Sydney King Interview
Sydney King has been the owner and dance instructor at Sydney’s School of Dance at 6147 Market Street for 43 years.
Are you originally from West Philadelphia?
No, I was born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up in South Philadelphia.
What years were your best years for business?
The eighties and nineties we did very well. There were not too many other dancing schools around. Now there is a whole flood of them.
How has the construction on the Market Street El from the year 2000 to the present, affected your business?
This is a very disheartening subject. There is no parking. Two years ago it was especially bad; you had to walk two blocks just to cross the street, because the el was entirely covered with tarps. I am determined though. I suck it up and keep teaching, because I believe it is important for children to have a place to go to learn how to dance. I even make accommodations for them; giving free and reduced lessons as to not to exclude any child who wants to learn how to dance.
How have the neighboring businesses changed?
A lot of businesses have closed. They are beginning to reopen. The barbershop and hairdresser recently opened. A restaurant is being built across the street as well. The store on the corner has always been the corner store, but they have had four different owners. The store right next to me was a shoe store when I first got here, and after three or four owners it is now a Chinese restaurant.
When construction ceases, do you feel it will ultimately shine a new light on Market Street?
The bus used to drop kids off right outside. That was when transportation was most convenient for people wanting to come to dance. Now children get dropped off two blocks away at either 61st Street or 63rd Street. At this point, I don’t have much hope for future plans.
Have you ever attended any town meetings to complain about the Revitalization Project?
I went down to the Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation at 46th and Market once. My daughter and I went there to complain about the parking. I have little three and five year olds come in the mornings, and parents pull up right outside and run their kids in and by the time they make it back outside they have tickets waiting for them a lot of times. It is just terrible, it is a wonder I haven’t had a nervous breakdown. I am very stubborn. I think it is the only way you’re going to get around now.
Why did you choose this location?
This was the only one we could find at the time. We were desperately looking for a building, because we needed to leave our previous location in South Philadelphia, and we didn’t want to close. At first we just renting the first floor, but after a couple of years the owner wanted to get rid of it and she wanted to give it to me because she believe in what I was doing. There were some other potential buyers, but she had been in the area for a long time and sold it to me at a very low figure.
What was it that kept you on West Market Street, in the middle of all this chaos?
My mother always said, “Whatever you start you have to finish, you don’t just jump into something and have a goal and then give up when things start to get tough.”
