surreal to have the whole building as the business keeps growing.
“The main hall upstairs is so massive which helps with the rising number of classes we have.
“From now until the summer holidays, all the classes will be held upstairs.
She added: “Then during those holidays, the ground floor will renovated and then afterwards, we plan to hold smaller classes downstairs and the bigger classes upstairs.
“It means we can run two different classes at the same time which is amazing.
“Meanwhile, I’m hoping when we don’t have classes running downstairs, it could be use as a yoga studio or by other people.”
She praised family friend Sandy Duncan for all his incredible work with the renovation.
She hopes being in the Elgin town centre can help boost footfall.
Zoe added: “So being smack bang in the centre of town is fantastic.
“I think it is great for getting some footfall into Elgin town centre.
“Also it means parents can have a coffee in the local coffee shops while the classes are happening.
“It also helps having a big car park behind us too.”
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