Confusion, anger over closure at In Motion

When a well-known sports and dance center in Warrenton abruptly closed this month, transferring dance classes to Culpeper, it left many parents confused and demanding refunds.

It also left unanswered questions about the business’s future and financial stability.

In Motion Sports and Dance Center, located in a warehouse-type facility at 615 Falmouth St., ceased operations with little warning Feb. 10.

Managing Director Terri Erwin-Fitz said she closed the complex and transferred dance classes to the downtown Culpeper studio because of “some issues with the building,” which she rented.

In an unsigned e-mail Feb. 10, In Motion Dance staff informed customers of the closure and commencement of classes in Culpeper Feb. 11.

Class times were adjusted to allow for participants’ extra commute, and the e-mail directed all questions or concerns to Culpeper staff. Erwin-Fitz’s name was not used in the correspondence.

Parents upset
The one-day notice of classes moving to Culpeper angered many parents, including Danielle Rice of Warrenton and Kara Illemszky of Jeffersonton. Citing inconveniences, they are canceling membership and demanding refunds.

Culpeper, Rice said, “is not an option for me. I e-mailed and called Terri a number of times and got no response at all. Her manager in Culpeper called me and said I was forfeiting any fees already paid because I was in violation of contract.”

Rice is seeking $242 in costume and class fees for her daughters’ prepaid hip-hop classes.

“I don’t know her reason for moving,” Rice said, “nor do I really care. It would have been nice if she’d given us some notice. She left for whatever reason and needs to give that money back.”

Jeffersonton resident Kara Illemszky may live in Culpeper County, but said the switch was inconvenient for her family because her son has an activity in Warrenton the same time as her daughter’s dance class. Illemszky is asking for a $143 refund.

“It’s not big bananas to us,” she said, “but there’s a lot of us that are owed between $15 and $200. It adds up. … We were good customers. We knew them very well. I had no explanation and no response.”

Illemszky said she left multiple phone messages and e-mails for Erwin-Fitz before demanding a refund. She said she mailed a certified letter to Erwin-Fitz’s home Feb. 18. On Tuesday, Illemszky said, she received the letter back from the post office with a stamp that said the recipient had refused it.

In response to inquiries about refunds, Erwin-Fitz said In Motion management was reviewing the accounts on a case-by-case basis.

“That takes time,” she said. “There are people who are demanding money who owed money. There are people demanding money for services that have been rendered. There have been refund checks for those accounts that have been reviewed. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Erwin-Fitz said the staff is reviewing policies along with individual accounts to determine who is eligible for a refund, but stressed that the audits take time. She did not know how many accounts In Motion holds.

The building
Although In Motion told parents that the Warrenton building was officially closed and anyone on the premises would be considered trespassing, Illemszky said she saw a baseball team practicing inside last week.

Leading up to the e-mail Feb. 10, Illemszky said, she suspected something was afoot; the Warrenton location’s costume boutique held a sale and was empty the next week, and piano classes ceased at the studio after staff got rid of the in-house piano.

“It’s just all very curious and strange,” she said.

Members of In Motion Sports received a similar e-mail from Erwin-Fitz’s husband and business partner, David, in regard to the facility closing. The Star-Exponent received a copy of the e-mail, which said all participants would receive a refund.

The Star-Exponent tried contacting building officials with the town of Warrenton to inquire about the building’s owner, but they could not be reached for comment.

“We invested a lot of time, energy and money into making the building safe,” Erwin-Fitz said, “and there were still many issues with the building, but we could not come to terms with the owner to our satisfaction.”

She said that a week before closing, three inches of water covered the floor in a 50-foot area from an ice storm, and sprinklers on the rear of the building had burst. When asked about the baseball team practicing, she said she was not aware of its presence in the building after its closing.

“I do not know anything about that,” she said. “I don’t know. That’s not part of us. We did have baseball teams there, but I’m not quite sure why they would have been there then.”

When pressed about the other ongoing issues, she did not give more information.

“There were some issues with the building,” she said. “I can’t be any more specific. … To me, it’s very surreal. It’s really hard to explain; it happened very fast and very quickly. I haven’t had a chance to catch my breath.

“It’s certainly something that was not planned by the management at all. It’s just so unfortunate that the community has lost this. It’s definitely a labor of love for anybody who worked there.”

The Culpeper studio
Erwin-Fitz said the Warrenton and Culpeper studios were separate entities, with members and managers rather than an owner. She is the director until “things change over” but did not know when that would be.

Culpeper resident Janna Coppage is the day-to-day manager of Piedmont In Motion operations at 128 W. Culpeper St., the address to which Erwin-Fitz transferred all dance classes from Warrenton.
The Culpeper studio has been in operation since 2004.

Coppage, who also teaches a handful of classes, stressed that although the same board ran both entities, the two had separate bank accounts and management.

“I just want to make it clear that Culpeper and Warrenton are two different things,” she said. “The way we do things is completely different. Every time I went to Warrenton, it was just a negative atmosphere. I’ve busted my butt to make sure things are different.”

The Culpeper studio recently expanded, and Coppage saw the consolidation as a good thing for Culpeper, tripling the number of classes offered.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to expand,” Coppage said. “I would like to extend the invitation to these people that they come and see the new studio.”

In response to parents’ complaints, Coppage said refunds were not “out of the question.” She said there were more than 60 accounts to review, and In Motion had been inundated with angry e-mails.

“It’s gotten really ugly over something that doesn’t need to be,” she said. “You don’t get a refund in five minutes. As they come in, they’re being reviewed.”

Being a nonprofit, Coppage said they had to “go through the proper channels” to issue refunds.

The Culpeper studio will continue to offer dance classes on its regular schedule. Classes range from tap to ballet to hip hop and jazz for young children and teens.

What is In Motion?
In Motion Dance Center
128 West Culpeper St., Suite 200
Call 829-2439 or visit piedmontinmotion.org

Piedmont In Motion is a nonprofit corporation based in Culpeper, under which In Motion Dance Center (in Culpeper) operates. Its purpose is “to provide performance opportunities and to promote year-round physical fitness for all children and adults” in the area, according to its Web site, PiedmontInMotion.org.

In Motion Sports and Dance formerly operated in Warrenton and was the “sister” business to Piedmont In Motion, though it was a for-profit enterprise. Both were separate entities run by managing director Terri Erwin-Fitz and a common board of directors. Fitz and a management team still oversee operations after the Warrenton facility closed, though Janna Coppage manages the day-to-day operations in Culpeper.